More Dye Garden Thoughts

There are three obvious ways to get botanical dyestuff for your dye projects:

1. Buy your dyes from suppliers, either as dried flowers, leaves, roots, etc. or as extracts.
2. Pick plants from roadside verges and waste places.
3. Grow them on your own land.

I live in the city and it’s illegal to pick things in parks or along the roadside. There are a few waste places where you could get away with it of course but I don’t live near them and the plants available are mostly the weeds that are common to our area: Himalayan blackberry, Scotch broom, English ivy, dandelions, and lots of other things that give the usual beige, tan and yellow. Plus I already have my own blackberries and ivy!

We are truly lucky to live within walking distance of Maiwa Handprints which is a fabulous resource for all things dye and surface design related. So I do buy some dyes such as cochineal bugs, “true” indigo, cutch and osage orange extracts, and more madder since I can’t grow enough myself. Other than that my garden suffices for my natural dye needs which aren’t huge. I only dye a couple of pounds of fibres, yarn or fabric in a year anyway. I haven’t even used everything I’ve dyed in the last several years yet! It all takes time. LOTS of time.

I’m also lucky to have a large enough city lot to be able to grow things on it. However, even if you have only a little plot or a planter box you could still grow enough for a dyebath or two if you wanted. I realise not everybody likes gardening as much as I do but it’s a skill like any other. You will improve with experience. I’m not sure I envy those with acreages though – I think I’d go a little nuts with the size and scope of the possibilities! Right now I have just enough garden to keep me (and Thom) pleasantly occupied. I’m definitely not a farmer though I have huge appreciation for those who grow things for us. It’s not an easy job.

OK, on to other things. In knitting news, I ended up going to my LYS (Three Bags Full) to get a longer 3mm Addi circular needle. This time I got a 32” Rocket, which has the sharper tip of the Addi Lace needle but the nickel plating of the Addi Turbo. LOVE! Makes me wonder why they even bothered with the brass Lace needles when they’ve had so much trouble with the finish on them. Personally I’ve had to take 2 pairs back because of flaws that I couldn’t live with. At least Addi honours their lifetime guarantee and it’s easy enough just to take the needles back to the store you bought them from and exchange. 3Bags has been great about this. Tiny shop; great service.

So why did I get a longer needle? I usually use a 24” circular for everything. If I need a different length I use my Addi Lace Clicks – except that they don’t go smaller than 3.5mm. I needed a 3mm, too small for Clicks, and the stitches on my Mia Tunic were very cramped on 24” and getting even more so as I knit. Since this garment is only really costing me the price of a new needle, I didn’t hesitate. My knitting is much happier now:

It’s quite a few inches longer than this now. I’m past the short rows and the little gather bit at the back and into the seed stitch tail. I’m quite enjoying the knit because it’s mostly mindless. Unlike other knitters I love acres of stockinette! I can read or watch TV at the same time. That’s always an incentive for me to work on something more often. If I have to concentrate or watch what I’m doing then I don’t find time to do it as much.

Which brings me to my current second knitting project, the Colour Change Scarf. Yes, I know I have no need whatsoever for another scarf. Plus I really prefer triangle or crescent shawlettes instead. However, this one tickled my interest with the colour progressions and the lace grid pattern. And I need a more portable knitting project to counter the definite non-portability of the Mia. Unfortunately, it takes constant watching my stitches to knit it! The lace pattern is easy-peasy, only 2 simple rows easily memorised. But there are no resting rows, just constant decreases and double-yarn overs and knit-knit-knit-purl. I had trouble with the Addi Lace Click needles I was using too. The superfine merino yarn caught on the connector too much so it was a chore to slide stitches forward. Not fun knitting. Which means I will avoid it. And that won’t get the thing done anytime soon.

I tried several different needle options instead. Regular Addi Lace 24” circular: still nearly as much catch when sliding stitches plus the cable is annoyingly longer for an 8” wide scarf. Vintage Aero aluminum long 9” dpns: felt nice to knit on but too heavy for comfort. The needles are not hollow but solid cast aluminum. Equally ancient Aero aluminum 16” circular: horrible stiff cable and lumpy join causing the usual catching issues. Last try – Clover Takumi bamboo 7” dpns: much lighter than aluminum dpns but the tips aren’t quite as pointy. Good points are really helpful with this fine splitty doubled yarn and lots of decreases. Anyway I ran out of options so with rubber point protectors on the ends to stop stitches from sliding off, they will have to do. Not buying any more needles! Carrying on. Slowly.

