A Pattern Variation

I have been on a bit of a hat knitting binge of late. First was a bright green and multicolored Runner's Hat that was donated to a local running series for their end of the season celebration:

Sorry about the quality of the photo (suspect I was using my new-to-me iPhone 3GS and hadn't learned how to use the camera properly). 

During the series you get points for each race run, or volunteered, at. First finisher gets 150 points, and each runner after that gets one point less; with separate male and female results. There is a 25 point bonus for attending all of the races, and your lowest score gets dropped. The end result is that while the fleet of foot accumulate a lot of points, it is often the most consistent runners/attendees who place in the top 10. 

At the end of the series potluck there are a lot of prizes donated by local business and individuals; essentially every runner who attends gets something. They are all laid out on a table and the series director calls out names starting with the top point getter on down. Each person then gets to choose an item from all that is on display. 

My intention was to have the hat done for this event. Alas, reality got in the way (for some reason I thought it was quite reasonable that I could knit this in less then one week on size 0 needles) and it was not quite complete on the day of the last race/end of series potluck. I placed the 2/3 finished hat on the table with a card promising the finished hat to the recipient. 

Apparently it was a hot commodity and got snatched up rather quickly. This resulted in the need to knit another hat.

Since I can't seem to knit the same thing twice I made a few revisions. Adding a couple of peerie patterns that I felt were representative of some of the features of a certain long run on the Superior Hiking Trail. I introduce to you Runner's Hat v3 aka "Wild Duluth 100k Edition":

The other day I went out for a lunch with my sister and got this in my fortune cookie:

It was amazingly appropriate! More on that in a future post. 

Isle Royale 2014 - Rock Harbor, Chippewa Harbor, Malone Bay

Just a peek at my most recent trip. It was very cool, often wet and great fun.

Carved into the floor of shelter #5 at Rock Harbor

Seen along the Scolville Point Trail:

Coral fungus species

Puffballs

unidentified fungus

One-flowered Pyrola

Pipsissewa

Turtlehead (?)

Day paddle from Chippewa Harbor to Wood Lake and back:

Unidentified fungus located at portage from Chippewa Harbor to Lake Whittlesey

Moose poop! 

Getting ready for our first portage of the trip - Chippewa Harbor end of trail

Looking back into Chippewa Harbor

Unidentified tiny mushrooms

Wood Lake, as viewed from portage. Siskiwit Lake is just over the ridge line.

Lake Whittlesey - looking out from campground. 

More evidence of moose on the beach near the Lake Whittlesey portage. 

Toadlet (they were everywhere on the trails). 

Pale corydalis

Deluxe trail - portage from Lake Whittlesey to Chippewa Harbor.
18' canoe + 5' 1.5" human = tail end of canoe hitting rocks/steps at times. 

Gay wings/Fringed polygala (blooming way out of season).
Spotted while portaging canoe, photographed by my camping partner. 

What a year for fungus!!

Chippewa Harbor:

Shipwreck, Chippewa Harbor

Orchid species; near rock outcrop on trail to Lake Mason

Unidentified shrub, growing along creek from Lake Richey to Chippewa Harbor

Chippewa Harbor, looking out towards Lake Superior.

 Malone Bay:

Apparently slugs found me very attractive one afternoon.   

Malone Bay

Wild rose species

I just couldn't resist snapping a photo of this little critter on the beach.

Siskiwit Lake to Wood Lake:

On a beach on the largest island on the largest lake on the largest island on the largest lake.
Ryan Island, Siskiwit Lake, looking towards Teakettle Island. 

Owl pellet found at campground on Wood Lake

Owl pellet

Itsy bitsy skull from owl pellet

A very busy caterpillar at Wood Lake

Malone Bay:

Isle Royale shawl - Malone Bay

Finished these socks on the ferry ride to Isle Royale. They served me well.
Three Irish Girls - Deadheads color way.

Late August

White Coral Jelly Fungus are emerging everywhere! I don't remember ever seeing this species before, but this year our woods seem to be producing a bumper crop.

The photo below shows the mushroom's color much more realistically then in the previous post (better lighting).

Tremella reticulata

 Lobster mushrooms result from one fungus "infecting" another causing it to become bright orange and grow in unusual shapes.

Lobster Mushroom

Our wet, cool summer seems to be favoring hop growth. The hop flowers are the largest I have ever seen, at least 1.25 inches in length.

hops!

Lots of rain leads to lots of mushrooms

Our summer started off wet and cool and seems like it might end that way as well. But, with lots of wet weather comes an increase in the number of fungus that can be spotted in yards, along trails and growing on trees. Some of my favorites from this summer:

Tremella reticulata

I picked these today while out running as I did not have a camera along and really wanted to know what they were. The larger of the two specimens is about three inches around and was growing on the root (or adjacent to) of a birch. The other specimen is made up of two branches each a couple of inches long and was found near a different species of hardwood. They were all over the place alongside the Superior Hiking Trail off of Beck's Rd.

Tremella reticulata or White Coral Jelly Fungus

Seen on hikes earlier this summer:

Sac Fungi

Phyllotus porrigens - Angel's Wings (?)

Underside of Angel's Wings

Itsy bitsy sac fungi found in the soils adjacent to Mission Creek.

The fungus pictured above and below was growing in one of the slumped areas along Mission Creek. This was one of the hardest hit areas in the 2012 flood. I found these along the area that was rehabbed to become part of the Eugene Curnow Trail Marathon and Minnesota Voyageur Trail Ultra course in the Fond du Lac neighborhood.

Smaller then the tip of my finger, that's a pine needle in upper right corner. 

As you may be able to guess I am rather fascinated with tiny mushrooms. The two above were found growing in a bed of moss.

 The group below are such a great red color.

I found these growing next to the lilac in my front yard while doing some yard work.

Xylaria sp?, possibly Xylaria polymorphs or Dead Man's Fingers (Sac fungi)