A Notch in My Ice Pick

My First Bikerise of the Year
I've had a blog post about a quilt written and ready to go for today for about two to three months now, but the quilt's not done yet. Maybe next week...

So I had to find something else to stick in today's slot. I have a bunch of old trip reports from my first website, the Geocities site that no longer exists, but I didn't feel like posting something old today.

Maybe that's because I am so excited to get in at least one winter (half) bicycle commute before the season ends!

Seven inches of white blanketed our world last weekend, and Sunday, the wind blew most of the moisture-laden accumulation to Kansas. Or further. Monday was forecast as pick of the week with a high of 68 and an overnight low of 38! That's the best we've had in months!

27 degrees typically is the limit of my cycling cold tolerance on long rides. Not necessarily because I can't go colder than that, but because I have to drop down into a relative hole for about four miles early in my morning commute, and the temperature there can be 10 or 15 degrees colder than my house or downtown. It's not the 27 degrees that chills me; it's the 17 degrees that turns me wimpy!

I had not commuted to work since May of last year, due in part to the lack of a proper dressing room and shower at the building where I work during massive renovations that lasted more than two years. The new dressing room, showers and workout facility were expected to open last November. They finally were ready in February, when the overnight low was regularly well below 27 degrees.

38 degrees gave me courage to get back out there and develop a thicker skin. I have to build up my mileage again, and I also will have to work up to winter riding again. I've stayed fairly toasty warm the last three months mostly off the outdoor bike! (We have been riding indoor trainers, but we don't count that as mileage.)

Imagine my delight when I woke up Monday morning and saw the current temperature was 42 degrees!!!

I rode all the way to work! On my mountain bike! I wasn't entirely confident the bridges and overpasses would be ice-free. Turned out to be a very wise choice; the bike path was still iced over in two spots where it never gets sun and was covered with fish ponds in three other places. The mountain bike made the journey safe.

Highlights of the trip: Coyotes yipping along on tune when a pair of sirens went off in the dark, joined by a bevy of high-pitched pups! An owl swooping down over the bike path in front of me, and later a great blue heron following suit. Geese pairing off in pre-nesting mode. Geese in flight against the pink sky prior to sunrise.

Every time I passed a detour I could take to bail and ride the train instead of pedaling myself the entire way, adrenaline surged inside me. I was growing more and more confident I'd be able to ride the full 30 miles.

And 30 miles is what I got. I'm going to have to be patient and slowly work up to 60 again so I can keep riding with minimal back pain. Some of the painful episodes I've experienced in the past make it easier for me to stay within my limits and not overdo it.

I'm off to a slow start on actual mileage this year, but I expect the miles to begin ticking by as the days get longer. Oh, am I ready for two wheels!!! (And oh, my goodness, are our new high-tech showers at work awesome!!! A massage setting that actually feels like a massage!!!)

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Snowflake Monday

This is yet another of my lost snowflake patterns, pointed out to me by a reader. The original snowflake appeared on a greeting card I made several years ago, and I apparently never wrote the pattern back then.

While working up another version of this snowflake from a photo, I had to make a few adjustments because two rounds had too many stitches. That's probably why I never wrote the pattern in the first place. I may not have liked this snowflake in its infant stage, but I really like it now!

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!


Finished Size: 4.25 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 8 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Lost Amigo IV Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 11 dc in ring; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2. Don't pull magic circle too tight.

Round 2: 1 sc in same ch as sl st, *ch 3, sk 1 dc, 1 sc in next dc; repeat from * around 4 times; ch 1, 1 dc in starting sc to form 6th ch 3 sp of Round.

Round 3: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc in same sp, * ch 2, 1 sc in next sc, ch 2, 3 dc in next ch 3 sp; repeat from * around 4 times; ch 2, 1 sc in next sc, ch 2, sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.

Round 4: Sl st in next dc, ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc in same dc, * ch 5, 3 dc in middle dc of next 3/dc group; repeat from * around 4 times; ch 5, sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.

Round 5: Sl st in next dc, ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc in same dc, * 2 dc in next ch 5 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, 3 dc in middle dc of next 3/dc group; repeat from * around 4 times; 2 dc in next ch 5 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 6: Sl st into next dc; ch 7 (counts as 1 dc and ch 5), sl st in 3rd ch from hook (picot made), ch 2, 1 dc in same dc as sl st, * ch 2, 1 sc in gap between same 3/dc group and next 2/dc group, ch 2, 2 dc in next ch 3 sp, ch 8, 1 sc in 4th ch from hook, ch 5, sl st in sc, ch 4, sl st in sc (tri picot made), ch 4, 2 dc in same ch 3 sp, ch 2, 1 sc in gap between 2/dc group and next 3/dc group, ch 2, 1 dc in middle dc of next 3/dc group, ch 5, sl st in 3rd from hook, ch 2, 1 dc in same dc; repeat from * around 4 times; ch 2, 1 sc in gap between same 3/dc group and next 2/dc grup, ch 2, 2 dc in next ch 3 sp, ch 8, 1 sc in 4th ch from hook, ch 5, sl st in sc, ch 4, sl st in sc, ch 4, 2 dc in same ch 3 sp, ch 2, 1 sc in gap between 2/dc group and next 3/dc grup, ch 2; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 7; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch the snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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Friday Funny

Cool! Humorous. Cute. Awesome. Neato. Magnificent.

