Lupine Shawlette

I take crochet or knitting projects with me to just about everywhere I go. I never know when a moment might come up that I'll be able to work on something. It's kind of like a security blanket too. It just feels good to have my stitching with me!

Vacation is no exception...well...maybe it is. I always bring more projects than I could possibly finish. It's like I forget that time on vacation is the same as at home, that I won't have more hours in a day, or more days in a week, or be able to make projects faster than normal. But, the high hopes and expectations are exciting and it's hard to resist bringing lots of yarn!

My new crochet shawl addiction gives me an excuse though. Because these projects tend to go much faster than any of my knitting projects, I could potentially start and finish multiple projects on one trip. So, before vacation, I spent hours on Ravelry, going through patterns and getting projects lined up to take with me. And, let's just say that I was well prepared!

My Petal Shawl took longer than I had expected. So, I didn't need to bring all the projects that I did. But...I did get to a second project, on the last couple days of our vacation. It's the South Bay Shawlette...


I used a size "I" crochet hook and two balls of Knit Picks Stroll in the color, Twinkle Heather. I had bought this yarn last year for socks but I've wondered why because I don't really want socks in that color. It worked great for this though. The pattern is a two row repeat and it worked up rather quickly and was a lot of fun.

It was pretty before blocking (I forgot to take a picture) but a bit small. Blocking increased it's size by quite a lot. I'm much happier with the size now...


It's so light, soft, and delicate. I really like how this yarn worked up. Here are a few close ups...




I goofed a little at the end. I thought I was at the end of the pattern but there was another page and I left of the final row of the edge. Ooops! It looks great anyway. Here's the bottom point, at the center back...


I love the little bits of fuschia pink in the purple. The colors remind me of wildflowers. Lupines sometimes have these colors. So, I decided to call it my "Lupine Shawlette". And, depending on how you look at it, there are five petal flowers in the all over pattern...the petals are holes.

I'm currently finishing up another shawl that I'm making with yarn I bought in Colorado. I'm calling it my Durango Shawl. I'll post pictures soon. Thanks for stopping by. :-)

Petals Shawl

My favorite day of our Arizona/Colorado vacation was the day that I finished my Petals Shawl. Of course, the amazing drive that afternoon was pretty awesome too!

This shawl is from the "Flying Diamonds" pattern that I bought on Ravelry. I crocheted it with fine, 100% cotton, cone yarn that I had in my weaving stash and a size "F" hook. It took a couple of weeks to make and it was a lot of fun. I'm so happy with the results. Here are some pictures I took before it was blocked and while we were still in Colorado...


I love this picture of my daughter...


Here's me (Benita...I'm trying to get brave enough to post my picture...I'll start with my backside...lol). The shawl was pretty big, even before blocking...


Here it is on our RV sofa...it looked pretty good before blocking...


But...check it out after blocking...


It grew a bit too...


Here's a close up of the detail while it was being blocked...


And, a close up of the bottom. I added a picot to each point...


I'm so hooked on making these lacey crochet shawls! And, as you may have guessed, I started another one right away. It's done and blocked too. I'll post it soon. Thanks for stopping by. :-)

Silverton

One of the best days of our summer vacation was spent relaxing in the morning and crafting...my husband and daughter did some wood crafts and I finished up a crochet shawl (it turned out awesome and added so much to my day). In the afternoon we went for a drive on part of the San Juan Scenic Skyway from Durango to Silverton. The weather was perfect, the sky was soooo blue and the drive was beyond gorgeous! Our turn around point was the tiny town of Silverton. Here it is as we got close...a shot from the car on the highway above...


They have a pretty little park on the north end of town...


It's an old town that dates back to the late 1800's. There are some old, historic looking buildings...


I thought it was interesting that this building says "County Club"...not "Country" club but "County" club...I wonder what that is?...


The layout and buildings of the town reminds me of old ghost towns I've been to...but this one is alive and doing well...


It's a cute and colorful little town.


I love the little pine tree cutouts on the shutters of this building...


I bet it's rich with history and has lots of stories to tell.




This building is getting a little bit of a face lift. Looking good!...


There were pretty flowers hanging from the fronts of buildings and in pots along the sidewalks...


I took this picture through a front window. Such a pretty radiator...


For such a small town, the shopping was good. Especially in this little shop. They had so many cute clothes, shoes, bags and other girly stuff with a down to earth, outdoorsy flair...


I'm not sure if this bike was hanging in front of a bike shop or just there for the fun of it...


There were hotels...check out this big old one...


And, even a hostel...


The perfect ending to a perfect day...a stop in Durango at one of the micro brewery restaurants...Carver Brewing. Yum! The beer was fantastic and the food was too. I had an organic rasberry ale. They told us that they use a pound of organic rasberries for every gallon of beer. It was soooo delicious and refreshing! Check out all the bikes parked out front. Isn't that cool?! I think it's a very fit town. Afterall, there's tons of great stuff to do around there.


We visited Steamworks Brewery a few days earlier on another Durango excursion. It was really good too. We dined on their outdoor/upstairs patio and enjoyed the fresh air and views. Unfortunately, I was a wee bit early for the new, re-opening of "Yarn". Maybe I'll just have to go back! ;-)

The San Juan Scenic Skyway

One week of our summer vacation was spent in southwest Colorado. We stayed in Mancos, just east of Cortez, just outside of Mesa Verde National Park, and about 45 minutes west of Durango. We could see up into the National Park from Mesa Verde RV Resort and visiting Mesa Verde was great...but...our favorite day in Colorado was spent driving to Durango and up a portion of the San Juan Scenic Skyway to Silverton. It was soooo gorgeous!!!

The whole drive was filled with ooohs and aaahhs...looking at gorgeous forests of pine and aspen, mountain peaks and vistas...here's a stop that was at 11,900 feet of elevation. A sign said we were breathing some of the cleanest air in the world at that point. Aahhhhh...It was awesome!!!


There were waterfalls, streams, lakes and ponds along the way...


And wildflowers...could this be the wild strawberry we had read about?...


Thistle...wicked thorns but so pretty...here's a bud...


and an open thistle blossom...




These were several feet tall and amazing...


Especially, close up...


I'd never seen these before...


Here's a close up of the flower...


Dainty little yellow flowers...


Great big yellow daisies...we saw these here and there and even meadows full of them...


I had no idea that dandelions could grow at 11,000 feet! There were tons of them and they looked very happy at that elevation...


These are so cute...they look like tiny little bouquets of rose buds. Each bloom is only the size of my thumbnail...


Small hanging blue flowers...


Tiny little purple buds...


Little red and green buds...


These are several feet high and there were meadow like areas with large bunches of them...


This was on the side of the road, between Durango and Silverton. It's for Pinkerton Hot Springs. The nearby sign said they "offered swimming, music and dancing in the 1920's..." I'm not sure if it's still in business today but the hot springs are definitely still flowing. We're thinking that they may have built up some rocks around this spring to make it more noticeable from the road and that over the years minerals built up on them.


We think that all the colors are from minerals except the dark green, which seems to be algae.


We're almost to Silverton!