Home From Away and a Wee Hobbes

I had a seamless trip home from Colorado yesterday. Francey got me to the 5:35am (MT) shuttle bus. As I had checked in online ahead of time and didn’t plan to check my suitcase I got through security quickly and found my way to the departure gate. The breakfast offerings in that area of the terminal were pretty bad so I had a yogurt with fruit and granola. 

Of course there was a call for some folks to check their carry-on bags. I volunteered mine as it would move me from boarding group 5 to boarding group 2. It also would be the first suitcase off the plane at our destination. The flight went quickly for me as I listened to several episodes of a podcast.

Upon arrival, I checked that my suitcase had actually been loaded and the app made it look like the suitcase was still in Denver. I had a slight anxiety attack but realized there was nothing in there that I needed right away. Once through the automated Customs area and Immigration, I ventured down to the baggage claim (lots of walking) and there was my suitcase. I think the AirPod needed to be connected to Wifi to register properly - crisis averted. 

It was my first time using the UP Express - very easily located in Terminal 1. It was a very quick and comfortable ride to Union Station using my Presto card. Then at Union, I had about 10 minutes to get to my GO Train. Once aboard, I texted my neighbour to let her know which train to meet to retrieve me from the GO station.

It was good to be home. The house was very stuffy so I got all the windows opened to cool the place off in the cool of the evening. 

I worked away on the tail of the little Hobbes I’ve been crocheting. I decided to watch a couple more YouTube videos on a jogless join. This morning I started a second tail and just finished it. I made it one stripe of each colour shorter, too.

I got better at the jogless striping as I had more practice.

All that I have left to finish are the muzzle, tummy, and ears. 

This is DK weight yarn. Fingering weight would make an itty bitt Hobbes

It’s been a pretty fun project. 

More Holiday Fun

The other day we visited My Sister Knits, another yarn shop in Fort Collins.

It’s in a carriage house behind a beautiful home shaded by mature trees on a main street. 

I didn’t buy anything as I didn’t have any projects in mind (and my stash at home is embarrassingly vast) but I certainly appreciated the beautiful display. I haven’t been much of a knitter these past 10 years or so and didn’t recognize most of the names of the indie yarns. 

I started crocheting the little Hobbes. The head, body, and legs are done. 

It’s only going to be about 10” tall once it’s stuffed and assembled. I have started the first arm and might get it done today - our day of sloth and relaxation.

We had to return to Lambspun so I could purchase a second ball of the orange Rowan baby cashsoft merino yarn. I wanted to make sure I have enough to finish this little Hobbes. Since I only have the two arms and tail left that I need the orange for, I will probably not finish the first ball after all. Oh well, I can crochet another one with the leftovers.

Fort Collins has many microbreweries. We toured what might be the oldest one - New Belgium. 

It was a 90 minute tour where we learned the correct way to pour beer from a tap - so there wouldn’t be too much foam.

We viewed the bottling area which no longer runs 24/7 as most people like buying beer in cans.

However there was one line running  and we could see the finished cartons of beer coming off the line.

Our ticket entitled us to a complimentary can of beer and at a couple of other stops in the factory, we were just handed cans of beer to sample there or take home. Francey and I managed to snag 5 different brands.

There is also a New Belgium plant in Asheville NC.

The climate is pretty arid here in the foothills so there is a lot of xeriscaping. I was pleased to see the neighbour’s sunflowers in various stages.

The local college is Colorado State University. Yesterday was the Rocky Mountain Showdown between CSU and the U of Colorado - ‘Coach Prime’, Deion Sanders is their coach and his son is their quarterback. The CBS folks had set up a booth downtown (sponsored by Mountain Dew) and we drove by the stadiums’s parking lot where the tailgate parties were in full swing. We enjoyed the game quietly at home.

Although they did lead in the first quarter, sadly they lost 28 - 9. The next time these two schools will meet will be in 2029.

Today we are having a crafty day and really do not have anything planned. Francey took me to a local Mexican restaurant when I first arrived and I was thrilled to see they were selling pork tamales.🫔 I will be having some of those for lunch. Yum!😋 

Colorado Holiday

I arrived in Denver on Tuesday after a very early ride to the airport, chauffeured by a dear friend, and an uneventful flight. I had been advised to download the Mobile Passport Control (MPC) app onto my phone which permitted me to go into an express line through US Customs. If you plan any air travel to the US, I highly recommend this app. From the time I was dropped off to the time I went through security, US Customs, and arrived at my gate, it was only 20 minutes!

I got my preferred aisle seat but unfortunately because I was just ahead of an exit row, my seat didn’t recline. I did have some shut-eye in an upright position with my head cradled by a neck pillow.

 

I didn’t plan to check my carry-on sized bag but by the time my group boarded, all the overhead bins were full. Several passenger put both their hand luggage and carry on bag in the overhead bins thus hogging/taking up space for others’ small suitcases. 😡. Thus, my bag was checked on the jetway and was at the baggage carousel by the time I got there after disembarking the plane. The baggage claim  is probably a kilometre from my gate and I could have taken a train there but chose to walk after being seated for most of the previous 3.5h.

Francey was there to meet me and directed us to the shuttle that would take us the 116km to Fort Collins. We were both very glad to not have to deal with the Denver traffic and got a lot of catching up done on the ride.

Yesterday we visited a local yarn shop, Lambspun, that had a lot of indie yarns, and supplies for weaving, felting, knitting and crocheting. There, I bought three skeins of fingering weight Rowan Baby Cashsoft Merino yarn.

I want to make a mini-Hobbes - a companion for this guy I crocheted a few months ago.

