PurlsBeforeFrogs

9/11 Remembrance and an Odd Momento

2011-09-12T00:49:00.000-05:00

Has it been ten years? It seems so much more recent. The world has changed and we've become accustomed to the unthinkable.

I remember well the horror of that day and watching it unfurl from almost the first minute. My complete disbelief when the first tower fell and the awful realization of how many people were probably still in the building. A Canadian friend was visiting and I don't think we could tear ourselves away from the news for at least 24 hours. Such a sad day.

You see, I knew those towers very well. I was included in several meetings with the architects, discussing the incredible engineering which would allow almost open floorplans. I first saw the site while they were constructing the "bathtub". Then those towers began to rise. Wearing a hard hat, I visited the towers while they were under construction. I talked to the steel workers who were so proud that they were constructing something far beyond any ordinary skyscraper strength or actual requirements. The steel would withstand anything, or so they thought! I rode up to the 112th floor on a freight elevator that had a gap of a couple of feet from the floor level. You had to swing the elevator and jump off when it neared the floor. Wow! And when I say 112th floor, it was the top of the building plus another level, then the elevator finished on top of that platform and you walked down some steps. There were no guardrails on the building. You were above the clouds and any airplanes. You were even above the wind. It was the tallest building in the world then.

Now here is a momento. My permanent pass to the observation deck on top of one of the towers. For myself and my "guests". I lived in Paris when it was issued. And it is signed by the president of the World Trade Centers, Guy Tozzoli, who added the "permanent" comment. An odd bit of history.

And this was my 4th of July birthday celebrated at Windows on the World with several International World Trade Centers characters, note the ties. Better days.

There was a cocktail party held on the 110th floor for some reason while the building was under construction. Although they had cleared a space, it was still a worksite. It was night with lights rigged. The floor to ceiling windows looked as though they had metal covering them, which I found strange. I walked over and put my hand up to touch the "metal" and my hand went straight through. It was the lights against the clouds outside and not metal at all. You could put a hand on each side of the opening and lean out over the city. It was a long way down. I was also there for the gala opening dinner when Windows on the World absolutely sparkled with tuxedos and ball gowns. Many, many memories tied up with those towers.

Andrea Booher photo for FEMA, note sphere in background

One odd thing I've noticed with all the memorial programs. They refer to a globe that was in the plaza as though it was just a ball of metal. In fact it was a most beautiful sculpture by Fritz Koenig, a huge orb representing world peace through world trade. It was still visible in some of the aftermath photos. I wonder where it finally ended up?*

The memorial garden looks beautiful. I love the footprint fountains and the trees. I hope it will be a peaceful place.

* follow up

The Sphere is 25 feet high and cast in 52 bronze segments. Koenig considered it his "biggest child". It was put together in Bremen, Germany and shipped as a whole to Lower Manhattan.^[1] The artwork was meant to symbolize world peace through world trade, and was placed at the center of a ring of fountains and other decorative touches designed by trade center architect Minoru Yamasaki to mimic the Grand Mosque of Mecca, Masjid al-Haram, in which The Sphere stood at the place of the Kaaba. It was set to rotate once every 24 hours, and its base became a popular lunch spot for workers in the trade center on days with good weather.

At its current location in Battery Park, a plaque alongside The Sphere reads as follows:

For three decades, this sculpture stood in the plaza of the World Trade Center. Entitled "The Sphere", it was conceived by artist Fritz Koenig as a symbol of world peace. It was damaged during the tragic events of September 11, 2001, but endures as an icon of hope and the indestructible spirit of this country. The Sphere was placed here on March 11, 2002 as a temporary memorial to all who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.
This eternal flame was ignited on September 11, 2002 in honor of all those that were lost. Their spirit and sacrifice will never be forgotten.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation...in Vermont...with Irene

2011-09-01T22:33:00.000-05:00

Needed a little vacation at the end of an entire summer of 100F to 110F temperatures, every day perfectly sunny, like a furnice. Decided to visit some very old, very dear friends who live in the perfect climate. I wanted cool and rain. K & W have plenty of that, plus mountains and forest and a brook at the foot of their hill. Plus a perfect huge dog.

I Love Lucy the Irish Wolfhound

I was of course in Vermont...in Killington, on a mountain, on Roaring Brook Road, as in Roaring Brook is at the bottom of my friends' front yard. As in Roaring Brook that flooded all over the place. As in Roaring Brook which washed away the bridge on the road below the house.

Organic round stone house dug into the mountain

For the first few days, we had a lovely time driving around the area. We even went to Webs in Northhampton MA, that mecca for knitters. We returned home by way of Battleboro, Ludlow, Woodstock and Mendon. Lots to see. We also made an excursion to nearby Rutland with its Green Mountain Yarns. The mountain ash in front was in full bloom, or is it berries.

Mountain Ash

Green Mountain Fibers in Rutland

And a visit to Mr. Twitter's.

The delightful Mr. Twitter's in Rutland

Found a wonderful yarn shop in Proctorsville...Six Loose Ladies.

Six Loose Ladies in Proctorsville

Historic covered bridge in Woodstock

We made still another run to Woodstock for Gillingham's, the famous Farmer's Market and the hardware, foraging supplies for the coming storm. We didn't expect much weather, but better to be safe than sorry.

Gillingham's Store Cat and Supervisor...Adelaide

Then we planned to spend the day Hurricane Irene was expected to arrive safely at home. The rain started around midnight on Saturday and continued for about 18 hours. It didn't seem too heavy and the wind was not impressive, certainly not for three New Orleanians who had survived many a hurricane, including Katrina. We stood out on the terrace several times and remarked that luckily, we had dodged a bullet this time. We could hear the brook below roaring more than usual, but we didn't have a clear view through all the trees. We were totally nonchalant. Then we lost power. And with the power went the pumps, so no water, no flushing toilets, no telephone, no cooking, no fridge, etc. etc. We thought this would be repaired before too long so we just went to bed around dark.

Neighbors woke us early morning bringing news, none of it good. First off...Killington was now an island. Killington had lost all connection with the rest of the world. Route 4 that ran through town was washed out on either side of the village. Rutland was hard hit and that road was impassable. We couldn't get out to anywhere and no help could get in. The same neighbors had a generator and kindly invited us up for hot coffee and news. Various people kept dropping in, bringing a little more information each time. They were projecting a couple of weeks before power could be restored. And no one could get out of town.

Flowers in Manchester VT

After several days of eating peanut butter on crackers and cold pasta with beans (quite good), I began planning a somewhat risky escape, using a driver to go out over a mountain road (we later heard that was a white knuckle adventure and really just took you to Bridgewater, which had been severely hit itself and where the road was also washed out). Then someone knocked on our door one midnight and told us there was an escape plan in the works. A local contractor had built a temporary bridge which he would keep open and maintain for two hours the following morning. Anyone wanting to leave should be there waiting to cross. And if the bridge started to fail, they would close it. No one could return, and it would be possibly weeks before anyone could leave again.

The driver arrived before dawn. We were about the twentieth car in a line of perhaps fifty or sixty. At the appointed hour, they began waving us over. Policemen warned each car that we were using the roads at our own risk and made us acknowledge that. They warned us of crumbling roadways and unstable bridges. We were to cross sections one car at a time at 5mph, trying to stay in the center thread of the road, which was sometimes barely a car's width. Everyone was reasonably nervous. We saw houses and bridges and cars simply washed down the streams. Fields were flattened. Of the stores we had visited so recently in Woodstock, two were flooded and one was simply gone, not there. The covered bridge across from The Green was still there, but damaged. The highway in front of the Farmer's Market was barricaded and we had to go over the mountain to reach the town. Several of the old covered bridges were washed away on swollen streams.

It took time, but we eventually made it to Lebanon NH where we found buses and airplanes. Eventually I arrived in Boston and then home, exhausted and needing a shower badly, but none the worse for wear.

For my part, I have no complaints. It was an adventure vacation. But I do have concern for the people who couldn't escape, particularly the ones who lost so much. I found Vermonters simply amazing. They didn't wait for the government's help or even permission. They held meetings at the school. One local man took care of building the temporary bridge. Others organized a 24 hour phone bank at the school, to answer questions and make things happen. First they checked on everyone in town to make sure no one was isolated and that there was food which didn't need cooking for any children. Today they arranged for supplies to be trucked to one side of the break in the road, then people carry them across the rubble and load things onto the fire truck which takes them up to the market. Walgreen's in Rutland came up with a similar plan for prescriptions, delivered across the Mendon chasm and available for pick-up at the fire station. At the school, they even have cat food and litter available.

Here is a video of someone else in our caravan crossing that temporary bridge out of Killington and the road to Woodstock. Please excuse their language, but the video is interesting. Here are videos of Route 4, again near Mendon, and repairs being made by that local contractor.

Who would have thought all this could happen in Vermont? My friends moved up there after Katrina because they never wanted to worry about hurricanes again. So much for that idea.

Would love to give a knitting update. Lots going on. Although not much was accomplished in Vermont since we had no light and went to bed with the chickens. Next time.

A Nod to the Ancestors

2010-09-18T00:10:00.004-05:00

Five months have passed without a word on the blog. I've no idea why I've been so mute. There has been a lot of knitting, as usual, a bit of traveling, some time spent on genealogy. But none of that fully explains the lack of blog time.

Speaking of those ancestors, I tripped over this interesting article in an old, old newspaper:

From an English paper Jan 5, 1740 - "The Dolphun of New England, Nathaneal Coit, Master, from Cork, is wrecked on a great rock called the Roane Corrigs, in the Bay of Bantry, about four leagues from town. The vessel was staved to pieces and a passenger drowned, but the captain and crew, who were six in number, got upon the rock. The bad weather continueing, nobody would venture to save them, but nine brothers, sons of Marten Sullivan of Beershaven, who, after obtaining their father's leave and blessing, boldly ventured forth and brought the captain and sailors ashore."

Nathanael worked the Irish trade routes and later the West Indies from his home in Connecticut, evidently maintaining a residence in Cork. In later life he opened a "house of entertainment", the Door of the Red Lion, in his father's house in New London. I popped an e-mail to a friend, Richard Mills, who is a photographer for the Cork newspaper and asked if he knew of that rock. Within five minutes of my e-mail, he sent this photo.

So I can picture my Capt Coit and his crew waiting on this forlorn rock, battered by the storm and wondering if they will ever be rescued. There was no lighthouse then, and there are many wrecks to be found around Roancarrig.

The story gets better. Descendants of these nine brave Sullivan brothers from tiny Bere Island were most certainly the five Sullivan brothers from Castletownbere who served - and perished - together in the US Navy in WWII. They had asked not to be separated, and their wish was granted; but afterwards the rules were changed so that such a total loss within one family would not happen again (remember Saving Private Ryan?). The US named the battleship USS Sullivans in their memory.

History is indeed incredible.

And here is proof that I come by my love of fiber naturally. This is my Great-Grandfather with his beloved prize Angora billygoat. West Texas around 1930. The family were among the earliest importers of Angoras to the States. I wonder what he did with the fiber?

And here is proof of knitting. A test knit done for Mimi Kezer, Double Striped Moebius Redux. Great fun and very quick, all things being relative.

Another test knit in progress, this one for EinsteinsLogic, 9 Pearls. A scarf full of holes and loaded with beads. Can you see them?

For Kay, who lives in Vermont, we have a warm hat. The pattern is a variation of Aidan's Hat from Module Magic. The lovely model is Taya.

All the above were knitted with Noro, Silk Garden, Kureyon and Kureyon Sock. Nice to knit down some of the stash (did you hear that stash?).

Then speaking of the above Richard Mills and his partner, the delightful writer Jo Kerrigan (CelticMemory to the knitters), they have just published their first book together, West Cork, A Place Apart. They invested all of their passion into this book, and it is a beautiful marriage of stories and photos. I couldn't wait and got my copy direct from Ireland. You can take a look inside here. I'm just dreaming of packing a small bag and heading over to this magical corner of the Emerald Isle.

See you next time with a report on Vermont and a few of the ubiquitous yarn shops up there. And some more knitting. I've no idea what this is going to look like as Blogger seems to have a mind of it's own tonight with my text, but I'm pushing the publish button for better or worse.

Not Holding a Wake for the Blog, Not Just Yet!

2010-05-07T18:12:00.021-05:00

Blogger is making changes and I'm not sure just what to do about it. So the above mentioned wake may be a forced one. Plus, on three different browsers, I'm having a heck of a time posting, going from one computer to the next. Move photos a bit with one, then go to another to add text, but can't move photos. Etcetera ad infinitum. Already, it was getting more and more difficult to find the time to catch things up. Now to worry whether it is all going to disappear. We'll give it another chance.

Mustaavilla just said one day that she couldn't think of one more thing to say about hand-knitted socks, so her blog said bye-bye. Everyone seems to be talking away on Facebook and Twitter, but I must say I can't seem to find the time in my day to find out what my friends (love 'em) ate for lunch.

As to the blog issues, Blogger still doesn't want me to move my photos around, so this may be another strangely disconnected posting. But here goes, lots to catch up on.

Valentines? Yup, it's been a while. Strange to say, but I've never even met the man who sent the champagne and chocolates.

Then, there was the Valentine's snowfall. It was utterly beautiful while it fell, a strange otherworldly light. I could have read a book outside at 3AM with a totally overcast sky and snow falling. About 15" here, unheard of. The branches moaned a groaned and creaked...and broke.

Most of the snow had melted off by the time I took these photos.

FINISHED OBJECTS:

Stulpen Fingerless Mitts in Wollmeise. Can I tell you how I love these? Let me count the ways.

And I managed to string up an old Indian pendant I'd had lying around for twenty plus years.

Fetching in Socks That Rock, Dutch Canyon. These went to Jana to keep her hands from freezing (they are always cold). I would not do this pattern again. Although it is modified and is better, those thumbs are just hideous.

And here we have a finished Clapotis. I had plenty of yarn (Elsbeth Lavold's Silky Wool), so I just kept knitting. And knitting. And knitting. For years. And ended up with a ginormous comfy cozy wrap that should do three seasons. Love it.

SOCK MADNESS:

Sock One, a sideways number by MountainMom. A fast knit, very effective.

Knew these weren't going to fit, so used her favorite colors and shipped them off to Jana. Who loves them dearly.

Sock Two, Cool Beans. This was my first cast on. The yarn just wasn't working at all. So I frogged and started over.

Being a novice at colorwork in the round, these took a while. But I came up with multiple methods for handling the two colors. Learned about dominant color. And really downright enjoyed them.

Knew they were going to be too small for me, but thought I would give this pair to Kay. Well, they wouldn't even fit Kay. Jana got these, too.

Sock Three: GAMs designed by our very own Taya. Made sure these would fit me by adding 7 stitches. Used Noro Kureyon Sock, which I loved working with. Now let's see how a single holds up. I knitted the soles so tight, I had almost negative row gauge.

With round 4, I dropped out. A knee sock that went on, and on, and on. Just the idea of me in knee socks reduces me to giggles. So...I wandered over to Sock Knitters Anonymous and cast on for the CookieA Mystery Sock.

And here we have Clue 1. Clue 2 comes out tonight. So these should look very different in a few days. Wollmeise Twin in Amethyst.

I felt so badly about Kay not getting any Sock Madness booty, that I cast on a pair in Opal Hundertwasser just for her.

And for me, pulled out a skein of Dibadu Wild Funnies and started a very simple ribbed sock, which may turn out to be my favorite of all to wear. Thin and fits perfectly.

Just for the sheer beauty of it, here is a shipment of Wollmeise from my friend Doris in Germany. The joy of opening such a package is hard to describe to a non-knitter.

