Snowflake Monday

Mount Evans is a great training ride for cyclists (as long as they have tough rims), an awesome training climb for runners, a wonderful place to see wildlife and the quintessential drive for tourists wanting to see the summit of a 14er without the huffing and puffing required to climb it.

That's because a paved road goes almost all the way to the top. The Mount Evans Road is the highest paved road in North America and the second most popular tourist attraction in the Denver metro area. (Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, ranks at the top of the list.)















Mount Evans wasn't always named after the second governor of the state of Colorado. The mountain started out as a girl, named Mount Rosalie by Albert Bierstadt in 1863, during what may have been the first ascent by a white man, in honor of the tallest peak in Switzerland but also as a token of admiration for the wife of Fitzhugh Ludlow, Rosalie, whom Bierstadt would later marry. (Yes, scandalous!) The Colorado legislature changed the name of the 14er closest to Denver in 1895.

Mount Evans is connected via a jagged ridge called the Sawtooth to another 14er, Mount Bierstadt. How fitting that Bierstadt and Rosalie once were connected by a serrated line. The name Rosalie now graces a subpeak of Mount Evans, a rounded and lofty hill gazing directly across Abyss Lake at Mount Bierstadt.

The ten-year construction of the now buckled and potholed paved road up Mount Evans was completed in 1927. The Ritchey-Chrétien telescope atop Mount Evans has been used to study Comets Kohoutek and Halley. Meyer-Womble Observatory was the highest optical observatory until 2001. Now it is third highest.

On July 30, 2012, a tornado nearly touched ground at approximately 11,800 feet on the slopes of Mount Evans, the second highest tornado known to man. Katie T. captured it on video. Check out the storm-accompanying hail on the ground! (The video I initially liked to in 2012 is no longer available, but the news report of the event is!)

I planned to make only one project for the 2012 Ravellenics, but after a week solid of working on my Lanesplitter skirt, I was missing my thread! Plus, I had to cover another river rock for my garden to keep one streak alive. (I've made a snowflake for a rock every week this summer except while I was pedaling across the state, and I made two the week before and two the week after to make up for it.)

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 8 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Mount Evans Snowflake Instructions

Ch 6, sl st into 1st ch OR make magic ring.

Round 1: * 2 sc in ring, ch 10, sl st in 10th ch from hook; repeat from * around 4 times; sl st in starting sc, ch 4, trtr in starting sc to form last ch 10 loop. Pull magic circle tight, but leave opening big enough to allow stitches inside it to lay flat.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 2: 3 sc over trtr just worked, * ch 13, sl st in 10th ch from hook, ch 3, 5 sc in next ch 10 loop; repeat from * around 4 times; ch 13, sl st in 10th ch from hook, ch 3, 2 sc in next loop, sl st in starting sc.

Round 3: 1 sc in same sc as sl st, * ch 4, 11 dc in next ch 10 loop, ch 4, 1 sc in 3rd sc of next 5 sc group; repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last sc of final repeat; sl st in starting sc.

Round 4: * Ch 4, sk next dc, [1 dc in next dc, ch 1] 8 times, 1 dc in next dc, ch 4, sl st in next sc; repeat from * around 5 times, ending with sl st in same sc as final sl st of Round 3.

Round 5: Ch 5, sk next dc, [1 dc in next dc, ch 3] 6 times, 1 dc in next dc, ch 5, sl st in next sl st; repeat from * around 5 times; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch the snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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