Don’t think I mentioned that Thom is now sharing my cold. Argh. Took him over a week to catch it from me! I tried to spare him, honest! (Perhaps coughing on him in the middle of the night wasn’t a good thing.) I’m getting better slowly but he’s kind of in the worst of it right now. Unfortunately we need some groceries so for once we’ll be driving in the car to get them. How unusual! The advantage is that we can pick up more things at the supermarket than we can carry including the heavy stuff like laundry detergent. Stocking up. You know, for the Zombie Apocalypse or whatever. Moving right along.

No, Not Back On Vacation

I KNOW! A whole week without a word. I’m having re-entry problems I think. So much catching up to do and no idea what needs doing first. So I dither around and don’t really get anything much done. Sheesh. I think my brain is still on vacation!

So lets just dive in, shall we? I have a whole whack of projects that haven’t been blogged. Starting with the most recent where I dug a really elderly ball of sock yarn out of the Sock Yarn Tower and dove in to a new pair. Hate not having socks on the needles at all times! The yarn is Lang Yarns Super Soxx Cotton in an interesting mix of 49% wool/35% cotton/16% nylon and the shop I bought it from no longer exists – which might be a hint how long I’ve had it in the stash! Don’t remember doing it but I had sometime in the past already wound it into two balls, found the matching beginning spot on both balls and yet never started anything. It has fairly wide stripes of dusky purple, sand, dark gray, orange-yellow and pinky-red and I wanted to break those up a little so hunted in the book “Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn” by Carol Sulcoski for some ideas. The pattern Staccato Socks by Veronik Avery had a Wave Pattern that was only 2 rows long by 16 sts repeat so fit perfectly into my usual Damselfly’s Basic Sock Pattern. Easy to memorise and knit while watching TV. It nicely bends the stripes into a more interesting shape which immediately reminded me of Antelope Canyon in north-eastern Arizona. Here’s one sock so far:

And here’s one shot of the canyon looking up:

See what I mean? Amazingly serendipitous, no? I couldn’t have dyed a better match myself. Now I’ll remember Antelope Canyon every time I wear them. But then who could ever forget such an awesome place?

The knitting photo also shows my new favourite sock needles that I bought at Dharma Trading in San Rafael, CA, when we were there. They only seemed to have a few sets left but luckily still had 2 sets of 5 of the 5” size 2mm (US 0). These are Knitter’s Pride Nova Cubics, which are made in India from square brass tubing and then nickel-plated. The link shows the newer Platina version with slightly sharper points and chrome plating which is more durable instead of nickel. I think mine are the older ones but the points, while not as sharp as I prefer, are adequate and the price was definitely right. They were quite a bit cheaper even than the Clover Bamboo dpns and I’m sure they will last a lot longer. It took a wee bit of getting used to the square shape but they now feel normal to my hands. Not too slippery and easy to hold and manipulate. You can put them down and they have no tendency to roll away! Until I can find out how to sharpen my carbon fibre Blackthorns up again, these are now my go-to sock needles. Love.

What’s next? I finally got my Ravelry project pages just about up-to-date now. I included the entire pattern for Thom’s new replacement Glasses Sock. He uses it in his breast pocket (or wherever) to protect his reading glasses from scratches. Here it is if you need one of these for yourself or a gift for someone who puts their reading glasses down all the time. You could even make a strap or thread it on a chain to wear it around your neck. Thom doesn’t like it that way though.

Damselfly’s Glasses Sock Pattern

Uses 2 small balls of leftover contrasting sock yarns and a set of 5 - 2mm (or 2.25mm if you're a tight knitter) dpns. Fits the common drug store reading glasses.

With Main Yarn , CO 32, join in round and arrange stitches evenly on 4 needles.
K2, P2 ribbing for 3/4”. Switch to slip-stitch pattern beginning with Contrast Yarn.

Slip-Stitch Pattern:
R1 & R2: With contrast yarn, knit.
R3 & R4: With main yarn, k3, sl1, rep to end.
R5 & R6: With contrast yarn, rep R1 & R2.
R7 & R8: With main yarn, k1, sl1, k2 rep to end.

Repeat Rows 1-8 until sock measures 5-3/4” from beginning.

