Wool Necklaces

When looking for gift ideas for my mother's birthday a few months ago, I came across this fun pattern for a making a wool necklace: "knit your pearls" by nikolrose on ravelry.com.

Basically, you knit three i-cord strands. Then you knit the two pieces of the closure, the buttonhole side and the button side. I looked through my collection of buttons from my jar (I remember our collection of buttons from when I was a child and how much I loved to look through them all - it's comforting to have a growing collection now too) and found one that I thought looked pretty. Then I sewed it all together.

Et voila!

A pretty, stretchy necklace...

More Cotton Washcloths

Back in February, when I was a juror in a trial, I did as much knitting as I could during the breaks.

This one took a simple pattern for Grandmother's Favorite Washcloth and added in a little fun in the middle:

I found the design, eLoomanator's Diagonal Dishcloth, on Ravelry, which is a great place to search for ideas.

I finished this guy and saved it for an April birthday gift.

Then, that weekend, I just had to knit some more and I found the perfect pattern for my niece. Pink yarn and a flower shape. How can you go wrong? It's a pattern from Whimsical Knitting Designs called Flower Power Hand Towel. I was a little nervous initially, but the pattern gave good directions and was actually fairly simple to execute.

According to my brother, my niece asks to take a bath so she can use the washcloth, so yay for that!

And yes, you can anticipate even more blog posts about washcloths to come...they're just useful things to have around, for whatever purpose you find for them. 

Easter Weekend Trip: Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Day III

From the way I space out my blog posts, I may be making people think that all Critical Path and I do is camp and hike! Essentially, it has taken me almost two weeks to write about a 4-day trip. The reason for that is the rest of the stuff that falls in between.

Namely in my case, this is work. And then some more work. And then dreaming about work. And then waking up thinking about work. Yup, there's been a lot of work stuff going on in my world lately. Luckily work involves some pretty awesome middle school students, so it's all good.

 Well, anyhow, I'm going to go back in time now to our last day in the Guadalupe Mountains: Sunday, April 8.

We took it easy on our last morning, enjoying breakfast tacos with a wide variety of ingredients including various fake meat products. Yum! We took down our tents. Batman and Green Lantern even found some Easter eggs in the path from the Ikea Easter bunny that were filled with candy. They also included plastic eggs (with candy) and our two superheroes came up with many ways to play with those plastic eggs.

Our plan was to end our time in the mountains with a short hike and then head back to Austin, stopping at Balmorhea State Park in Toyahvale, Texas. The Texan told us about this wonderful spring-fed swimming pool, even larger than Austin's Barton Springs.

So,  first we checked out a loop hike to Smith Spring.

It was a moderate hike.

And finally there was no wind so I actually got to wear my new wide-brimmed hat and keep out the sun.

The boys also had Junior Ranger books that they'd gotten from the Visitors Center. These books got them even more engaged in the environment around them.

Here, we can see Batman taking a break with his book:

When we made it back to the parking lot, we found out from other hikers (from El Paso) that Balmorhea's pool was closed. It seemed that swimmers were having allergic reactions to something in the pool so it was shut down while the source was investigated.

So, we crossed that stop off the list and started our drive back. Mister G. and I switched cars. He passengered with the superheroes. I sat knitting in the passenger seat next to the Texan, where we could sing along to Prince songs together. We drove and drove, stopping only for gas and in a McDonald's parking lot in Fredericksburg. There we ate ripe mangos and laughed at why we had chosen this particular location of the scenic town for our snack.

Back in Austin, we stopped in our stupor at a Kerbey Lane for a midnight dinner (it beat having Subway one more time since we'd had it for lunch). It seemed that the waiter was in as much of a stupor as we were since he kept forgetting things. Luckily, we were tired enough to go with the flow and pacified by our sweet potato fries. The night and the trip ended on a good note.

Easter Weekend Trip: Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Day II

Mister G. was in charge of waking the rest of us up Saturday morning at 6:45 AM. I should mention here that we had driven into the one part of Texas that was in a different time-zone from the rest of the state. We had driven to a space earlier in time. So when I heard the zipper of Mister G.'s tent, I looked at my watch. It was just after 6 and I sighed in relief and snuggled further into my sleeping bag.

But no. Mister G. and the Texan thought it was time to get up, largely because their cell phones hadn't adjusted for the time change. And when I sneaked a peak outside of the tent there was a beautiful red line of light across the horizon. The temperature was mild too. I was tired and could have slept longer but there was an allure of the day emerging outside.