And here are my helpers. Pandora, who manages to sit on two copies of the same pattern at the same time, preventing knitting.

Big old Galatoire, who does disturb the printing process, even if it doesn't disturb him.

And Bad Boy, who was supposedly helping me file...until he pushed over the stack of folders to the floor, then knocked off the stack of CDs waiting to be mailed as he leapt down and pretended he had nothing to do with any of it.

Whenever I hear a crash in the house, I know exactly who did it.

Now to press the button and see if all this publishes. Hold your breath.

Another Blast from the Past

2009-12-29T17:51:00.010-06:00

Perhaps you may remember this photo of the boys, probably Christmas 1968, wearing their fisherman's sweaters which I had made them. I had seen the patterns in one of those women's magazines at the checkout counter of the grocers and thought they would be nice. I hadn't knit in at least five years, and certainly had never knit anything this complex. But, blessed with ignorance, I had no idea they were supposed to be difficult. And what luck that the patterns actually worked without reams of errata. So I just cabled and popcorned away. Of course I saved them, some of those things you want to keep for future generations. When I moved to Europe, I stored them in a cedar chest at my mother's house. My mother, being my mother, found them and gave them away to Goodwill or the Paralyzed Veterans or somesuch. How I wish I still had them. But at least there is this photo!

Going through some of the boxes of inherited photo chaos, I found these two old school photos. Ta-da! Documentation of another set of sweaters, the 70s this time.
Steven in his vest...
...and David in his. No idea where I found the pattern, but I'll lay a bet this yarn came from Woolworth's. We had moved to New Orleans and I don't believe there was even a yarn store there. Or if there was I never found it. We lived on Bourbon Street and rarely left the French Quarter. It was wool, and I remember thinking the variegation was interesting. Now I wasn't a serious knitter then, I just knit from time to time as the urge struck. Wish I had thought to document everything.

There was at least one more set I knit for them, very nice mixed greens with stripes. One was a turtleneck, and by the time I made them the boys had decided they would absolutely not wear T-necks. I don't believe a photo exists of those. Too bad.

Finally got through the Christmas knitting and gift making. These were a big (did I say huge?) project:
Beaded row counters, each one different. Doreen and I got together to make fifteen or so for our knitting group. As we did our shopping for all the elements (at least three stores, twice or three times), went through my bead stash (at least as extravagent as my yarn stash) and worked through the night until 6AM to find we had only finished five or six, we decided if we were selling them on Etsy, we would have to charge at least $200 each to break even. Suppose I'm not cut out for beading row markers for the general market. Several more sessions, plus making some for myself and for other giftees, I finally stashed the beads and baubles again yesterday. Now some of you still haven't received your packages, so please act surprised.

And what have we here?
Believe it or not, a white Christmas in Texas, the first one on record for this area. This photo was taken early in the day on Christmas Eve. We got quite a bit more, about 4 inches where I live. It was no trouble getting out to our Christmas Eve party. But by the time we left to go home, the temperatures had dropped dramatically and everything was frozen solid. Getting home was a definite drama. Being Christmas Eve, no one had gotten out to sand the bridges (inexcusable) and the driving was definitely hazardous. David was on call at the hospital that night and his car doesn't do well at all on ice. I worried all night about that. By Christmas day afternoon, the roads had cleared up a bit and the driving was less treacherous.

Wonder of wonders, it is snowing again today. And it's cold. Thank goodness there is not a photo of me at the moment. Already in PJs, I'm typing away wearing orange fingerless gloves and my full length hooded red parka. Cute, really, really cute!!! As soon as I finish, I'm going to attack some major closet re-organization and there are a lot of closets in need. Must take photos and show you next time. I'm drowning in "stuff" and a lot of it just has to go. And as a result of the snow which must have been blowing in the right direction to block the dish, no television tonight. We're just not getting a signal. Darn, I'll miss the 5 millionth discussion of how to get on an airplane with an underwear bomb!!!
I mentioned in the last post that I had scored some Buffalo Gold in Boerne for a shawl but didn't show a photo. This is it, with a lovely pattern. I can't wait to start on it, but MUST finish a couple of WIPs before I allow myself. Perhaps that 3/4 done Clapotis? Definitely the orchid colored socks. One of the four sweaters that are half to 90% done? Decisions, decisions.
Just to make you laugh, this is the still un-named Bad Boy cat in his usual lounging position. Notice the divan is white? Well actually natural cotton damask. Not for long I'm sure. Bad boy has single-handedly spotted all the carpets with his barfing, if not worse. Broken several items. We switched his dry food which has solved the barfing and worse problem, but the new food is staining his white ruff. I'm sure we'll eventually solve all these issues. In the meanwhile, he is just so funny he keeps us in giggles. And extremely affectionate.
Here is one of the Christmas presents, for the BF, the very tall BF so it is a very long scarf. The pattern is the scarf version of Hypoteneuse. I donated my Plain & Fancy charcoal yarn (bought for a shawl) to the project because it was just so perfect (must call to see if I can't get some more). And the BF, the most impossible man in the world to buy a present for, seemed to really love it. Scored with this one.
And here is Absorba the Ultimate Bathmat, made for Dr. Persnickety, another impossible man for presents. Think it took 30 skeins of cotton knitted 6 at a time. He LOVED it. Score number 2. And he would like another smaller one. Yay, birthday in 4 months. And...OMG...he indicated he might actually like a sweater. I'm immediately thinking some lovely fair-isle sort of project, with colors to go with his red hair. I do so love to actually have ideas for the future, if only I remember when the time comes.

Truthfully, I completely enjoyed knitting the log cabin pattern, just not in six strands of cotton. I must look into adaptations and variations of log cabin. It is very Zen. I'm not doing hand-knitted afghans because of cats and those pests called moths. So it has to be a sweater or a shawl. Must apply the Thinking Cap...or spend some extra hours on Ravelry.
And this is what I'm knitting on now. Perhaps you can't tell, but this is an eyelash scarf knitted with just the eyelash. A horror to knit on large needles. It was even hard to find the yarn. But this was a specific request to replace a scarf I made fifteen years ago (hated knitting it then, too) for my friend Liz in Ireland. One day it blew off her neck and away over the bogs, never to be seen again and she really, really wanted another one. Only love would get you through knitting like this. At least I'm two skeins into a three skein project.

Hope your holidays were merry and that a wonderful New Year awaits us all.

Off and On the Needles - Fall Report II

2009-11-16T15:42:00.001-06:00

Well now, I've survived another trip to the Kid n Ewe Festival in Boerne. The Hill Country was incredibly green this year, most unusual. The downside of that was an abundance of flies and mosquitoes that we don't usually notice so much. I didn't even take a single photo since I've taken so many over the years. But of course, there was modest replenishment of stash, notably some Buffalo Gold for a beautiful lace shawl. Then some single skeins from Brooks Farm for mixed skein projects. My goal had been to buy only grey yarns, but that proved difficult. I wanted enough for a sweater from Brooks Farm, but they didn't have any grey this time. I did score some grey from Plain and Fancy for another lace shawl, a skein of Smooshy in grey for socks and a skein of thick and thin in grey from the Tinsmith's Wife for another little ruffled neck thingy like I made last year and wore constantly.

Susan and I took a Fair Isle class from Leif Bloomenstahl the last day. It was fun and we accomplished a lot. I'm totally fired up now to start a vest, dare I say Starmore? Unbelievably, I have no appropriate yarn in stash.

There were six of us on the trip this time. We stuffed ourselves at all our favorite eateries. I've had enough chicken fried steak to last me for months. We added two new restaurants this trip, or perhaps three (new to some). All successful. The draft hard cider at the Dodging Duck is almost worth the trip all by itself.

On our departure from the bed and breakfast in Comfort, I kept my eyes peeled for another surprise visit from Celtic Memory Jo (remember last year?). Sadly, she didn't pop up this year.

And now for the second part of the current projects update.

An amusing knit was this pair of CookieA's Wanida pattern. Done in Socks That Rock lightweight, the colorway was Dixie Chicks, scored at Sock Camp a couple of years ago. These were for my dear friend K to help her survive the Vermont winters after a very, very many decades in the tropical swamp temperatures of New Orleans. They were well received and evidently fit well, always a concern when knitting for a pair of feet at a distance.

Another finished project is this Rivolo scarf from Ann Hanson's lovely pattern. Also done in a Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn, Seduction this time, colorway Rooster Rock.

The Rooster Rock colorway is even more beautiful than the photographs show and has a wonderful texture and luster. It has some tencel content, a nice hand, was pleasant to work with and it blocked very well. I started this one when Steven was in the hospital and worked on it during many hours spent there. It took me almost a year to finally bind off the last stitch and it was really emotional, as though I was letting go of some of that. This is a scarf I shall keep, although I might use the pattern again in a different yarn.

And then we have what is left of a very large shawl which had been done in Prism Wild Stuff. It was sticking out of a drawer the other day, and for some reason I pulled it out and frogged it. Punishment for its keeping the drawer from closing? Not sure quite what I will do with these two skeins of very pricey yarn. I wouldn't buy it again today for sure, but perhaps a purpose can be found.

And last but not least is my current Fascinate scarf in another color of Kureyon sock yarn. As I said after the last one, I think I will probably keep one of these in my purse at all times. At least until I've run out of friends to gift them. Easy knit and very effective.

A class with Cat Bordhi on her new sock technique looms next week-end. Cat is always fun and inspiring. Who knows what ideas she will put in my head? But I am really over-socked at the moment. As soon as I finish at least some of my WIPs, I'm seriously thinking some bigger projects are in order.

Off and On the Needles - Fall Report I

2009-11-07T06:38:00.004-06:00

It's been so long since I've posted. The blogging fairy has gone AWOL. But yes, I've cranked out a bit of knitting over the past few months.

First, I apologize for the wonky order of the photos. Blogger and I are having a huge discussion and Blogger won't let me rearrange them, so please forgive me if the lack of logical order is perplexing!

First on the agenda (Blogger's agenda, not mine), a pair of Par 5 Socks by Ingrid Hiddessen in wonderful Eidos yarn from the Sanguine Gryphon. Fun pattern and the Eidos is a pleasure to knit. These are most definitely still WIP as I keep getting distracted by other tempting ideas.

Then a huge hurrah for the finished Morning Surf Scarf knit in Micki's incredibly beautiful handspun. I'm very, very happy with this one. The roving came from Crown Mountain Farms and bled like a stuck pig when I blocked it. Must add vinegar next time, although Micki did a vinegar soak after spinning it. Oh well, third time's charm. This is evidently typical for CMF.
And here is the beginning of a test knit of Everything's Connected Socks by Jeannie Fanihi. The test pattern was beautifully written. Love the socks. I'm using Wollmeise 100% in Fliederbusch that sweet Doris sent me from Germany. Adore the color.

Another WIP is a pair of broken rib socks, again in Eidos, again set aside for something else that caught my eye.

And here is another progress shot of Everything's Connected. Told you the photo order was WONKY! The pattern is very logical and hypnotic, so much so that I seem to fall asleep on them every time I start to knit. But thank goodness I'm approaching the toe of sock one. Jeannie assured me I needed to use the 84 stitch version of the pattern, and I'm so glad I did. With all the cabling, they are still snug. But that's a whopping lot of stitches on small needles.
And here we have another "Off the Needles". Fascinate by Berroco in Kureyon Sock Yarn. One skein, one very long scarf. This one was shipped of to Lizzie in Ireland for her birthday. I love this drop stitch pattern and may well keep one on the needles at all times for the rest of my natural life. And yes, I already have another one on the needles and yes, I bought a couple of skeins more for the stash.

Nothing knitted here, just the belly dancer who was also behind the cookstove when Doreen and I took a Middle Eastern cooking class at Central Market. BTW, the dancer donned a chef's jacket while she prepared the food, then danced between the courses. She was also teaching the belly dance moves and we were all semi-costumed. Hilarious. Excellent vegetable cous-cous.

Another "Off the Needles" is this pair of Angees by CookieA, done in Jitterbug. Nice socks.

And here is a close-up of the pattern. These were fun and went quickly. I finished them in time to wear to a class with CookieA at the Woollie Ewe. It was on sock design and Cookie was quite inspiring. I still remember her from Sock Camp years ago, sprawled on her stomach knitting incredibly complex German socks. What a girl!

And now we have a gigantic WIP, an Absorba done with 6 strands of cotton on size 15 needles. Reading others' comments on Ravelry about tangling and aching hands, I almost didn't attempt it. In the end, it is a fast, addictive knit which could easily be finished in a few days. I've had no tangling whatsoever (knock on wood) and not much hand trauma. Except when I tried to switch from the bathmat to a pair of socks and the sock needles kept falling out of my fingers. Lesson, start on the smaller needles first.

Absorba is a Christmas project for Dr. Persnickety. He is so perfectionist, I never know what to get him, let alone make for him. I thought a lovely thick bathmat couldn't go far wrong. Taya said the only problem is this mat takes a very, very long time to dry.

There will be at least another segment to this report. Hope the picture placing works next time. This was frustrating. Next time I will try to plan first. Fancy that.

Fell into a Black Hole

2009-08-07T03:37:00.006-05:00

Oh my, it's been forever since I did a blog posting. I was organizing some papers after my father's death and realized I knew little to nothing about his family so did a bit of research. Luckily, I found some distant cousins through the internet and was able to fill in a lot of the blanks back to the old country, or countries as it were. Deciding to write all that down somewhere, I started a family tree with an online service. One thing led to another and I pulled out the incredibly extensive genealogical notes of my maternal grandfather and thought I would just add some of that in, too. Then there were the stories that had to be told and the photos of great-great-great-great grandparents to be scanned and before you know it, you are spending 24 hour stretches entering data. It's addictive! It's a serious black hole. It took real fortitude to finally shove all those papers aside for a while.

And yes, of course I was doing a bit of knitting, but it seemed I made mistakes on everything I did. I've been very distracted for some reason. These Kiila Socks, a mystery pattern for Sock Knitters Anonymous on Ravelry designed by the fabulous Yarnissima, truly kicked my butt. You couldn't find a more detailed pattern, and it was really quite simple. The gusset/heel section was ingenious. But I knitted and frogged and knitted and frogged until I could have knitted six socks in the time it took me to knit a pair. The yarn is Wollmeise Twin in Single Malt, which held up beautifully to all my abuse. After several attempts, I am still not very fond of toe up socks.

Then I knit these fabulous Shurt'ugals as a KAL in the Socks That Rock group on Ravelry. Knit on a deadline, these turned out beautifully, a pattern I will certainly do again, and again. The STR Lightweight in Pond Scum was a dream to knit with and produced a very dragon scale look in a well fitting sock.And then of course I started this amusing scarf in Kureyon sock. Fascinate is a one skein project and a totally addictive knit, perfect for on the go knitting.
There was more knitting and finished projects, but I will save those for later.

Today, I need to find a home for this sweetheart of a Persian cat. This is Grand Champion, Regional Winner Black Jack of Jude. My friend Judy is moving across the country in a couple of weeks. She breeds champion Persians and Himalayans. Her new home will be much smaller than her current one, and she needs to find new pet homes for several of her prize show cats. I've known this boy since he was a kitten. He is about 3 years old now, neutered and out of the breeding program, and he really wants to be a lap cat. He's gorgeous, has a gentle loving nature, and needs someone who will adore him. Is that you by any chance? You can see Judy's beautiful cats at http://www.judepersians.net/.

Look at BJ's blue eyes and those curly white whiskers. He's famous for those whiskers.

There are about six others who need homes, too. Two lilac point Himalayan girls about a year old. A 3-4 year old Calico girl, beautiful and regal, quite the ornament. A precious one year old black and white boy. Judy lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area now, but not for much longer. If you love Persians and have room for one of these beauties, do let us know.

