South Shore Ice Caves

For the first time in 5 years the conditions were just right for the Lake Superior Apostle Island Ice Caves to open to the public.  Centuries of Lake Superior elements carved caverns, arches and passages into the soft sandstone cliffs creating sea caves.  A popular summer activity, when frozen becomes a winter land fantasy.  The shore freezes while water from above continues to seep through the rocks creating stalactites of ice, creating temporary and seasonal spelunking conditions.  A brutal pilgrimage out proved worthy of our explorations.

A Ski Trip to Steamboat

I adore winter around Minneapolis.  But sometimes it is nice to check out winter in other parts of the country.  Last year my mom and I booked a sporadic trip to Mexico, a welcome respite from a seemingly long winter season.  This year Josh and I and my newly found interest in downhill skiing, hit up Steamboat Springs.  Known for feathery powder, our first day was whiteout conditions with lush virgin drift.  The warmer temperatures at the base of the mountain made Strawberry Springs and the Old Town Hot Springs a welcome treat after a day of skiing.

I couldn't get enough of this wonderland.  Air thick with snow, we could barely see.

 First thing in the morning, we hit up the isolated back of the mountain.

Lots of selfies passed the time on the lifts.

And the best treat were the natural hot springs, where boiling water literally flowed out of the mountain and into the pools below.  If the warmth became too much a courageous jump in the river was a refreshing cool down.

Birkie Fever and the Snowstorm of the Year

This year Birkie festivities happened to coincide with the biggest snowfall of the year.  A blizzard like this would have driven most people indoors to wait it out with knitting and hot toddies.  But my group was determined to take on the Giant Ski.  After a grueling 6 hour drive, we all arrived safely and managed to represent as the "Reigning Cats and Dogs"  

 Birkie Hat 2014.  See a marginally better picture here.

Although the snow was indescribably beautiful it aided in a particularly stressful Birkie event and a challenging ski.  

Sprouting Cloche

I rarely make a hat that I didn't micromanage the design of.  But sometimes I flip through a knitting book from the library and I see something and think "hey- I want that".  Yes.  Please. More stash busting yarn went into this  Sprouting Cloche by Norah Gaughan.  2 ends of a fingering weight wool with just a bit of shine and one end of a lace weight  mohair which gave the hat just the perfect amount of cozy fluffiness.  So now I confess, I did meddle just a teensy weeny bit.  I cast on less stitches for the rib and increased to the correct amount once the pattern began and I converted the pattern to be in the round instead of knit flat with a seam.  I knit it up in one day, which is a bit obsessive but then deemed it the perfect hat to wear over a bun.

Winter: Instagrammed

Most people in Minnesota despise winter.  Understandably so.  It is dark coming and going from work.  It is often under 0 degrees with even a biting windchill.  The roads are never quite all the way plowed.  And it seems to go on forever.  My theory, though, is if you are going to live here you best embrace it or you will drive yourself crazy with cabin fever.  When I ski, I am sometimes cold and tired and I sometimes even think of all the things I could be doing, or better yet knitting, instead of huffing up a hill.  But then I have these moment of pure peace where I am the only person in a vast expanse.  I am a part of nature.  Every time I go out the landscape is different.  Subtle but exciting.  As I settle into a rhythm I begin to enjoy the solitude and my mind clears.  I wish I could share this joy with all those winter haters, but I suppose they will just have to figure it out on their own. Oh and if you ever feel a bit cold read this.  The book peaked my interest from a post on Avalanche looms, and it really makes me feel so grateful to be living in Minneapolis and not Antarctica. 

 

A Rolling Cowl

 I've been going through a period of stash busting lately.  It all started with the pom poms to rid my collection of those pesky little bits of thread.  But then it came on to the bigger stuff.  The half used balls of yarn from many a fair isle hat and even full skeins of yarn bought ages ago and meant for  -ahem-  something.  Sorting through my stash, a beautiful range of grays and blues emerged.  And so emerged this ottoman roll cowl.  A simple knit of jersey purl stripes with the slightest bit of color play.  Everything is grounded in gray-a yarn I had ridiculous amounts of.  The colors are almost exclusively the byproduct of past Birkie Hats- Danielle's,  Katie's,  and Meredith's-to be exact. Like the pom pom garland I like knitting with the yarns that remind me of my wonderful friends. 

Off the Loom: Waves

Sometimes a deadline is exactly what you need to spend countless nights looming.  The pattern/inspiration came from "Color and Texture in Weaving"  by Margo Selby.  This book was my most recent weaving purchase from the WGM.  I fell in love with this "wave" pattern and just in time for a pirate themed wedding off the shore of New Jersey.  I love how the simplicity of a flat gray warp transforms subtly as color is integrated.