These are all words that came to mind when a lone mule deer dallied in our yard while I hemmed a skirt. We saw him fertilize the garden, and we thanked him, through the window, for helping this year's garden. We saw him nibbling along as he explored every single thing. We didn't think a thing of it because it is winter. He's hungry. There's nothing growing out there, we thought.

Plus, he looked so comfortable and relaxed when he finished browsing.


Well, last weekend, we ventured into the frozen depths of the backyard to determine wind damage after two solid days of 80-mph gusts. My dye pots are all still frozen. That's probably why they are still comfortably resting upon our retaining wall. They were too heavy for the wind to smash them into the side of our house.

Not so for a number of pots we'd hoped to plant more garden delights in this year.


Then we checked the actual garden. Hyacinths and daffodils are poking up out of the ground in the front yard, which we see every day when it isn't covered in snow. Perhaps the tulips, daffodils, crocuses and grape hyacinths in the backyard might be making an appearance, too...


That darned deer! He munched on ALL my grape hyacinths!!!

Guess that's not too high a price for free fertilization...

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Doubled Up

I've been wanting to learn double knitting for several years now. The Marathon Scarf Project to wrap international participants in this year's Boston Marathon in love was just what I needed to push this goal up a few notches on my priority list.

I wanted to chart this scarf and make it in blue and white or lavender and gray. When the call went out for blue and gold scarves, I knew what I had to do.

I went to a free wifi cafe and watched about two minutes of an eight-minute double knitting video tutorial. I went home and dug out blue and yellow yarn from my stash. Within about half an hour, I had about an inch on my needles! I was doing it! I was double-knitting!!! (It's just like ribbing, but with two strands of yarn instead of one.)




This wonderful discovery came the same day I taught myself to make curved double-pointed arrows in an electronic document at work.

Learning something new is so much fun and so invigorating!

Of course, I improvised the original Team Sweden scarf design a bit to make this project totally unique. I didn't want it to be an exact copy.

I've included charts here below, just in case anyone else wants to make one of these scarves. The initial chart is just half of the scarf; when you get to row 195, you turn around and go all the way back down the chart (without repeating Row 195). I've also included a whole chart, just in case, but that will print very, very small on 11x14 paper. I printed two halves on 11x17 and taped them together for my next scarf. For the initial scarf, I used regular graph paper, and I taped that together. Each graph square is nearly actual stitch size when working with worsted weight yarn. So my graph paper chart (for half the scarf) is 4 inches wide by nearly 3 feet long!


For the scarf, I cast on 21 stitches holding both strands together, then knitted the first row in double knit: knit blue, purl yellow, knit blue, purl yellow. On the next row: knit yellow, purl blue, knit yellow, purl blue. Finished whole scarf size using worsted weight yarn on size 6 knitting needles is 6 inches by 6 feet, which is what the Marathon Scarf Project requested.

I've also included two logo scarf charts below, just in case...

For all of the charts, click the image to biggie size. Save the image to your computer, and preview print landscape (sideways) instead of portrait, making sure to click the box that says "Scale to Fit Media." (Some programs do not give you an option to control printing if you hit just plain print or Control P. You must use Preview Print or Print With Preview.)

This is the second time I've ever charted knitting in my entire life. My first attempt was just out of high school. I was knitting a flamingo sweater in pastels. I decided I wanted pink hearts instead of pink flamingos, so I recharted the entire sweater. I wish I still had the sweater. It would be fun to show off now!

Why did the Marathon Scarf Project resonate with me?

Until more than a decade ago, I ran Race for the Cure every year for more than 10 years in support of a friend and co-worker who'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. I have never run a marathon and do not expect to ever be able to run a marathon. However, one of my co-workers is from Boston, and her brother runs the Boston Marathon. Both of us watched the news in horror as it unfolded last year. A couple of that day's photos remain permanently scorched in my memory banks.

Another of my co-workers on a different floor has run the Boston Marathon seven times. It's not like the marathons in Denver; you don't just pay the entry fee and show up. Runners must pre-qualify by finishing a number of races prior to the Marathon, and they must finish each within an allotted time. They can't be slowpokes like me. So just to run in THE Boston Marathon, in my opinion, is a gigantic honor, similar to what it must feel like to qualify for the Hawaii Iron Man or even the Olympics.

I participate in a number of cycling events with a finish line. What happened last year in Boston made crossing any finish line just a little more... poignant. There has not been a finish line for me since last year when I didn't think about what happened in Boston as I rolled across, trying to smile for the official photographer. Smiling will come easier this year, but I'm certain the memory of what happened in Boston will always prowl deep in the dark corners of my mind, just like September 11.