And so we began the day, gradually rousing the rest of the Veggie Heaven campsite from their sleeping bags with tea and oatmeal. After ablutions and whatnot, we walked over to the Guadalupe Peak trail head and began our hike at 9 AM.

We were embarking on a 8.4 mile roundtrip hike to the highest point in Texas: Guadalupe Peak.  The peak is 8,751 feet high and from where we were starting was about a 3,000 foot ascent. For a point of reference, it was a bit of a climb, but this peak doesn't even make it into the list of the top 200 highest summits in the United States. In this particular case, not everything is bigger in Texas. However, for us, this was going to be a strenuous hike. I think this is well evidenced by the fact that I took hardly any pictures.


We all did decently getting up to this point here.

We've hiked up enough to have a lovely view of the valley spreading out below. But we've probably only come a mile.

From there it continued to go up. The frustration was that the peak always seemed to be out of reach. In fact, what you thought would be the peak was not. The beauty was that the trail circled you around and exposed you to lots of different views. So you were constantly turning the corner to a different way of looking at the landscape. 

Early on, we started taking lots of breaks:

Sometimes they involved snacks. Sometimes they involved swallowing more water or finding a natural restroom with a view. 

And, I should say here, that this was a strenuous uphill ascent. Therefore, Batman and Green Lantern were true superheroes in getting themselves up this mountain. The rest of us employed all the cheerleading techniques we could think of to help them put one foot in front of the other and continue on even when each bend in the path proved that we had yet farther to go.

This is my favorite view of the trip, El Capitan as viewed from above:

Eventually, we made it to the highest point in Texas in the early afternoon. 

We ate sandwiches, wrote in the book kept up at the top, and shivered a little because the sky had grown overcast.

And then we went back down again...except it was not the way in which we imagined.

I recall joking with the Texan, saying something along the lines of, "Well, at least the way down will be faster than the way up." Ha ha ha.

What happened was this: the Texan and Mister G. were posing for photographs. The Texan gout out of a position and heard her knee go "pop, pop, pop." And all of a sudden she couldn't put any weight on her leg. None at all. Luckily the Doctor was part of our group and she immediately sprang into action while the rest of us stood back a little. She had the Texan take the ibuprofin (or something similar) in the first aid kit she was carrying (yup, the Texan is the kind of prepared person who would remember to bring something like this along). Critical Path lent her his knee brace.

But, as stated, the Texan couldn't put weight on her foot. How on earth would she be able to get down 4.2 steep miles? Luckily, the benefit of being on top of the highest peak in Texas is that there is cell phone reception. The Doctor got on the phone with 9-1-1. Batman and Green Lantern started imagining how cool it would be like if a helicopter had to come land and pick up the Texan. The adults were imagining what something like would have to cost the Texan. I can't personally say how much my health insurance would run me for a ride like that. 

9-1-1 contacted the park and they sent a ranger our way who could help assess the situation and get a mule if necessary to help the Texan get down. At this point, we decided that we should split Team Veggie Heaven into two groups, to facilitate whatever happens next. As much as they are superheroes, we figured that it would be best to get Batman and Green Lantern started down the peak before their energy faded too much. So, Critical Path and I began the journey down with the two boys. We left the Doctor and Mister G. with the Texan to await the park ranger.

Off went the four of us: 

Amazingly, not 10 minutes down from the peak, we spotted the Texan making her way down from the top, flanked by the Doctor and Mister G. "The pills kicked in!" she said. We then ran into the ranger and let him know that he'd find the Texan on the path. He sighed in relief saying that he was the only person working that day who could work with the mules, so he was grateful at the possibility of not having to go all the way down to get them...

And the boys did a wonderful job even though the hike down seemed to take just as long as the hike up, partially because the rocks were so loose in the trails. We really have to watch our step.

 

Yup, we made it down.


And while we were practically still stretching, the second group joined us about 40 minutes later. I still can't get over the fact that the Texan was able to push herself to do this and at such a quick clip. Shows you what Texans are made of, doesn't it? She had an exploded ice pack from the park ranger and a limp, but otherwise was doing alright and in impressively good spirits.

We fussed over the Texan as much as she would allow, made dinner and prepared for our last night in the Guadalupe mountains.


P.S. The Texan went to a sports doctor when she got back to Austin who said that she had suffered from a sprain to her lateral collateral ligament and pulled a muscle deep within the back of her knee, but that she was going to be okay.

