Well- it is finally done!  My contribution towards the Welcome Blanket project- an alternative narrative this agenda to build a wall.  It was a craftivism project that took me just about 2 months to complete.



Why did I spend money and countless hours stitching away at a blanket?  Because at the core of my being I believe in the power of making and crafting to connect us.  In this case it allowed me to connect with other knitters across the country and globe to make something to symbolize welcoming- not building walls.  Much like the Pussyhat movement- I felt connected and inspired in my making to contribute to a cause.


My blanket is headed to the Smart Museum in Chicago next week to be displayed with others until they are then distributed to refugee resettlement organizations to place with families as a welcoming symbol.


Trying to stay true to my desire to be very conscious of my choice of yarns I decided to go with cotton.  I did read several review of the Billow cotton by Knit Picks of it's tendency to shed but I will tell ya- it did shed.  I am hoping that calms down after the first wash.  Another complaint I read about with this yarn was the thick thin element that often people did not like.  I actually really adore this element to the yarn.  I thought it added a rustic element to the blanket that really appealed to me.

I choose a pattern and color pallet that resembled "wheat" to reflect on both my heritage of being in the midwest and coming from a farming family on my mother's side and also of my Volga German ancestors that lived in the Saratov region of Russian in which has wheat in their flag.  You will have to let me know if I nailed it or not!

It was a thoughtful project I was happy to take on and I look forward to hopefully taking a trip up to Chicago to see it on display.

Wish my blanket luck as it makes its smart journey to Chicago and then onto a family!

Wow- I don't really know how else to explain how amazing the experience of the eclipse was.  All the build up around it and suddenly it all went quiet and nature just put on the show of a life time.  Nature and science knocked it out of the park this week!

I took some advise and just absorbed the moment and did not take any photos of the sun and moon during the eclipse but had fun documenting all around it and thought I would share ummm just a few, okay more than a few here!



Because the town where I live was in the path of totality it really was front and center in our community.  The weekend before you could have tossed a stone in either direction and found a fun thing to do.  My crew ended up in one of our big parks that day before the eclipse for a 9 mile bike ride and music festival.  My husband made some fun sun/moon photo props, we grabbed some starburst to hand out and hit the trail for some shenanigans!  Little did we know my youngest would have the opportunity to entertain as a larger than life minion!


The bike riders were treated to some local favorites Shakespeare's pizza and tunes by Pat K before heading back to the main park for more music.  Our evening ended with music, beer, and relaxing with our community.



Originally on the day of the eclipse my boys were going to head into school which all had plans to watch and view.  I had tossed around several options for myself and decided to stay in my own backyard.  A friend of mine said it best- it was a moment to just be still.  As it turned out both the boys requested to stay home with me.  I was not going to refuse if they chose to hang with me instead of friends at school- these are my teenagers after all!  I will ignore that maybe they just wanted a day away from school and pretend it was all about hanging out with their mama- who happened to also have a stash of moon pies, sun chips, and starbursts for them!



I started my day off with some delish peaches, french-style yogurt that I could not resist- dang you marketers that know how to get me and some walnuts. I then proceeded to go out in the morning sun and wind my yarn for the special knitting during eclipse day.  I got one of the "Great American Eclipse" yarn kits from Darlin Dixie Knits.  Gorgeous yarn and bag!  When the eclipse started I just sat out on my deck and knit and kept checking out the progress.  We were a little nervous as some hazy clouds started to move in but it never obscured the sun from us.


About 15 minutes before totality I joined my boys on the roof of our house (it is a pretty low pitch) and laid on a blanket and prepared for it.  It was stunning- we had about 2 minutes and 30 some seconds of totality.  A blanket of dark came, the night time insects started singing and I could not take my eyes off the corona- it truly is something I will always remember.  And I cried- I have no idea why, I just did!  When it started to come out of totality and back into partial eclipsing is when I caught some of the crescent shadows on the deck.


After making some yummy simple lunch and eating during the remaining partial eclipse I knit some more and just absorbed the experience.  The rest of the day fell into our normal patterns.  Some homework, some knitting, and soccer practice.


Ironically this is one knitting project that is giving me fits!  I messed up the pattern twice, did a poor job of winding my yarn on an uneven table which created a knotted mess that I did not realize was in the center of the ball till I pulled it out.  So after frogging back the rim of the hat twice and splitting the ball into two and winding by hand I am starting it over today with a different pattern.  So wish me luck on starting it over again- just a sweet simple slouchy hat in this sun infused beautiful wool yarn. It is a long weekend of soccer games between the boys so I should hopefully be able to make lots of progress!

I hope you all had some simple quite moments with the eclipse as well.  We just heard that a portion of our state will be in the next total eclipse in April of 2024.  We will have to travel a couple hours to get to that one but I am pretty sure we will load up the scamp and not miss it!

Last week my family was able to sneak in a kayak trip with my husband's brother and his family on a stunning river in the southern part of our state.  We loaded up the boys, our Scamp Coleen, some kayaks, some yarn and headed that way.






We floated 12 miles and enjoyed family, cool water, and lots of sunshine! The Eleven Point river is spring fed in several spots but we floated near Greer Spring which happens to be the second largest spring in our state.  The next day the boys and I hiked down to the beginning of the spring and I truly understand why it is called a jewel.  It is so spiritual to me to be in places like this in nature.  I feel grounded and in awe in places like this!








We journeyed back home and made an obligatory stop by a local dairy for some ice-cream for the boys and I was able to knit in a couple rows.

A fun state side adventure that was much appreciated!

This is what half of a Welcome Blanket Project looks like!  1 month to go till the deadline and I need to kick it in to knit the other 8 blocks.  The turmeric and natural colors schemes are lovely but I am adoring the cornmeal and natural colors block I cast on today.


Final push to get them all knit and then sew together before sending it off to the Smart Museum in Chicago.  My husband and I were just hatching up a plan to make a trip up to Chicago before the exhibit is down to see it.  A train adventure seems to be in our future!

The hike itself was just right!  a fast elevation change at the beginning of the trail with stunning views of the local 14er Mount Antero.  3 miles in and we were rewarded with a stunning waterfall, the perfect spot for a snack, rest and a couple of rows of knitting before we hiked the 3 miles back out.



It was hard to leave this beautiful area but we hit the road and started our journey back home.  We decided to go through my birth city of Colorado Springs and made a quick pit stop for some yummy Mexican food.  Finally I got my chili relleno!  Good grief it was good. 

Before we hit the mountain road on the way to Silverton we found an alpine lake hike to do.  Apparently it had been a really good snow year for Colorado so the trail that my husband wanted to take us on was closed on the upper crossing to the lake so we sought out some advice in Durango and landed on Spud Lake Trail.  Even though the road to get to the trail head said we did not need a high clearance vehicle we ended up parking the van and walking the last .5 miles to the trail head because the road was so rough.  It was a stunningly beautiful hike that was moderate in difficulty and rewarded you with a beautiful alpine lake at the end.  I wanted to hang out and knit more up there but some weather was moving in and so we headed on back down and made our way into Silverton.