New profile pic, Weather changing, colors all around....

Decided it was time to get that gorgeous profile pic down and add something a bit *daring*. Well, at least for me, its daring! So I found this, cropped it and I love the way it turned out. Mom..... riding...... in beautiful territory..... yep! that's what I wanted to convey.
Weather is finally changing into fall. Yesterday we had storms that set off the alarm system 3 times. Dogs refused to sit on the couch in favor of the floor! Hailed 4 - 5 times with lightening strikes all around for over 2 hours and it was glorious! Finally Colorado Springs is seeing Fall in all its glory.

I'm outta here today for a class at the LYS. Will be learning a technique that hopefully I can use on another project that I desperately want to make. Also started a unique project the other day. Another words not socks!, or a scarf! or mitts. I can't wait to see the finished results....

Moving along on my Christmas knitting... have grandbabys taken care of. Have multiple children taken care of. But! I still have lots to do.

**Ponder** Will it reach a point where I need to knit all year to produce Christmas presents? Or should I just spend a year knitting Christmas presents that will keep me covered for the next couple of years? Or should I skip a year on knitting Christmas presents?

The best gift is one that is given from the heart and made with the hands.

Fall colors to savor and more...

LaVeta Pass Colorado

Spanish Peaks Colorado

Spanish Peaks and Great Sand Dunes NP




Morning at the dunes...

LaVeta Pass

Sometimes....

I could just scream with the inability of my camera to take a decent picture. My daughter received her first Letter in Academics and the pictures are blurry due to low lighting. I know how to set the camera. I know how to take a decent picture. But damn thing is pretty useless indoors if your moving or "IF" your moving outdoors! Very frustrating! very. Oh well my rant is now over and I can move on with the explanation of my couple of heaven spent days.

Here I am in all my winter wonder. 2 shirts, nylon jacket, my famous *uni-bomber* hoodie, jeans, chaps, leather boots (Harley, of course) guantlets, neck warmer, head band, I-pod and last but not least my full face helmet. I could barely move.

Questa, NM.

Yep. That's me on the bike.

Now in Taos, NM. Some of my roomies for the couple of days that I'm going to be there. Kerri and Susie.

A look out the back of the house and there is a little casita in back that also rents out. There were 3 ladies staying there.

My other two roomies, Linda and Mary. Spinning their roving into yarn. All 4 were trying to get me to start spinning. BUT! I proved stronger, for the moment, and was able to fight off all attempts. But they've invited me to go to "Spin Fest" with them. So we'll see how long my resolve holds out! I have to admit that it did look interesting but I can't seem to master the drafting!

My class room for the two days of the Intarsia lace class.

My seat.

Some of the other students. There were 9 of us in all.

For the most part we all got along quite well. Georgia, who sat next to me, and I called ourselves the *Special Ed* duo or corner of the class. We never were able to catch up to the other students where speed knitting was concerned. But we had a blast! and it rubbed off on the others. Where does it say that your not supposed to have fun?! Even our teacher seemed to enjoy the good natured ribs we handed back and forth freely, and even, I think, took us under her wing a bit more and even poked fun at us a bit.

There were boxes of yarn and books laid out on a table and needles and guage counters, etc throughout the room available for purchase. We were given a bag (pink one in my chair) to shop the room with for 2 days. We could freely change our minds, over and over and over. It was wonderful.

Our teacher. In black. Galina Khmeleva.

The remaining pictures are taken with my camera phone. I totally forgot my camera at the house and then realized that I really didn't know where it was anyway.

Yaks! These little ones were just precious.

Cashmere goats?

Alpaca's! This baby was so frightened.

There were Llama's there also, but there were so many people around them that they were flattening out their ears and readying to start spitting! I stayed back.

Look at the color of this roving!

and this!

Everywhere you looked there were people leaving with these types of bags, full of roving to be hand spun.

Some of the final products....

Angora rabbits were for sale....

This lady had hers out brushing them and I couldn't resist taking a picture. I discovered that people who own angora rabbits sell the fur for about $8 - $9 an ounce unprocessed, I believe. So these little buggars can pay for themselves.

A small woven rug that was for sale... I've been invited to attend next year with the ladies and I'm looking forward to going. It was a ton of fun and I think perhaps next year I'll stay for the whole thing. Yep, the whole thing. Who knows, by then I might be knitting faster!

Fall colors are starting to show...

Garden of the Gods always offers an wonderful opportunity for riding as well as pictures...
Even the ravins have color changes occuring...

This day was cloudy and the temps were starting to drop...

Love the cloud formation with the skyline...

something I wouldn't recommend while riding, but I couldn't resist the opportunity ... There's Jen flashing the hand signs...
though not in GOG's. I found this tree while waiting for the kids to get out of school.

A little variation on my previous hat which I really think turned out quite well...

I still need to pick out projects to take!

I'm a planner by nature. I typically pack for trips days in advance so that I can go over, and over! and over!! what I've packed to make sure its all there. So as a result I'm having trouble coming up with what to take on this adventure. My intention is to take the Softtail, but I'm limited on what I can haul on the bike. I have to take clothing, winter gear, and what is necessary for the class I'll be in. But what to take for the remainder of the time that I'm there? I have to have knitting to work on and though socks are a favorite I'd like to take other projects as possible alternatives. I love having options! it makes life more interesting. Oh, I guess I'll be fretting over this question for the next few days.
Yesterday was knitting time at Knitters Kove. When I got there I was able to talk to Mary about the Taos Wool Festival (TWF) and get the information that I needed about where we're all staying. They apparently exchange small gifts at this get together of theirs and I politely bowed out of the gift exchange as I really don't know any of these women well enough to purchase a gift for one of them. I've always felt that gifts should be thought about and the person receiving the gift know that they are appreciated for who they are. *One of my quirks.* There is also an apparent appreciation of wine amongst this group. I guess I'll take a nice bottle of Merlot to share with everyone. Obviously I'll have no problem participating in this area of the adventure. I think I'm supposed to bring or shop for snack items as my addition to the food supply. Grapes, cheese, crackers, etc. will be easy to pick up once I'm in Taos and a nice addition to the wine drinking.
Just about a week and I'll be outta here for beautiful Taos!

Mini Mochi Yummy

Early morning at our campsite... I love the sunrise.





A gift of 2 from my daughter becomes....


these.





Two of these...



becomes this.

add this to the left overs from above and you get...

a whole new project to play with.