I couldn't resist. I took a one year old rare Lilac Tabby girl, Talullah. She's very small, as wide as she is long, with huge copper eyes. Pictures later when she has settled in. Her little legs are so short, she can't get off the floor as much as she tries. Pretty funny.

Oklahoma is to Dye For

2009-04-22T05:15:00.011-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, there was a master spinners course being taught in Sulphur, Oklahoma by instructors from Oldes College in Alberta, Canada. They added on a 100 Colors Dye Workshop which our favorite spinner Judi mentioned and Susan, Doreen and I jumped on it like pigs into mud.

Susan slept over while we waited for Doreen to finish her night shift at the hospital, then took off in the dark of night so to arrive in Sulphur for the beginning of class, a bit the worse for wear, albeit with a yummy healthy breakfast at a McDonalds somewhere near the Texas/Oklahoma border. And the class was not playing around at all. We dove into some serious work, masked and gloved, mixing colors, toting canning pots full of jelly jars around to available burners, boiling, draining, spinning dry, etc. etc.

The principal of the course was that we took three primary colors, then mixed 100 colors from them, as you can see above.
Ellen Munro was our taskmaster/teacher. She was reeling off information at lightning speed. Being rather quiet, we had to follow her with ears cocked and notebooks in hand to catch every pearl of wisdom she offered.
Here's Doreen slaving over a hot stove. She was quite the ace at this since we did our measuring with medical syringes. She has obviously had a lot of practice.
We paired off to do our work. Each pair was responsible for 14 colors. I got the lovely Rina as my partner and enjoyed every minute of working with her. In fact, a nicer group of women you couldn't have found anywhere. They came from all over the country.

After mixing all the colors and dyeing our sample skeins, we were allowed to exhaust the remaining dyes on our own fibers. Here were some interesting rovings and skeins dyed with various techniques.

Here is the skein I painted. I'm quite happy with the colors and learned about a product which really helps keep the color in place. It's so funny, when I buy clothes, I always choose subtle colors. But when I buy or dye yarn, it is usually outrageously colorful.

Our thoroughly exhausted threesome limped out at the end of the day to our shared room at the nearby Indian owned motel, where we immediately crashed and burned. Waking an hour or so later to the smells of curry wafting through the halls (an odd smell for Sulphur, Oklahoma) we left to have dinner way out in the boonies with friends. Following them through beautiful landscapes on narrow wildly winding roads, we eventually tumbled onto this treasure.....Steve's Steak Barn.
Here are Carol, Roiana, Susan and Doreen standing in front of the above mentioned establishment in the middle of bloody nowhere. Starving one and all!

We had elaborate decor.
Exotic water features (note the hound puppy drinking from the outdoor shower/bathtub).

Even more exotic locals arrived on strange machines.

Susan seriously risked taking home an adorable kitty with extremely sharp needle like claws.

Gotta tell you, though we swatted lots of flies off our corn on the cob, Steve's steaks were pretty fabulous, as was Steve. Evidently, he had a huge crowd that night, a couple of staff didn't make it, and Steve solved the problem by inviting his biking buddies for kitchen duty in exchange for beer. Not sure how clever that was, but it was rather hilarious. We found our way back home with a different scenic route, not quite so curvy, and by 9PM, we were all snoring.

The next day's class consisted of cutting all of those color samples into tidy little strips, tying them neatly onto pages, then using everyone's work, assembling books of samples with the formulae that we could refer to in the future.

Wouldn't have missed this for the world.

On Becoming an Orphan

2009-04-18T15:06:00.008-05:00

Some things just have to be said. I was trying to avoid posting sad news on the blog, but it seems I can't get back to talking about knitting until I honor "my old guy".

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dfw/obituary.aspx?n=david-james-andrews&pid=125828660

My father passed away last week, just after the stroke of midnight on his 90th birthday. During the last year, when he said he might not be around much longer, I always replied that he had to make his 90th because I was throwing a party. Then after the cake, we would discuss 91. Well, he made it. It was quite a shock to me to lose him now, although I suppose at 90, one shouldn't be surprised at anything. But what seemed to be a mild pneumonia turned out to be something much more serious. He was surrounded by those he loved, a good end to a good life.

My father LOVED his family, they were very close. Eight boys and one girl. The two youngest are missing from this photo taken when my father was 4, second from the right.

His mother saw him off to war with the Air Force in 1942.

Here he is in the fifties with his brother Dana and Greer Garson.

The last few years, there were only two of the tribe left, my father and his youngest brother Steve. Now there is only Steve. Although Steve couldn't travel from California to be with his brother that last week, he called every day and the two reminisced with laughter and tears.

There was an honor guard to send off this veteran of two wars.

My father certainly wasn't perfect, but he never told a lie and he never intentionally hurt anyone (although that bit about not telling even a white lie sometimes had that effect). He was an idealist. He remembered every date of everything ever. We shared a love of words and language and history and art and classical music. We had crossword puzzle challenges; even the last few months when he had lost much of that incredible memory, we would do the puzzles together. When I quit piano for ballet, he was so furious that he sat down with my books and taught himself to play, only Chopin for the first 25 years until he retired and finally began lessons. Perhaps three days before he died, my neice and I were sitting with him near midnight. Suddenly he began joking and teasing us and the nurse and it was my father of the old days, sharp and lucid and funny. After half an hour of this amazing gift, he fell asleep and the next day it was gone, but what a lovely memory he gave us.

My friend José Feghali played a Chopin nocturne at his service, so beautiful it brought everyone to tears. I miss him.

Here Comes the Rain

2009-03-11T03:40:00.008-05:00

Sheer joy, the rain came and it stayed...for several days. The whole landscape is coming alive here. Now if that rain would just come back once a week, we might escape terrible drought and not turn into desert. When said rain first came well past midnight Wednesday morning, I went out to dance in it, well actually I was hauling the recycling bin out to the street for early morning pick-up, but I surely enjoyed every drop nonetheless.

I'm still slogging away on my Soho scarf, finishing skein 3 (1200 yds) and about to crack open skein 4 (1600yds). The pattern only called for 1,000 yards but I fear that would have been a bit short. Skeins 1, 2 and 3 are each very different colors as you might be able to see in the above photo. I will divide skein 4 to finish the two ends and I'm hoping it will look artfully intentional. In any case, I'm having to flog myself into finishing this project before even thinking about another. My fingers are itching for socks.

Stocking up for Sock Madness III, which starts next Thursday, I garnered some Sanguine Gryphon Eidos. Isn't it luscious? I haven't knit with this yet, but am excited to try. I think three of the designs will call for at least two colors, so as any good boy scout, I'm prepared.

Another gorgeous skein from the Sanguine Gryphon is this Sappho Laceweight in Come to Me From Crete. Be still my beating heart. And Gryphon is a delight to deal with.

Things are really heating up on the Sock Madness Forever board on Ravelry. The teasers we have seen of the mystery designs look devilishly challenging. I'm suspecting my cousin Mountain Mom is responsible for one of them. The cheerleading squad led by Celtic Memory Jo is in full force, getting quite whacky with excitement. The Droll Eclectic, who is at a sort of boot camp/school upgrading her training to protect her country, has figured out a way to have three young guys coach her on her tests while she speed knits socks. Now if those guys were wearing kilts, it would be a pretty picture indeed and probably quite inspiring.

These balls and bits used to be the shawl below. Two skeins of Prism Wild Stuff, which might be too wild for me these days. In any case, a cat somehow caught on the shawl, panicked and ran, hooking the shawl on a piece of antique wicker. Cat escaped harm, shawl did not. Very large hole was pulled in shawl. Shawl is now balls, waiting for an idea.

KnitTx, Doreen and yours truly are plotting and planning for our dye workshop in Oklahoma next week-end with a gaggle of psyched spinners. A drive through the Arbuckles to finish our journey in Sulphur. 100 colors in one day plus another day's work on a detailed notebook. We're doing some creative time management to suit everyone's schedules, but think we can arrange to arrive at dawn in reasonable condition for a day's work. Three camera nuts so we should be able to document the whole experience. Promising you a full report!

Of Blooms and Kittens and an STR Rooster

2009-02-22T08:16:00.013-06:00

For those of you in the frozen North, who can't imagine anything but snow and ice, let me show you what flourishes in winter in North Texas.

Monkey-faced pansies are a winter flower here, protected only when the temps drop into the teens, Farenheit that is. By March or so, it is just too warm for them and we bid them fond farewell until the weather crisps up in the fall.

This Japanese Magnolia thinks it's spring in mid-February, foolish tree. It froze again last night, though just barely.Cyclamens bloom in the pots in front, covered only when it drops below freezing. For years I thought they were a delicate hothouse plant. In New Orleans, I would bring them home to live indoors as I was told and watch them croak after a week or so. Little did I know they were truly a rather hardy outdoor plant.

My goodness, the flowers just kept coming on Valentine's Day. The doorbell rang and rang with still another delivery. Aren't they just beautiful? No chocolates, though.

The base of the orchid arrangement was particularly lovely, sprouting into 4 foot bamboo canes.

Have we knit lately Chez Angeluna?

Yes, indeed. Here be the finished Leyburns. My sock knitting Mojo is back with a vengeance after a year's hiatus. There is a Socks That Rock Leyburn KAL on Ravelry. The idea being to knit the Leyburn pattern in as many colors of STR as possible. There are well over 100 pairs done so far, one more beautiful than the next.Mine are in Mid-Weight STR, Chanticleer from my stash, knit on 2.5mms, 66 stitches on the cuff. They fit well and are incredibly cushy. Look at the sole, Chanticleer has speckles, most unusual for STR.

Here is the skein. It knit up in quite unexpected fashion, at least a surprise to me.

And I started the Morning Surf pattern in Micki's gorgeous handspun, 56 stitches, size 6s. The skein had been sitting in plain sight for months, waiting for the right pattern to claim it. Not so spectacular on the needles, but blocked, it will be fantastic. Micki's policy is that if you haven't knitted a skein by your next birthday, you don't get another one. No problem here. This pattern is addictive. Micki used the same pattern in a scarf for herself and it was obviously the perfect pattern, from Spin-Off by the way, designed for handspun yarns.

And I'm working on Soho again. Frustrations with the pattern seem to be resolved. Received another skein of Plain and Fancy from Grayce, which will be needed. Should you be thinking of making that pattern, plan on more yarn than the pattern calls for. I'm using 600 yards more. It's still a bit of a blob in photos, so I'll wait until it's further along to show it off. Soon, soon.

Many of you have asked if my kitten has arrived. Well, the blue tabby/white bicolor is not going to happen. I'm a bit heartbroken as I so anticipated his arrival, but unexpectedly, an important breeder claimed him and it would have been unfair to my friend to have to refuse the deal. She said she would make me another one, or let me have one that she already has.

Like perhaps this little guy out of Grand Champion Regional Winner Black Jack of Jude. He's a Seal Point Himalayan and he never stops purring. He's four months now. I'm not getting attached until another top breeder takes her pick of the litter.

He's one of this litter that we call the "Full House". Three Seal Point boys and two black girls, all show quality. How cute is that?

The Ice Storm Cometh, and Leaveth Soon I Hope

2009-01-28T06:58:00.020-06:00

It's been so long since I've blogged, I wonder if any of you are still out there?

Can you believe, it's freezing here? All night long I heard the sound of frozen rain falling. Good coating of ice on the roads making for some spectacular (and spectacularly stupid) wrecks shown on the morning news. Schools are closed. It looks like this outside.

The squirrel baffle on the bird feeder looks like a tasseled lampshade. I did fill it and shortly thereafter I had trees full of birds waiting in line, some I hadn't seen in a while. Two sorts of woodpeckers, chickadees, cardinals, titmice, doves. I couldn't thaw out the birdbaths, though. I poured in warm water, but it was frozen solid in minutes.

It is quite pretty though. The ground is white, but it's an inch of ice, not snow. The squirrels are clawing at it to get to their food. It should melt off this afternoon, but no driving for me until it does. I live on top of a steep hill and there's really no good way down as long as it's slick.

What did I do last week-end you ask? Well, perhaps you didn't but I'll tell you anyway. I went to the CFA cat show in Mesquite. We are down to the one "local" show a year and I hadn't been to one in ages.

My friend Anita was grooming up this gorgeous little girl for the ring, kitten class. She did very well indeed.

She's a rare chocolate tabby out of a regional grand champion, Jude's Rocky Road, FIRST CHOCOLATE CLASSIC TABBY EVER TO GRAND IN CFA. FIRST CHOCOLATE OR LILAC EVER TO BE CFA'S SECOND BEST OF BREED NATIONALLY.

And here is Judy grooming up Jude ROCK THE LINE OF DREAMZ aka Linus. He's a Chocolate Lynx-point Himalayan and just out of kitten class.

Here's Linus ready to go into the ring. Wow! Judy's grooming is peerless.

And here he is with some of his ribbons of the day.

And this little bit is Jude's Wave, a Tortie Lynx Point Himmy also out of Rocky Road. She was the tiniest kitten in the show at 4 months.

Judy has decided I need a kitten to cheer me up and has picked out a precious 8 week old boy, blue tabby and white Bi-Color out of that same famous Rocky Road. I'm rather delighted because all of the Rocky boys have the sweetest temperaments imaginable. It all started with Rocky Raccoon, a champion who sired Rocky Road, a not quite two year old who has sired multiple champions including the adorable Chip off the Old Rock (aka Chippy). These cats are all such lover boys that they kiss the judges and roll over on the show table for tummy rubs. They are quite famous for this. So I shall need a name for the new boy, ideas welcome. There's nothing like a kitten to make you smile. Just waiting another month or so. He needs to be weaned and learn to eat. His sister is doing well at the eating bit, but my little boy just wants his Mommy still. His photo is probably in the kitten section at Jude Persians if you want to take a look. I just checked and indeed he is at the top of the kitten page 2 with his black and white sister.

The caption is "He's not heavy, he's my brother."

OK, let's hear some names. His Father is Rocky Road and his mother is Tallulah. My other boy is Galatoire and another we had was Tujagues, both New Orleans restaurants. Somewhere I made a list of restaurants, but the only one that comes to mind right now is Yuglesitches (sp?) and I just don't think this little boy could wear that.

Knitting? Well yes.

This is the Nancy One Skein Shawl from Schaefer in Julia Child. Quick and a delight to knit, and wonderful to wear because of the curved neckline and the tails. This was my second one.
Here is the first one that I finished at Christmas. The colorway is Dian Fossey.

You can see that the back is not long and pointed, but makes a gentle curve. Just love them both.

And here is a cowl in Schaefer that I did a year ago, but forgot to document or photograph until now. Actually it was lost, but now it's found. It's a made up pattern and is really perfect for this weather.

And here is a sock I started a couple of days ago. It is the Leyburn done in STR Chanticleer Mediumweight on size 2.5mm needles. I reduced the stitch count to 66 and knit cuff down, so I suppose they are Leyburn in stitch pattern only. They are quite thick because of the slipstitch pattern, but so far are fitting quite well. To be honest, they didn't fit at all at first, but I kept knitting and suddenly the Knitting Fairy waved her magic wand and they fit beautifully. I've finished the first heel and am picking up for the gussets, so we shall soon see if they fit over my arches. Sure hoping they will. I got sucked into these as a KAL where people are trying to knit up as many colorways of STR possible in the Leyburn pattern. Worth a look on Ravelry. Pretty amazing colors and interesting to see all the different ways knitters went about making the same pattern.
Another KAL is with my Sisters of the Wool group. Several of us set about knitting SOHO mostly with yarns we bought at Kid n Ewe. Most are from Plain and Fancy in their incredible DK weight that resembles Malabrigo. Susan is using Brooks Farm Solo Silk, Grace is using up some glittery stash and I can't remember what Angele is using. They all look wildly different. And you should hear the cursing about the pattern. It is really quite simple, only the instructions are confusing. My main problem is simple sloppiness. But I think that will soon be a thing of the past as I'm nearly off the mitered center section.

