WhiteStar

Living Up To Expectations

Maybe when talking about a weekend in Laramie the phrase should be "Living DOWN to expectations?"

The Bad - It rained. It was windy. It was REALLY cold.

The Good - It didn't snow. And because my friend Nancy saved me grooming space in the Poultry Barn when she got ther early on Saturday, I didn't have to groom in the Sheep Barn. That meant I had a concrete floor under my feet instead of questionable "dirt".

The Really Good - Kelly took back to back Best of Breed Wins :) :)

Knitting in Public

Quite a few people seemed to think it very odd that after Kelly's win yesterday, I packed up my knitting, a towel for Kelly to lie on and a bucket of water for her to drink and went and sat ringside to watch the first four groups before we had to go in.

Kelly had gotten a little spooked in the group ring the first day by the clapping and crowd noise, so I was trying to desensitize her before we went in the ring. I often take my knitting when I go to watch group. Why not when my dog is going in the ring too?

Anne at 1:50 PM

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Why It's NOT Better In Wyoming

As I mentioned in my post from Monday, AKC dog shows are on a schedule that rarely changes from year to year. Since this is Memorial Day weekend, that means Babe, Kira, Kelly and I are headed for Laramie, Wyoming. Unlike Cortez, which is one of my favorite places to go, Laramie is at the very bottom of the list.

Why?

Because the weather in Laramie sucks.*

If it is raining anywhere,it's raining in Laramie. If it's snowing anywhere, it's snowing in Laramie and it's ALWAYS WINDY in Laramie. I hate wind.

The spring Wyoming shows are actually 4 days long, 2 days in Casper then we get to pack up all our stuff and move to Laramie for two days. One year I remember driving out of warm sunny Casper and heading south to Laramie. Mid-way in to the 2.5 hour drive I see, off in the distance, pitch black clouds clustered to the SouthEast. Lightning flashing almost non-stop. I KNOW that Laramie is under that black cloud.

I arrive in Larzmie and find that the clouds I had seen were indeed over Laramie and when they disappeared they left behind over 4 inches of hail.

There was another year that it snowed the entire weekend. Remember I said we are grooming in the sheep barn? Sheep barns are not heated.

And have you ever seen the effect of a microburst? I have. In Laramie of course.

The weirdest thing about Laramie weather is that it doesn't "move in" from one direction and then "move out" in another. It just APPEARS and DISAPPEARS.

Why do I go back? Because dog showing, like knitting, is an addiction that you jsut can't get enough of. Even if it means going to Laramie....

Obligatory Knitting Content

I finally got some buttons for Ivy but I'm not sure if I like them plus I think they may be too big.

Work continues on the second Tasha shawl. Much slower than the first one. I think it's because I don't get to change to a new yarn after every skein.

I can't figure out what row I was on when I stopped working on the Cherry Blossom Shawl. Don't you just hate it when that happens.

* Weather Underground says it was sunny and warm in Laramie today. It's supposed to rain and be in the 50s tomorrow and Monday. It could be worse. It could snow...

Anne at 11:25 PM

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Stash Enhancement

Believe it or not I really have been trying not to buy much yarn. I have been failing rather miserably.

Yes, I do feel guilty about this.

But I do not feel guilty about my latest acquisition.

Angora yumminess.

But how can this really ugly sweater... which is also 2 sizes too big for me....

...be considered worthy stash enhancement?

I paid $3 for it, brand new at WalMart in Cortez. It is NOT a cut and sewn garment. That means I can unravel it and have almost 13 ounces of gorgeous laceweight angora blend yarn for $3 and an hour or so of time spent with my ball winder.

My husband thinks I'm nuts.

"Blowing" Coat

This is another one of those "Don't you wish you were me?" moments...

Anne at 3:17 PM

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Why It's Better in Colorado

AKC dog shows follow the same schedule every year.

Presidents Day weekend in February is always the big 4 day dog show in Denver. Mid July takes me to the shows in Eagle Colorado, unless I go to the Houston shows that weekend. Early March is Scottsdale, Arizona, Labor day weekend is Cheyenne, Wyoming, And mid May means shows in Cortez Colorado.

Is there any more beautiful time of the year to drive thru this part of the country?

Not only is the scenery spectacular, but the variety is unbelieveable. Yesterday there was still 4 feet of snow at the Wolf Creek pass summit, on either side the temp was in the mid 80s.

The valley on the western side of the Wolf Creek pass is home to Pagosa Springs and is incredibly green and lush, I think this area rivals Lake Tahoe (circa 1980) as the most beautiful place in the country. On the eastern side of the pass the trees were just beginning to bloom.

