Fingerless Gloves - Winter Must Be Coming !

It seems like every year when the weather begins to change and get colder, I pick up my knitting needles again. This year I decided to see how sock yarn would work for making fingerless gloves. Here's how the first one came out.

I'm using a set of #3 circular needles. I did use a set of #6 for the first two rows, however, to make sure the opening was really stretchy. They work up fairly quickly, and are a fun project to pull out in the evening for a nice knitting session. I like the wild colors too - that's so me !

Another project I can show is a cute sleeve I made awhile ago. It is for my Kindle, and I just made random patterns of knit or purl and some ribbing to see how I liked the sleeve idea.

Turns out it is the perfect thing for tucking the Kindle away. I used acrylic yarn in a fun tweed brown color. Red Heart doesn't seem to make this yarn anymore, which makes me sad. I used a sock making technique to start the bottom of the sleeve, so no seams were involved.

Soon I'll take on making socks when the snow starts to fly and winter is seriously upon Colorado once again.

Impressive Colorado Clouds

A storm rolled down the Front Range last night. There were tornado, flood, wind and hail warnings that we watched carefully. The clouds looked very powerful !!

Our area only got light rain and some wind. Towns further west got heavier rain and hail. I haven't heard of any tornado damage in the news, so Colorado survived these wild clouds.

Meet Pepper

Pepper has joined the pack!  She is about 10 months old, and a mix of blue heeler and border collie. Her coat has lovely grey/white/black speckles with large black patches. Here is a picture of her exploring the yard.

Pepper was living in town with a nice family, but wanted more room to run. We are able to provide space, so we brought her to the farm this week. Pepper took to the yard wonderfully and became friends with our dogs very easily.

Our other dogs Oz the doberman and Barney the chihuahua are getting to know to their new friend. We allow Barney to have his couch area fenced off so only he can get through. When he feels the need for a safe place, he can run into this room and hop up on the back of the couch. Oz is teaching Pepper that sitting on the spiral staircase is a great way to look out of the windows.

We are glad Pepper is part of the family now and look forward to teaching her the ins and outs of living in the country.

Bees and Butterflies are Happy

Colorado has been enjoying a nice summer growing season. The flowers and clover plants we have in the yard are doing well. Here are a few pictures I took last week.

Summer Haircut

Barney the Chihuahua has a new look this summer. I decided to trim his hair all over to make him more comfortable during the warm months.

He did very well sitting still while I cut his hair with scissors. I think it probably felt like a massage, since I pulled groups of hair up with my fingers to cut. It has been very helpful having his leg hair short, as now he doesn't pick up so many little twigs and sticks in the yard.

He's a real cool dog now !! Get it ??

Soap Making Is Still Fun

Summer time is a more difficult season to make soap for me since I have to wear a mask over my mouth and nose, plus gloves and eye protection. That can make a person a bit stuffy on a warm day. But despite that, I still enjoy the little science project called cold process goat's milk soap making.

As with many projects, the largest amount of time is spent on the preparation. I pull out my tupperware boxes full of stainless steel pans and utensils, check that I have enough of the ingredients, and prepare the kitchen for the job.

Here are my ingredients: Goat's Milk, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, and Lye.  In the past I have experimented with adding scented oils and herbs, but in the end decided plain soap is really my favorite to use. The other types are pretty, but pure bars are lovely and soft to use. My husband made the soap molds for me. I love them because they have removable sides so I can get the soap log out easily after it cures for a day or two.

I carefully weigh the oils and add them to one pan. Next I take the frozen milk cubes and put them in the other pan. Time for the gloves and face protection as I REALLY carefully measure out the lye and slowly add it to the milk.

After the lye has all been added and the contents of both pans are at about the same temperature, I pour the milk pan's contents into the oil pan. Here's where the science happens, as the ingredients combine and begin to form soap. I use a hand mixer and a spatula to continually stir the batch until it thickens up. The thick mixture, once it reaches what is called 'trace', gets poured into the soap molds.

The soap mixture begins with a yellow tint, but as it hardens up it turns more of an oatmeal color. At this stage it just needs to sit still and cool down. It hardens up enough after one day to allow me to remove the sides from the molds. After two days, I remove the bottom of the molds and slice the bars into their final form.

Now comes the time for patience. Handmade soap needs to be rotated frequently to allow air to circulate all around the bar. This cures the bars and helps them get harder as they lose some moisture. My bars go through this process for a month. I use shelves to keep the bars where I can see them so I remember to rotate them around every day or two.

It is really fun making handmade soap, and even more fun using it. People tell me the bars are good for regular washing, as well as being used like shaving creme. These bars will be in the shop later in August once they are cured.

A Visit to Rocky Mountain National Park

Colorado has so many beautiful places to visit, including nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, near Estes Park. We had a fun road trip last week, driving up to the park through Loveland and along the Big Thompson river.

The road in the park takes you up and up, then gives you views of where you have been.

We continued further until there was snow on the mountains. The views up this high are spectacular !!

Moving above tree-line, we came upon the largest herd of elk I've ever seen in the park. They were right next to the road!

Next we came upon three beautiful bull elks with full racks on their heads!

Our day trip to the park was certainly fun !!