Here it is looking like a grand lump on the circulars, but with one more row, I'll bind off and start knitting the sides, so we'll be able to see what it looks like.

And here is a Thorpe that I made for my niece in freezing Brooklyn. Love Thorpe. Here I've used Noro's Big Kureyon with a Highland Wool edging. Yes, that's crochet. In this photo you can see my edging choices. Were it me, I would have gone with the pumpkin color, but for my niece, I decided the brown heather was the safest choice. The colors are showing too bright in these photos. Here's the finished hat.
And here is Taya modeling the finished version. My niece is quite thin and tall with micro short hair, so it will look quite different, but equally good I hope.

Some sad news, our lovely LYS, Yarns Ewenique, is closing after only two years. They have done so well, but one of the partners has to move to California and the other wants to move to a cabin at the lake. They had a wonderful atmosphere in the shop, a good selection of yarns in good quantity and a wall of knitting tools and needles that was matchless.

More to come, hope you are all warm and toasty.

The Grinch Lives Here

2008-12-20T04:31:00.006-06:00

Hearing my friends moaning over their Holiday knitting, I'm so glad I decided years ago only to knit for those who really understood and appreciated it, and would know how to wash fine fibers. Which meant only two projects this year.

Here is one, an Argosy scarf. Since the USPS e-mailed today to say that it had arrived, I can finally post a photo. I still haven't gotten the "hang" of the new camera and colors just aren't making me happy, but voilà.A bit under three skeins of Noro Silk Garden. Having examined the colors in the skein,

I was totally surprised by what came off the needles. You just never know with Noro. Very wabi-sabi, but I decided I quite liked it. Hope the recipient, who lives in a very cold climate, likes it, too.

Really a fun pattern to knit. It came out a bit narrower than I expected, not that I paid any attention to the given specs, mind you. But all in all quite pleased. Glad I broke down and ordered some blocking wires before going to work on this one. And here is a glam shot of the front of my new Very Square sweater. I'm using Brooks Farm Solo Silk procured at Kid n Ewe on size 7s. Measured my favorite cashmere Eskandar, swatched and dove in. A joy to knit this yarn. Here is the Eskandar, so you can see it is the inspiration, not copied. Well, I wouldn't want to knit a big boxy sweater on size 000s, thank you very much. And this lump is a skein of Schaefer Nancy (Dian Fossey) in their One Skein Shawl pattern. It's a lump because that outer edge waiting for a bind-off is 1,000 plus stitches. Of course, I ran out of yarn 1/4 of the way around, as did half the knitters on Ravelry for this project. Lucky me, I called the shop I bought the yarn from, the Tinsmith's Wife in Comfort, Texas, and asked the darling owner Wendy, who had knit one the same color, if she had any left-overs. She did, and she popped them right in the mail. The minute they arrived, I started binding off, and continued the next day, and finished today in time to wear it to dinner. That was a huge bind-off for sure. In fact, I'm quite fond of this shaped triangle shawl. It sits well on the neck and shoulders and should do a good job of keeping my neck warm tomorrow when the temperatures plummet again. Finished photos next post.

Oooooh, and here is a lovely skein of Qiviut, a gift from the above friend of the cold clime and new owner of Argosy. The color is Rust, I've 400 yards, and I'm searching patterns to choose the perfect one, probably one of these. It's a light fingering weight and it is beautiful.

The Harlot's Rat Bastards have moved to Texas, specifically my back yard. See these pots...

and these...

and these???

Well this is what those cute rodents do to them. They uprooted all the cypress vine and basil in these pots. The sticks are improvised squirrel guards. They didn't work too well this year, witness every basil sprout in death throes.

Then they destroyed the begonias in this one. These were photos from late summer, but the situation has only gotten worse. Perhaps only a third of the pansies I've planted in all those pots are still upright. All of the bulbs in all the pots have been surfaced and will not come back this year. The squirrels are hungry, they're going a bit crazy. Normally, my back garden under all those oaks is ankle deep in acorns. They bombard the roof for a solid month as they are falling. This year nada, nothing, zip. The neighbor's overhanging pecan trees, that usually leave my yard a disaster, haven't produced a pecan (please don't plant pecan trees in the city, please, please). Then I saw on CNN that this phenomen is being seen all over the country and beyond. No one knows the cause for now. There was speculation on rainfall and when the rain fell, but it is so widespread that the theory doesn't hold up. In any case, these miserable destructive little monsters are God's creatures and they are hungry and I'm buying bags of food for them as I can't bear to watch them starve. Unbelievable, isn't it? I'm actually feeding pests. They have sent out the word as to where they can chow down and the garden is absolutely teaming with them.

In other furry news, Pandora and Paprikas were both quite sick when I returned from Boerne. Wonderful cat sitter, but she has dogs and evidently some stray fleas had hitchhiked in. There were clumps of clawed out fur all over the place. Trust me, flea infestations and Persians don't mix. Advantage did the trick there, thank heavens. Then one of them, we suspect Poppy, had puked all over the place, I literally slid in it walking in the door. Stomach upsets continued for a month. Pandora had totally quit eating. Finally hauled both of them to the vet. Pandora had lots of blood in her urine but no infection. Poppy didn't show an infection either but had chronic intestinal upset. Lots of tests and $1,200 later (happy Holidays to me) they are getting better. Then the vet called yesterday to add some more meds at another $140 ($90 for eyedrops that have already run out after three treatments). Guess that yarn diet is going to be a tough and long one. Popping pills and syringing food into felines would qualify for one of those "Worst Jobs" programs, trust me. Wish us good health, please. Now I'm freaked out about leaving the house for very long.

I'm the Grinch this year. I've only bought one present for the kids; can't even think about other presents, panic in crowded stores. If I don't shape up, I'll be empty handed and embarrassed on Christmas. Finally hung a wreath on the door two days ago, but that's it. No more decorations. I do have some plans to cook some goodies, but since I've set off the fire alarm twice in two weeks with my cooking (so absent-minded I forget things), this will have to be approached with much caution. People keep telling me the holidays are very difficult the first year after you've lost a loved one. I will be so happy the day after all the hoopla is over.

And just for fun, here is a sweater I'm lusting over. Sugarplum from a Rowan collection book some years old. I would have to find a yarn, this one is of course discontinued, so it must wait until the yarn diet is over.

Bloody %#*%*~$@##, I just spent over an hour putting this post together, linking everything, organizing photos...only to realize I had posted it to my son'sblog, not mine. Guess what, you have to manually reimport all the photos and you lose your links. Sigh, done, all's well that ends well.

Not much Ho, Ho, Ho around here this year, but sincerely wishing all of you very Happy Holidays. Hold your loved ones and cherish the here and the now.

A Jolly Good Time was had by all! Surprise!!!!

2008-12-01T05:13:00.014-06:00

Girls Week-end at the Kid n Ewe and Lamas, Too festival in Boerne, Texas (that's "Burney" to the uninitiated). Five Sisters of the Wool set out on Thursday with an unbelievable amount of luggage in two cars on the back roads through the Hill Country to arrive in Comfort by nightfall. The same B&B where Susan and I stayed last year, very funky, hot tub and killer breakfasts, owned and run by the lovely Sandi.

Now you would think that much knitting would be done, that we would loll around in the hot tub with Margaritas? Hah! After a hot tub the first night, we usually collapsed pretty early, very little knitting, Lucy Neatby's videos put us all to sleep (glad to know it's not just me that is lulled into dreamland by Lucy's soft voice), the wine we brought came home unopened. Susan did get her loom set up and warped finally, after a year, with lots of advice from the peanut gallery.

The first night's dinner was in Comfort at your typical German/Cajun (???) cafe, Guenther's. OK, Weiner schnitzel and blood sausages. Stewfish and the Couch Potatoes were playing...loud, very loud, really really loud and totally off key. Although the more they drank, the more notes they hit. We finally fled to a porch room that was a decibal or two quieter. We ate well and went home a bit deafened.

After one of Sandi's fantastic breakfasts, we headed off early to Boerne for the main event, planned to arrive just before they opened the doors.

We saw lots of fiber, the above being the loveliest combed and carded, hand dyed silk bats.

We saw Alpacas!! This cutie is Cuervo, a bit on the shy side. He kept up the sweetest little nervous hum. You just wanted to cuddle him and tell him it was OK. No lamas, though.

This super adorable six month old is Midnight Star. Taya was trying to figure out a way to get him home in the car. Although they won't sell just one, nor even two, but insist on three so you have a herd. That neck fiber is just the softest stuff ever.

We saw Cashmere goats, including this impressive (and rather bad tempered) ram.

We watched some of the judging and were shown the cashmere fiber and taught how to evaluate it.

Taya investigated the Great Wheel.

Doreen was seduced by the glorious Pegasus. She caught serious spinning lust.

Micki, Susan and I caught Market Days in Boerne. It was a bit of a disappointment. Shitloads of beads, but nothing very special. There was one jewelry maker who tempted me with a pair of "rainforest" mineral earrings, but not much else. It was so sunny and hot that we were shortly searching shade.

Stash was accumulated Day One. This is the entire groups goodies, just sayin'. My part was limited to Brooks Farm Solo Silk and some of that lovely Plain and Fancy kettle dyed. As well as a skein of Schaeffer to do a one skein shawl, bought from a charming daughter and mother who've just opened a knit shop in Comfort, The Tinsman's Wife. Wishing them luck. And oh, five skeins of Jo-JoLand to do a Swirl Shawl. Plus I found a lovely hand carved darning egg in cedar from some delightful ladies from Louisiana.
And more stash Day Two. I missed Day Three's haul, but there was still more.

Couldn't resist this sign. Admit it's hilarious. Actually it was the town of Welfare, but a bit more imagination might have made for a more appropriate name.

Phenomenal biscuits were had here at PoPos, as well as chicken fried steaks and huge racks of ribs. A serious winner.

And now for the surprise, possibly the most incredible surprise I think I've ever had. Are you sitting down, gentle readers? On Sunday as we were leaving, actually already in our cars, an automobile pulled up and parked on the far side of mine. Sandi was panicked that she had forgotten a reservation. A lovely bearded gentleman came up to me speaking in French and shooting photos of us the whole time. He knew my name. I was thumbing rapidly through the rolodex in my brain trying to figure this one out. I must have met this Frenchman last year, or somewhere before. I do know a handful of people in the Hill Country, but this just wasn't computing. Finally he said in English, "You haven't a clue, do ya?" with the slightest Irish lilt and it all clicked. Richard!!! Celtic Memory's Richard. Which meant Jo must be close at hand. Look at this!!!!

Look at the faces of the Sisters. Susan was crying. Micki was floored. Taya was levitating and we have a photo of it. Doreen was mystified since she had never met Jo. And I was completely overjoyed. Jo said although the internet was very useful for some things, she thought I needed a hug so she came all the way from Ireland to give me one.
These two were certainly proud of themselves. They found tickets on Friday morning, caught a flight that night and arrived in San Antonio Sunday morning to drive out to Comfort. None of us had any idea whatsoever that they were on their way. I had only given Jo the name of the town where we were staying. This is the kind of crazy I want in my life. Daft, mad, and ever so welcome. Thank goodness the weather was splendid to give them a couple of days break from the miserable weather at home.

A very happy sun-warmed group in front of the Carrington House in Comfort. So, no question of Micki and I heading out early, we all trooped back to the Festival with our friends to show them around.

Now Jo had to try the Pegasus. It is a dream of a wheel.

And she was seduced by our lovely Brooks Farm display. In the meantime Richard was out in the park trying to photograph some butterflies with a camera lens the size of a Gatling gun.

It was sad to say good-bye, but now I must plot how to give them an equal surprise.

Micki and I finally headed out through Fredericksburg with the car stuffed full of luggage so the other three could make it home in the convertible after a day of classes.

Gorgeous skies with strange ploughed cloud formations. It almost made up for the incredible amount of road kill we saw. Deer, deer and more deer. One carcass, minus its rack, in the middle of a street in Fredericksburg. Gross. We had to pay phenomenal attention for errant wildlife while on the roads.

Planted these lovely cyclamen on Thanksgiving. I always thought they were an indoor plant when actually they love the cold (which it doesn't say on that tag) and make it through our winters with just a bit of cover when it drops below freezing.
And here you can see I've completed the front of my Hoxbro Cables sweater. While I'm dithering about how to do the collar and sleeves and if I'm going to like it as designed or want to change it, I swatched for another sweater and fell in love.

This is Brooks Farm Solo Silk and it is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Patterned after my favorite cashmere Eskandar. I've almost finished the front already. I'm so bad at startitis, but I do see myself wearing this for the holidays. The color is more of a persimmon red. I had to get a new camera and it's still in learning curve mode.And this arrived on my doorstep last week. I was most confused as I hadn't ordered anything from Blue Moon and that's where this big box was from. There was a card inside and a friend, who would like to remain anonymous, said perhaps what I needed was some exciting new knitting in Raven colorways. OMG. There is a Sock Monkey Kit and two skeins each for three pairs of socks and a humongous skein of laceweight, all in Ravens except for the fabulous Brick. I don't know what to knit first. Although I think the Sock Monkey may be calling my name and demanding precedence. What a thoughtful friend! I cried.

Survived Thanksgiving, thanks to friends. Last Thanksgiving was the day I realized Steven was very ill, although I didn't have a clue how seriously. But it was a normal day with Steven preparing the dinner. Now here we are a year later and he's gone and it's surreal. Thanks to everyone who has called and written to make sure I got through this time.

La Toussaints...All Saints Day

2008-11-01T08:07:00.033-05:00

Today is La Toussaints. The origin of All Saints followed by All Souls Day is quite interesting. The pagan Celts celebrated Samhain on November 1, the beginning of the dark cycle, a day of the year when they believed the veil between the living and the dead was thinnest and communication was possible. The incoming Christians had finally been made aware that their heavyhanded tactics didn't work so well at eradicating the old beliefs, so they took this sacred festival time of the Celts and declared it All Saints Day, a time to honor all the Saints that didn't already have days of their own. In this way, they intended to obscure the original beliefs and dissolve them into their own more circumspect calendric celebration. Eventually, but only in the middle of the last century, the event became an occasion for children in princess and batman costumes to knock on doors and solicit candy on the Eve. The Mexican celebrations for the Day of the Dead perpetuate the rituals of communicating with those who have passed over. Legend has it that this was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate. Families move into the cemetaries for two or three days, groom the graves with fresh soil and elaborate flowers (cockscomb and marigolds), build an altar with the favorite things of the deceased, food, alcohol and cigarettes, light candles, and camp out with small children and infants sleeping propped against headstones. Sugar sculls with the names of the living and the dead are set out, a way of mocking the powers of the grim reaper.

Breaking the silence, I am beginning to force myself to live in this world again. Before we found that Steven's leukemia was coming back, I had signed up for a 2 day workshop with Sally Melville, along with Susan and Doreen. Thank goodness for that as it was not only good therapy, but an excellent and information filled week-end. Sally is charming and quite the taskmaster. Linda at Jennings Street Yarn organized the event most graciously.

We had homework:
That turned into bigger swatches (being supervised by Paprikas in lower right corner for scale): We learned clever edges and picking up formulas and lovely buttonholes and some colorwork. Along with how to recognize and rescue disasters. By the end of the second day, all of our heads were so stuffed that we couldn't absorb any more information.

