Aurora

Just a simple series of knitted concentric circles in a soft, hazy acrylic the color of an early Spring evening.

Started it to break out of a rut.  As with all projects of this nature, it's coming along slower than I'd like.  Am enjoying its progress, though.  When this one gets off the needles, might try another and, who knows?  maybe even take the pattern down.

Unraveling.

Normally, this is considered a Bad Thing.  I don't see it as such, though, as what is unraveled can be put to better later, when one finds the time / talent to do so.

Have a good start to the New Year.  Am seriously trying to do so, myself.

Maybe you can, maybe you can't see the fault in the design that caused me to tear this difficult yarn  apart and start over again.  (Will show pictures after the completed project's been blocked.)

Patience.

Since the north paw* is still on the mend, I'm doing my best to take it easy.  Occasionally I'll whack my hand, or touch something on the keyboard just right to make me cringe.  Happily, though, I'm not being woken up by the pain anymore.

Tried knitting some swatches recently, but that bothered me, so laid off.   The moratorium isn't too bad as it's causing me to look for other things to work on, like messing with watercolors, taking pictures or playing with the sewing machine.  I do miss knitting, though.

* As lefties are called "southpaws," I'm assuming that a rightie is a "northpaw."  I've never heard that term used before, though.

Easy to Overcome Obstacles.

Ooch - had a weird accident that broke my right pinky and sprained the same-hand ring finger. 

As I’m left-handed, generally just pooh-pooh the right hand. This is a humbling experience, in that I’m learning just how useful my right hand is.  The vast majority of piano music favors the right hand.  Knitting's possible, but difficult if one's working on a large project, even for the minor hand.  Opening Jars Kills.  Then, there's typing.  Ooch.   (Hurts to stop sentences, for example. Don’t even get me started on how many words end in P or L or M … gritting teeth.)  As stuff heals, I remember that there are folks who've lost so much more than I have, and permanently.

Since I couldn't knit very well, dyed stuff.  Didn't think that I was too pleased with the results until I started turning the hanks into balls.

Have also found that the new colors (tea dyed natural aran wool over dyed with various food colorings) play incredibly well with navy blue or brown.  

Food wise, it's been tough, as I'm the main shopper / cook.  We've been eating a lot of chops and steaks with broiled onions, as this stuff's low - prep.  

Have you ever tried a whole broiled onion?  Easy to fix:  just cut the ends off, peel the top layer of skin,  place on a piece of foil (or better yet - parchment - ran out of foil tonight, so tried the paper.  Wow.  Stuff caramelizes, as opposed to steams), then give a dollop of butter or bacon grease.  Seal and put in oven to broil.  When it's soft, it's ready.  Wicked good stuff.

Fallow fingers were feeling The Itch after a few weeks of inactivity, so decided to see, per a conversation with a friend who is a talented quilter, what would happen if I attempted to knit a quilt block.

Am more of a fan of lace than colorwork (stranded or otherwise), so decided to use that as my starting point.  Searched out an appropriate pattern as didn't much feel like 'reinventing the wheel,' then just let the fingers get busy.
  Cornus Kousa.

 Using Lion's Fishermen's Wool on size 9 (5.5 mm) needles, knitted this up to a 20" x 20" square after blocking.  Haven't decided how many more blocks will end up making (either 11, 15 or 19 more; we'll see.), though I do know who the finished piece is intended for. 

Am happy to have the hands moving again.

Three Easy Pieces II:  Felt.  

Heavens, did life get a bit hectic lately.  Took a trip back to the Heimatstadt to visit my dad, came back to the launching pad, then flung myself across the Big Blue again.  Somehow papers managed to get sorted somewhat and stuff got mailed that needed to be mailed right away.  The knitting WIP pile is slowly shrinking, though not as quickly as I'd like.  Other stuff will get done in due time.

When I couldn't concentrate on some of the larger projects (have three shawls going right now) for love or money, took to knitting scraps of wool into squares or rectangles, beating the fibers into submission in the washer and dryer, then playing at origami:

Three little green bowls.  Sent them off to Karen as a sort of half-a$$ed housewarming gift until I get her real one done and, well, her new house gets finished being built.

Two resolutions for 2012 are to work through more of my yarn stash (greatly augmented by my new thrift-store sweater unraveling mania) and to get better organized. I'm thinking that these guys could help me kill two birds with one stone.  A recipe for the square versions pictured below can be found here.

Three Easy Pieces - Warm as Wool, Cool as a Concombre.

