Idaho Wine Country

 I love how the snow sticks to just part of the post and sign.

This is Idaho Wine country - just gorgeous, isn't it?

This is the Sawtooth Winery - one of my favorite.  Dena says I should broaden my horizons and visit some new wineries but I don't see why when I have several that I really love so much.

 This is also Idaho wine country.  Miles from anything - even paved roads.

This is the 3 Horse Ranch Wine Tasting Room - another terrific Idaho wine.

See?  Miles from anything - lots and lots of sage brush and a dirt road.

 Gorgeous vistas.

 And a lovely winery.

 Something for everyone!

And, Dena didn't drive on a single dirt road - she's not allowed to drive on dirt roads and there are a lot of them out there.  See?  She didn't drive on any dirt roads.

Lest you think I just tasted and did not buy - that is 38 bottles of wine sitting in my garage.  There were more, but we already drank a bunch of them.  There is another case being shipped out this week.  You'll notice that the whites are on the right and the reds are on the left (with two lonely pinks in the middle).  I drink white, he drinks red.  He got a LOT more wine than I did.  But, the wine club I joined at Ste. Chapelle requires me to buy another case . . . and they have some lovely white wines and shipping is cheap.

And this is a man and his dog.  

Teresa

Idaho - 'nother day

See through those trees?

 This is Terry.  He lives two doors down from Dena.  He has horses and he likes to ride 'em.  He also likes to share them with friends.

 Everytime we visit, he comes down and asks if That Other Girl wants to come out and ride.  She always wants to and she always rides.

 Terry makes her pose for Mom's camera, even if she complains.  I like that about him.  I like pictures of everything and rarely get them of this child.

Do you know what happens when you call alpaca?

 They run as fast as they can toward you (or is it toward the food?).

On this particular day, we had the brilliant idea of splitting the girls off and moving them to the front pasture where there is more fresh green grass.

 We figured the nursing (and possibly pregnant) mama needed more to eat.

 And we figured the other girls could use the extra too - they aren't nearly as friendly as the boys and as a result aren't nearly as fat.

Moving them meant a lot of running around and chasing animals.  I'm proud to say that I caught (yes, in my arms) at least three alpaca and moved them from one pasture to the other.

 Then the girls in the front pasture cried and cried until we moved a boy in with them.  That fawn colored paca is Polo and he cried and cried until he got moved into the girl pasture.

Dena also has attack ducks.  The boy (standing) chased me every time I went outside - likes to nibble the backs of your ankles as you walk.  Good thing it doesn't hurt or he'd have gotten a good swift kick in the beak.

Teresa

Idaho Visit - Llamas

 The two critters on the right of this photo are llamas and the rest are alpaca.  The critter in the center is That Other Girl's baby llama - Dai.

This is a better shot of Dai.  She's about the same size as the alpaca, but very much still a baby.  She eats some hay, but is always behind mama and always protected by mama.

 Check out the close up of that fleece.  Yes, it is every bit as soft as it looks.  Kid llama - is that what you call it?

 That Other Girl having way too much fun feeding the alpacas - well, really only the mama llama Tanna is getting any of those pellets!

 Gramma came out to watch and help.  

 Both the girl and gramma seemed to be having fun.  The alpaca were certainly enjoying it thoroughly!

One more shot of Tanna and Dai - the two herd llamas.

Dena and I visited this winery - Ste. Chapelle.  It's my favorite and I fully intend to visit it and taste their wine every time I visit Idaho - whether Dena likes it or not.

There was playtime with the dogs . . .

 and with the crazy cousin . . .

See?  He really is crazy.

And many knitting books came home with me.

Teresa

Playing Catch Up

I'm going to have to figure out what I have knit and not posted.  This is going to be the Tin Man's heart in The Wiz - being put on by my daughter's school soon.  I love the way Noro yarn changes colors.  For this one I just used my Little Hearts pattern but kept on knitting till it was the size I wanted before I split for the tops.