Easter Weekend Trip: Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Day I

On Friday morning, our crew left Hotel El Capitan in Van Horn, Texas and drove an hour north to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Our first priority was finding campsites. And it turned out that was everyone else's priority too! And they'd gotten there before us. We found the two last sites - not located next to each other - and sat at them to hold them. At the same time, Critical Path and Green Lantern went over to the Visitors Center to see if, by any chance, the "group site" was not reserved....It wasn't!

The park ranger named our group site after Critical Path's t-shirt: Veggie Heaven. Veggie Heaven is a kitschy Chinese vegetarian restaurant in Austin, that Critical Path and I enjoy frequenting. They are the kind of place that have your food ready in 5 minutes flat and who give leftovers to the homeless. So, Critical Path buys lots of their t-shirts.

We set up Veggie Heaven camp and then we made sandwiches.

[Here we are looking way too cool for school considering that we were simply making and eating sandwiches. Either that or the sun is in our eyes]

This took a few hours. Especially because the ground was hard as rock and the wind was strong. It was only by using the head of the Texan's ax that we were able to get the stakes in the ground to keep the tents from flying away.

Sometime in the afternoon, we embarked on our first hike in the mountains: Devil's Hall. By the way, can anyone tell me why so many trails and park locations are named after the devil? There are a ton in Utah too. It always perplexes me a little. Did their namers think these places are so beautiful they could have only been created by the devil? Or were these places somehow full of the temptation...of nature? Or...?

In any case, the hike was a pleasant one and no devilish behavior occurred while we explored it.

[Mr. G., Green Lantern, Critical Path and Batman sit on a fallen log]

[Devil's Staircase]

[The Doctor in between a rock and a hard place]

[End of Trail. Literally. That's what the sign said that Green Lantern was reading]

That evening after dinner (with veggie chili whipped up the day before by the Texan), we strolled over to the Visitors Center to hear a talk about "exotic species" in the park. One such species has the cool name of Auodad, also called Barbary sheep. They look like large goats (the males can weigh up to 300 pounds) have curly horns that you would not want to mess with. They're smart creatures and stay away from humans so we did not glimpse any on our treks. They also make it hard for the bighorn sheep that are native to the area to survive because they eat the same food and have a bit more muscle on them.

As we walked back after the talk, the moon had risen and was lighting up the sky. It was a full moon and was nearly bright enough to read by. We zipped ourselves into our sleeping bags and hoped for a good night's rest. We had ambitious plans for the following day. 

Easter Weekend Trip: Van Horn, Texas

There were 7 of us that decided to make the trek out to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park over the long Easter weekend. Because I don't like to use people's actual names on this blog and because I think using initials is a little boring, I'm going to start using more aliases.

So:

My husband retains his alias from our 2011 spring break trip to Utah: Critical Path

Our engineer friend J. who tells awesome stories for our listening pleasure will be referred to as The Texan since she was actually born and raised in this state. Her roommate and our Austrian mad scientist friend is now to be known as Mister G.

Critical Path's nephews (now my nephews too!) have chosen superhero names. The 10-year-old is henceforth to be referred to as Green Lantern and the 8-year-old is now Batman. The mother of Batman and Green Lantern (aka Critical Path's sister) is now the Doctor.

For myself, I'll just stick with Blue Dragonfly. But the fun part of writing this blog as that I hardly have to refer to myself by name. Instead I get to get everyone else to come up with aliases!
 
The 7 of us began our drive on Thursday evening in two separate cars. Mister G and the Texan left from south Austin with a cooler full of groceries. Meanwhile in central Austin, the Doctor arrived with Batman and Green Lantern from Brownsville. Critical Path gasped at how much was already packed into the SUV, proceeded to unpack and then like completing a puzzle got our camping gear in there too. I arrived from work having picked up snacks to help us make it through the trip until we ate dinner at a Subway. Just before sunset, we were on the road.

With Critical Path driving the entire way, the rest of us dozed off in uncomfortable positions most of the 7-hour drive to Van Horn, Texas, our stop for the night. Van Horn is about an hour from the Guadalupe Mountains National Park and not far from Carlsbad Caverns. It has a railroad running through town, which made it a good stop prior to the building of major highways.

It was convenient for us too. We'd looked into Carlsbad. However, the Trinity Hotel that Critical Path and I had enjoyed during our honeymoon was a little better suited (price-wise) for couples and the other options in Carlsbad just seemed to be overpriced. So, we looked in the surrounding area and thought we'd give Van Horn lodging a try.