Don't know how it was by you this Summer, but ours was characterized by damp, dark, unseasonably cold weather. Heck, to add insult to injury, both the Frenchie and I ended up with head colds.*

When we finally started sprouting mold**, I suggested to the Frenchie that maybe, if for nothing other than our sanity, we head in the general direction of the sun as it obviously wasn't coming our way anytime soon. He called his best old friend from school whom he'd not seen in eons, and then it was settled. Off we headed in the big little Citroen towards Marseilles.

Long and short of it, the direct sun plus the 'southern hospitality' were exactly what a doctor would have ordered. A week became two before we started our way back up to the cold, gray north. Cannot wait to go back.

Now the Frenchie's buddy (who I'm calling Mistral) is, among other things, a bit of a folk humorist, a music historian, a farmer. I asked him if I could make something to thank him for his generosity. His answer was that he'd something green like a cucumber.

So: something green as a cucumber we have to protect the pipes of a cool-as-a-cucumber new friend. (You can download this here.)

***

* among other things that had to wait to be treated after the Summer break.

** La, je rigole. Really.

In Flanders Fields.

Not quite a hundred years ago a treaty was signed, signalling the end of hostilities on the Western Front of an awful, bloody war.  Battles continued on other fronts, and other wars followed.  In some cases, the messes we are in today are related, either directly or once removed from that "War to End All Wars."  Such sobering thoughts for such a beautiful Fall day.

Up in keeping with the tradition in these parts, I've pinned a poppy to my lapel:

It was a quick little thing and took me just a few minutes to whip up.

Materials:

* a small bit (+-30 yds) of red yarn - I used worsted weight.
* an even smaller bit (+-20 yds) of green yarn - again, worsted weight
* a suitable button and matching thread or black yarn for the pistils.
* a pair of needles. I used some US size 4 double-pointed ones, because they were the first things I picked up. Gauge isn't really important, so use whatever you like/have in front of you.
* a safety pin.

CO 28 stitches.
Rows 1-4:  Knit on odd rows, purl on even rows.
Row 5:  K2tog to end (14 stitches).
Row 6:  Purl to end.
Row 7:  K2tog to end (7 stitches).
Row 8: Purl to end.
Row 9:  K2tog, knit remaining stitch.  (4 stitches).

With darning needle, thread tail end of yarn through live stitches, pull tight and secure.  Sew two ends of fabric together to make a circle.  Sew button to front (or embroider a proper set of pistils to your poppy). 

If desired, on center back of flower, pick up two stitches, and make I-cord stem of desired length from green yarn.  Weave in all ends, make sure stem is secure, add a safety pin, and wear in Good Health and Remembrance.

Relatively Sweet Fruits of Failure.

After having tried to learn to use a drop spindle for some time, I’ve come to some conclusions:
 
-I’m not very good at it (really - I’ve been attempting for a couple years now; bought books, watched videos, even paid for private lessons.  Practiced like crazy.).

-I don’t think I enjoy the process.

This is okay; we all can’t love everything we do, nor can we be good at all we set out to learn. If I can’t get beyond my current park-and-draft limping into lopi, so be it. The thing is, what to do with the leftover, half spun stuff (aside from using it raw in projects or giving it away) that’s been accumulating?

Set to work by using means that I do enjoy and in which I have a bit of competency:

First thing I did was to drop my attempts into dye baths that I thought might work out. Let stuff dry, and was kind of amazed with the results - not only from the color standpoint, but from the wool-quality one.  The Bit of Red felted itself into a dred worthy of maybe being sold to a trustafarian somewhere (Boston not being a College Town, am not sure where). Got a lay of the land gauge-wise then just started iCording my way into a solution.

Don’t think it turned out too terribly badly. Kind of aht-sy, even.  Would wear it if it weren't destined to be given away.  Heck:  might even consider making another.

Les Mains Vertes, II

Though the weather's glorious out now, am brushing up on my Rain Dance: the cistern's almost empty and I've been flirting pretty seriously with a sunburn. Such a far cry from a couple weeks back when no sun would be seen for days, the garden plots were all soggy, and we were huddled in woolens, seriously contemplating turning the heat on again.

Aah, but what a growth spurt said wet contributed to -



Am I a bit mossy about the edges?

The above was the result of a few not-at-all related projects: my taking up dyeing a huge mass of cream-colored wool, a stab at the May project (mittens) in EZ's Knitters Almanac, and the need to make folks on my day-to-day route smile a bit (hey, we need to get our sunshine somewhere). (Pattern Available Here.)




Have fun with these! (Am seriously thinking of making a few more pairs of these in Fall colors.)

Seems that Blogger had some serious GI problems the past day or so. Had about 3-4 posts that disappeared; am sure that they'll be back soon enough. It's just nice to be able to log in again.

Onward!



...to other works in progress.