For a few weeks there, it was impossible for me to knit...or blog. All of my current projects had hospital memories attached. So I dove in and started a very different new project, the Cables Sweater by Vivian Hoxbro.
The yarn is a DK weight Harrisville Tweed and it knits on sock needles. It might just be sufficiently lightweight to wear in our climate. If so, it is my new favorite yarn. The construction is so fascinating that I've been completely sucked into the project. You knit vertically, then horizontally, then vertically, etc. etc. Each section attaches the previous section and it's exciting to watch the sweater build. The righthand side in the photo is the center front panel and it's awaiting the neckline shaping.
Right after the Sally Melville week-end, several Sisters of the Wool made an excursion down to the Ranch to see Lorelei and Sue at Heritage Arts. We packed into my small car, which was the largest we had, and set off for adventure. That backseat looked like a sardine can and they were all knitting! A test drive for Kid n Ewe next week-end.
Taya, Micki, Susan and I were glad to return and to introduce Doreen to something new.

Doreen and Taya were looking at wheels and giving them a test whorl with Lorelei's input, although Taya isn't in this photo.
The Beaumont Ranch had taken down many of their famous and very non PC life sized pumpkin characters for a children's party the day before, but they were putting them back out before we left. You saw the pumpkin characters last year so I will spare you, but they did have the coffins in place.
All in all, a delightful day with friends. And I always love seeing Lorelei. Celtic Memory, she asked after you. Says you should come to see her in Boerne.

While furniture shopping for my father the other day, I bought a small cabinet/bookshelf for myself. It was desperately needed to get some of the books up off the floor. It is Indian. I love it.
Trust me, that photo was only day one. It is now quite full and organized. A close up here will show you some of the tea bowls I made way back in the Dark Ages when I was throwing pots.

So many of you have asked how I am getting along. There has been inertia for the most part, although I'm trying to kick myself in the pants and get going. During a time of grieving, when you sit quietly, your thoughts go back to the beautiful newborn they placed in your arms, the smiling infant, the happy little boy who loved anything mechanical, the bookworm adolescent who secretly took his pet mouse Arthur to school in his pocket, who wanted to ride horses despite his asthma, who loved animals (that loved him right back), who worked in the trade library in the summers as a kid to earn pocket money, who loved walking the streets of the French Quarter where he lived, who married his childhood sweetheart and much later had the children he had always wanted so much, whose childhood passion for computers never waned, who took care of everyone who needed him. Any mother knows that you worry about your children. You worry about their health and their school and their friends and their future. At a certain point, you take a deep breath and say to yourself they've made it, they're good, they've passed all the imaginable hurdles and they are going to be OK. You've raised a strong man with a good family that he loves, a good profession, good health, strong heart, low cholesterol and blood pressure, nothing to worry about, right? You've done your job and now, barring some random accident, you can watch him raise his family and live out his life. What a cruel joke! Or perhaps just downright silly arrogance. We have no crystal ball to predict something so unimaginable as leukemia in such a healthy man, before which we are utterly powerless despite all the wonders of modern science.

Thought I would share a portrait with Steven done when he was about ten. He's the kid with the aviator glasses. His brother wouldn't hold still so the artist, Jana Napoli, threatened and finally painted his bird in front of his nose. David protested and said he would hold still now. The response was, "Too late!"

This close-up is from the much larger painting. I'll show you. It was painted for New Orleans and European ceiling heights and is 115" tall. Larger than life-sized. Too tall to hang in any room of my current dwelling except sideways.

Many, many thank yous to all of you who wrote with kind and comforting words. Darn the luck, many of your e-mails came with no way to respond thanks to Blogger. Please know that each and every one meant so much. That total strangers the globe over would have compassion for a family going through such an ordeal ultimately says good things about the world we live in.

On a Beautiful Day in September

2008-09-20T01:23:00.016-05:00

Friday was a beautiful crisp day of Indian Summer. Steven lost his courageous battle with leukemia.

My heart is breaking. My dear, sweet, loving Steven of the ready smile, my firstborn, is gone. I just want to lock myself in, pull the drapes and talk to no one for a few months/years. Maybe not bathe. We fought so hard. Steven was so incredibly brave and uncomplaining. He suffered everything for the hope of being a father to his children. He asked who would walk his daughter down the aisle? Who would teach his son to change the oil in the car? To be a man? I thought if I hung on tight enough I could pull him through this. The Fates laughed.

When Steven was first diagnosed and was sent to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, it occured to me he was born there many years ago. A chill went through me. Though we have lived all over the world, it would be in that same place that he completed the circle of his given days.

The day last November when he was diagnosed, I set myself to know everything I could about the disease. When they told me which chromosone showed damage, I knew that it was one of the worst. I knew the statistics. I kept them to myself, not daring to whisper them out loud to anyone for fear of jinxing our meager chances. For two months after the transplant, things looked like maybe, could be, possibly we had a miracle. Finally I dared to breathe a little easier, to begin to hope. Then one week later, disaster struck. My worst nightmare. I had planned to bring him home with hospice care on this same Friday, to take good care of him, to find a way to continue transfusions and buy him a few more days, weeks, dare I say months? I negotiated with Hospice. I pulled some strings. You see, I would take such very good care of him. His brother is a doctor, he would help. I would get him to eat and drink. I would at least delay the inevitable. The rapidity of this ruthless disease's return robbed us of even that.

As hard as the last ten months have been, I had so much time with Steven and there are a lot of wonderful memories. That will be a comfort to me when I run out of tears, if ever I do. I just really enjoyed being with him. He was smart and quick and funny. We managed to laugh about the most dreadful things. The many, many, many nights alone at the various hospitals, just the two of us. The few weeks out of hospital he stayed here with me. The countless trips to the clinic in Dallas. No matter what indignity he was going through, we mocked it and laughed. He never complained about any of the horrors he was undergoing. That last trip to the hospital for still another chemo and hopefully a second transplant, knowing full well what was in store, the only complaint Steven had was that he just didn't know how he could take hospital food again.

I love that three of his friends came last Monday night to watch the Cowboys game with him at the hospital. They made quite a ruckus and a neighboring family member came to fuss at them and ask "Didn't they know, people are dying on this floor?" Steven found that totally hilarious. He was so exhilarated when I arrived for the night, just happy, giving me a blow by blow on the final winning touchdown. That was a scant four days ago.

My Hungarian step-daughters Lydia and Alexa flew in over the last couple of days and they were wonderful. The step-sisters were so good for Steven. Lydia took over and ran the show. Alexa was hit very hard, but we will try to comfort her. My other son David is being a rock for me, but he told his step-sister it feels as if someone amputated his right arm. As you know, there is no comfort really. Just the slow march of time to dull the edges.

One really funny scene today, if things can be funny with your beloved son growing cold on the bed next to you. A young man arrived and Lydia sort of "challenged" him at the door of Steven's hospital room. He said he was Steven's brother. Lydia was gobsmacked. She said she was Steven's sister and she'd never heard of him. Evidently he'd never heard of her either. It was Steven's half brother through his father. Alexa laughed at one point and said she had a totally step family. When she married and acquired a step-daughter, she called to apologize to me for how she had behaved many years before.

As you can see, it is my habit to handle grief and pain and troubles with wry humor. And scrubbing, lots of scrubbing. Somehow today, in addition to the painful time at the hospital, I've cleaned windows and pitched papers, sorted through Steven's belongings from the hospital and thrown out almost anything that reminded me of those terrible times, gone through mail that has piled up for months, cleaned litter pans, washed sheets and towels, mopped the kitchen floor and various other tasks. I'll keep this up for a while (poor cats, poor house). I may be begging my friends to let me scrub their houses, too.

No knitting content today. Knitting has been replaced with the above mentioned scrubbing. But I will add a photo of Steven and his proud mother the day he graduated from university...

And with his brother the Best Man on his wedding day...
Life was so full of promise then.

A Truly Horrible, Awful Day

2008-09-13T01:31:00.007-05:00

You haven't heard from me in a while. I've been trying to keep up two blogs and Steven's was the more urgent. I've done some knitting.

Argosy Wrap is finished but not blocked. Noro Silk Garden, approximately 7 skeins on size 8 needles. Very happy with it, now waiting for a very cold day.

Kay, my writer friend of 39 years (OMG), has been sending me books and books and books to help me through the interminable waits at the clinic and late nights at the hospital. I started knitting a pair of socks for her before Christmas. But my mind and inability to count straight right now won't let me finish the complex pattern, or strangely any socks for the moment. First it was chemo hats, then shawls and scarves. Since I don't see those socks being finished any time soon, I started an Argosy for her since I'm "in the groove". Although the Argosy pattern is different from the shawl, I actually find it easier and more repetitive. Silk Garden again. Aren't Mr. Noro's color choices fascinating? You never know how they will knit up once you start.

The color sequence totally surprised me as I knit the first few repeats. Where is the rusty red, the browny green, the purple, the warm turquoise? But now that I'm twice as far, I'm actually quite fond of it. There is a Japanese expression for this sort of "let the surprise happen" (as in Raku) that escapes me right now (it's on the tip of my tongue), but I'm embracing it. Aha, it came to me...wabi-sabi (represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience).

So what is awful and horrible about this day? Steven's doctor called and asked me to arrange a meeting with the family. As some of you know, the leukemia came back three weeks ago and Steven has been fighting it with chemo and hopes of another bone marrow transplant. He is actually coming through the first chemo round surprisingly well considering, but a bone marrow test yesterday showed that it hadn't touched the leukemia, which is now 90% of his bone marrow. So no transplant, no more chemo, no options. Lots of tears. A lot of hard decisions must be made.

Here is a photo of my firstborn three or four years ago in healthy times. Kind, smart and funny.

Only fellow knitters will understand. All through the meeting with the doctor, I knitted ferociously, if not correctly, on Argosy. When I came home, I sterilized and refilled the hummingbird feeder at midnight, did some laundry, cleaned cat boxes, replenished the bird feeder, stared blankly at repetitive news of Hurricane Ike on CNN and I actually might run the vacuum before falling into bed, hopefully so exhausted that sleep will find me. It is very strange the things we do to cope. I should have continued knitting chemo hats. As long as I knit chemo hats, I kept Steven safe. He finally told me to stop. How many chemo hats did he need? I should have kept knitting those hats.

A Breath of Cool Air in God's Country

2008-08-16T03:02:00.027-05:00

God's country...that would be Idaho. Four days of breezes and altitude and cool nights and no air conditioning necessary in Sun Valley visiting my friend Marge, the secret knitter. It was wonderful. Here is the view from Marge's terrace!

And for a bit of kitty content, here is 18 year old Spike being walked on his leash on that terrace.

The BF and I went for the opening of the spectacular new amphitheatre in Sun Valley, complete with an amazing performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and mezzo Denyce Graves. But we managed to catch the Sun Valley Arts Festival in Ketchum, too. 100 booths of carefully chosen artists from around the country.

How's that for scenic surroundings? It rained for the first time in quite a while that first morning, but the sun broke out just in time.

Booth after booth after booth of sculptures and glass and wooden carvings and pottery and paintings and jewelry. Strolling and perusing made for an interesting afternoon.

These overalls were actually a sculpture made from buttons and glitz. Oddly enough, there was little fiber related goodies, just one weaver. The BF snagged a bronze sculpture of two crows sitting on a pedestal. I fell hard for two of the jewelers there from California but didn't make the big purchase, although I'm still debating. Teri Pelio worked with Hill Tribe silver in stunning designs and Sally Bass with a lot of vintage bakelite. Here is one of Sally's necklaces done with shell, peridots set in silver and green pearls.The flowers in Ketchum are stunning everywhere. You really feel you are in a Swiss village. The food is wonderful. Jeff at Vintage is so creative, blueberry pancakes and celebrity spotting at Christina's bakery, dinner on the terrace at the Lodge.

Hemingway is buried in his beloved Ketchum next to Mary. I'm not sure what the tradition is for leaving coins on his grave, but there are plenty of them.

The gravestones are under this little bouquet of trees in a cemetery with headstones dating to the earliest settlers, or possibly passersby who didn't make it further.

One morning we headed out in the crisp of dawn, over the Galena Pass to Stanley just to have sourdough pancakes at the Baking Company. Definitely worth the early wake-up and the drive. For many years, Stanley had a national weather station which regularly posted the coldest temperatures in the country. The weather station has moved elsewhere and there is not much left in Stanley but a few hardy souls, including the two sisters who run the bakery and are renovating an old, old log built hotel there.

We continued up the road, following the Salmon River from it's modest headwaters into full blown raging rapids. Impressive. We stopped at the salmon hatchery project, which I thought would be boring but was anything but. They've been working at it for years, trying to reintroduce sockeye back into the streams and had almost given up. Last year only 4 or 5 made it upriver, the year before 2. This year to date...111 and it's only mid season!!! No one knows why they are suddenly showing up but it is causing a lot of excitement. It was fascinated to watch these big fish, some spotted and some very red, leaping up the series of ladders. We also visited Redfish Lake, high in the mountains, which got its name from the fact that there were so many salmon in it that it looked solid red. No more. Knitters, Nancy Bush is teaching at a retreat there in September at the Lodge. I would soooo love to be there.

You may note in both the above photos that the clouds are hanging almost below us in the valleys. Mysterious. A bedraggled group of hikers arrived while we were there. Said they had been pelted during the night by hail for a couple of hours, ripping all their tents to shreds. There is a lot of hiking done in Idaho. As lush as all these photos look, there is a lot of parched, desolate and empty land between Salt Lake City and Sun Valley.

You ask, was there any knitting involved on this trip? Well yes, some. I took two projects, one was Rivolo, a Little Nothing Scarf from Anne Hanson of Knitspot, supposed to be an easy travel project. Well, I think my knitting was negative on that one. Although certainly not a difficult pattern, I couldn't keep track of it when with people. Think I knitted it back to break even, or perhaps a couple of repeats more on the plane ride home. But the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Seduction in Rooster Rock is beyond beautiful. Love working with it.
And then there was a bit of progress on Argosy. I had hoped to find a skein or two of different colors of Noro Silk Garden to add in, but Isabel's in Ketchum has stopped carrying Noro. Darn. Here is the Argosy Wrap with five different colored skeins knitted in, definitely the shawl that will go with everything in the closet.

Marge hadn't been into the knit shop all summer, waiting for my visit. We went together and I did allow myself one purchase at Isabel's. A glorious skein of Blue Heron Mercerized Cotton Lace. There is 1000 yards in the skein, enough for Hanami or possibly Muir. We shall see what it wants to be when it has time to mature in the stash awhile. Marge bought several colors of Koigu to use in a pair of stranded mittens.

On the personal front, Steven is hanging in there, although there is some concern that the leukemia is trying to come back. They are taking him off all the anti rejection drugs to let his donor's system fight it full out. We shall see. There is finally some hair starting to grow on the back of his head. We are so accustomed to "bald is beautiful" that we will have to readjust. And 89 year old Dear Dad is being basically thrown out by Stepmother so I've put down a deposit on an assisted living apartment for him and am scrambling to set everything up and buy an apartment's worth of smaller scale furniture to move in when the current tenant decamps. Fun, fun, fun. I am so not a shopper.

Sadly, CairoKate's brother Robbie lost his battle with leukemia today. My heart goes out to her and her family. I noticed at the Baylor Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic today that they are having a bone marrow donor drive this Sunday at the Highland Park Methodist Church on the SMU campus from 10 to 2:30. It is free and only involves a cheek swab, no blood donation necessary. If any of you have been meaning to sign up, this is an excellent opportunity. We bless Steven's donor every day.