The leftmost yarn is more of a midnight blue/black but will serve adequately as tiger stripes.

Today we headed to Loveland to shop at Colorado Cross Stitcher and The Loopy Ewe. Both businesses used to be under one roof in Fort Collins but a couple of years ago opened in separate locations in Loveland.

Colorado Cross Stitcher is now in an industrial office building.

The interior is vast. 

This is the first thing one sees to the right of the entrance - so many lovely sample pillows.

There are three main aisles.

The tables had most of the newly released patterns…

Many brands of threads, lots of beautiful samples on display. Everything was brightly lit. Collections were arranged by designer. 

I took this photo and didn’t realize it until I got back to Francey’s and looked at the photo that it is the original Smith sampler and the Scarlett House’s modern iteration of it.

They do a brisk mail-order business so everything is well organized for picking and packing. 

I did manage to find a couple (ahem) of things for purchase. Of course, a sunflower piece. 🌻

Two scrumptious fat eighths of 40ct hand-dyed Newcastle Linen - Country Mocha and Sapphire

I have admired this Kathy Barrick pattern for several years and bought it and the called-for WDW threads. There were also options for Gloriana and NPI but neither were variegated enough for my liking. DMC and Belle Soie were also offered as alternatives but I knew the DMC wouldn’t be variegated and the shop didn’t carry Belle Soie threads. 

I wanted a smaller tension hoop; this 3.5” one fit the bill.

The bee pins are for my Block Party bee project, the Sulky Petite thread is intended for an upcoming smalls exchange, and one can never have too many excellent No. 28 tapestry needles.

Our next stop was The Loopy Ewe.

This is also a vast space, well organized with many makes of yarn. I was very happy to see they had a sizeable stock of Urth Uneek yarns. They don’t look THAT impressive on the skein but they are dyed to stripe beautifully. This is the one I selected to make myself another Musselburgh hat.

This is what a Musselburgh hat can look like with this colourway (3005). I think my dyelot will be a bit brighter than the photo below.

Very pleased with all my newly-acquired goods, we ventured back to Fort Collins for lunch at the Olive Garden. 

It’s really pretty here in Francey’s neighbourhood.

Slacking Off

I haven’t been keeping up with my blogging duties lately. No great excuse - I’ve just been busy, travelling, and haven’t produced a lot of photo-worthy stitching.

The garden keeps me busy. I filled two yard waste bags last week with tall grasses (Heavy Metal) that kept falling over, and the remains of our Siberian iris. It’s sweaty work and I don’t like to sweat. Fortunately the three major heatwaves have broken so it was quite a bit more comfortable working outside. There is a lot more to cut down but I’ll resume that activity the week after next - the next yard waste pickup week.

I had the urge to do some crocheting and had crochet cotton in my stash. I cranked out a dishcloth. It’s a bit wonky but I liked the activity. 

Yesterday was our monthly guild stitching day. About a dozen of us spent most of the allotted time working on our projects, sharing ideas, and having pleasant conversations. I had kitted up this little project from Shannon Christine Designs - “Polar Bear Wreath”. It was one of the many freebies she shared on her Shannon Christine Facebook page under the Featured tab. I had the fabric in my stash and substitute for any floss colours I didn’t have. 

I got most of it stitched while there, finished it up last night, and added the bling today. It is very “wee” as Jen1 would say.

A couple of weeks ago I drove to Indiana to visit friends, Todd and Shingo, who live in Japan but were stateside for a month. I was really pleased they could fit my visit into their busy schedule. 

I wasn’t too concerned about driving the almost 800km by myself. I planned to break up the trip - basically driving as far as I could stand the first day and going the rest of the way on day 2. This was my progress:

I had a good audiobook to keep me entertained. I took frequent rest/comfort stops and quickly got back on the road. My crossing at Windsor/Detroit was surprisingly quick. Most of the construction is done on the US side and it’s very easy to get onto the interstate once through Customs. Traffic was much less busy than I’m accustomed on the 401 so I whistled though southern Detroit and Toledo. I had hoped to get to Fort Wayne but at my rest stop in Defiance OH, I was ready to stop for the day (indicated by the red arrow). Also, there weren’t any hotels on Fort Wayne’s southern ring road. I had a comfortable stay at the Super 8 and drove the rest of the way the next morning, arriving at Todd and Shingo’s by about 10:30am.

We had a fun time catching up. We follow each other on Facebook but it gave us an opportunity to reminisce about Skip and previous visits. 

Of course, we enjoyed some Mexican food,

and Thai food.

My meal was so huge, I brought it back to Canada with me. I had cleverly brought a cooler bag and loaded up on ice. 

On the way home, I stopped at my niece’s place for the night and to drop off some things. It was a hot day and the temperature in her pool was perfect for a dip. The angle of the sun had the umbrella shading the centre of the pool. The filter motor created a vortex in the centre so I spent a good chunk of my ‘dip’ lazily circling on my floatee in the shade.

On the way home, I had my last comfort stop at the IKEA at the 401 and 407. I enjoyed Fika (Swedish coffee break; cinnamon bun and coffee) and stocked up on frozen Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, Swedish pancakes, and lingonberry sauce.

I really enjoyed getting away for a few days and was likewise glad to get home. 

This is my harvest so far (I admit I have been eating a few cherry tomatoes right off the plant).

I got the plants in so late, I’m hoping to get a higher yield before we start having frosty nights. I’d like to get one batch of yard sauce (roasted tomato sauce) from my own garden. I do plan to buy more tomatoes and will go apple picking in a couple of weeks to make applesauce.