Hey it's February!

How did that happen?! I think time is moving faster. I mean it feels like it was just Christmas and now we're into February already!

I've been doing some knitting lately and have my first FO of the year (well I finished 2 pussy hats so that's not true). But here is my first pair of socks for my 12 pairs of socks in 2017 goal...

I used some stash yarn scraps and did a plain vanilla sock pattern (Susan B Anderson`s How I Make My Socks, check it out on Ravelry if you`re interested, great free pattern). I usually make this pattern when I knit socks. It`s easy and slick. Plus it knits up fast! Especially when I make socks for me, which these are :)

I love this colourway, it`s from North Bound Knitting, an indy dyer from Ontario. It`s really fun.

I`ve started my February socks already. I`m not far along but I hope to get to the heel flap tonight. These are also for me and I`m using stashed Socks That Rock, and I have no clue what the colourway name is, the ballband is long gone. It`s bright and green and feels like summer.

I think I may go crazy for my next pair and knit some texture... I am kinda crazy like that. I have the Mercury Socks in my queue. They are a free lace sock pattern, I think I`ll make a pair. After that I may get really bold and knit a pair for Brent. He mentioned that he`s like a pair and I have yet to knit man socks... I may have to buy 2 skeins of sock yarn for him in a manly colourway. He`s probably not appreciate the crazy sock yarn I have in stash.

If you have any favourite sock patterns for dudes shoot me a comment below. I`d really appreciate the help!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Are you a person that believes in all the bad juju of  Friday the 13th? I'm not. Instead I like to see it as a day of freedom and indulgence.

When I celebrate Friday the 13th, I do things a little more on the wild side: like drink that extra glass of wine, read that steamy romance book, binge watch the whole series, eat all the chips, etc... Indulge in the shouldn'ts just a bit!

This Friday comes at the end of a few days of spectacular cold here in my part of Canada. We've had overnight temps of -30C with windchill values of over -46C. So cold! Crazy cold! Put on all the layers kind of cold. Thankfully we've also had a beautiful full moon the last few days too.

I keep trying to catch a picture of it with my iphone but it's so hard to get a good shot. It looked like a little white dot not the big luminous moon that I was actually seeing. Anyone have any tricks for taking moon pictures on an iphone? I have a good Canon camera sitting in it's case in the closet, I should really start to use that again.

So this full moon was a good for me. I was able to release a few things that aren't working for me and recommit to some that I've been slacking on and celebrate what I'm doing that is working.

For instance:

- I'm rocking my snowshoeing resolution. I've been out 4 of 12 times, a third down! I've gone solo, with Brent and with friends and it's been great. I'll be heading out hopefully a couple more times this weekend.

- I've been slacking on my yoga practice. This is sad. I love yoga. So I'll be getting on my mat tonight and hopefully everyday for the rest of this moon cycle.

- I'm letting go of the meditating every day for 365 days. That one was going to be a stretch and I knew I'd fail but I figured I'd go ahead and commit anyway because any bit of meditation is better than none right? I still plan on sitting on my cushion as often as possible but I'm not going to beat myself up if I miss a day or three...

It was too cold to be outside and create a ritual of letting go but as I drove to work in the morning I was bathed in moonlight the whole way (it was beautiful and distracting!) and I actually spoke my intentions out loud (I drive alone, haha). It was lovely and a great way to start my day.

Next New Moon: Friday January 27th
Next Full Moon: Friday February 10th

Thanks for stopping by :)

Prairie Snowshoe Adventures - Part One

Doesn't that sound like the name of shop?! Prairie Adventures...

This mountain girl still can't believe how easy it is to have adventures out here. I guess that means that it isn't the place that creates them, it's all about attitude. And my attitude for 2017 is all about adventure. I'm aiming to have as many as possible. This is my last year in my 30's and I want to make it good. So I'm working on a plan... stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'm making good on my resolution to get active and enjoy the winter more. I got out snowshoeing the other day. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to do it.



cheesy before hike selfie

I took Josie out too. She was dying for a run. I don`t normally take the dog with me when I go places, usually Brent does all the dog stuff (his dog you know) but there`s no reason for us not to adventure together when we can. She was funny to watch and listened well, I`ll take her with me next time too.

We went to the PFRA where we`ve had many long rambles over the years. It`s in a sad state of decline but you can`t tell with a blanket of white covering everything. I like that it`s just across from town and super easy to get to. We also wander the Experimental Farm (also just across from town) but more in the summer. I`ve been wanting to explore the White Butte Trails just outside of White City. They have 5k of hiking trails for dogs and snowshoers but I`ll have to check it out before I take Josie.

I personally love going the PFRA and would choose to go there over most other places. There`s never anyone else out there when I go! It`s like an oasis of privacy right next to the Number 1.

I also love the trees. I have a small thing for trees.

 

I`ll probably dedicate a few posts to trees (just to warn you). Some people have spirit animals, I hug trees.

So I`m 2 for 12 in my snowshoeing goal. Lots of winter left (I`m not sure why I live in a place where winter is so long when I hate being cold but there you go, it`s probably so I can make resolutions about learning to embrace it). I`m planning on going every Friday for sure and some other weekend day too. If I can do that then I`ll be good for reaching my goal no problem. I do need new winter boots though... my feet are killing me!