Hope is the thing with feathers.

As it's been warm enough lately to sleep with both the windows and the back porch door open, I've been getting woken up early (like 4:00 am ish) by the birds. Often it's cardinals working at establishing territory. Sometimes it's house finch chatter. Every now and again, it'll be a little white-throated sparrow singing a matin.*

Thank goodness for Spring! Thank heavens for those bird-songs!

When there's enough light (and it's not too damp, of course), I've been taking to sitting out on the balcony with a cup of coffee, the cats and a knitting project. The knitting's a great soul-soother; don't know why, but it seems that when my hands are moving, my mind gets calmer and I can think more clearly.

Lately, my fingers have been itching to swatch bits of lace. Sometimes they stay swatches, other times they grow into projects. Here's a little pattern for something I whipped up recently based on the Gull Lace Stitch made popular by the legendary Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Hopeful Neckwarmer (Pattern Available Here.)





***

* Sparrow is moineau in French, so we like to say that it's un petit moineau-moine qui chante ses matins. Have also decided that he's a Franciscan, since he dresses in brown and that's the big animal-friendly order.

Mind Over Matter.

I'm very happy to report that I've gotten past being Peed Off at knitting socks.



Turkish toe-up socks! Aren't they pretty? The color of the yarn, a worsted-weight acrylic, kind of reminds me of beach glass. For that and my change in attitude, am thinking of calling them "sea change."

With a bit of determination and a lot of help from some friends over at Ravelry, figured out how to do the Eastern style toe-up technique*, rather than work from the cuff down. Made all the difference in the world and I absolutely flew through these.

Don't know if I'm necessarily hooked on sock knitting like I've heard so many others to be. Will have to knit a few more pairs and get back to folks on this.

***

* I've heard it said that socks and (I think) mittens are knitted from tip to cuff, as the knitter always wants to be knitting towards the heart. I don't know if that's true, but it is awfully poetic.

Salade Russe.*

Planned to use an already-written-out recipe for a ring-bearer's pillow for a friend, but scrapped after having started and frogged all knitted elements involved. Was just miserable, miserable stuff. Find myself sort of winging it now:



For the edging, I'm using that old standby, Aunt Lydia's crochet cotton on this pattern. Have no idea as to what I'm going to do for a medallion - either I'll do something modular on two needles or I'll suck it up and do a traditional doily on double pointed needles. We'll see.

Also - am *not* using satin like described in the original pattern. Can't stand satin. I've got some gorgeous white linen that I think'll be perfect for this. Again, we'll see.

***

Salade Russe literally means just that: Russian Salad, as opposed to the normal French conceit of composed salads. Idiomatically, it means 'crazy, mixed-up thing.' Also, I think that it might be old-fashioned language, as nowadays I hear 'bordel' to mean roughly the same thing. Oh well, I like the term, so will keep using it. (Part of the luxury of being a foreigner and cute.)

Arrowhead.

Finished my first arrowhead lace shawl - turned out to be more of a scarf, as the Noro ran out and I didn't have anything complementary to finish the shawl off with. Kind of reminds me of a First Communion veil or maybe even a mantilla.



Thought I might give this to Karen, but now am not so sure. Don't think it's in her colors.

Was such a joy to knit, that almost immediately after binding off the first, I cast on for a second one:



I'm cannibalizing a kit a friend gave me; plan even on incorporating the included beads.

The yarn's a bit more difficult to deal with than the Noro; sticks a bit to the needles. Love those jewel tones!

Sea Legs.

Couldn't concentrate on lace for a while. Or knitting. Or putting one foot in front of the other, exhaling after inhaling, etc. Had to put aside the pretty but kind of complex 12 row repeat pattern I was working, as was tinking back more rows than was knitting forward.



Here's the start of my Glasgow Lace pullover, anyway. Can't tell from the rather old picture, but I'm about 1/2 way through with the back panel. Am planning on making the body longer, giving it some shape and shortening the sleeves. The yarn's some seriously vintage wool (possibly as old as me) I picked up at the Salvation Army in Leominster not quite 10 years ago.

At some point a few weeks back, maybe when the Frenchie was here, got seriously tired of not knitting. Needed to do get the hands moving and it needed to be simple. Since I'd gotten enough grief about the state of my worn-out but much-loved quilt, so decided on a new bedcover.



Here's the start of my "Sediment Scraps" blanket/throw thing. The working name for it is Puddingstone.



A close-up view of the latest rows added. I'm just a little short of 1/2 way done with what looks like either a 60" square coverlet or even rug, it's so heavy.

