Unexpected Death

I found out Friday, as I was setting up a booth for Skylark Yarns at an alpaca show in Illinois, that my oldest brother Gary was found dead on his front porch. An autopsy is being performed, and the funeral is this week in New Hampshire. I am sad, and cannot believe my generous and kind-hearted older brother is no longer with us. I am choosing to remember his smile and laughing blue eyes.

The skies may still be blue, but I can't see them.

Rim Trail

The second day of our weekend, and the anniversary of my arrival on the planet, we chose to visit Bryce Canyon National Park. This spectacular place is just ethereal. Wind and water have eroded the surrounding layers, leaving hard sandstone forms called Hoodoos. They remind me of the sandcastles tops you make at the beach by dripping wet sand onto your castle turrets.

In keeping with my new mantra from a very wise woman, Eleanor Roosevelt, "Do one thing every day that scares you," I decided to walk the rim trail with my daughter. Now understand this. Miss Eleanor did not say "Do one thing that scares the living daylights out of you, so much so that you can barely stand your knees are knocking so much." But I did it for the love of my daughter. She asked, expecting a No, and when I surprised her with a Yes, her delight was so evident I could not back down.

The trail was scary but exquisite in it's views. We saw a lovely arch/window that the park folk call a grotto. Can you see it in the center of this photo?

When they named it the Rim Trail, they really meant it. See the lower left corner of this photo? That's the rim. But I did it. And it was exhilarating. And I only teared up once, when the trail narrowed to 2 feet, with a 300 foot drop on one side, and an 1800 foot drop on the other. Daughter held my hand. It was empowering for her, and totally necessary for me.

This lovely place draws visitors from all over the world. In fact, we met folks that day from Japan, German, and the Netherlands. It's the kind of place you can't say, hey, stop in if you are ever in the area. But it's magnificence will humble you if you take the time to seek it out.

Blue skies,

Lark

Weekend in the West

Every fall, our school district gives the kids an extended weekend. This year, we decided to show My Good Man what the West is really like. We headed south to the sandstone that is so distinctive.

But before we got to the spectacular Bryce Canyon, we stopped at Cove Fort. This historic place was built of volcanic stone on the outside, and limestone on the inside. The walls are four feet thick at the base and taper down to two feet at the top of the 18 foot high walls. Originally built as a wayside to protect travelers from harm, no battles were ever fought here.

The interesting thing about the fort is how you can almost hear the travelers gathered around the tables in the kitchen/dining room. Can you imagine what an exciting life a child would have had here, hearing stories from visitors hailing from all over, and new ones every night? In the days before radio, tv, and internet, that musta been sumthin'. And I love the view outside the walls, which pretty much remains untouched today. Gotta love the openness out here.

Oh, KIP'ing took place too. More tomorrow on Bryce. Blue skies!

Marvelous Mim

Last night I had the pleasure of hearing (or is that seeing?) a very talented lace designer and friend, Miriam Felton, present at the local knitting guild meeting. To a very well-filled room of interested folks, Mim held forth everything from her reasons for becoming a knitter to her favorite needles. She showed us where her inspiration comes from--which is of course, the natural beauty of Utah. She has long been fascinated with positive and negative space and how light and dark interplay to create a sum of more than the parts. She showed a lovely trunk show of her exquisite pieces. Mim is very approachable, passionate about her work, and wanting to convert everyone to practice the joy of knitting lace.

You can find Mim's work in the November issue of IK, as well as a book due out in January called Sensual Knits, and on her web site. There you can find out more about her teaching schedule. She's fun and unpretentious. I know you'll love her style!

One more thing: anyone there last night is welcome to use the following code (SLKG10) for a discount on purchases made at Skylark Yarns. Blue skies~

Mitts with Style and Color!

Just in time for the cool weather, I spent the weekend fine tuning an easy new pattern for these Lace Rib Fingerless Mitts, worked here one skein of our new Pearls yarn, as hand dyed by Anne of Wooly Wonka fame. This lovely understated blue colorway reminds me of the Skyline Drive. We decided to name it such. Anne's got a GREAT color sense.

This yarn over dyes really well, according to Anne. (Sadly, my dye space is not yet set up.) So she's played with it and created two other colorways, Purple Haze and Sage Hills.

I should have the pattern posted to the site tonight, free with a skein of Pearls. I LOVE to knit.

Blue skies,

Lark

A new baby

We have had another alpaca born this week. A boy, great big 19.4 lb boy, with great mahogany coloring.

Straight, healthy, lustrous. Just the way we like 'em! Oh, and stinkin' cute to boot!

Blue skies!

What Love Is

Every morning, my new husband rises out of bed before me to prepare for his day. He's an early riser, someone who could have the job of waking the birds. Later, much later, I head to the shower, blind with sleep, about 5:30 a.m.

So, here's the thing: my Good Man is very meticulous about leaving me a fresh towel each morning, within reach of my hand as I open the shower door. It's not that the towel isn't there on the towel rack behind the door. It's that he places it on the hook just outside the shower for me. I just realized this week what love that shows. For him to consciously think of me, and care for me even when he is off to work in such a seemingly insignificant way is extremely humbling. You know what? The realization has me scrambling to find ways to "love" him consciously. It truly is the little things.

I think that is what many marriages today miss, and why the divorce rate is so high. Imagine if we were to look to the comfort and care of our spouses first, to expect more FROM ourselves on their behalf than we expect FROM them. I know. It's a hard concept to grasp, and popular culture doesn't want us to find it because it sells no product if we fill each other's needs at home.

I say: buck the trend. Do it for no good reason. The results might surprise you.

Blue skies!