My race now is just a little different than those who will be running. I don't know if I will be able to finish my Boston Marathon scarf by April 5, but I'm going to give it my best shot. It would make me feel on top of the world to know one of the runners is wrapped in this scarf on the anniversary.

UPDATE: Check out this awesome post-marathon wrap-up of the project by a scarf maker and volunteer at the church!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Photos from scarf distribution!





Half Scarf Chart


Whole Scarf Chart


Boston Scarf


Sweden Scarf

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Wordless Wednesday

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Crossed Wires

I've long complained about choices in internet access where I live. I've moaned and groaned about having no signal most of the time, and I've gotten downright angry and frustrated at being cut off every ten minutes.

I recently read you can buy limited internet access in the Congo for $600 a month. In the Falkan Islands, you can get 4 GB per month for $119. Per month.

In Lebanon, the price is 60 times higher than other countries for only 2 GB per month. Antarctica pays $150 per month for 256 MB.

In Syria, you must wait up to six months to get hooked up after signing a contract, and less than two percent of the population has internet service. In Iran, high speed internet is available only to commercial firms, and the cost purportedly is high.

About seventy percent of the population of Kazakhstan with internet service is still on dial-up. In Nepal, less than two percent of the population uses the internet.

Only one provider exists in the entire country of Libya, and service there is minimal.

Okay, so maybe I should stop whining so much about my own dial-up and the high price of faster services...

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Snowflake Monday

Kenneth Libbrecht's snowflake
This snowflake is inspired by one of Kenneth Libbrecht's gorgeous crystals, shown above. I worked out this design during my recent road trip to The Wave, so I thought a name from somewhere along the route might be appropriate.


En route to The Wave, we once again drooled over the beauty of the San Rafael Swell and once again vowed to spend time there next time we are in that little corner of the world. We say that every time we drive through but have yet to keep the promise because we always seem to be on deadline to reach a specific destination.

I could learn much from another snowflake photography master, Wilson Bentley, who said, "When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind."

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!


Finished Size: 7.5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 8 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

San Rafael Swell Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 7 (counts as 1 tr and ch 3), *2 tr in ring, ch 3; repeat from * 4 times; 1 tr in ring; sl st in 4th ch of starting ch 7. Pull magic circle tight, but leave opening big enough to allow stitches inside it to lay flat.

Round 2: * 3 sc in next ch 3 sp, ch 11, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 9 ch, 3 sc in same sp; repeat from * around 5 times; sl st in starting sc.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 3: * 1 sc in each of next 2 sc, sk next sc, [1 sc in next sc, ch 1, sk nex sc] 2 times, 1 hdc in next sc, ch 1, sk next sc, 1 dc in next sc, ch 1, sk next sc, 1 tr in ch 1 tip of post, ch 3, [3 tr in same sp, ch 3] 2 times, 1 tr in same sp, ch 1, sk next sc, 1 dc in next sc, ch 1, sk next sc, 1 hdc in next sc, [ch 1, sk next sc, 1 sc in next sc] 2 times, sk next sc, 1 sc in each of next 2 sc, sk next 2 sc; repeat from * around 5 times; sl st in starting sc.

Round 4: * Ch 2, 2 sc in next ch 1 sp, ch 2, 2 hdc in next ch 1 sp, ch 2, [2 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 2] 2 times, sl st in same ch 1 sp, sl st in next ch 3 sp, ch 4, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook (picot made), 2 dc in same ch 3 sp, ch 5, 1 hdc in 3rd ch from hook and in each of next 2 ch, 2 dc in same ch 3 sp, ch 4, sl st in 2nd ch from hook, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, sk next tr, 1 dc in next tr, 1 hdc in next tr, 1 sc in next ch 3 sp, ch 6, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 2 ch, ch 4, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in next ch, ch 3, sl st in 2nd ch from hook, ch 5, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook, ch 6, working back down spoke, sl st in 3rd ch from hook and in each of next 3 ch, ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook, sl st in each of next 2 ch between sc picot and sl st picot, ch 2, sl st in 2nd ch from hook, sl st in ch between sl st picot and 2/sl st picot, ch 3, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in next ch, sl st in ch between 2/sl st picot and 3/sl st picot, ch 4, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 2 ch, sl st in next ch directly after 3/sl st picot, ch 1, 1 sc in same ch 3 sp as previous sc, 1 hdc in next tr, 1 dc in next tr, ch 4, sl st in 2nd ch from hook, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, 2 dc in next ch 3 sp, ch 5, 1 hdc in 3rd ch from hook and in each of next 2 ch, 2 dc in same ch 3 sp, ch 2, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook, ch 2, sl st in same ch 3 sp, sl st in next ch 1 sp, ch 2, 2 dc in same sp, ch 2, 2 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 2, 2 hdc in next ch 1 sp, ch 2, 2 sc in next ch 1 sp, ch 2, sk next 3 sc, sl st in small joint between 2/sc groups (main body center between spokes); repeat from * around 5 times; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch the snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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