75th Fur Rondy!!

There are some things that are so special about living in Alaska! The Fur Rondy is one of them!! Today kicks off the 75th anniversary - which I think is pretty amazing! It has had some rough years as it costs quite a bit to put on! I have been going to Fur Rondy events my entire life and cannot imagine not getting to see the sled dogs, or any of the the awesome events that happen. John and I will be sitting down when he gets home to plan out which events we don't want to miss!! Definitely the start of the Iditarod, the running of the Reindeer, etc. I can't wait!!

Also on the knitting olympics front, I am into the body of Corbin's vest, hoping to finish that up tonight and do the steeking etc. tomorrow. Noah's vest is going to need a little reworking because his head is huge! so I think I am going to put in buttons on one shoulder for his......

Second Go around

whoa! This week seemed to fly by!

John's vest is finished!! Took me about 5 days of knitting, definitely fast and satisfying! The steeking was scary, but as I have read, it was completely easy :) I haven't blocked it yet, so no finished pics, but this is after I have done one armhole and the neck :)

It's only been three weeks since my last cooking adventure, but meat was on sale and I had the time this weekend to cook, so I went ahead and cooked the meals for March! I went bigger this month and prepared 13 different recipes and now have a nicely stocked freezer with even more variety! I will admit that this past month some of the meals were a little too familiar :) So this way I should only be eating the same meal once every two weeks (the 13th meal is moose roast and the 14th, spaghetti, but they were already prepped and frozen, so I didn't count them). I just love looking the freezer to see such variety and availability!!

Recipes for March:

1. Sloppy Joes
2. Chili
3. Double Baked Potatoes
4. Sweet n Sour Chicken
5. Lasagna
6. Shepherds Pie
7. Sweet BBQ Chicken Drumsticks
8. Moose Stew
9. Ginny's Beans
10. Chicken Quesadillas
11. Bean Burritos
12. Quiche Lorraine (an improved recipe over last months!)

Also just for good measure a pic of my little mad scientist, lol!

The Olympics!

Had so much fun settling in to watch the opening ceremonies as well as cast on my project! I am knitting the Alberta vest (three actually, one for John, Corbin, and Noah) by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed and the challenge will be that it is my first steeking project!! (yikes!) I have read that it is easy, but the though of cutting my knitting is just a little scary and intimidating! I am using Australis Yarn, my merino worsted weight. I cast on and was several inches into the stripes when I decided that I just didn't like it. I had dyed the yarn in semi-solid tones of blue, green, and a goldish brown. As I progressed I decided that the gold was just too bright and was becoming the focal color. Not what I had been hoping. so I ripped out to the ribbing and reskeined the gold and overdyed into a much deeper brown. It is steaming as we speak and if all goes well should be dry for me tomorrow morning.

So, in the meantime I have cast on the ribbing for Noah's vest....thank goodness for interchangeable needles!! At least this way I am not losing too much knitting time.....

Yesterday we made our weekly trek out to the zoo, but this time with a new sled for Noah. He was buckled in, so no diving out or making us run after him too much. He was still really able to see the animals and get a kick out of what they were doing! I LOVE going to the zoo in the winter, no crowds and the animals are so much more active than in the summer.

Today was Second Saturday and they had a ton of stuff set up for kids, they played with some cool toys, did some crafts, watched some dancing and got some free hot cocoa :) It was a super fun day! Then after we got home Corbin and I made valentine cupcakes. It was so fun to have him help me and participate!

Oh and some new fiber came home to live with me....isn't it GORGEOUS!

Gathered Scarf

Another project off the needles! This scarf went pretty fast and that was a good thing....scarves are really not my favorite type of project. My Mom really needed one though so that she would stop wearing the last one I made her. It was really ratty and just not my best work. This yarn was so nice to work with and I can't wait until I am able to order more for the shop and for myself. It is my Polaris Luxury yarn, a 70/20/10 Alpaca/Silk/Cashmere blend (YUM!).

Today

It's been a good one. I made sure to go to bed earlier and actually set an alarm (my kids are what I usually wake up to) and enjoyed a quiet start to the morning with coffee and reading. It made a big difference in my state of mind and I think I am going to make an effort to keep waking up earlier than them!

So being Grand Slam Day I picked up John from work and we headed to Denny's for our free breakfast! We don't eat out often (anymore) and it was great! Considering that it was crazy busy our server was VERY friendly and efficient and everything came out when and as it should. Here is Noah enjoying his meal :)

Went on to do a little shopping and bought a preschool work book for Corbin. He was really been wanting to learn to write his letters and talks about the ABC's all the time, as we can't afford preschool and I am home with him anyways I figured it was a good idea!! So we sat down to do "homework" as he calls it and he loved it!! I can't wait to start doing this with him everyday :) It was a really special moment in the day.

Now Corbin is down for his nap, Noah is happily tottering around talking and playing, and I am going to knit on the Gathered Scarf that I am knitting for my Mom.

Andrea's Shawl

I finished a new shawlette Friday and I LOVE it!! More so than I even expected! It is so light and airy as well as just having a beautiful shape. The edge gently scallops and the construction was just so fun to knit. I already have plans and yarns for another one, this time with the stripes as called for in the pattern. Kristen of Through the Loops is just a great designer! I wore it to church today and it stayed in place nicely and just was warm and silky all at the same time. The yarn is Pigeonroof Studios 80/20 Merino/Silk blend lace (held double) from her Luminosity Project in "Aquae". These aren't the best pics but they will have to do :)

Pictures!

What to say?

What I hate the most about "taking a break" from blogging is that I feel like I have to "catch up"...which makes me not really feel like posting. So I am just ignoring that fact that I haven't posted in over a month....

I have several projects to post about...I even have pics of most of them. Alas my camera is in the car and I am on the couch....so maybe tomorrow I will do a wordless post to make up for today's lack of pics.

The biggest change in my house since I last posted is that I have gone to once a month cooking! I now have a large stand alone freezer (thank you Aunt Connie!!) and have 50lbs of moose and 30+ meals inside it! It took me around 6.5 hours to cook and then I was done! It's been very nice knowing that I will be having a real meal each evening while not having to decide what to cook. Plus I got to break the food up into portion size that make sense for our family as well. I am already looking forward to planning and cooking for next month as I learned a few things and have found some more good recipes!

well that's all for now and I will hopefully be getting some good pics up by tomorrow!