There's no rhyme or reason to the color scheme; am just picking the colors as I go along. Don't know that the transition from greens to purples in the early stages is very successful, but am not too worried about it. It's kind of fun to see how this progresses. Also, a bit weird: each time I grab a new bit of yarn to tie onto a knitted end, I feel like that guy who got transported to his childhood home during teatime. (Sometimes pleasant, sometimes not.) If I had the gift of putting as inneresting a spin on my memories as he could his, I'd knock off a volume or two myself. Think I should just stick to knitting for now, though.

Anyway, while rooting around for another something to add to the above yarn stew, happened on a lovely, forgotten bit of silky stuff I'd received in a gift package some time ago. Now, I have the hardest time using yarn that friends give me because I don't think I can do justice to the gift (strange, I know). This, though, was kind of calling out to my hands to play with it, it's so soft. Seemed, too, to want to be something lacy, in spite of the fact that I don't normally like to use variegated yarns for that (often distracts from the stitch work).



Pam Allen's Little Arrowhead Lace Shawl, available here for free. Why not give it a try? Seriously, it's a good beginning exercise in chart-reading. The yarn's Noro's Silk Garden in a beautiful scale of sandy tones.

Since Karen's birthday was a couple days ago (same as Grandma Double-Vey's), figured I would send this out to her. She normally likes really bold colors, but I think that this could hold its own against her. For some reason, too, she was the first person who came to mind when I started the project.

***

Don't know if I'm regaining the Sea Legs; hope so. I really do hate it when I lose the taste for doing stuff that normally makes me so happy.

Speaking of Green - Speaking of Magic

Isn't it amazing how what comes off the needles looking like this



Ends up like this after a good soaking and pinning?



Gosh, I love knitting lace; it manages to calm me down when nothing else seems able to (of course, am also happy to have something to show for my work; that's always nice). Love blocking lace, too, as it effects such a transformation.



Really, really enjoyed this project. Heck, was such a joy to work, it practically knitted itself. The pattern is Evelyn Clark's Flower Basket Shawl, and I knit it with Knit Pick's Palette in green tea heather.

Are You Experienced?

This is a little list of knitting techniques making its way around the webs. In bold are the things I've already tried/made. In italics are the things I plan on trying/making.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn (kind of pricey)
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting (have done this inadvertently, actually, by twisting the cast on stitches on a circular needle. Liked the effect, so kept with it.)
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting: knitting items on, or to be left on the street (Find this actually kind of annoying.)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf

Teaching a child to knit
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Household items: dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…
knitting socks- or other small tubular items- on two circulars
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding (currently working on something, in fact.)
Olympic knitting (Knitting would be ruined by competition.)
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit (Want to teach the Frenchie how to knit. He's kind of resisting, though.)
Bobbles
Knitting for a living (Heck no!)
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac Knitting and purling backwards (Don't actually enjoy this.)
Machine knitting (Have a machine; haven't broken it out of the box yet, though.)
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
JewelryKnitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom (a tricotin? Have done that.)
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Win first place at the fair (Can't be bothered; did win an honorable mention once on something that I made for a friend's daughter. Friend was so impressed, she entered the item into the local fair's needlework judging. Was kind of pleasantly surprised by that.)
Hair accessories (Head bands count?)
Knitting in public (Back when I took the train, was always knitting.)

I think that I'm more interested in learning new techniques than trying out novelties or drawing attention to myself. To each his or her own, right?

Sunshine's streaming in through the back windows; am multitasking my way through two knitting projects and a stack of way-overdue correspondence while listening to the Iceland Symphony Orchestra perform a favorite by Sibelius. Life does have its bright moments.

Oh, finished the Fascist interpretation of Second Century Rome last night. It ended on a note of longing for the a rebirth of Sparta; second best - the return of the Roman Republic. Really interesting. Anyway, put that aside and am now digging into the first volume of John Julius Norwich's look at Byzantium. Just about 20 pages in, see that it's going to be fun. Such a refreshing contrast to the actually pretty poorly written book I picked up as a (disappointing) Birthday present to myself a bit back.

In Memoriam.



Here's that shawl that I was talking about earlier. Was so pleased at how it turned out that trudged out in the rain on Saturday morning to photograph it.

The fence was getting to be a bit long in the tooth. Was kind of funny, though, to see a pile of broken wooden slats in its place this morning. Lost most of the fence along the back and the side opposite to this bit of wood as well.

Was mentioning to Pavel that I thought it might be cheaper and prettier to replace the wood with shrubs: lilacs in the space pictured, as there're already two trees there; mountain laurels on the opposite side; across the back, due to drainage issues, pussy willows and/or forsythia. Of course, all's contingent on what we can find at the local Home Depot. (Wish us luck.)