Critical Path had made reservations at Hotel El Capitan. Since this wasn't your average chain motel, they actually closed their front desk at midnight. When Mister G and the Texan pulled up they had to call a number on the front door and wake a man to let them in. Luckily, they stayed awake to let us in when the rest of us arrived. [There was also a slight mix-up with the rooms. Instead of two rooms with two queens beds each, we ended up with three and therefore more space for stretching out in bed. Yay!]

[Van Horn, Texas during the day]

Hotel El Capitan, designed architect Henry C. Trost was first opened in 1930 and operated for 30+ years until the building of Interstate 10 diverted traffic away. The building was turned into a bank in the 1970s. In 2007, the Duncans bought the building from the bank and began the process of turning it back into the beautiful hotel that it used to be.

They've done a great job. The rooms are enjoyable in their simplicity. They are basic but the quality is nice - for example, the bathroom fixtures are classy but not ostentatious. The lobby is tiled and the downstairs is full of inviting places to sit and enjoy the day, both indoors and out. They serve a decent complimentary breakfast too.

I am always so much happier when I get to stay at a place that is unique, interesting and has a little bit of history to it. It's such a different feeling than staying in your standard motel that looks like every other motel in any place in the country. At El Capitan you feel like you are someplace worthy of spending your time and you like the vibe enough to want to hang out for a while.

[The Texan enjoys the breeze in the front patio of El Capitan]

 

[Batman hides behind a rock]

[A very risky photo taken by Critical Path that luckily turned out well! He set the camera on timer in the right lane of the road outside the hotel. Luckily it wasn't a busy Friday morning and no car ran it over.]

Indeed, we had a leisurely breakfast and it took some time before we got back on the road again hoping to snag a campsite at Guadalupe Mountains National Park before they were all gone! It was first come first serve and we were crossing our fingers that arriving in the very late morning there would still be a site waiting for us. But first we had to stop at the Van Horn supermarket and stock up on water and bread...and then we really left town.

Texas Bluebonnets

Last weekend my childhood friend B. visited from New York. It was the perfect time to come. B. showed up right in the middle of Austin springtime, which usually lasts a few weeks. Even near the end of the weekend, I was starting to feel hot while wearing jeans and realized sadly it wouldn't be long before I had to put them away in my closet.

One of the best parts of Austin springtime is the wildflowers. And of course, everything is green, lush and looks hydrated. And the temperatures are in the 70s and 80s but actually cool down at night. It's good stuff.

Amazingly enough, before B.'s visit I had never checked out the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. My excuse is that whenever I remember I want to see it, I realize, "Oh what's the point - it's August! Everything will be brown by now. I better wait until next year."And thus flies by another year.

So, with B.'s trip to Austin, I thought I better jump on the Ladybird Johnson bandwagon and away we went to the wildflower center. I forgot that we were in Texas for some reason and neglected to bring sunscreen or hats with brims. So, inevitably we got sunburned in the process.

 

[This reads: My special cause, the one that alerts my interests and quickens the pace of my life, is to preserve the wildflowers and native plants that define the regions of our land - to encourage and promote their use in appropriate areas, and thus help pass on to generations in waiting the quiet joys and satisfactions I have known since my childhood." Lady Bird Johnson"]

We also did what you are supposed to do if you live in Texas: pose amidst the beautiful bluebonnets.

It was a lovely trip and included a stop at The Broken Spoke (the kind of two-stepping bar that you imagine to be the essence of Texas, with lots of chivalrous, older gentlemen asking you to dance), tacos from Taco Deli, watching the Hunger Games at the Alamo Drafthouse (a cinema where they serve you real, reasonably priced food instead of popcorn with fake butter) and swims in Barton Springs, Austin's spring-fed pool. To top it off, B. decided she wanted to learn how to knit and she let me teach her! We hung out and knitted in places. Just my kind of weekend. I was sad to see B. go, but so grateful that she made the trip.

[Here we are outside of the Alamo Drafthouse South, looking cool by leaning into a knitted drainpipe and waiting for the movie to start]

After three days of work, I've got one more to go and then it's Easter weekend. I'm lucky enough to have both Friday and Monday off, so my husband and I conspired to head back to the Guadalupe Mountains in west Texas (right next to New Mexico). We were there on our honeymoon road trip in December but the snow prevented us from camping and even from hiking too much. This time we've rallied some folks and we're going for round 2! Forecasts show strong winds and 70 degree days.  Posts to come after our return.