Begin toe:
Knit to 3 sts before the end of needle 1, k2tog, k1.
On needle 2, k1, ssk, knit to 3 sts before the end of needle 3, k2tog, k1. On needle 4, k1, ssk, knit to end of round.
Next round, knit.
Repeat the last 2 rounds until 5 sts are left on each of the 4 needles. (20 sts total)
Graft the toe, sew in loose ends and block.

I kind of made the slip-stitch pattern up on the fly but you could just knit plain stockinette like the first glasses sock I made. I must have made it over 7 years ago because it’s not in my Ravelry projects. It disintegrated so Thom chucked it after he got his new one.

So while we’re going backwards in my knitting projects, there’s one scarf I finally finished on our holiday:

I started the Autumn Echo Flower Shawlette (actually a scarf) a whole year ago and somehow wandered away from it before it was done. I rarely do that and it’s not like it was a boring knit or anything. It did take concentration though so not a TV or travelling project but one to work on while sitting quietly. The yarn is Baruffa Cashwool 100% merino cobweb weight that I dyed in cutch and I only used 23g (approx. 336 yds) so there’s nearly half of my 40g ball left over. I used 3mm Addi Lace circulars and the free Echo Flower pattern by Jenny Johnson Johnen which uses some of my favourite Estonian stitches. I’m calling it a scarf because it blocked out quite tiny, just going around my neck like a kerchief, but I like it. It’s a good size when I just need a bit of a neck warmer. The cutch dye’s warm golden brown goes with lots of things in my wardrobe.

Now, let’s save the rest of the projects for later, shall we? I’ve done a little cleanup in the garden and got the garlic planted. Last year’s kale is still going strong so we’ll see if it can make it through another winter with this year’s as backup. Picking the new shoots keeps it branching instead of just picking off the bottom leaves like they tell you to do. I like the young leaves better anyway! Picked the last of the winter squash, green tomatoes and cabbages too. The tomatoes will mostly ripen on the counter. The cabbages weren’t nearly as large this year and were somewhat more chewed upon but I have half a dozen in the fridge. I got a total of 5 butternut squashes and 5 little spaghetti squashes which isn’t a lot either but we have a pretty small garden. I wouldn’t have had even that many though if I hadn’t hand-pollinated them with a paintbrush! Buzzzz….

The weather has been delightfully warm and mostly sunny since we got home – at least until this afternoon. Now it’s sprinkling a little which is nice because the newly-planted garlic could use some watering in. It actually feels more like early September than nearly mid-October. We’ll be celebrating our Canadian Thanksgiving on Sunday at Thom’s brother’s with nearly all of the immediate family present. And yes, I’m truly thankful for so much! All I have to do is go on one of those camping odysseys to realise that I don’t need anything more than what we already have right here.

(No. We won’t discuss the microwave that finally crashed the minute we got home. And all the “fun” it took to replace it with a reasonable substitute. Do not get me started on the state of Big Box Retail today. For that I am not thankful.)

Before This, There's That

It rained all day yesterday so the ground is finally good and saturated. I won’t have to water for at least a couple more days, depending on whether or not the sun comes out. Meanwhile it’s only 17 degrees (62 F) in here and I’m wearing socks, a long-sleeved turtleneck t-shirt and a fleece jacket. There’s no turning up the heat because the furnace is turned off for the summer. The turtleneck comes in handy though for keeping the dust from going down my neck as I clean out the attic. Yesterday I pulled out everything from the Spinning Stash space and today I hope to do the same to the other half where the Fabric and Paper Stash is. That one is a bit more problematical because the insulation came down in several places, pulling the stapled-up plastic sheeting with it. Also a couple of piles of things fell over joining in a messy heap in the middle of the one spot where I didn’t have any extra plastic. Sheesh. There’s also the fact that I can’t put anything back until I can capture T-Man and get his help with the staple gun. See this post’s title for the dilemma I’m caught in. At least the temperature is conducive to crawling around in the attic wearing my haz-mat gear. I bet I just look terribly glamorous in black pants and turtleneck, baseball cap, vinyl gloves and a dust mask. Good thing there’s no paparazzi here to snap my photo for People magazine, huh?

