Sunday, August 20, 2006

Baby Stripes

Home again after nearly two weeks. All in all it was a good trip.

A few highlights:

After the soccer tournament (no, they didn't win, but they sure had a good time) we headed to Denali Park. We spent a day touring the Park and though we did see Caribou, one grizzly bear, a moose, ptarmigan and rugged and beautiful vistas, we never did see The Mountain.


Though I'm not much of a wildlife
photographer, I did manage to
get a quick shot of these wild creatures ...


(They were making do, having been temporarily removed from their natural habitat and suffering from electronic-plaything-
withdrawal.
)

From Denali we traveled East and South into the Yukon and ultimately to Whitehorse. We traveled the magnificent Denali Highway and were reminded, anew, how VAST this state is. The map makes it look big, but nothing like driving in a car for two days with two children to make you appreciate just how huge it is.

In Whitehorse we visited the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and had a visit with this fellow, an adolescent Musk Ox - the source of luxurious and precious Qiviut.


And, of course, some knitting got done along the way. Remember that yarn I dyed right before I left?

There's a baby due in the neighborhood in a few weeks, and I'm going to be ready! I'm quite tickled with the way the stripe widths match. I dyed one skein for the socks and one for the hat.

Baby Duds Specs:
Yarn: Kool Aid dyed Baby Ull
Needles: US 0 dpns
Hat Pattern: Just your basic hat . . I took some guidance from Here
Sock Pattern: Better -Than-Booties Baby Socks
Modifications: I modified the socks by just doing a 1x1 rib on the top of the foot, as seen Here.
And I finished the toes with a Kitchener Stitch instead of the zigzag bind-off for which the pattern called.


Lake Bennett, BC, photographed as we drove from Whitehorse to Skagway on our return to Juneau. Another breathtaking drive. As we traveled along the Chilkoot Trail, we marveled at just how great the lure of gold was, to induce people to make this trek on foot and in winter.

6 comments:

Hilary said...

More pictures! More pictures! And wow, you planned that out to make the stripes match? I am, once again, impressed. :)

MsAmpuTeeHee said...

You know, when I got to see your socks in person, and saw how amazing your self-striping was, I was really blown away...but I cannot BELIEVE you got the stripes on the hat & booties to match. Unreal. You gonna share how you do that??

FYI--J. said the pic of the kids was "cool" and sends a hello ;-)

kt said...

What a lucky new Alaskan that childie will be! To be born in that great place AND have fabulous handknits ready for his/her arrival!

We had an altogether-too-short visit to Alaska this summer and are plotting the ins and outs of a move either there or Canada....

Anonymous said...

Welcome home - and thanks so much for the amazing pics you shared! I love the "wild creatures", LOL - and that Ox is certainly amazing! What an awesome countryside, I so wish I could be there now too! And your knitting is so cute, absolutely gorgeous!

gale (she shoots sheep shots) said...

Love the moosehead vacation pictures- and those stripes on the baby wear. Lucky neighbor baby!

Anonymous said...

More memories. . . It's so beautiful.