Summer Crafts

This summer has been WILD.  We might have over planned this summer, cramming it with doing all of our favorite things and hanging out with all our favorite people.  We don't regret a thing, but it did mean that my time for crafting significantly declined.  Add in starting a new job this summer and I've been feeling like my time for just sitting around watching TV, knitting, sewing and reading as been extremally limited!

That being said, I was able to accomplish a few projects this summer - including this sweet little moose for Hazel (a future Christmas present).  Last winter she asked me to knit her a moose (or a reindeer?  I can't remember exactly), so when this adorable little dude came up on Barrett Wool, I knew I had to order him.

The kit I ordered cam with everything you needed to knit the moose, two sweaters and an adorable little cardinal friend to go in his pocket.

The cardigan came with a hood and a cute little scarf for around his neck.  For the record, I hate making pom poms!  But, between the three I needed for this project, and then the National Park hat kits I've got to whip up for other Christmas presents.  You can't gift homemade items and start in October!  This I've learned.  

Last year I came across a new friend of Instagram - a fellow reader and knitter that also loved traveling to National Parks and she posted about a pattern maker named Nancy Bates.  She creates park inspired hat patterns and I was hooked!  I asked for the pattern book for Christmas and signed up for alerts for her kits.  I've got a slew of them to post about but the first one I tackled was this Yellowstone hat.  It's inspired by Grand Prismatic.  We're headed to Yellowstone this coming January with Jenny and Jack for Jenny's 40th.  I'm pretty confident she doesn't follow the blog, so I'm not ruining a surprise when I tell you that this hat will be her birthday present on that trip.  I'm excited to gift it!  It's perfect.

The hats knit up quick, and the little leather patches you can pick up to label them are adorable.  I see many of these in my future!  In fact I've got kits for 2 other parks already and I've already picked up the yarn to make them for Acadia next year.

The pom pom to emulate the steam coming off the thermal pool is just perfect! I just might have enough yarn from the kit to squeeze out a second hat.  We'll see!  Might be worth a try just to have one for myself.

Devils Lake Tri

Quickly becoming another favorite summer trip - the Devil's Lake Tri was on the books for a second summer.  It's the same weekend as Dan's birthday and after Labor Day weekend.  It's the time of year when things start to slow down for us a tiny bit but still the perfect weather for camping!

We've spent a good bit of time in the Devil's Lake area this year with the family reunion earlier this year but it gave us a chance to try some lesser known hikes and check out some other areas nearby.  We're looking to purchase a piece of land up in this area of the world, so being able to drive around and check out some of the surrounding areas is very fun for Ryan and I.  

I made everyone drive about 20 minutes away from Devil's Lake to the Natural Bridge State Park.  As expected, if you get 10 minutes away from Devil's Lake the crowds thin to nothing and you have the entire ark to yourself.  We hiked this park for maybe 2 hours and geocached our way the entire time - the kids loved it!

We even found our second ever trackable - they are so fun.  This one wants to travel around the world so we picked it up and we'll deposit it at a cache in Marengo so it can continue along on it's way. 

Sunday was dedicated to Ryan's race.  He started in the last wave, just like last year, but he finished a few minutes shorter than his time last year and in the top 100 of the entire race.  Not quite top 10%, but not too far off!  There were about 800 total participants, so he was top 20% for sure, and maybe even top 15%.  He said it must have been all the extra beers he drank that helped power him through - lol!

The kids don't remember the old days of racing but between this year and last year they are starting to understand how it all works.  Hazel got 75+ high fives when we cheered at the finish line - I mean, how could you not high five a cute little girl cheering you on?!?