I forgot to tell you about the lovely needle gauge I got from Debra’s Garden. She finally came up with metric sizing so I got a metallic red one:

This pic is bigger than life-size — they are only 1.5” tall by 1.25” wide so fit easily wherever you like or use as a zipper pull or necklace. A bit pricey at US$16 plus postage but the holes are very accurate and the numbering is deeply incised and won’t wear off. Doesn’t include 2.25 or 2.75 mm sizes though which was a little disappointing though it does have 3.25, 3.5 and 3.75 mm. However, Debra is great to deal with and packages your purchase up in a matching little silky bag. And her many different stitch markers have been giving me ideas. (Which reminds me — I’ve misplaced my first and so far only crochet stitch marker. Hope it turns up somewhere when I get all this mess cleared up out of my study and studio rooms.)

So this means I now have a total of 4 needle gauges, each one sporting a different number of holes and sizes:


My oldest green gauge is in both French and English and measures Canadian and metric sizes from 2mm to 10. I’ve had this one forever and it’s the only one with both 7 and 7.5mm but it doesn’t have 3.5mm, just 3.25 and 3.75. I got the next one several years ago, a Goose Pond brass sheep that goes all the way from 1.25 (yes I do have needles that small!) to 10mm. It’s missing the 2.5 out of the 2’s and the 3mm out of the 3’s (though it has all the others), no 4mm (4.25 instead) and no 7’s. More recently still I got the Turbo Needlegauge which works great with Addi needles because that was what it was made for. It goes down to 1.5mm and has all of the 3’s but only 2.5 in the 2’s. It does have 7 but not 7.5mm. I’ve already listed what my newest Debra’s Garden one has and doesn’t have. Together they pretty much cover my needle collection. Close enough for me anyhow.

I find the sizing thing totally fascinating but maybe that’s because I’ve used so many different types of knitting needles over the years. They vary a lot even if they say they’re the same size. No wonder you are admonished to use the same brand of needles for instance if you’re switching from circs to dpns. But even that ploy might not be totally foolproof. Throw in the fact that I knit tighter on metal needles than on wood or plastic, even if they’re the exact same measured size. Recently I’ve restricted my needle use to circulars and dpns and haven’t used single points for years. My favourites are Addi lace circs in brass and bamboo dpns (Clover and Crystal Palace) with good old Denise plastic modulars coming in whenever nothing else will work. I should actually get rid of all my old Aero “twin pins” and sets of only 4 dpns, particularly the metal ones because they are heavy. I only use metal dpns in sizes smaller than 2.25mm. I also mostly prefer dpns in 5” or 6” lengths except for the larger sizes which are functional in the 7” length so I can use them for hats or sleeves. However, I kind of like keeping all my “vintage” needles even if I never use them. It’s almost too bad I didn’t keep their packaging as well. They look much more intriguing in a super-ancient paper or splitting plastic envelope, perhaps at least to collectors.

In knitting news, I’m finally at the toe decreases on the A-Maizing Socks. Yay! This project has been kind of a chore so I decided to get it off the needles asap so I could feel more free to start another project. I bought a second skein of Louet Euroflax fine/sport weight in Gypsy Bronze so I will have enough to do the Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery. I want to do it 3 repeats wide and long enough to wrap around my neck several times. Will. Finish. Socks. First.

Contentment

“There is no end of craving. Hence contentment alone is the best way to happiness. Therefore, acquire contentment.” Swami Sivananda

So far my Year of Contentment isn’t going so well. I’m not at all content with still feeling crappy. Sorry, I’m sure you’re tired of my whining about it. I’m tired of my whining. I think if I just felt a little better so that I could get the idea that it might be going away eventually then it wouldn’t be so bad. But I have better days and then worse ones. Like yesterday when my throat was even more sore than usual. Bleh.

Also on the Lack-of-Contentment front, I’ve been craving stuff. I’ve already bought way too many books, some of which I really don’t need. And sock yarn because I was getting low on options for the gazillion pairs that I need to knit this year. I’ve got at least half of the year’s supply now. Am I content yet? Probably not. But I’m behaving myself for the moment anyway.