The town of Cortez itself is one of my favorite places in Colorado. If you look on a map it looks like a pretty unremarkable little town. It is actually the "home base" for people visting Mesa Verde, one of the richest archeaological sites in the entire world.

It borders the Ute Mountain reservation, and is within an hour from the Navajo Nation borders. It is also within an hour or so drive of Four Corners and not too far from Monument Valley.

Because of the international nature of the visitors to Mesa Verde, the restaurants are surprisingly varied, plentiful and very good.

Shopping is terrific with lots of galleries featuring Native American art, textiles and jeweley. And there are lots of great pawn shops. I don't typically frequent pawn shops except in this part of the country. I think almost my entire collection of Pendleton wool blankets came from pawn shops in Cortez and Farmington, New Mexico, including my favorite which is actually a purple Chief Joseph shawl that came with the tags still on it. Price? $30!!!

Obligatory Knitting Content

I finished Ivy early Thursday morning before I left on my trip. I still need to find just the right buttons before I can wear it. Right now it's blocking, I would provide a picure but it's being blocked on a towel that is the exact same color as the yarn it's made from, meaning the picture was lacking any apparent detail. So pictures still to come....

Anne at 10:00 AM

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Lovin' That Lace

Ivy is almost complete. I just have to finish up the lace edging around the collar and sew up the side seams. Might even finish it in time for my trip tomorrow.

The collar was supposed to be knit separately from the front bands, and then the lace was supposed to be knit in two strips and sewed on. I decided to knit the bands and collar all at once and then knit the edging on. Much more fun that way.

Stash Shopping

While paging thru my copy of Lavish Lace I was considering what yarns might be good for some of the projects when suddenly I remembered... don't I have several skeins of handpainted silk yarn that I bought many years ago at Springwater Workshop back in Alexandria, Virginia???

Why, yes, I do.

On the left, 1000 yards of what appears to be lace weight, on the right 560 yards of what looks like a light sport weight to me. Both 100% silk. Both hand dyed by Donna Zalusky. Now to decide what to do with them.

My How Time Flies...

The pups are 6 weeks old today.

On The Road Again

Babe, Kelly, Kira and I are hitting the road to Cortez, Colorado tomorrow morning for another dog show. Wish us luck!

Anne at 7:57 PM

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Wanna Know What I Did Last Night?

click here

Don't you really wish you were me?

Anne at 10:54 AM

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I *heart* Silky Wool

I've always said that if I were stranded on a desert island and could only have one yarn with me it would be Koigu Painters Palette Premium Merino. In ALL the colors. That is still true, but if I could have two yarns, the second would be Elsebeth Lavold's Silky wool.

I'm now working on my 4th project with it. First was the Fir Cone Square. Second was Obi. Third is Liv, which is still in progress and now Ivy, which I am making via the method Bonne Marie has christened Fusion Knitting, partly by hand and partly with my Studio LK-150 Hobby Knitter.

Not only does she make great yarn, but Elsebeth Lavold is rapidly becoming one of my favorite designers as well. Check our her website some time.

Puppy Picture of the Day

Anne at 3:34 PM

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Something I've Never Done Before

I am a bit of a perfectionist.

So the step I'm taking on the Highland Triangle Shawl is a big one for me.

Last night as I spread the whole thing out to admire the beginnings of the edging, I noticed a mistake. I left out one row of the lace pattern way back at the very end of the first skein I knit with. I'm now nearing the end of the 5th skein. That's a lot of lace in between.

I actually had it pulled off the needles and started to rip. But I stopped. I kept thinking about something I saw on someone's blog earlier this month... about if you can't see it from the back of a galloping horse...

I KNOW that NO ONE but ME will EVER notice the mistake. So I'm going to take a deep breath and leave it.

This is really HARD for me. I've been known to rip out much more than this for much smaller mistakes. But the thing is, I just KNOW that in this case I'm going to resent reknitting all the lace and probably will stuff it in the back of the closet and never finish it if I rip it out. I don't know how I know this, I just do. And I want to finish it. So the mistake is staying. I'll post pictures when I finish the whole thing.

Knitters With Altitude

Last week Felicia started up a new knitting group in Colorado Springs... and we had our first get together already!

Bright and early Saturday morning, Felicia, Liesel, Kathy, Brian (yes we had a GUY there!) and I met at Pikes Perk off Powers Blvd and spent an enjoyable couple hours getting to know each other in person. Hopefully it was only the first of many more get togethers!

Anne at 6:09 PM

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Tasty Leftovers

What's this?

Why it's the Truly Tasha's Shawl made with Noro Leftovers!

More pictures right here!

Puppy Picture of the Day

9 month old Babe watches over her 4 week old cousins while the puppies Mama Raven takes a break.

Anne at 10:44 PM