Did I mention it rained yesterday? Totally wonderful glorious rain. I went out in the garden and stood in the rain in the middle of the night. The temps have been down for a few days, although it hit 100F on Thursday. This morning is a frigid 71F with a high of only 88F expected. Just a hint that the heat will be over before too long.

A Shawl of Many, Many Colors...Noro of Course

2008-08-02T05:12:00.009-05:00

How are all of your summers coming along? Not as miserably hot as ours in Texas I hope. Several days in a row of 100F plus temperatures have reduced me to a quivering lump of humanity, emptied my brain and drained my energy. One day my garden thermometer said 108F. The air was so dry you couldn't suck it into your lungs. Then after a couple of rumbling thunderstorms accompanied by a pathetic few raindrops, the heaviness of the humidity made it feel you could drown in plain air. Yes, it's true, I'm not a devoted fan of high temperatures.

Still managing to knit a tiny bit, although holding a lapful of wool is not the most pleasant sensation in stifling heat. But having been totally inspired by a wonderful Argosy Wrap (from In a Happy Camper) done in Noro Silk Garden draped over a rack at The Shabby Sheep, I came home and tossed out some stash and dove in. I'd been meaning to make this for years, in fact had challenged CelticMemory to join in with me last year. Of course, the colors I had in stash didn't work so well together, so I've actually frogged a couple of skeins back out of it. And since you probably know of my aversion to blue, you won't be surprised that I have removed whole sections of it from the skeins as I knit. In the photo, you see a little ball of extracted blue which is going to BookGrump, a worthy cause. It will end up decorating an Amigurumi of some sort, I'm sure.

Here is an early photo. I'm double this by now as it is a very addictive knit. I originally intended to use eight skeins, all different. But I couldn't begin to find eight skeins that would work together even after hitting two LYS. Argosy may have to marinate a bit until I can locate another skein or two without blue in them. Or much red. One of the skeins I frogged out was the most beautiful red but it totally clashed with the other colors and finally just had to come out. Stupidly, I forgot to take a photo before frogging all those skeins. It would have made an interesting study. My knitting group was pretty much laughing at me, but I knew it would always bother me, so out it came.

I thought this would be perfect travel knitting for an upcoming jaunt, but it seems not so much. It's getting heavy and a bit bulky, so I need to search for something else to take along. Not boring but not so complex I can't talk and knit. Not heavy for sure (thank you airlines). Seems that all my WIPs are at the wrong point of development to travel. Perhaps one of Knitspot's Little Nothings in a sock yarn would do the trick (how much do we love instant downloads?). Goodness knows I have the sock yarn for it.

There will be a follow-up report with my final decision, although around here a decision is never final.

Another Year has Passed! Not possible!

2008-07-22T02:08:00.005-05:00

Where does Time go? Another year has passed and another birthday come and gone. Being born on the Fourth of July has advantages...and disadvantages. First, no one forgets your birthday! And on the other hand...no one forgets your birthday! And for some reason, they want to add up the years and remind me of fleeting time. Good grief, I have to hang around long enough to knit up my stash, OK?

Back to the Fourth, I always think of my poor mother having her very overdue first baby on Independence Day, July in a hot climate in a hospital with no air conditioning. Most miserable I am sure. As children, of course those of us born to firecrackers are told all the foll-de-roll is just for us. And I do have great fondness for and fascination with those pyrotechnic displays. Living in Europe for many years, my birthday wasn't "special" in the sense of a holiday. Usually we were already in Monte Carlo for the summer so every day was vacation in good European custom. Someone always gave a dinner outdoors near the sea. We could watch the fireworks competition over the harbor. It was quite different from sweltering in the Texas heat where even tissue thin clothing is too much. Yes, I had a HOT outdoor dinner in my honor this year before going for the fireworks display.

My mailbox was overstuffed with birthday goodies. I will stick to reporting only the knitterly ones. Dear thoughtful Proseknitic sent Socks 2 at a Time (which I have been meaning to tackle) and a positively charming little book, The Radiation Sonnets (a loving and humorous look at a cancer patient's ordeal), which I read each night before falling asleep. CelticMemory Jo sent a huge skein of undyed "Stinky" (silk & cashmere???) which is named for its pungent fragrance when damp. Mmmmm, perhaps you shouldn't wear it for walks in the rain? This woman knows how to make me smile. Gorgeous lovely stuff, it arrived with its own delightful clear plastic project bag bearing an impressionistic Parthenon on the front, booty from a recent trip to Greece.

My dear "old" friend Kay from New Orleans (now Vermont) sent a dreamy skein of QUIVIUT, hand dyed by Mountain Colors!!! Delicious stuff. Kay wanted something special and hunted this down. A Knitspot "little nothing" scarf should be perfect for this treasure. And it will be so much fun to go around saying quiviut, quiviut, quiviut...don't you think?

And this lovely wonderful exciting skein is from Micki's wheel. I'm sure you could hear me squealing for miles when she gave me this. How sentimental to knit with yarn a friend (and a very talented friend at that) has spun with her own little hands. I've had so many ideas for this. It's just too special for socks so I'm sifting through ideas for shawls or scarves. As the knitters know, this plotting and planning is a huge part of the pleasure of the craft.Second son David presented me with an elegant project bag and a sweater's worth of gift certificate from Yarns Ewenique. When I expressed pleasure with his choice of shop, he was quite surprised as he thought I didn't know about it. Now stop laughing. Tried to explain to him that there wasn't a LYS in a hundred mile radius that I (or any knitter worth their needles) didn't know and that his inheritence was going to be yarn so he had better learn to knit or marry someone who does.

OK, just one non-knitterly gift will show up here, and this because the picture is just so gorgeous I can't resist. My Hungarian Ex and his current wife Betsy sent the most beautiful bouquet of roses. Can't you just smell them?

Many, many thanks to all my dear friends who went out of their way to make me feel special knowing how difficult this year has been. I love and treasure all of you. I owe so many proper hand written thank you notes and just don't seem to get there these days. Please forgive me, I shall return to normal soon.

And now for the obligatory knitting content after all that yarn pron, here is the front and back of The Blues. This has been frogged and tinked as much as it was knit for one reason or another, usually having fallen asleep on it mid row and doing very creative knitting when I came to consciousness again. It is finally to the point of joining the shoulders, basting the sides, and trying on, hopefully to find a perfect fit. The pattern called for knitting everything in pieces then joining. But I like to use a 3 needle bind-off on the shoulders for neatness and stability. Then I think I will just pick up stitches around the armholes and knit the sleeves down instead of cuff up. For now this will not be a mindless project and it will become bulky and cumbersome, so I shall have to find something else (a new project?) that is simple enough to take on clinic days for the long waits.

Steven ended up back in the ICU for eight days with a couple of infections. He got out of the hospital again last week and came here since Lisa had surgery on Thursday. He did well for three days, then had a 48 hour stretch of non-stop puking over the week-end. I thought I would have to take him back to the clinic a day early on Monday, but finally the meds kicked in and he was able to eat and keep fluids and pills down, so we waited until today's appointment. It was a tough call to make. He goes from OK to very sick so fast. The good news is that no leukemia has shown up yet in his labs. He is still not producing red blood or platelets, very slow on that and they aren't sure why. Nothing transfusions can't fix for the meanwhile. No leukemic cells...Life is good!

All the News That's Fit to Print, and Then Some

2008-06-27T05:37:00.010-05:00

Where have I been the last month you might ask. On an emotional roller coaster would be the answer.

First the good news. Steven received an amazingly good report on his first bone marrow biopsy. Donor system 100% of marrow and they don't see any leukemia cells for now. His doctor said it is a miracle. He has put on some few pounds and gone out in public. After seven and a half months in the hospital, a trip to Sam's Club is totally exciting. He is still dealing with extreme fatigue, tremors and unbelievably bad mouth and throat ulcers, but that is a small price for what he has been through.

And yes, I am still knitting, sort of. It is more knit one row, tink half a row for the moment, when I can keep my eyes open long enough to do so. I started a Manos pattern, The Blues, in their Stria cotton. It is a lacy wide cropped top which I am hopeful can be worn in Texas in some season. Here is the pattern:

And here is the back:

And here is a close-up of the lace:

And here is what a skein of Stria looks like when you break it at each knot and hand wind it. Six knots in one 116 yard skein is bloody annoying. Look at that little piece that is not much more than a yard long. Working in all those ends on a lace pattern will not be what I would call amusing. These darn knots, which they cut very short, are the main reason for all the tinking I've done while knitting this.

The Manos pattern is cryptically written. A newbie knitter would be very frustrated. I seriously scratched my head at one point, but after knitting and frogging a couple of times, I came up with a solution. Unfortunately at my current slow pace, a sweater which should take only a couple of weeks has required almost a month just for the back. Oh well. I've got to pick up some speed if I'm ever going to use up my stash.

What I am really being tempted to do at the moment is make jewelry. Some of you may not know, but I have a background in precious jewelry design in France and Italy. Of course at the moment I'm dreaming more of stringing seeds and glass rather than setting rubies and diamonds. I could make a hundred parures in the time it takes me to knit a sweater, or a pair of socks for that matter. Think I might set aside the knitting for a week-end and see what happens. Of course, I should also be painting the entry hall and the guest bathroom and the cabinetry that was eaten by the Irish Wolfhound Katrina refugee. Though putting my office back in shape should be the priority at the moment. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

The Leukemia Society is collecting donations today. I should have taken a photo of the piles of bags on my front porch waiting for pick-up. All I can say is I wish I had managed at least twice as many.

Now for the sad news. This week I lost my adored cat Tujagues. He was an Exotic (short-haired Persian) only barely four years old and totally healthy. My friend Doreen, an emergency room doctor, had just come in the house. Tujagues came up to be petted, then walked away a few feet and had a seizure of some sort and was gone instantly. Thank goodness Doreen was with me and she really took care of me as I was simply in shock. And thank goodness we had just gotten the good news about Steven. I wanted to mention this here because of how important Tujagues was in keeping my spirits up these last difficult months. He could put a smile on my face no matter what was going on. Here is the little guy's baby picture and yes, he had attitude with a capital A.

Jo called him the Beautiful Bowl Cat. His absolute favorite place was in this Mexican bowl. He was a splendid little representive of his species. It is way too quiet around here without him.

There is still a report to be given on WWKIPDay, but that shall come next time.

Transplant Day!!!!!!!

2008-05-09T05:49:00.005-05:00

It's Transplant Day! My son is receiving his bone marrow transplant today, which is exhilarating and terrifying. I couldn't sleep. I won't go into details here, but it is all on Steve's Blog.

Knitting has been sporadic lately. Basically I fall asleep on the first row I try to knit. I've even bungled Clapotis, which is very, very hard to do.

I did finish another chemo cap, in a cheerier color of dark red Rowan's Calmer this time. Shedir again, but with a cuff which Steven likes. He's still bald as a billiard, and perhaps this will comfort him through the fevers.

And then there is the anticipation of the next pattern in Sock Madness II. My cousin MtMom has designed one of these last two patterns. Is this THE ONE? We'll know shortly. I just checked her blog and this one is hers. Way to go, Cousin!

RAVELRAISERS...You give, you take! RAVATARS!

2008-04-10T18:00:00.011-05:00

This is my second post of the day, so to find out what's going on in my normal (?) knitting life, scroll on down to the next one. These photos are gifts to generous RavelRaisers!

Here are some Ravatars which are yours for the taking. All photos were taken by me of my possessions, and you have my permission to use them for your Ravatars. Some are already photoshopped. Others are photos which you may grab and edit for your pleasure. You can take them to ROFLBOT to add text.

Artist's works photographed are by Elizabeth Taggart, Jana Napoli (parrot) and Martin Laborde.

Please enjoy them and thanks for your donations to Ravelry!

Here be Zombies

2008-04-10T01:03:00.023-05:00

Finally I was able to take photos of the Zombie Socks! It is a bit sad that Sock Madness closed the first division early because I actually would have finished them in time and perhaps gone through to Round 2, but I'll get over it. Since I like my socks longer and my feet are hardly petite, I am already at a speed knitting disadvantage. Friends made me promise to continue knitting along, but I can do it without pressure while also altering my socks to fit. Not so bad. I've found both patterns that were released so far to be quite attractive, so complements to both the organizers and the designers.

Drumroll.........Here be Zombies!!!!

To better see the color and stitch design, we have this photo:
One of my sons gave me the most lovely Christmas present, a rare orchid every month for a year. This last one looks very Zombie-esque, don't you think?
One of my fiber friends is headed to the island of Crete. It made me think that 35 years ago on a trip to the Greek Isles, I had bought several lovely carved pieces of spinning/weaving tools on the island of Santorini. Amazingly enough, I knew just where one was, living in my umbrella stand, most logically. I took photos of this delightful distaff. Those of you who know how many marriages, relationships, transcontinental moves, thefts, etc. that have occurred over these years must share my astonishment that I still possess this little bit of history. The other spinning utensils and old textiles and rugs have disappeared, sadly but not surprisingly.
This piece is about 3 feet long, and a close-up of the head will show you the lovely carving, almost Celtic in feeling. Oh yes, it was pouring rain when I took the photos. There is a wooden hook on the back of the head to hold the fiber for spinning.
Fun news of the day for fellow fiber fanatics, Ravelry is in the black! Some devoted Ravelers decided to launch a little fundraising drawing for some pretty incredible prizes (like each prize is an entire stash of yarn or fiber or whatever) and they very quickly raised $30,000 and the total is still rising. Jess and Casey were able to pay off their initial investment and buy a new server. They have put together such a wonderful concept, I hope they will also be able to pay their new employee and perhaps buy some new shoes and premium kibble for Bob! It reminded me that I had been meaning to donate again. And once you donate, you can give yourself a cool new Ravatar. I went into ROFLBOT and created these:

All of these were done using paintings of my friend, the Irish painter Elizabeth Taggart. And just for good measure, I made one for Celtic Memory using the most spectacular photo taken by Richard, the bird lover. Perhaps she will make her own, but I couldn't resist.

Now isn't making yourself a cool new Ravatar a good reason to make a donation?

*PLEASE RAVELRAISERS...These are not mine to give away. I have used these copyrighted photos with permission for the blog. But, I PROMISE I will make more for you and post them tonight!*

Feeling a bit better. I was laid low for 48 hours due to either food poisoning or some nasty hospital acquired bug. It hit from one minute to the next while I was at the hospital with my son, who is toughing it out through the latest round of chemo, pretty miserable. I wasn't sure I could make it home, but have survived and things are looking up. I missed knitting night so you know it was pretty bad.

Knitting is sporadical. I tried to work on the second sock of a Christmas pair for a cherished friend. The complex pattern quickly fried my limited brain function these days. I'm so ADD it has ceased to be funny. After botching a repeat, I tucked the sock away for a calmer day and pulled out an old friend, which I re-discovered in a knitting bag that had gotten squashed behind a larger project bag. My Clapotis, my very first one, knitted in Lavold's Silky Tweed. I was thrilled to find it (out of sight, out of mind) as it is just the perfect level of mindlessness for my current situation. Quickly memorized, possible to stop in the middle of a row, just what I needed. Already thinking about making another one in Wollmeise.

It has been quite difficult to finish this post. There is an unbelievable storm going on. The electricity has cut out umpteen times. Just as I save and prepare to shut down the computer, the electricity comes back again so I've managed to finish more or less. I just peaked out into the back garden which is littered with large branches and some broken pots. Think I'll go look out front now. Ooops, there went the electricity again. Fun times.

This and That

2008-04-02T06:55:00.005-05:00

Not much posting lately. Just checking in to assure you I'm still alive and kicking. The flowers are blooming, actually, they were blooming 3 days ago and now the heat has withered them. They were beautiful and such a lovely color of yellow/chartreuse with the orange stamens.