On the Stash-Reduction front, I did give away my Addi Turbo circular needles for a token donation of $10. These are quite old and have a much stiffer cable than the newer ones. I hope they are still at least somewhat functional. I will never use them. Turbos are too blunt and too slippery for me. I have lots of other needles that I don’t really want also, but I’m afraid that there really isn’t too much of a market for vintage Aero cable needles. I particularly loathe the bent tip ones and the cables are awful and stiff. The points are fine though. Not to mention all the straights which I never use any more. Some of these needles were from my cousins’ grandmother who died many years ago. I inherited them because I was the only crafty person in that side of the family. And some are from my late adopted mom. I didn’t inherit any of my grandmother’s needles or hooks because one of my sisters, who actually was closer to her, got them first. S’okay by me. I have more than enough! Interestingly all 3 ladies were in their 90’s when they passed away. Does knitting help you live longer?

The needles that I really prefer are bamboo dpns (sets of 5, not 4), Addi Lace circulars and Denise for anything the lace circs don’t cover. Right now I’m starting on the Ice Queen smoke ring/wimple/cowl from Knitty — in spite of all I could do to put it off until I’ve finished more socks or gotten further on Hepburn Cardi. Yes, I got bit by Startitis. My version is called Twilight Queen due to the colour of the logwood-dyed SeaWool handspun and the transparent blue-violet beads with a lovely silver sheen. Here it is so far.

The colour is somewhat more accurate than in the last photo of this logwood-dyed yarn. I’m doing option B (garter stitch and lotsa beads) and it’s actually a very easy knit, though the chart is a little confusing about when to add the beads. It starts with a provisional cast-on and I used my favourite crochet-directly-onto-the-needle cast-on with some cotton weaving thread. You know, if I’d thought ahead I could have wound off enough yarn before I started to do the picot bind-off on that end without having to rejoin the yarn. Too late.

I’m nearly done the last toe on the B-Bil socks. Then it’s just grafting and the ceremonial bath and they’re finished. Now I don’t feel so bad about starting the wimple. I still have more socks to work on but that’s ongoing forever. I don’t want to totally stall out on the Hepburn Cardi though. I want to be able to wear it when the weather gets a bit warmer. Right now it’s snowing and looking very winter-wonderland-ish out there:

I’m content that I don’t have to go anywhere today! But it sure is pretty. Until it starts to rain at least. It’s amazing how much brighter it is in the house with the reflected light from the snow. I don’t have to turn on nearly so many lights today to see what I’m doing.

It Figures!

After I lost one of the sock needles from the Earl Grey Socks, I finally broke down and made a new one with a bamboo skewer. Later T-Man came upstairs with the missing needle! Apparently it was in the middle of the dining room floor where I should have tripped over it. Of course it’s been as dark as the inside of your eyeballs around here lately with all the rain. But I looked everywhere and couldn’t find it for several days before I broke down and made a substitute. I knew that would bring it out of the woodwork and it did. So now I have a spare.

It also figures that when I swatched with the correct size circular needle (3.75 mm) for the Hepburn Cardi, I got…the right gauge. I still can’t remember why I thought the smaller one was going to work. The larger needle doesn’t add much to the width but definitely increases the row gauge to something resembling the pattern requirements. Why is that? It’s also significantly easier to knit all the cables and lace. I’m not sure I like the resulting fabric quite as much though. It doesn’t have the same heft and bounce. It’s more drapey and limp. But chances of me finishing the thing sometime this winter are greatly improved. I’m also working on re-charting the pattern in Knit Visualizer because frankly the one in the book sucks. I like a good clear chart to follow for something this complex. It is possible to memorise it eventually but it still helps to have a visual check. Besides I like charting.

Yesterday’s monsoon prevented me from going out but luckily we did miss the tail end of Typhoon LingLing when she petered out before she got here. Yes, I am sugar-spun and afraid of melting. Why do you ask? Anyway, we need some groceries and the free weekly newspapers so I plan to pester T with a ride so we can stock up. As far as I can see the weather plans to monsoon on and off for the next few days anyhow. Why go out walking when I can be warm and dry in the MINI Cooper? And she carries lots more groceries than I can.

Oh glorious sounds! I can hear the garbage truck for the first time in 3 months! Yay! Looks like he’s having trouble compacting all the garbage he’s had to pick up though. Some is dropping out in the alley. Now he’s up on top jumping on it! Yikes! Whew. He climbed down safely. Glad I’m not his mama. Or his wife. Pee-ew! Hope he had a nice summer vacation on the picket line and got a great tan. Now he’s making up for lost time. Neener-neener! The garbage is still stuck. Hope he picked up mine first. I can’t tell from here.

I should be vacuuming but it’s too dark to see the dirt. So back to charting Hepburn instead.

