Wyoming Breezes

Before February 22, 2017 finally down to "practically" bare pavement On Wednesday, February 22 I was thrilled that nearly all the ice and snow had melted on my street and from the parking lots around town: I was clearly getting a case of Spring Fever. As this  earlier post illustrates, my street was covered with a thick sheet of packed snow and ice since the Christmas Day and two successive January Storms. The warmer temperatures in mid-February prompted melting snow and premature flooding through the valley along the Wind River . . . locally, the small town of Hudson took the brunt of the melting snowpack from the sustained chinook winds in the Sinks Canyon area - February 2017 and eventually on the Big Horn river further north. massive ice jam on the Big Horn River Worland, WY February 11, 2017 No one expected flooding in February! The premature thaw was brought under control by Mother Nature when the temperature dropped below freezing at night.

tote bag made from 50# dog food sack February 2017 Sheri and I got together recently and stitched a tote bag from plastic feed sacks. I'm pleased with the result, but I will move the straps more toward the center on the next one I make. I understand the reason plastic is now being used for feed sacks: it doesn't rip as easily as paper, but unfortunately, the plastic also does not decompose. Convenience wins, and the environment loses. Pinterest and the internet offer numerous ideas on how to utilize these feed sacks. Many free patterns or directions are available to make gardening aprons , tote bags , messenger bags, zipper bags, etc. Pinterest has links to over 1000 ideas on how to make something useful from plastic feed bags. The more bags that are kept from the landfill the better. Make sure to use a heavy-duty needle in your sewing machine and lengthen the stitch, too. Don't expect perfect tension, as the bags are slippery. Have you found a way to recycle

roof gable Japan 1980

campsite games August 1999 August 1999, nearly all of my family gathered for a week-long camping trip at the Worthen Meadows campground above Lander, Wyoming. The North Dakota and Minnesota group rented a large RV and drove to Wyoming for the reunion. The Colorado and Wyoming group brought two large tents. We played card games at the campsite on the days when the fish weren't biting or when everyone was tired of hiking. We also played bocce ball and frisbee. Shown at the table, playing cards: Brenda (CO), Katie and Bruce (MN), Chris and Stephanie (WY). Paul (ND) can be seen in the background, and Evelyn (ND) is seated on the right.

Two Step Mystery Quilt Along February 2017 In January, when I saw a mystery quilt along featuring scraps, I decided to participate. On Sunday, I pulled red and blue scraps out my scrap bins for 2.5, 4.5, 5, 6.5 inch pieces and astonishingly found enough for the Two Step Mystery quilt . Other than resizing the 6.5 inch squares into 5.75 inch squares, no fabric (other than the white background) required cutting. January Clue #1 48 strip sets (24 blue/white; 24 red/white) Clue #1 was easy and fast with chain-stitching. February Clue #2 making hour glass blocks February's clue was more involved, requiring marking and careful stitching, cutting, and squaring. February Clue #2 48 hour-glass blocks Two Step Mystery Quilt Along Clues #1 & 2 complete It's not too late to join in the fun. Clues #1 and 2 can easily be completed before the next clue is released on the third Friday of March.

(56) three-patch sections (140) 3.5 inch squares Clue #3 was released on Friday, and the components quickly came together. Hopefully, the pieces will start falling into place soon. Earlier clues can be seen here .

wool yarn reclaimed from thrift shop sweaters before washing 2007 Since I'm presenting a program at the March Fiber Guild meeting on reclaiming yarn from wool sweaters, I thought it would be a good idea to start gathering the items I'd need and deconstruct a sweater to refresh my mind. I started reclaiming the wool in 2007 from wool sweaters that were purchased ( some shown in this earlier post ) in Denver thrift shops. Once washed, the reclaimed wool could not be distinguished from that purchased in a yarn shop. Some of the wool I reclaimed can be seen in  this post . The reclaimed wool has been used in a variety of projects for charities and for gifts. Projects I made using reclaimed wool:      Vests for children in cold climates - here ,  here,   here , here     Cowls -  here and here     Hats and helmet liners for the military -  here ,  here  and here     Mittens     Gift hat and mittens     Baby hats and socks     Christmas stockings    here and

building gable Japan 1980

four baby hats finished; two started February 2017 Knitting these little hats is addictive! Kathy's scrap yarn is being knit into newborn hats for the Public Health nurses to distribute.

February 2017 I had a great time knitting this pair of socks with Ellen's gift yarn (Zombie BBQ) . Since they were finished near Valentine's Day, it seems wrong to call them Zombie BBQ socks, so with a slight tweak of meaning, this pair will be called Forever, My Love. Forever, My Love February 2017 If I had been paying more attention when beginning the heel flap on sock #2, they would be a matching pair, but now they show a dark and light side on the cuffs. Yarn:     Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (Zombie BBQ)     Regia Silk (Burgundy) Needles:     US size 2

Year of Stitches I don't work on this project as frequently as the original challenge requires, but I'm progressing at my own speed. After the blue stitches were added ( shown in this earlier post ), I saw an "H" and an idea quickly came to mind. I like where this small piece is headed. I have a lot of DMC floss on hand, so that's what I'm using for this Year of Stitches project.

Mystery Quilts for Military Clue #1 Mystery Quilts for Military challenge began the first week of February, and wanting to shake things up a bit, I joined. Four fabrics were required for this mystery: I chose navy, antique beige, red batik, and a cream with small gold stars from my stash. Clue #1 resulted in 112 half-square triangles. Mystery Quilts for Military Clue #2 Clue #2 resulted in 224 strip sets I'm eager to see and work on the next clue which will be released on Friday.

Taipei, Taiwan Grand Hotel in upper right corner December 1979

John S. collapsing cellar approx. 1984 I don't know when my parents built the cellar on the farm, but I'm guessing it was in the late 1940s. The cellar walls were dirt and almost smooth. On the west side of the narrow path down the middle was an open area to store potatoes, hard-shelled squash (acorn and huge hubbard), gourds, onions, and other root vegetables from the field and garden. Other items were also stored in the northwest corner, like empty lard buckets and empty wicker baskets and wire potato baskets. The east wall had narrow shelves to store numerous Mason jars, filled with tomatoes, tomato juice, corn and creamed corn, green beans, apples and apple sauce, sauerkraut, pickles (sweet and dill), peaches, pears, cherries, jams and jellies, apple butter and other fruits and vegetables if they were available. What we didn't eat out the garden was canned and taken to the cellar. The steps into the cellar were wide and deep and cut from the earth. In the spring,

hat and scrap ball of yarn February 2017 Last month, I accompanied a friend to a charity knitting group that meets twice a month. One of the ladies had prepared a yarn ball out of scraps that I took to knit hats. I had no idea what colors would be in the ball or how much of each color.  There was no rhyme or reason for the order of the colors - some worked and others not so much . . . I prefer to knit hats with more control over the color, so I separated the remaining yarn into small balls for stripes. I like the last two hats much better than the first three.