Ice Caves

Yesterday, 29 September 2007, Daniel, Kris, and I went out to the Big Four ice caves in Glacier Falls, WA (go north on I-5, to SR-92, to SR-9..). I had been last year with my friend James, but unfortunately he, along with several other people I invited, bailed for one reason or another.

As I understand it, ice caves generally form when an avalanche of snow falls over the side of a mountain, or a glacier, and then compacts into a big pile. Then water runs off the side of the mountain / glacier (usually as a waterfall) and starts to erode the underside of the snow-pile, until it forms these giant caves. Daniel estimated the cave we visited to be about 30 feet tall.

These ice caves are situated at the end of a very mild 1 mi trail in from a trailhead that is adjacent to a parking lot. However, both times I've been to this trail, the parking lot adjacent to the trailhead has been blocked. We parked at the gate that was closing off this road. I spoke with a ranger to get the scoop on the trail, because I had heard rumors that this summer's floods and storms in the mountains had ruined this trail. She confirmed that the bridge had washed out, but that there was a large log that all ages of people were using to cross the river. Her official position, of course, was not to go, but she said personally she thought it would be okay, unless it were raining (since the wood can get pretty slick).

As you can see from the pictures, we made it across the log and to the ice caves. In this picture, Daniel and I are prety far in front of the ice caves, and the perspective is making the ice cave entrance appear a lot smaller than it really is.



Here is a picture I took of the beautiful forest that surrounds the rock-field where the ice caves are located. It is just so lush and mossy... I love it!

Here is a picture of the bridge that was washed out. To the left, you can see a small wooden box-ish thing with a yellow sign on it. That is the other end of the bridge. The trees and wood to the right of the picture are mostly fallen logs, but to the right of those (out of the picture-frame), there were some large (LARGE) pieces of the bridge that had ended up as mere lumber in a pile on one side of the river.

We were also lucky enough to see some of the first snowfall of the year. It looked like someone had dusted the tops of the mountains with powdered sugar. Kris lamented that her camera would not do justice to the contrast of the snow on the pines, and make them blend into the grey sky. I feel the same way, however, I think I was able to catch some of the contrasts of the snow-topped mountains, as well as the beautiful forest through which we walked.

Simple Socks

Here is a photo of my first pair of Simple Socks, from Cat Borhi's "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles"! YAY! I love that they are the same colorway, but they don't match exactly.

Why You Swatch

This is why you swatch. I took the time to knit "Nakiska", a cabled headband from Knitty, out of beautiful Blue Sky Alpacas alpaca and silk blend.

So what happened? First off, I didn't measure my head circumference. So I knit the "adult small" size. I can barely wear this as a yarmulkah! Maybe a pre-teen could wear it? Someone microcephallic? I don't know. I suppose I could sell it. I think I'll end up mourning it, and ripping it out and starting over, because the yarn is too beautiful (and expensive) to waste. I'll have to make it in the larger size (or SWATCH!!!!!!!!!)

So, tonight, as I start my Cat Bordhi socks- I am going to make one of her Sky Architecture socks from her latest sock book, in STR Rhodonite. :-)

My First Flowers

Here is a pic of some gorgeous flowers that Daniel sent me. They are important because they are the first flowers I've ever received from a boy. Lame I had to wait so long to find the right one, eh? :-)

They are pink roses and alstromeria, in a pink flowered teacup and saucer. I love that it's so girly, and that he thought beyond the flowers to the practicality of the teacup. :-)






Does that mean I've gotten any further on his sock yarn?! Of course not. :-) I am getting to it, though. Tonight I am making a swatch of the Rhodonite midweight STR yarn on size 3 needles (which is what I've got in circulars right now).

OFFF Purchases

As promised, here are the photos of recent purchases from the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival.


The first picture is just the Blue Moon Fiber Arts order I received the day before we went to OFFF...it was like Christmas! :-) (Yes, I couldn't wait and rolled the Rhodonite into a ball):


Here is all the roving I bought. Right now, I am spinning up the Duets roving (third from the left, top row):

And here is the yarn I bought. Two more Blue Moon sock yarns, a Duets sock yarn from A Swell Yarn Shop, and some peacock-colored mohair blend laceweight yarn! I am planning a shawl from the mohair, in a peacock-feather patern.

Joining In

I think I need to join one of the myriad of knitting or spinning contests that spring up online. I was reading my friend Kim's blog, and she was lamenting that joining something would force her to post about her current projects at least once a week. Sounds like a great idea!

I wound the "Rhodonite" color of STR into a ball last night. Of course, what else did I do? Drop $85 (after tax and shipping) on a ball winder and umbrella swift (which is awesome because it can accomodate up to a 5 ft skein). Joann's was having an online sale (SEPA750 is the code) and so that is why I bought them together. Ah..it feels good to buy tools. :-)



I am going to make most of the sock yarns that I bought into socks featured in Cat Bordhi's newest sock architecture book. I figure I followed her directions well enough last time that it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what the heck she's up to.

I think one of the interchangeable circular needle kits would be a great idea, but Liz showed me hers, and I don't like that they don't make points below a size 4 for those kits. I mean, I am using size 3's and 2's for socks these days. I wonder if there is an issue with the joins not working on needles that are too small?

Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival 2007!

Yesterday was Saturday, which was also the day that Liz and I had planned to head down to Canby, Oregon to the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival (OFFF). And did we ever go! :-) Liz also invited her friend, Joanne, to come along. I'm so glad! Joanne is really nice! :-)


Here is a picture we got a nice man to take of us as we perused the outdoor booths. Liz and Joanne are wearing their handmade scarves, and we're showing off some of our purchases:




I always love looking at livestock. I think it comes from growing up in an agricultural place like Tulare, where the county fair and farm equipment shows always feature animals prominently. Here's a sheep (or ram?) with some crazy horns!! Check that out! I don't know what breed of sheep this was; I wasn't checking the ID cards very closely, although I could tell certain breeds like Wensleydale and Lincoln pretty easily, so that was kind of neat:

Here is a pic of Joanne in the livestock barn. :-)

I was very glad to see so many vendors there! I bought SO much crap. I'll post pics of it later. I mostly bought rovings, but I did buy some yarn. I bought one skein of this mohair laceweight yarn (very fuzzy), and it was dyed in a colorway that really reminds me of a peacock feather (despite the colorway's name being 'Pond'), ANNNND it was 30% off. :-) Justification, Achieved! I also bought a skein (well, two skeins) of Duets Sock Yarn from Liz and Joanne's friend, who runs A Swell Yarn Shop (www.aswellyarnshop.com). Apparently you have to stalk this woman's website to buy her yarns, because they sell out in minutes of being posted online. Her Duets series is neat because you get a multicolored "main skein" of yarn for your socks, and then a coordinating solid color skein to do the heels and toes of your socks. The colorway I chose was raspberry shades and olive greens, with an olive green CC skein. So I was glad to have been able to buy some without the pressure! :) And I splurged (some more) and bought two skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Socks That Rock" yarn, one in "Count Cluckula" and one in "Sugarplum". Liz scored a Mill Ends skein from Blue Moon, which meant it was cheap, and we couldn't see anything wrong with it. I am jealous ;-)

Here is a picture of a rainbow that I finally caught as we were driving back to Washington. I kept missing the rainbow by the time I'd get my camera ready, which was a great source of amusement to Liz and Joanne:

Thank god I went with people. It made the drive fly by, and we had a blast! :)