Wouldn't That Frost Ya?

That’s what me old dad would have said when this happened:


I broke one of my 2mm Clover 5” dpns yesterday evening. Sigh. But I didn’t break it by stepping on it, squishing it in the lid of the knitting box, leaving it on the bed or executing a too-tight decrease. (All of which have happened to me at one time or another!) No, I merely tried on one of my Tulip Socks in progress to see how it was looking. Apparently the needles didn’t want to stretch over my instep and a weak one bent instead. Boo-hoo. I’m substituting one of my ubiquitous bamboo skewer needles instead. Why don’t I use them all the time instead of spending the big bucks on a set of Clovers, you might ask? Because my homemade ones break even easier and the points get shredded faster and then I have to spend half-an-hour or so sanding a new one. And the new skewers I have are really nice but they’re closer to a 2.5mm so it takes quite a while to get them down to the right size. The commercial knitting needles are finished with something that makes them keep their smooth surface longer. At least in my experience. I believe some people are harder on their needles than others. I tend to use the 2mm size for most socks so they get a lot of use and 2mm is a pretty skinny piece of bamboo. (Wooden needles break even easier at this size no matter how much prettier they are.) So it’s no wonder that damage occurs occasionally. I’ve heard that manufacturers say you should get 3 or 4 pairs out of a set of bamboo needles. I usually get double that before the points start to degrade and then I gently sand them and wax by rubbing with a piece of waxed paper. If I’m careful I can get several years worth of use. Another trick is to have several sets so I’m not using the same ones all the time. Though I sometimes end up having more than one pair going instead! Did I mention that a “set” for me is 10 needles? Because I work on 2 socks alternately, I need 2 sets of 5.

I did discover that the Tulip Socks are looking quite good. Sorry I didn’t get a photo while I was sacrificing one of my needles! Next time I’ll transfer to a cable first. And I scored another ball of that gently ombre-ing red Mega Boots Stretch yarn at my LYS so I can make another larger pair for Someone who was admiring mine-in-progress.

I’ve got all the craft stuff, seminar stuff and reading material (sci-fi/fantasy books) packed and ready to go. Next I need to pack all the electronic gear: camera, Palm, batteries, chargers, cables, SD cards etc. No, we can’t go camping without all the mod-cons. Even if we don’t often have electric plug-in. My Palm has my knitting patterns and sock dimensions for family members in it. Not to mention T-Man’s cell phone number which I can never remember, in case I need to contact him from the conference. I also need my hearing aid supplies especially lots of batteries. If I’m wearing them all day I go through a set of batteries every 3 days or so.

Today’s excitement was a stolen SUV left in my back alley with the lights on and wipers going. I checked that there was nobody inside in case somebody had had a medical emergency or something but thought maybe they had just gone into one of the other houses nearby or maybe the new building next door. Nope. Several hours later a Canadian Springs delivery guy tried to get down the alley and when nobody came to move the car he wisely called the cops. He had to leave before they got there so I went out and told them my story. Car is now gone. Why does it never occur to me that there may be something nefarious going on? I always think something legitimate first and only later realize that more is going on than meets the eye. I watched building materials being loaded into a panel van next door and only as they quickly drove off when T-Man came home realized that they were not supposed to be taking stuff! The builders themselves come and go and move supplies around all the time so I have no idea which are ok and which not. I decided that it’s their problem if they can’t secure things better. My little revenge for the loss of my lilies? They could have put up some fencing around the building site which would protect both of us somewhat. But no.

Speaking of the builders, they just showed up and missed all the excitement. The tree parts are still there and I hope they remove them before we leave. I can’t afford to lose much more of my fence. T hopes to talk them out of more trunk but we can’t move it ourselves.

So far the weather forecast is not looking too promising for the next week as we pack and leave on our vacation. Figures. But I don’t care! I’ve got stuff to amuse myself with in the van and rain gear and dry boots to hike in and I’ll be at the conference for almost 4 days in the middle anyhow. I always bring clothes for both warm and cold conditions, no matter what time of year we go camping. I’m just not a hot sunny beach kind of girl anyway. The point is to get away and see new scenery. The biggest problems might be roads flooding, mudslides and campground closures. There’s been all of the above happening around the province with the combination of high snow pack, hot weather and then lots of rain. All we can do is go, cross our fingers and be flexible if necessary.