Monster Shawl

Here is the Monster Shawl:

This was one of the most demanding knitting projects I've ever conquered.  It started with a cast on of three stitches on November 27, 2011 (while I was in college) and ended with blocking on March 1st, 2015.  There were almost 1000 stitches on the needles when I cast off.

This beast contains approximately 1200 yards of 100% suri yarn mill-spun from two of our alpacas (Carmen and Winslow), nearly 75,000 stitches and 2250 glass beads.  Now I just need to find a movie star who will buy it and wear it to the Oscars.  Wouldn't that be cool?

McKenzie River Fishing

My friend Julie and I went fly fishing on the McKenzie River last Sunday.  The weather was perfect and the fishing was pretty good.  We caught our limit of trout and I caught this steelhead:

The fly choice of the day was called a Possie Bugger.  It has this name due to the fawn colored Australian opossum fur used in it.

The guide fixed us a fish fry lunch, he fried four trout in two cubes of butter!  It was a fun day.  Julie's first fly fishing experience, my first steelhead, and my first fishing trip that didn't involve my dad or my husband.

Oh look, it hasn't quite been a year since I posted.  I could give all kinds of excuses about night shift and working full time but really, I've just been lazy about it.

I'm at the end of four nights off and here is some of the dying and spinning I worked in:

This yarn is a result of a Judith MacKenzie workshop I took in Mount Hood, Oregon.  The theme was scrap and I came up with a festive result.  It was a little hard to spin at first since it was supposed to be random, I had to give up some of the control I try to have over everything that I do.  I ended up breaking all the different fibers into bits and tossing them together like a salad, then I'd spin with one chunk for a few minutes, toss it into the empty basket, pick up the next piece and continue like that until I'd gone through the lot once then start over until it was all spun up.  I spread it out onto five bobbins, added a couple bobbins of black alpaca and grey wool to the mix, then rotated through the bobbins a few minutes at a time as I plied three together.

On the way home from the workshop I met my sister for dinner and we swapped birthday presents.  Hers was actually on time for a change and I got to have a summer birthday for a change.  I couldn't believe what she gave me, this yarn bowl.  How appropriate and beautiful is that?!

Rocky got his tractor stuck in the mud a few weeks ago so Carly and I had to give him a hand.  She found the perfect spot, she even had a window to steam up.   It was funny, she didn't wait for me to invite her up, she was climbing in before I even got in the seat.  She's the funniest dog I've ever had.

She even gives me a wink now and then.

We did get to do something fun not too long ago.  We finally used our camper and went to Collier Memorial State Park.  It was a nice campground with a logging museum across the street.  While we were there we went to see Crater Lake and then Klamath Lake, both were gorgeous.   We had beautiful weather and it was nice to get away from the farm for a few days.  

Back to the Basics

Remember this dish towel warp?  Well I've finally started weaving on it.

This pattern is called Cat Tracks and Snail Trails.  Rocky keeps calling it Tiger Tracks and Snake Trails.  The pattern only calls for two colors so I was worried that using a third color wouldn't work very well, but I like how it is weaving up.

Rogue River Twitch

We recently took a trip down the Rogue River with Helfrich Outfitters.  As always, they show their clients a good time.  This is our first day putting in just above Graves Creek near Galice, OR.

After lunch that day we were treated to a show of helicopters dipping water out of the river from in front of and behind our boats.  All the camp sites along the south bank were closed due to wild fire.  We actually saw one area that was still smoldering and one log with flames coming from it.  It was still pretty smoky in that area and we really noticed it while trying to sleep in our cabin that night at Black Bar Lodge.

We didn't stop at Zane Grey's cabin.  It is a neat place to see, but it had all been wrapped in tin foil to help protect it from the fires.  We were able to see a glimpse of it from the river.

Along the way we got to stop and explore Rogue River Ranch.  (I can't believe it, because of the government shut down I can't even link to the page.)  It is a historic ranch that was established in the 1880's during the gold rush.  You can take a self guided tour through the house, tack shed, and blacksmith shop.  The grounds have a caretaker who lives there and keeps the place in beautiful condition.  There is a large field where people can even camp for the night.  I guess it's a good thing we were there when we were, it's probably all locked up now.

I think this set of rapids is called Blossom Bar.  To me there was no obvious route through these boulders and I was very thankful to be with such experienced guides.  It's kind of hard to see because of the rock behind it, but that big boulder behind and to the right of that boat has a big hole worn through it, I think it's called C rock.

We did a lot of fishing.  The first day we tried to catch salmon, but they weren't hungry so we switched to fly fishing for half pounders.  These fish have a rather unique life cycle, I added a link that gives a brief but nice explanation.  We used wet flies and a technique called the "Rogue River Twitch."  It was fun and thanks to lessons from the guides my cast was getting pretty good by the third day.  Turns out that half pounders love vitamin D.  This is Vitamin D:

The guy who developed this particular fly pattern named it Vitamin D.  I thought it was pretty as far as flies go, too bad the ones that get in our houses and annoy us aren't as attractive.

And this is one of the half pounders I caught and brought home.

It was a good trip with no phones, no radio, and no TV except at the last lodge.  The weather was beautiful, but it did get cold and windy on the third day.  I think this photo was during a sun break that day.  Oh, we also enjoyed the company of a family from Eugene that was in our group.  They were a nice bunch who enjoyed fishing and laughter.  

Other than getting back into canning (in the middle of the night, thanks to shift work), that's about the extent of my summer fun this year.

John Day

If you've never been to central Oregon (I mean east of Bend) you must find time to go.  This is Cant Ranch which is right by the John Day Fossil Beds.  The Cant family raised sheep here.  Unfortunately the house isn't open on weekends, but you can still wander around the property, see the shearing shed, and walk a trail down to the river.

This is a view from a lookout on the highway between Dayville and Mount Vernon.  I think the geography over there is fascinating.

Here are some pictures of the Painted Hills.  The different colors are from the minerals in the clay.  There are so many different colors of reds, greens, browns, grays, and even lavender.  It is pretty spectacular.  One sign recommends evening for the best photos.  It was overcast and not evening when I was there.

Getting Framed

I finally got around to framing some things.

This is a doily my mom made.  She may have made it before I was even born, I don't remember seeing her made it so I was either really young or not around.  I think it is way more beautiful framed like this than lying on my end table covered with things and collecting dust.

This is a birthday/graduation card given to me by Julie Lyford, she painted it with water colors.  It commemorates a fly fishing workshop we took together.

And this is my college diploma that I still can't believe I have.

I got to spend the month of May working evenings learning how to work in a hospital blood bank.  It is really interesting and tragic at the same time.  We type blood for people and cross match them with donor blood for transfusions.  There are a lot of people who are sick and need blood products, but we also keep prepared to traumas.  The other night we had a patient who had been in a bad accident and we kept matching blood for almost three hours.  They got between 30 and 40 units of blood products by the time my shift ended.  I hope I get to hear if the patient made it.  It was a tragic situation for the patient and their family, I'm sure, but from my perspective it really feels good to have a job that can help people when they need it most.

Most of my blood bank training is done so I have to go back to night shift.  Evening shift was like a vacation, you get to sleep until you wake up, work around the house or do errands until early afternoon and then go to work.  I think that's how life should be.  Some day.

We went to see the new Star Trek movie in 3D.  Everybody at work was talking about how good it is, but we just thought it was okay.  Maybe we just aren't big enough Trek fans.  At home we watched The Librarian, Curse of the Judas Chalice, it was fun.  It's kind of like National Treasure.