This is going to be the Fenna shawl from  Stahman's Shawls and Scarves by Myrna Stahman.  This lovely yarn is Royal Platinum Lace by Royal Fiber Spinnery.  It's pure Alpaca and so soft and lovely when knit.  I'm trying to determine which size needle to use - the first and widest bit was knit with a 7, the middle bit with an 8 and the narrowest bit with a 9.  I think the 7 part is too stiff, love the drape of the 8 and think that the 9 is lacier but I'm not in love with it.  I think we will be using the 8.  I can't cast this on just yet because I have mom's Gemma almost done and have a special request to finish this week as well.  But I am looking forward to knitting this soft stuff.

Teresa

Old Dogs, New Tricks

Actually, not completely new.  Mom taught me to sew when I was just a kid and I did sew a lot as a teenager.  But it wasn't my thing, so when I grew up and moved out on my own, I put sewing away and didn't touch it for many years.  Yes, I do still have the sewing machine that Dad bought me when I was a teenager but I haven't used it in many years and it needs a bit of TLC to get back to working order.  

So, Mom, here is proof that what you taught me stuck.  I made this jacked in about two afternoons.  I have to admit that I'm impressed myself - never thought I could do it.  (Laura did help, but at least 95% of this one is mine.)  I also did a lot of sewing on several other jackets and several pairs of pants for the show (The Wiz) at the high school.  I've decided sewing can be fun . . . I might just have to start saving for one of them new-fangled electric sewing machines.

Teresa

P.S.  To everyone else, sorry for the quiet on the blog . . . been busy.  Still need to post pics from the trip to Idaho and those will come when things settle down here (about another week).

We made corn

and drank great Idaho wine and did other crazy things for a whole week. That Other Girl and I are on our way home now and I already miss Dena and Mom a ton!

Dena made a corn too. These were modeled on a knitted pot holder that Mom had in her things from her youth. Her mom had made hers for Mom in red & white. I didnt think to take photos of all three with my phone, but i did with my camera and I will post pictures when I get to a computer.

It's Quiet Because . . .

Dena is showing me the sights in Idaho. I'll be home in a few days and post more.

Finished Shawl

This is the Damask Rose shawl from The Unique Sheep blocking.  It pinned out to almost 5' across (each letter square is a foot across).  I think it turned out to be a quite nice shawl.  I like the way it fits . . . unfortunately, I haven't gotten any shots of a person wearing it yet.

This is how the gradience changes look on the edging - see it starts with the peach/yellow and merges into the green/yellow.  

And this is the back of the finished shawl.  It's pretty large - probably 2 1/2 feet from the neck to the bottom - so it's a nice warm shawl to wear when I'm chilly in my knitting chair.

Teresa

'Nother Anna Zilboorg Hat

 So first I grabbed a dozen bits of leftover Galway wool - my favorite yarn because it's so easy for me to get, not terribly expensive and comes in sooooo many colors.  It's not fancy, it's just a great all purpose worsted weight yarn and I use it for a lot of stranded color work.

 Then I just randomly began grabbing the balls and knitting.  I did pick out the darkest colors for the backgrounds - there are four different background colors on this hat.

 This is another Anna Zilboorg hat from 45 Fine & Fanciful Hats.  I love that book and the crazy but lovely hats in it.  There is still one more type of hat in the book that I have not knit - the beret.  I'm sure I'll knit one (or more) eventually.  There are five of each type of hat in the book, so there are still a lot of hats left for me to knit, thank goodness.

 I just love how the colors came out - they don't show true in this photograph - the first two photos show the colors better.

 No, I wouldn't actually wear the hat like this.  I would wear it flatter.  I set it up like this for photographing it so you could see the layers and how it's made.  

This is the finished hat.  Sorry about the less than terrific iPhone photos - the hat is currently in the costume shop at the school as we are working on another musical.  That is actually what the last two hats were knit for, we will be using some of my hats as part of the costumes so I will need to make five or six of whichever one they choose.  There is another hat, a three level hat (pictured here) that they are also considering.  Both the three level and this two level hat are a lot of knitting.  Diane, this one took me three evenings to finish.  It should have only taken two, but I was tired from working in the costume shop all day.  When I get all the hats back, I will take a couple shots of all of them together - they are fun and wild.

Teresa