Enjoying Summer

We took a bike ride to the park the other day.



The kids enjoyed running the bases.

Playing on the slide.




Spinning on this.

We are heading home here, you can see how far we went. At the end of the road in this picture is our road to turn onto. The kids did great!

This is my latest project likely to become some socks I set aside half done. I have not gotten many pairs done for a while.

I have done some dyeing recently and now am feeling the mojo again. Hope to get some updates in the shop soon.

Until next time.

Summer

Last weekend found us driving to northern Wisconsin towards Bayfield. We went to Blue Vista Farm which if you are in the area is definitely worth a visit. They have a beautiful view from their barn which my pictures just couldn't do justice to.






We picked blueberries as big as grapes. They have organic berries also.





They have raspberries there too. We like to do the pick your own with the kids, they enjoy picking and eating their share of the berries.



The kids ran through the garden, isn't it beautiful?




I just had to have a picture of this flower, hollyhocks such deep color.




We stopped in Bayfield at a park by the harbor and Noley played on his alligator or piranha depending on which boy you asked:)



The big kids played Tarzan while swinging on a great line there. (I kind of want one for our house)





On the way home we stopped at a beach on Lake Superior, the kids took advantage of this and got wet and sandy.







I think my fingerless mitts fit right into this trip. The purple is very blueberry like, they are almost done now and I hope to finish them today. Hope your summer is going great! Ravelry link here.




Happy fun family summer times to you all!

Seamless Sweater

This sweater was the most fun knit I have done in a while. The seamless knitting, seed stitch edging and the color work was so much fun, I see another one of these in my future.



Pattern:

Vormorgun Létt-Lopavesti (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Bartlett yarns Fisherman 2 ply mostly heather Jade color

Needle: US 5 and 7 Denise Needles

I will love to wear this in the colder weather!

As you can see Miss M is feeling much better thanks to all for your thoughts while she was sick and your well wishes. She is back to my cuddley M.

He was not sick a minute and was making dirt angles tonight in the driveway.


As always I am grateful for my happy family. Happy happy summer.

Annual Camping Trip

Our yearly trip camping was last weekend. We chose to go to Northern Minnesota just south of the BWCAW.

The scenery is gorgeous.

Lots of wildlife to be seen, this is a turkey vulture.

The lakes are like nowhere else on Earth.

Kids enjoy the touristy things like taking pictures.

We had art class one day and make tie dyed shirts.

Our campground on Crescent Lake was pretty nice but super buggy!
Just a bad time of the year to camp because of the bugs. Good thing I brought other things to do, Miss M and I painted our nails one evening while the guys fished.

Noley shot things with his sticks.

Our highlight was a Momma Moose and her 2 babies eating at a lake. We stopped and watched them 3 times this day. They had lots of viewers and didn't seem to think much of the fuss.

Very little knitting was done but that is alright, sometimes you gotta take some time off. Hope your summers are getting off to a good start.

Last Summer Fling (spoiler alert Woolgirl sock club at the bottom)

Our last hurrah and we just got back. B had some work to do in Brainerd, MN so we packed up the kids and went to the water park at the hotel there. If you want a fun place to stay try The Lodge. Woodsy themed hotel a little hokey but has a fun water park. The kids loved it.

Miss M would not let me take her picture, KD had a blast there and went down the tube slide many times all by himself. He was wearing a life jacket but he was still super proud.

I am feeling guilty that there is little knitting content to show here, but I do have yarn. My Woolgirl sock club package came this week and this is by far my favorite of the installments. Great package and good color, plus 2 patterns for socks! I can chose my favorite, awesome. Here's a picture.

I am plugging along on my dad's sweater and it is finally getting somewhere but I have hit a snag. There is a mistake in the pattern and I should just rip back but I have tried to knit back a couple times.

It. Is. Not. Working.

I will get up the nerve to just rip it back soon but I can't face it. I will probably start another pair of socks first. Gotta take the edge off you know?

Later Dudes.

PS. Go to Fibreholic for a fun blog contest.

Boundary Waters Bliss

In case you think I have given up knitting all together, here is a picture of my latest project. I am using the Yarn Harlot's sock recipe from one of her books. Webs was having a sale one a grab bag of Regia sock yarns, so Saunaknitter (Ravelry link) and I split the bag of 10. This is one of the colors I got.

This was the project I brought into the woods with me for last weekend's camping trip.


We go on this trip every year my girlfriends and I, it ranges from 2- 7 people each year but the core group has always stayed the same. I think this was the 8th year we have been doing this but I'm not sure. The first night there we were greeted by 2 deer, one was a buck with the velvet still on his antlers.

We enjoyed the best meal we can make in the BWCAW of steaks and mashed potatoes. Then went to bed late due to a malfunctioning bear rope, *#!&%*.The next day we were going to move camp but decided on a day trip to the back bay area nearby. Good thing we didn't move since at the end of the 2nd portage there was this.
A huge swamp of carpet-like floating grass and weeds interspersed with muck up to your thighs. We turned around and went back the way we came. We stopped at a sand beach for a little swimming instead.
It was heavenly. So was the sunset that night.
The hot bev's are always good too, I had to have a shot of ours waiting to be mixed up. Hot cocoa and tea were the most popular request.
Of course there were things to do like dishes and firewood getting, but it is all spread out through the days so it doesn't feel like you work all the time.
Every night we had a swim by of a beaver who's lodge was across the way from us. It was fun to watch them build their lodge and hear them "talk" to each other.
Our way out was easy going but a bit hot. The lake was like glass. It makes it hard to come home when it is like this.

Only one night of a quick rain and sunny warm days that weren't too hot. Good times were had by all.

Going Camping

I off to the BWCA for the annual "girls" camping trip. Bringing some socks to knit on, will update when I am back!

Finn Fest And Other Fun Stuff

2 Weekends to blog about.



The other weekend my little sis came to see me. She is knitting a sock here.


My folks came over to go the Finn Fest 2008 in Duluth. Here are the little boys with Papa.
Our first stop was in the flax spinning room. Very cool demo. This woman is cracking off the hulls for the finer fiber underneath.
These ladies are spinning the flax into linen.
We went down to the Marketplace and suddenly there was a bunch of Secret Service guys all over the place. The President of Finland was there! I didn't get close enough to shake her hand but here she is. She is the lady with the reddish hair to the right.

Obviously I am a Finn, so it was fun to go see the stuff and people watch. I never knew there were so many suomalianen in the area. I kept thinking I knew everyone because most everyone looked familiar.

Sunday we went out with the family on B's new boat to fish and swim. Noley was in seventh heaven. He loves fish and the water.

Here is a shot of KD before he was upset about not catching as many fish as the rest of us.Miss M caught this big Northern. She was so proud!

B went to the Quetico last week and here are a few of his pics. I love this picture.

My Brother with his big Northern.B is home again tired and grubby but he had fun camping.While he was gone I dyed these. I will get them in the shop soon.Plus I went and picked these!Happy knitting and enjoy the rest of the summer.