Celtic Knitting Designs

I have been attracted to the Fair Isle knitting technique for some time. I have been to Ireland, Scotland, and England and I hope to see quite a bit more of the British Isles in the future. I feel most at home when I am in these countries. In 2008, my sister Anner and I visited Ireland and we had a real good time over there. We did a complete tour of the country and we absolutely loved it. One of my favorite places was the Aran Islands. We visited Inis mor on this trip and we had a lovely time touring the little island. One interesting place we saw was the Aran Island sweater market. It wasn't that big but we go a chance to see some knitting techniques that they have used for centuries.  


Ihttp://www.aransweatermarket.com/about-aran-sweater-market
http://www.dochara.com/tour/things-to-buy/aran-stitches-and-their-meanings/

Honeycomb pattern

 I really liked the honey comb knitting pattern. The Honeycomb is a said to be a lucky stitch, signifying plenty and in the case of fishermen a good catch.
 We got a chance to see quite a bit of the island and even got to buggy ride with a fellow named Sean and his horse Danny. It was so nice to go along the coastline and see all the houses and paddocks where their sheep, horses, and cattle grazed. Each paddock was build up by rocks on the perimeter. The rocks were so weathered and interesting. The sea thrift and grasses dotted the landscape and the waves brushed up along the sea walls. It was so beautiful. I would love to return to the other islands adjacent to Inis Mor. 

Carriage ride along coastline

The Sea cliffs were real spectacular. I thought it was pretty interesting that they didn't have barricades over looking the ocean. People could walk straight up to the cliffs and look over the edge. I didn't really want to leave that place. It was so spectacular and I will always remember our time there.
 
I have been trying to experiment with fair isle knitting and i have done some projects but it takes awhile. You have to be extremely patient when working with these types of knitting stitches, whether it be fair isle, cable, or Jacquard knitting. It is fun to try these techniques into some smaller projects likes hats and pillow tops. I have been juggling between exercising, reading, gardening, knitting, hiking, walking, etc, so i try and do small projects so I can actually finish them.   

 Here a few of my Fair Isle knitting projects. I hope to do more in the future but it is a start anyway. The fair Isle pillow was knitting in the round and then I had to steek(cut) the work. The other design is a Celtic hat design worked with 100% wool Patons yarn in Fair Isle and it is super warm. It has a braid to separate the brim from the main body of the hat. Looks cool now but i still have to finish it up.

Celtic Tam

Desert Pillow Navajo design

Time to extract some honey........

J's Bees~

Jason lifting Italian box off of the hive

Finally getting some honey out of the hives. Jason took off two boxes this morning and had to smoke the bees so they would move away. That didn't seem to work out to well. The bees are reluctant to leave the honey so Jason has put them on a board that will allow them to exit the box but not allowed to return. There is a screen on the bottom of this board, making it hard for the bees to return. Later today we'll start pulling the frames out and getting them to the extraction area, which is in the garage.

We can only do one hive at a time so perhaps tomorrow we can work on the carniolans bees, which is Jason's hive. Looks like we might be able to get quite a bit of honey from these two boxes. 
Meanwhile, the rabbit brush is really coming on strong now so the bees will have something to forage on, especially after all this lovely rain we got. 


Jason ended up pulling the frames one by one and sweeping off the bees. From there he would bring them over and set them into a  tub covered by a wet blanket. The tub was sitting on the bucket of the tractor. We got 14 frames in all.

Jason moving his frames over to the bucket

  Jason will now scrape the caps off the frames to get the honey flow going and then sets them in the honey extractor. I think he can put 2 frames in at a time.  He spins it for about 70 revolutions. Then, he changes them around and repeats the spinning so that all the honey has been extracted. 

Jason cutting the cap off of the frame

What we are wondering now is what type of pollen do the bees go for around here?

I have heard alfalfa fields adjacent to hives typically have a lighter colored honey and the taste is a bit sweeter. The first batch of honey we have is a great rich taste. It has a taste all of its own. If all goes well, we'll get the two other boxes done today and then we'll wait til next year to try it again. In the meantime, the bees are buzzing away in the garden.

Honey being released out of the bucket

I planted a lot of perennials and we fed the hummingbirds all summer long but my garden is very close to the hives and they have been real busy working in the garden in the morning hours.Honey bees also like the Chrysothamnus nauseosus (Rabbitbrush). 
Most ranchers try and get rid of Rabbit brush because it can be very invasive and spread.
Since we have no livestock needing grasses, we'll just continue to keep Rabbit brush on the property. tj

It is Hip to be Hip

It is actually Hip to be Hip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I recently had a hip replacement on Aug 7th, 2013. That was an ordeal for me. Knowing that i was going to be out of commission for awhile didn't make me feel to good. In fact, I have been suffering with a bit of depression lately because i haven't been making any forward progress, nor have I been getting enough exercise. I have missed out on a lot in the last 8 months, all because I was either procrastinating or just to scared to go through with the hip replacement.  In July, 2013 when I couldn't walk anymore, I decided to get off my ass and do something about it.

Knitting out in the patio 3 days after surgery.

 I had the surgery through Durango Orthopedic and so far i am glad i got it done but some days are better than others. I am a firefighter and fuels specialist for the BLM and i am expected to give 100 % to my job and that has not been happening. Now I am faced with the decision of changing jobs or reducing the amount of labor I do during our projects. I keep telling myself that this is what i do and that I don't want to reduce anything. I think some of my close friends told me that the hardest thing for me will be recovery. They were right. 

The two week appointment went well enough. My incision looked good and i was getting my mobility back. Everything seemed to be getting better and then all of the sudden, things got tougher for me. I couldn't get my walk back. My leg still felt numb and I started doing physical therapy. I never thought i would say that I was so sore after doing a few exercises for an hour. Heck, I hadn't done any physical exercise for over a month and now I feel like all i want to do is get in best shape of my life.  I actually think i need that challenge though.
I have a long way to go though.

First walk to the garden 4 days after surgery.

Not being able to work in the garden and go hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking, and all the other wonderful outdoor exercises are what is getting me down right now. I did plan this whole thing so I could ski again this fall because that is really what makes me happy. 
If anything makes me tick in life, it is skiing. I don't care if I am skiing in the back country, x-country, or alpine skiing with my family. I love how I feel when I am on skis. I love the tranquil sense you get when you are skiing alone in the woods. Or, skiing down a mountain that you never thought you could ski. 

All I can tell myself now is to keep moving. Never look back. I have a lot of stuff that i want to do and I constantly dream about traveling and seeing the world. I just want to live a life filled with experiences. I want to keep things relevant and focus on what is important. tj

Finally ditched the walker and onto the cane now. Two weeks after surgery