The gardener finally arrived today and there are 28 huge bags of leaves and debris sitting on the curb to be hauled off.

Finished my Zombies for Sock Madness 2, unfortunately too late to qualify. But very close. Photos coming. Watching everyone starting Round 2, which they sent a day early...April Fools! That caused quite a stir. Lots of moaning about the 72 stitch cast on. Jo's having a real problem. I've worked socks successfully from 60 to 86 stitches, but perhaps it is my tight knitting.A bit of new Wollmeise laceweight arrived. That's Brombeere, Pfaunage and Spice Market. One is for a gift and there are projects for the other two, to be revealed. Just looking at these beautiful yarns is therapy. Now...serious yarn diet. Serious, serious, serious!
Know what these are? They are the little sample skeins of worsted that the Wollmeise tucks into her shipments. Now those who know me know blues don't work into my color schemes, so...if anyone has some sample skeins in not blues they would like to trade, just let me know. I have an idea how to use them.

Go over to Bea's blog and wish her Happy Birthday. Then take a crack at her fun contest. It has to do with the English bulldogs Abby and Gus and involves a bit of dog psychology. Prizes include her really beautiful yarn. And please mention I sent you, which will give me an extra entry. It's all in the rules.

Now, anyone know WendyKnits middle name?????

Madness is Upon Us, Sock Madness that is

2008-03-19T15:28:00.012-05:00

Last year around this time, the first annual Sock Madness Competition was held, basically insanely stressful speed knitting of mystery sock patterns. It was so much fun that I signed up again this year. It is a much bigger group this year and the guidelines have changed a bit, but the enthusiasm is inspiring.

My personal first rule was that everything for the competition had to be knit from my stash. The first sock was sample knit in Jitterbug and I wanted to stay close to their suggestions, so I dug through the stash and here's what I came up with, all Jitterbug.
A few days before the pattern was released, the organizers said the yarn should be "scary". Well, that all depends. Personally, pink or blue would be scary, really scary. Hmmm, after looking at my available colors, I decided on Raphael, the one to the right which is balled up, since it was the color of a terrible bruise, shades of flesh and plum and purple, with dabs of red and blue.
The pattern arrived on Thursday and look, my yarn is the color of the Zombie in their photo. So I dove right in.
Ribbed cuff and drop stitch pattern. My yarn pooled more than I thought it would, but I don't dislike it and I think the stitch pattern is simple enough that it's not a big problem.
Here's a leg, knit a repeat longer than the pattern since I like my socks taller. Definitely not going to be able to get two socks out of a skimpy skein of Jitterbug, so thank goodness I had bought two. A lot of people with smaller feet were running out of yarn. Why oh why does Colinette do such anorexic skeins when it is a reasonably expensive yarn?

Now I'm not going to say how far along I am since you never know about the competition. Suffice it to say I am much further along than this photo shows. Unfortunately for me, I'm in the super speed knitters' division and it is almost full. The other three divisions are still pretty wide open, and I know I would make the cut if I'd been in one of them. In any case, since I'm pretty far behind, I dedided to make a sock I would like, so went ahead and added the extra rows.

Being totally sleep deprived these days, I keep falling asleep on my knitting...two rows-sound asleep. Startle myself awake and hour later to find my knitting needles still poised in mid-air. NOT a good idea to start right in knitting again since you will be lost even though you think you are not and totally screw up the pattern. One eight hour stretch when I knew I would be stuck at the hospital waiting looked very promising for sock progress. I packed it up the night before, making sure I had yarn, pattern, extra needles and a tiny crochet hook in the bag. The bag was placed next to my purse to take with me in the morning. I know you can imagine what happened. Yup, I left the bag right where it was and spent the whole day kicking myself. All that said, I quite like this pattern and will be happy to have this pair of socks.
There is a round which will require two colors of laceweight. This is the only possibility that I found in my stash, baby alpaca, but even held together, two strands make a very skimpy yarn for a sock, I'm talking 00000s. If I don't make it through this round, I may skip the laceweight pair.

As for my son's status, it looks like they have found an acceptable marrow donor. We have fingers tightly crossed for the physical and infectious disease testing. More details on his blog.

A Failed Search for Mindless Knitting

2008-03-11T00:19:00.008-05:00

It has been a while since you've heard a peep from me, gentle readers. The reason is that my son was allowed a bit of sanity break after nearly four months of hospital and he came here. For the full story check his blog or his website, I won't go into all of it here. Just that the bone marrow donor we were counting on backed out after first coming in for their blood draw. I wonder if they realize what it means to us? And to say how much I enjoy his company and being able to do something for him. Even waiting on him pretty much in the bed most of the time, exhausted. Even running back to the hospital every other day for transfusions, lots of transfusions. Life is good.

As for knitting content, I am plugging away on those mindless socks, which ended up not being so mindless, typical for me.

Here is a shot of one side.
And here the other. True color is probably closer to this. Look carefully at the patterns. First it was nice double spirals, neatly swirling around the sock. Changed needle size, the spirals zigged/zagged for a bit and then went backwords. Changed needle sizes again at the heel, what do we get, tidy little candy-cane stripes. Isn't it a hoot?
An eye of partridge heel made lovely little houndstooth checks. We shall see if sock the second is even vaguely related. BTW, Wollmeise on size 0's in my tight knitting produces a fabric I can't even stick a needle into. It's as solid as solid can get. Then still searching "mindless knitting", I started another chemo cap in Calmer which was the fiber of preference for my son. I thought I would just do a simple rib pattern in 2X2, but today during the 6 hours at the hospital while waiting for my son's transfusions, I kept looking at the gorgeous Shedir he was wearing and decided I had to do it again. Now the trick is that Shedir flows out of a 1X1 rib and I have here a 2X2. Think I will do a 1/2 inch or so of 1X1, use the current ribbing as a fold-up cuff which he likes, and perhaps do a motif less of the cabling. Hope it works. Perhaps I should run a lifeline?

Speaking of chemo caps, when we go to the Marrow Transplant Center for Steven's transfusions, there is a basket of chemo caps that someone has made. They are in acrylic, the brightest, hideous oranges and greens. Crocheted, stiff as bricks, feel like Brillo pads. I can't even imagine making such a thing for someone who has lost their hair. No one seems to be taking them either.See this? Gorgeous isn't it. That Celtic Memory wanted to cheer me up and she knows me heart and soul. Oh, wow! This is Blue Heron rayon metallic, two skeins of the scrumptious stuff, just begging to be a magnificent stole. Anne Hanson at Knitspot just came up with another lovely pattern, Gale, and I couldn't resist. Thought it might be that perfect mindless knitting project I keep looking for. Anne thought it would be good hospital knitting. We shall see. That woman is the Evil Temptress Extraordinaire. I want to knit almost every design that she comes up with.

Then today Linda, a friend from Sock Camp, sent a totally surprise package of a wonderful book written by a friend of her husband's who survived leukemia and a marrow transplant and wrote about it. He is now the director of the National Marrow Donor Program. This book went straight onto my bed and I plan to start it tonight. Oh yes, Linda also worried I might run out of sock yarn, so she tucked in a skein.
Let's look closely. Hmmmm, I had never heard of this dyer, Pagewood Farm. The yarn is Denali, 450 yards (Yay!) of 80/20 merino/nylon with a very very nice ply. I think I'm really going to enjoy this one. Sock Madness stash? And it's my favorite color, in case someone doesn't know. Yes, I was very cheered, and very touched by Linda's thoughtfulness. I'm really going to miss everyone at Sock Camp this year. BTW, Linda just rode the rode the Stitch ' Ride train from Sacramento to Stitches West. She overheard a knitter say, "I feel like a one-eyed dog in a weenie factory!" I think I love that expression.

Oh my, Sock Madness 2 starts on Thursday and I'm no way prepared. Everyone else I know (especially Celtic Memory and TayaElaine) has swatched and balled their yarns perfectly divided and practiced their Japanese short row toes and heels. The clues are tantalizing. Cousin Mountain Mom submitted a design. I'm so proud of her. I think it is just going to smack me like a snowball (yes, we had snow this week in Texas, crazy huh?). And this is my much loved step-daughter Alexa who came to visit Steven from New Mexico and couldn't resist picking up big Galatoire. She's not that little and he is that big, probably close to the record for a Persian. It was so nice to see her again.

FO Sighting

2008-02-18T05:38:00.011-06:00

With all the chaos that seems to surround me at the moment, I still managed to finish up a project or two and as usual start another.

First up is another chemo cap for my son, Shedir:

Shedir is a very nice pattern and was a pleasure to knit in Rowan Calmer. The cotton content of Calmer is soft and absorbent. I would highly recommend this yarn for chemo caps over the synthetics which are often suggested, which I used for the first ones and of which I was not overly enamored. Used US 3s for the ribbing and US4s for the body.

Now tell me this photo isn't hilarious. That skinny skinny little glove that stretches out so much for my hand. OK, OK, so I knit really tightly on sock needles.

And then just in time for the last few days of cooler weather, I finished up my first pair of Serpentine Mitts by Miriam Felton. These were knit in Wollmeise on 2.25mms. The color is Kurbis. I mirrored the cabling and also mirrored the ribbing at the thumb by resituating my stitches to start with P2 for the back of the hand on the left glove. I added 1/2" of ribbing to the cuff and at least another 1/2" to the length of the hand. I definitely still find them too short. I decided to use the Large cast on even though my hand measured for the Small and I'm glad I did. Next time around, I will center the cables better over the back of the hand (should be a problem only for size Large) and lengthen the hand portion of the pattern. And I do like these so much that I foresee more in my future.

Now there are all sorts of UFOs around here that require concentration and calculations, so I decided I needed something completely mindless to knit, like ribs round and round in circles...i.e. socks, but simple socks, very simple socks. Never one to leave well enough alone, I ended up adding a cable and a twist here and there and voilà:

Ann Budd's Cable and Clocks Socks in Wollmeise, color Johannesbeere and Brennesel. See that lovely double spiraling the yarn is doing? Well, just about at that point, I went down a needle size and the whole thing derailed. Will save those photos for the next post. They do sail along as compared to all the cabled things I've been working on lately.

CairoKate is raffling off some gorgeous sock yarns to encourage donations to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society in her brother's name. I encourage you to wander over and support the cause. Since my family is going through the same thing as Kate's, I would suggest you check out the information on the Marrow Transplant website and consider being a marrow donor. It no longer requires actual marrow, but a blood draw, similar to giving platelets. You can save a life.

A Knitting Trip Down Memory Lane

2008-02-03T01:38:00.000-06:00

In going through an old cedar chest of my mother's, I turned up some interesting finds. It got me started looking for other old bits of knitting from different times in my life, and I thought it might be interesting, if perhaps embarrassing at times, to share them.

When I was eight or nine, a friend's mother decided it was time her daughter took up knitting and they invited me over for that first lesson. Now the mother pretty much knitted all day long and had a penchant for knitting ugly suits on very small needles. Not very inspiring. But she gave me that one lesson in cast on, knit and purl. When she saw that I seemed to have grasped the concept, she told me to go to the LYS and pick out a pattern and some yarn. Our LYS at that time was anything but exciting, but they had some old stand-bys in Reynolds and Plymouth and such. I chose a pattern with a two color slip-stitch, long set-in sleeves and a turtleneck with some red and white yarn to work it in. I took that pattern, started knitting, and actually finished the sweater in record time without a single mistake (because I tinked back and reknit when I saw one). The only question I asked my teacher was how to knit the turtleneck. No one even questioned that I could or should do it, and therefore I just did. Unfortunately, no record exists of that sweater, but I remember every stitch I put into it.

Once finished, probably the following season when I was nine or ten, I set about knitting sweater number two, the one I found in the cedar chest. I made it for my mother.

Let's see, two color with cables, shaping, turned hems all around, and finished off with tassels. What a sweater! Mother wore it quite a bit and professed to love it. And saved it all those years.
At fourteen, I knit this mohair and wool worsted number, also as a gift for my mother. I saved up babysitting money to buy the yarns and knitted in secret to surprise her for Christmas. Again, I found it tucked away in my mother's cedar chest.
A few years passed and the boys arrived, and I was knitting coordinating sweaters for them. There were multicolor vests and little jumpsuits knit on small needles, and some lovely rugby style sweaters, and these Aran Isle numbers. All the sweaters have disappeared, but there is this one photo with Santa, wearing their little sweaters. Awwwww! That little redhead is now a surgeon and the moptop is the one awaiting a marrow transplant. How time flies.

I remember knitting another sweater or two for me, one allover moss stitch in pink comes to mind. I got so bored with all that moss stitch and then when I put it on, I realized that baby pink just wasn't my color. The LYS in my little college town was woefully lacking in choice. Probably wore it two or three times and who knows to where it vanished. Oh dear, and there was the puce green mohair mutton sleeved ballet mini mini-dress! And I wore it, long skinny legs sticking out all over! Probably with my underpants on view. Thank goodness no pictures. Then in the Seventies in New Orleans, I got on a jag of knitting boat-neck tees. I could whip them out in garter stitch in a few days and wore them to death. There was this natural wool one, a black wool one, the yellow linen one below, and who knows how many more. During this period, there was also a chenille turtleneck design I liked, which I knitted in soft fuschia, mauve, and teal. Somewhere there are photos of them.
I was travelling around the world constantly for my work, knitting wasn't terribly portable, so I took up Bargello and carried my needlepoint with me. The owner of the needlepoint shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans near where I lived was fascinated with my knitting, asked me to teach her and began to order yarns. It is called the Quarter Stitch and is still there today, worth a visit. More yarn than needlepoint these days.

Then came the Eighties. Novelty yarns. Here's where the embarrassment starts. By then I had moved to Paris and was again constantly travelling, so needed airplane suitable work. When I would visit New Orleans every year or two, the Quarter Stitch had started stocking novelty yarns. The owner of the shop convinced me to start making little triangle neck scarves with short needles for the plane and I knit dozens. I would stock up with ten projects at a time to last until my next visit. I wore them and would end up giving them away off my neck, everyone wanted them. Can you imagine?These lovelies are only a few of the multitude I produced. Wonder if I could shave off all that eyelash since I still like the idea and the colors. I've got a couple of drawers of scarves that definitely look like something alien is alive and multiplying in them.And then there was this hairy beauty. The owner of the Quarter Stitch again convinced me it would be fantastic. Wonder what I was smoking that day???? After two fronts were knitted and the back started, I came to my senses and it became a UFO, which believe it or not, I still possess. Think it's time to send it to the Frog Pond. Perhaps I could recuperate the base yarn and use it in a Jane Thornley creation.
And then there were the huge shawls knitted with Wild Stuff. I'm seriously thinking about frogging those for more Jane Thornleys. Perhaps pull out the eyelash threads? I probably have ten more projects worth (eyelash, not Wild Stuff). This is good eyelash (if that's not an oxymoron), not hobby store quality. I need to find a worthy recipient and de-stash the lot of it. In the Nineties, there was the Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater, a glorious cabled affair in tweedy charcoal handspun. The poor guy loved it, but couldn't wear it more than five minutes in the frigid Russian winter without sweating. And it grew, and grew, and grew. And finally, the curse worked, thank goodness. One photo somewhere if only I can find it.

