Owl be darned

Before we get to the owls, a word or two about my Christmas, or maybe they're Thanksgiving, cacti.

They're in bloom already, which is my first concern. Why? Do they know something I don't?

This is actually a photo of two cacti, a hot pink and a white-ish pink.

My second concern, which isn't so much a concern as a puzzle, is that the cactus in the top photo was actually hot pink when I bought it at Sam's Club a few years ago. I remember distinctly that it was hot pink because, while I loved its price, I didn't so much care for the color of the blossoms. Now it blooms red, so I'm happy.

Now the owls. I've been knitting quick little Owl Puffs lately. I like to give little gifts at Christmas to some young children we know, so this year they're getting Owl Puffs. One owl is already winging his way (get it?) to Washington, DC, to a little girl who became a big sister last week. I'm hoping the owl will ease the trauma of no longer being an only child.

The Owl Puffs pattern is free on Ravelry.

Now for my sock. I spotted this wool/nylon yarn at AC Moore a couple of days ago and had to have it. I'm on a self-imposed buy-no-more-yarn diet, true, but sometimes I have to break my own rules. This was one of those times. I love this colorful yarn, and I love wearing wool socks in the winter. Toasty-warm toes, you betcha.

Off to the fair

Ken and I went to Fryeburg Fair recently. This is one of Maine's bigger fairs, and it's always an interesting mixture of agriculture, entertainment, arts and crafts, and food.

Ken goes for the large farm equipment; I go for the needle crafts. We both go for the food.

 Various grange chapters display excellent hand work.

This wall quilt received a blue ribbon, and it was made by my friend Carol. She is an excellent quilter and knitter. I wasn't surprised to see she'd won a blue ribbon.

The animals are always fun to check out. They remind me of going to Skowhegan State Fair when I was a kid.

The Fiber Barn at Fryeburg Fair is my main interest. This year it didn't seem to be quite as abuzz with activity as it has in past years. Still, I enjoyed ogling the yarns and knitted items.

I'm proud to say I managed to walk away without a single purchase. I have enough yarn in my stash to last this lifetime, if not another lifetime after this one.

So that was our day at the fair. That, and french fries and burgers for lunch.

Knitted and felted clogs

I finished a pair of knitted and felted clog slippers today. Hallelujah.

I say "hallelujah" because although I've made three or four pairs of these slippers in the past, I seemed to have a brain freeze while making this pair.

To be more specific, I had one of the slippers almost completed but couldn't seem to get the stitch count to come out correctly. Assuming I'd messed up somewhere, I raveled out the whole darned slipper and knit it again, only to again have trouble with the stitch count.

I was on the verge of throwing in the towel, declaring I was no longer capable of knitting this pattern, and finding a friendlier item to knit, when suddenly a light went off: I realized I'd been misreading one step of the directions. That first slipper I'd knit and raveled? It was correct; there was no need to have raveled it.

So in essence I've knit three slippers in order to get one pair.

This pattern is actually very clever. It results in a pair of warm, cozy slippers that actually do look like clogs.

I made a pair for myself a few years ago and wore them out. Although the sole is a double-layer of knitting, it can't hold up to constant wear around the house.

I made a pair for a niece, too, and she loved hers as much as I loved mine, but they, too wore out after awhile.

I'm hoping to extend the life of this pair by whip-stitching rubberized shelf-lining patches to the bottom of each slipper. I've read that this works in protecting the sole from wear. We shall see.

Before tossing the slippers into the washing machine to felt them, they are huge. I'm not exaggerating. This pair was probably a size 13, minimum. I've got them felted down to a size 6, I think. Size 6 is what the recipient of them wears, anyway, so I hope these fit.

I've also shaved them. That's right, shaved them. This particular wool yarn was very fuzzy after being felted. Perhaps you can see the difference between this photo and the last photo, pre- and post-shaving.

The pattern is by Fiber Trends; the yarn I used is by Knit One, Crochet, too. When I've made these slippers previously, I've used good, old Paton's Classic Wool yarn. It's a wonderful yarn for felting.

Anyway, these clogs will go into a bureau drawer upstairs for safe keeping. Then they'll be given as a gift at Christmas.

The last scenic tour of our trip: The Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Another must-see for me on our road trip from Maine to Oregon was The Badlands National Park of South Dakota. We'd been near the Badlands on previous trips but had not taken the time to enter the park.


The Badlands cover 244, 000 acres and are co-owned by the US and the Oglala Sioux tribe. Consequently, 50% of all entrance fees to the park are shared by these two.

 The rugged landscape is something I'd never seen the likes of before.


Nor had I ever seen bison roaming, prairie dogs watching tourists, and pronghorn (or bighorn) sheep casually lounging on the sides of cliffs.

I found the colorful yellow and pink striations especially beautiful.

We spent a few hours in the park, then we began our trek back to Maine. It would take four days to get there.

On to Glacier National Park

To be honest, I was not quite sure exactly where Glacier National Park is located, but I'd seen enough photos of it over the years to be determined to visit the park on this trip.

As it turns out, Glacier National Park is located in far northern Montana, sharing a border with the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.

It was a mere 30° the morning we entered the park. Ken and I wore several layers of shirts and sweaters, yet we saw hikers about to tackle the park in shorts.

We spent most of the day driving "The Road to the Sun," or "Going to the Sun Road."

Although it's only 52 miles in length, it's twisty and turn-y and there are endless turnoffs to capture photos.

I often fuss about the overuse today of the word "awesome." I cringe when I hear it used to describe mundane things,...which is how it IS used almost exclusively nowadays.

But "awesome" is definitely rightfully used to describe Glacier National Park.

We saw a grizzly bear, briefly, just before we exited the park. He was ambling along a hillside, searching for food. By the time I'd gotten myself out of the car and was ready to focus my camera on him, he had disappeared behind some thick bushes. Darn. My one time seeing a real, live grizzly, and I flubbed my chance at taking his picture.

It was an exciting day in the park, nevertheless. I felt rather sad to have to leave it, but it was time to move on.

Next stop: The Badlands.