wedding and camping

I went to a family wedding in Monterey County, CA.  The wedding was a lovely wedding.  I actually really like Salinas where I stayed with my parents.  I did not realize how much agriculture was done there.  Lots of lettuce and cabbage families.  I had never seen an artichoke plant before.  I thought they were beautiful.  I have to admit that I wish I could grow many of the flowers I saw in yards there.

After the wedding, I headed up to Los Padres National Forest to go camping with my family.  The campground we stayed at was lovely and I feel like I need to go back.  There was just not enough time to go anywhere.  But there was a river running through and Koda Bear loved it!

He turned blue from playing in this water!  There were shivers happening.

Then, it was off to the Rocky Mountain National Park.

The view from our camp site was lovely.  We were sitting in a valley that was ringed with mountains.  We got there a day early and the campground was able to find us a spot for the night even though we needed to move the next day.

Then, it was three days of walking.  My family keeps telling me that we did not take walks but that we were on hikes.  We let Koda Bear decide when it was time to turn around and he was pretty persistent.  We did not make it to the last destinations for two of the hikes we took but we were post holing in the snow.

The above picture is of Loch Lake and it was so pretty.

This is a better picture of the view from our campground.

We made it to Emerald Lake, which was mostly covered with ice.

But I think my favorite was Mills Lake.  It reminded me a lot of the lakes in the Cascades.  It was a bit smaller and felt a bit more intimate.  We tried to hike to Black Lake from here but again, too much snow.  I was actually in pants for this hike and I was more wet then when I walked in a skirt!  Koda Bear turned us around before we got to Black Lake.  Three days of that small boy hiking was almost too much for him.  He walked with me on the way back and I have a tendency to be the slowest.  I just call myself a turtle.  I can get there, but I may be slow.

I went to the Estes Park Wool Market while we were camping there.  It was the point of the trip.  I enjoyed it.  And I saw sheep breeds I have never seen before.  Sheep the size of small cows!  It was fun.  Or at least I thought so. 

I bought a fleece, even though I did not need a fleece.  I loved the color.  And I am thinking I wish to go down the rabbit hole of making hats.  I guess I will see if I have time for that.  Next week, I start a breakfast nook that I am getting paid to build.

I would like to go back later in the summer and try all those hikes again.  At least the one to Sky Pond and Black Lake.  I would like to try them without the snow.  I was thinking August 2020.  

I am now trying to get back into the swing of things and not doing a very good job.  I keep hoping it will get better but two days in, it has not.  I really enjoy being outside that much.  Until next time, I will just keep moving forward.

I could breath for a week!

Since Harvey, my allergies have been horrible.  Gallivanting for the last week and a half made them better.  But I woke up this morning home but my face swelling again.  Oh well.  I would not mind being camping and traveling still!

The adventures started with the Taos Fiber Fair.  I went to this about two years ago and was not impressed.  But I enjoyed Taos.  I figured why not.  This time was much better.  The first positive was that it really felt like autumn there.  It does not feel like autumn in Houston!  I was taking pictures of seed pods and dryed grassses.

Then there was the fair!  I was surprised.  There were a few sheep to look at and I found a beautiful Turkish spindle.  The wood that was used made it too hard for me to pass up.  It is a little bit larger then most of mine but I always have a use for a Turkish spindle.  I can break it down flat, put a small bag of fiber in my pack, and be able to spin anywhere.  Yes, I am that person.

I came home with four fleeces.  One is an Icelandic lamb in black.  I want a black cardigan and I want to play with Icelandic fleece.  The other three are CVM crosses.  I got told it is much cheaper to buy a fleece then it is to raise a sheep.  And I get more variety.  I will take this logic.

I also bought yarn.  The earth tones here were picked by my Beloved.  I will make him a sweater.  The blues are going to become a shawl.  A shawl that has a knitted pattern but I am going to crochet.  

I also picked up two kits for the Taos Mountain shawl.  One with a pattern and one not.  I am changing the pattern from knit to crochet.  I am also making it a bit bigger so I use more of the extra yarn.  And I like large shawls.  

I got to thinking about why I buy yarn when I am traveling.  A lot of the yarn I purchase is truly not speciality yarn but yarn you are only going to find at a local yarn store and not a large craft store.  Most of the local yarn stores that were near where I live most of the time are no longer in business for a myriad of reasons.  I travel.  I find yarn.  I buy yarn.  In Houston, I make yarn.  It is an interesting conundrum.

I really enjoyed the Taos Fiber Fair this year.  Enough to go back next year whether it is just for itself or I am traveling on to somewhere else.  If nothing else, it is a grand way for me to experience a little bit of autumn.  And this week back already looks like it is going to be quite crazy to I will take a bit of peace as I go.

fleeces

The reason I went to Estes Park was to look at fiber.  I knew the chance to see my best friend was such a long shot that it would not happen but after missing SAFF I so wished to go.  

Things I learned at Estes:  I do not like how llama and alpaca smell in enclosed spaces.  I almost got sick.  I am a sheep and goat person.  The pretty sheep above were for sale. 

I bought two bags of fiber that were from a Blue Faced Leichester/Shetland mix from Black Bar Farm and an unprocessed Bond sheep fleece from Gleason's Fine Woolies.  I was so excited.  I wanted to start spinning right away!  But I really needed to start heading home.  (More mountains in the background.  Already so missed!)

Once I got home and unpacked, the boyos verbally downloaded their life without me, I sat with one of the Blue Face Leichiester/Shetland fleeces from a sheep named Rain.  It is such a lovely dark brown.  I have spun a bobbin of yarn every day I have been back.  I am thinking that I would like a turtleneck like an old JCrew sweater I had in graduate school.  I am also thinking it may go very well with the yellow roving I bought.  I might not have enough of the grey yarn I was making for the sweater I was thinking of.  I am babbling I know.  It is how my head is working tonight.  Exhaustion has hit. 

The white roving may become a yoga rug.  I am making one for my best friend and I am changing my mind as I spin on how wish to put it together.  Welcome to my head.

I need to get into my garden and sit at my sewing machine.  There has been so much rain and heat that there are many weeds and mossie.  And I always have quilts to work on.  There are just not enough hours in the day.

making decisions about yarn

I actually shipped a box of fabric and fibre home from my travels that have not arrived yet.  But I did bring a bit of yarn and fiber home in my backpack.  I am trying to decide if this roving will go with the dark grey that I am currently spinning.  There is a sweater I wish to make that is two tone.  Or should I wait for the yellow fibre that I bought.  I think I will have to make them both up as a yarn to decide.  

I feel better today then yesterday but I have to admit that my ear still hurts.  I took it slower today and maybe that will help the healing.  It is warm here and I realize I do really enjoy walking in cooler weather.  But that is not a choice.  At least not right now.  Maybe soon.

Not many words today.  I am hoping the back of the quilt will be done tomorrow.  Maybe if I take it slow and heal some more, that bit of sewing will happen.

working on a gift that will not be done for Christmas

I opened up a bag of fiber to clean.  One complete fleece.  I know I should have started working on this a year ago because it is hard on my hands but I did not.  

I got a bit of it washed and cleaned.  I kept picking dirt and grass out of it when I walked by when it was drying.  More cleaning and picking as I was carding. 

Then, there was trying to find a drop spindle to use to make yarn for a rug.  This whole fleece is slowly being turned into yarn for a yoga rug.  My best friend is so excited.  My hands are tired already.  And when it rains has hard as it did this last weekend, it seems to take forever to dry.  But there is not deadline which is a good thing.  Miss N will be pleased.