Back at Cafe.

[camwyn]

Got up at something like six this morning, having gone to bed at ten the night before. This happens when you are situated next to a window. I could probably have managed another two hours of sleep with little difficulty but I had no real urge to do so, so I went downstairs and had breakfast and discussed travel plans with a Japanese man whose name eludes me. Then I showered, dressed, did some knitting, and made the arrangements to go up to the Arctic Circle tomorrow. I'm going for a drive-up, drive-back ride in a motorcoach rather than flying; it's cheaper, plus I have come to the conclusion that most land tends to look very similar from the air. I hope to get some decent photographs this way, at least. The ride will take all day - from 6:30 AM departure to 10:30 or 11 PM return - so do not expect a posting from me on the morrow.

After brekky I went out to the Inua Wool Shoppe on the rental mountain bike. AIAEEEEEEYAAAH that was not a good idea. If I had waited half an hour I could have gotten a seat cushion at Beaver Sports (they open at 10, and it was 9:30). This would have been good. You see, the seat on this bike is small and narrow (not nearly as bad as a road bike, but still pretty bad). The trip to the wool shoppe was something like five miles - I know it was at least 3.1 + 1, but the map did not say how far it was from the hostel to the University campus, or how long the campus runs. Neither did the map indicate that Gold Hill Road is 3 miles of uphill and .5 miles of down, or that Henderson Road (where the wool shoppe is) was a solid mile of uphill. I might mention as well that I have not ridden my own bike in a while, preferring rollerblades at home, and that it was raining and about 47 degrees.

I walked the bike a lot.

Eventually I got to the shop, which was directly above the owner's home. In the sense that one went into the home and followed the sign saying 'up those stairs there to the shoppe'. Yes, right through the house, though no one was there... the owner, a grey haired woman in her late forties or early fifties, was talking to another customer while I was there. It's quite a small yarn shop, but the yarn available is quite nice, the book supply is decent, the needle selection is quite wide, and most importantly, they had qiviut. I have officially spent $60 on a skein of yarn, but in my own defense I am going to make it into a scarf and give it to my mother as a Christmas present. There is no natural fiber in the world that is warmer than qiviut. Even a lace scarf will keep you warm.

condottiere, I asked them about yak yarn, but the only yak farmer in Alaska that the lady knows of apparently doesn't want to be bothered with cleaning the animals or combing out the yarn himself. The woman said it wasn't worth it, as the yak fur was still greasy after six washings. But yes, there are yaks in AK; they're on Chena Hot Springs Road (currently blocked off due to 2+ ft. of water).

Got the qiviut. Got a 16-inch circ needle for the hat I"m working on. Got blue and gold wool. Very happy with this. Very happy with 3.1 miles of downhill back, too.

Also very happy that the Univ. of Alaska has a really really gorgeous botanical garden - flowers and veg of all kinds, even tomatoes, which I wouldn't have thought of growing here - and an experimental farm housing domestic reindeer. I have yet to see the large animal research facility with wild caribou and musk oxen, but the reindeer are in fine shape. Oh, and both the females and males are in velvet at the moment, though several males were scraping the velvet off on the wire fence.

Tonight I want to go see the musher's dogs and cabin and stuff, but there's no way I can get there on a bike. It's seven miles, she lives on a probably muddy trail, I have no map to her door, and if there's the slightest bit of hill I"m going to cry. I shall see if there is any bus service whatsoever. We shall see, we shall see...

Comments

[logicalpsycho.livejournal.com]

"I walked the bike a lot." Hehe.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

qiviut

Qu'est-ce que c'est <>?

-- Lorrie

[camwyn]

Yarn spun from the undercoat wool of the musk-ox. Warmest natural fiber in existence, 8 times warmer than sheep's wool and incredibly light and soft. Expensive as fsck but as I said, Christmas present material.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

ooooo...

-- L

[camwyn]

Yep. Today I'm going out to the University's large animal research station, where they're raising musk-oxen and reindeer and caribou so as to determine how best to husband the critters. The gift shop sells qiviut both as yarn and as raw fiber; if the raw fiber is available in small enough amounts to be relatively inexpensive I may buy some against the day when I teach myself to spin.