Interesting to note that all this knitting was done as a completely solitary pursuit; I didn't know anyone who knit nor have anyone to inspire me or assist me with questions. I didn't have any books. I didn't know you needed a pattern to make a sweater or a scarf for the most part. The Aran Isle sweaters for the boys were probably found in a woman's magazine sold at the supermarket. It is simply amazing all of the knitting inspiration that is available now.
Now that I have quite embarrassed myself and just so you know I'm still knitting, Shedir is in the decreases. I actually added an extra repeat as had been suggested, but when I tried it on my son, it was too long, so I removed a full repeat of all those cables and started the decreases over again. Should finish it soon.
Thanks to Micki and Bea and Grace for nominating Purls Before Frogs for a You Make My Day Award. I am honored. I have to name all of you on my list, not as a tag back, but because I truly enjoy checking in on our your blogs regularly.

Now to pass the award on, in no particular order:

Celtic Memory Yarns - for Jo's beautiful writing and Richard's glorious photos.

Clementine's Shoes - for a look at Australia through Di's eyes, her lovely design sense, and her really cute baby.

Thing 4 String - for Micki's gorgeous knitting and spinning. We have this symbiotic relationship of starting the same projects at the same time unbeknownst.

Bea-Blacksheep - for her knitting, writing and all those photos of Abby and Gus.

Immer Wieder Socken - just to drool over all her gorgeous socks.

Florence Knitingale - because she makes me hold my sides laughing.

Knitspot - to see what Anne's designing and cooking.

Habetrot - for her wonderful research and photos.

Bookgrump - Grace makes me smile with all her critters, and it is so much fun to tease her.

Techknitting and NonaKnits - a tie for informative and generous technical information.

All of you brighten my day and teach me so much. Thank you.

Friends invited me to dinner tonight. I stopped by their house for a drink first, and the husband took me on a tour of their home. In their beautiful bedroom, I saw several knitting projects by a chair. I couldn't believe we had known each other for so long and we didn't know we were both obsessed knitters. What a delightful surprise. She doesn't use the internet and thought knitting was dying out! That she was one of the last who knew how. We've gotta change that.

And finally, I want to say how sad I was to hear of Gigi Silva's death, way, way too early. I've knit three of her beautiful sock patterns, and they are among my favorites. Her e-mails were always sweet and helpful and she gave her work freely for everyone to enjoy. I was wearing my beloved Brigits when I read the news. Sympathy and best wishes for her young family.

A Trio of Chemo Hats

2008-01-23T06:03:00.000-06:00

Circumstances have kept me from posting for a while. But that doesn't mean I wasn't knitting. I have been working on chemo caps for my son, an avowed hat hater. Well, that has changed by neccessity, so I'm knitting hats, a trio so far. He was also a disdainer of robes but has absconded with my favorite Japanese yukata, too. Don't think he's going to give it back any time soon, either. There is a Japanese nurse at the hospital who was quite amused to translate the symbols in the pattern for him.

First up was a beaded rib stocking cap in a dark khaki in Berroco's Comfort. The yarn, a very fine nylon/acrylic blend, has a soft hand, washes easily, was highly recommended for chemo caps, but it's many strands split like crazy and it was not a joy to knit with. Though it does give good stitch definition. I made it big and long, and when the fevers pass and the chills start, he pulls it down to his chin. I did wash it, not as carefully as I should have, and it's OK. But it would fare much better if you could wash it carefully in cool water.
So I progressed to Koolhaas, again in Comfort. Knitted to the pattern with the exception of an extra 1/2" of ribbing. It was too "tall". So I undid the decreases, frogged down a half motif, and am knitting the decrease section again. Wish me luck. The splitty yarn made this delightful pattern less pleasurable. It was impossible to do no cable needle cables as once you dropped the stitch from the needle, it was almost impossible to pick back up neatly.
The third of the current trio is Shedir from Knitty.com. This time I'm using Berroco Calmer, cotton and a dab of microfiber and the knitting is much more pleasant. I don't find it splitty at all and the hand is wonderful. This is a yarn I would use again. Though I think it will take two rather pricey balls to make this hat. My friend Taya of EclecticChick gave me an exotic toothpick to use for a cable needle, Japanese made that she found in Doha, and it is just the most convenient little tool for cables like this. I live in fear that I will drop the little bugger and lose it. If anyone knows where to get these toothpicks, very smooth and carved on one end, do let me know. I took a regular round toothpick and sanded the ends down, but the body of it is not very smooth and keeps snagging the stitches.
Then a friend sent me this unbelievably beautiful skein of Wollmeise Lace in the Versuchskaninchen 2 (Guinea Pig) color and there was real pleasure in opening that package. Much, much, much more beautiful than this photo. It hasn't declared it's design intentions yet. I am very fond of the weight, a thick fingering, and very generous yardage of Claudia's lace.And dear Jo of Celtic Memory thought I needed cheering up and sent this lovely and most unexpected treasure. SeaSilk in Berry. It does the soul good to dream of future projects. It tells me it wants to be a lace scarf. Must check the yardage on the beauteous Juno Regina that Mim designed for Knitty.

The little pile of my colorful new skeins brings joy to my heart every time I look at them. Thank you sweet friends. Knitters really know how to cheer up a knitter.

What I really desire to knit right now is the simplest ribbed socks in lovely yarns. As soon as I slide 5 WIPs off the needles, I may just do that. Perhaps I should try to perfect my toe-ups with Taya's idea of the Back to Basics Socks by Deb Barnhill from Knitty. Simple but far from boring.

More later! Thanks to everyone for their kind expressions of concern and support.

Of Prizes and Surprises, and Serpentines and Socks

2007-12-16T23:57:00.000-06:00

First of all, I won a prize! Now I never win prizes, even when I buy twenty lottery tickets and should really have a good shot, so this was a delightful surprise. Bea of Baa Baa Blacksheep decided to have a contest and hand out some yarn, so she asked her readers to guess the weight of Gus the bulldog at 5 months. Well just how much can a baby bulldog weigh? More than you think. I was one of the clever folk who guessed 43 pounds. And the photo below shows Gus choosing the winners, just how fair can you be??? Well, Gus picked me! Smart dog. Cute dog. He likes to be told he's cute. He totally wiggles with joy when he hears how cute he is. I am smitten with Gus. Just look at those muscles. In the back and forth of how to handle receiving this prize, it turns out Bea is almost a neighbor. And Bea was bemoaning not having a knitting group nearby, so Bea came to join our group and brought my winnings. Now I was expecting a skein of yarn, and had high hopes it was reddish. This was the prize..... I was speechless it was so much more than I expected. A lovely little herringbone bag, just bursting with reddish yarn (yay!), handmade stitch markers, appropriate DPNs, Eucalan and yarn bras. The presentation was wonderful. Here's another shot of the inside of the bag. Coordinating fabrics and pockets and the construction is perfection. And best of all, Bea made it. As well as the lovely stitch markers. Check out her blog, I think she is selling some.
As for this week's project starts, we needs us some fingerless mitts. Our hands are freezing at the keyboard, thanks to the ceiling fan overhead which cannot be turned off. Don't ask. Faulty wire job. So grabbed some of my Wollmeise stash, Kurbis to be exact, and that nice little cabled pattern Serpentine by Miriam Felton and cast on these:
Now it is really quite unbelievable, but Micki happened to cast on a pair the same night, and we had never, ever discussed the pattern at all. Great minds and all that. Of course she is almost finished by now. I however left mine at a friend's house and didn't recuperate the project for a couple of days, so logically, rather than working on one of the other WIPs, grabbed another skein of Wollmeise out of the stash and cast on a second pair in Brombeere. Which would have been much further along if I hadn't somehow turned it around and knit backwards for 15 rows. It left only a tiny tweak in a rib, but I knew it would drive me bonkers, so a froggin' we did go.
Now speaking of surprised, Jo of Celtic Memory sent a little package, a stuffed little package, from Ireland with these treasures. A fab green sock yarn with a coppery ply in it which should make a tweedy sock. And two sample skeins of some frothy merino. Jo is thinking of making kimonos of the froth since they would be wonderfully lightweight. Will have to swatch those up and see what they want to be when they grow up. The green is really much nicer than the photo and the froths are cinnamon and coppery, no idea what was happening with the light in these photos. BTW, Jo just went to Lapland to visit Santa (and Lene) and I'm wondering what she asked Santa to bring her. Knowing Jo, she sat on his lap and read out her list. Bet yarn was on it for sure.

Here is a slightly better shot of the interesting green goodness.
And I haven't forgotten my November Sockdown pair, Eleanor by Gigi Silva in Teyani's Sock Hop color, Big Yellow Taxi. This is my second pair done in Sock Hop and I have had plenty of yarn each time to knit a generous sock. And they have washed and worn well, so I'm a declared fan. And this particular pair will be visible for miles!
Now for the other surprises. The Sisters of the Wool held their first annual Holiday Sock Yarn Exchange "free for all" at Rebecca's house. Yummy food was on hand (amazing microwave peanut brittle for one), with extras brought by many. And then we had a "Chinese" present swap, where you can choose to open a present or steal one from someone else, which keeps going in a round robin, until everyone has used up all their turns. After three steals, the object "locks" with the last thief and is no longer available. This was my first experience with the game. At first everyone just demurely opened another present on their turn, and some lovely sock yarn made appearance. Then someone started stealing and all H*** broke loose. I did manage to shamelessly steal a lovely skein of Fearless Fibers, complete with an Acorn Sock pattern by Knitspot that Angele had brought.
And then I did another swap with Micki for this beautiful skein of the tweeded Madeleine Tosh. Both skeins have great yardage for my big feet.
There was a terrific purplish tweedy skein by Bea Binney, the YarnPig, but someone (no names here, but definitely not kosher) hid it when I was making my final steal and I forgot to swipe it. It was gorgeous. Oh wow, I just checked out her Etsy shop to link this and she has the bags and yarns and stitch markers over there. She has skull patterned bags, and tweed bags and tweedy sock yarns. Fantastic. The girl's got talent.

My posting will be sporadic in the near future as my son is very ill. I will catch up whenever I can as it is good therapy to knit and talk about knitting. Thank everyone who has sent such kind words and thoughts our way.

Three Cheers!!!

2007-11-26T02:42:00.000-06:00

Found myself suddenly quite annoyed by all the almost finished socks in my basket, so dropped the ones I was working on and added the final touches to the following:My favorite and most successful socks to date
Brigit by Gigi Silva
Wollmeise in RakuRegenbogen
2,50mm & 2,25mm

Also very nice socks. Haven't worn them yet so can't be sure of the "droop" problem, but for now, they fit great and the yarn is lovely and cushy and they are fun.

Bellatrix by Gigi Silva

Monarch Fly Dye in Hott

2,50mm & 2,25mm And still another pair, this time toe up and they came out too long in the foot. I still haven't made toe up work for me. I am aware that many of you would knit your socks no other way, but the vote is still out for me. Although I do plan to work on it, perhaps with Firestarter or the Boyfriend Socks. If I knew mid sole how tall I needed to make the heel of that particular pattern for my arch, it might be possible to accurately calculate the increases.

Baudelaire by CookieA

STR midweight in a Rare Gems colorway with the cuffs knitted in Mustang Sally lightweight since I ran out of yarn.

2,25mm & 2,50mm

Now for a pictorial explanation of why I need more yardage in my sock yarns. The blue sock is Rebecca's, knit for herself, and yes, she is a grown woman. Red sock is my size 10 Bellatrix. Duh! Now I know I knit tight and I don't like to use larger needles and I have to deepen the heel and gusset to accommodate a freakishly high arch, but still, my foot is reasonably normal. This was just amazing to me to see the literal difference in volumne. Thanks to Bea for the photo.

And since I'm always whinging to Jo about running out of sock yarn and needing more yardage, she pointed me to Knitivity, where Ray's yardage is more generous, and he even sells cones of some of the stuff. Well worth a visit. I liked Etouffé and Jambalaya, but there are lots and lots of blues for those of you blue lovers. Jo of course picked those. Ray started dyeing yarns professionally when he was chased out of New Orleans by Katrina and started a new life in Houston.

Submitted my October Sockdown, the Brigits, and am knitting away on my Novembers, using Gigi Silva (again) for a homegrown designer with Eleanor done in Sock Hop's Big Yellow Taxi. Increased from 60 to 66 stitches by adding a stitch to each motif. But knitted on 2.25s in the handspun, they are quite snug. Will show them off next time, hopefully finished.

I'm beginning to burn out a bit on all the socks. Well, I say that, but although the passion may be waning, the obsession isn't. It seems if there is a choice to pick up a large project or a sock, the sock always wins. If you count stitches, I could probably knit a sweater in the same time as a pair of socks. Does this make sense? And those of you with high arches will understand the difficulty of shoving a handknit sock clad foot into any pair of shoes on the market. Sort of like Cinderella's stepsisters must have felt with that glass slipper. My only choice is sandals with an adjustable strap, let out to the max. So why am I churning out those exquisite little socklets in a veritable assembly line? Beats me, but I can't stop.

This cold rainy week-end inspired me to clean out one of my closets, well, at least the summer shoes. The ones that have been breeding in the dark recesses of my closet for years, since my foot was a size smaller. I threw out as many as I kept and still the closet is crowded. Memo to self...no more shoes for ten years. Although most of these are at least five years old. Since I am not hard on my shoes, they never die a natural death, which leaves me to make the decision to euthanise them at some point and until then, they are shoved to the back of the stacks. Where they reproduce. Ran out of steam before I got to the winter shoes.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. We certainly did. And I had a long list of things to be thankful for. I've decided to start every day by thinking of one of them and saying a quiet word of appreciation to the powers that be.

Kid n Ewe and Llamas, Too

2007-11-15T05:32:00.000-06:00

Finally, a report from the fiber festival in Boerne (pronounced Berney) last week-end. Susan and I took off in her VW bug late Thursday down the back roads to the Hill Country. A pleasant several hours drive. We were the first ones there when they opened on Friday so we got to see the offerings before they were decimated. Knitting Fairy was there, and we met M2Dragons from Ravelry, as well as at Lone Star Arts, who made us Ravelry badges to wear. Hockett Would Works was there, and he gave me a commemorative spindle to add the the others of his I've collected. It is slightly heavier, so is a welcome addition. But he didn't have any knitty noddies or darning eggs that were on my "need" list.

Our mission was a cash only budget, to limit our collecting, and to try to find treasures we couldn't buy just anywhere. Well, one of our big finds was this lovely selection from Plain and Fancy. Organically home grown merino, spun in the region, dyed by the lady of the farm who has a marvelous sense of color. It has a homespun look, too. The decisions were hard because there were at least 20 colors each that we had to choose between. I ended up with a strange grey for a Wool Peddler's Shawl.

And then there was Brooks Farm. This is only perhaps a tenth of what they were showing. It was amazing. And quickly swamped with buyers grabbing. Sherry and Dena were delightful as always. And Randall was there too. Needless to say, I couldn't resist a few skeins of Mas Acero for a sweater in a goldish brown.

These friendly and well behaved alpacas were making the rounds of the halls.

Lorelei of Heritage Arts was there, wondering how long she could survive eating beans so she could afford this fantastic wheel crafted by Bill Wyatt. The Legacy, made from timbers which had lain at the bottom of the Great Lakes for 200 years. Note, she is barefoot as usual.

And there was a large display of JoJoLand's yarns. With lovely Lijua, the young woman from Northern China who is behind it all. She imports, sells, designs lots and lots of lacy things, and knits all the samples. OK, I'm impressed.

And here is Susan, checking out the cashmere.

Bill Wyatt demonstrated the Great Wheel for me. Utterly fascinating. It's the one they call the walking wheel. There were bunnies, really cute bunnies.

And goats...
After all this excitement, roughly six hours on our feet, we headed out for dinner at the Dodging Duck Brewhouse down the river road. A perfect recommendation. Then back down the road home to our lodgings, where we found a secret hot tub in the dark, immediately stuck our very sore feet in, and both managed to slip and get totally soaked fully clothed. Me much worse than Susan, who was laughing like a hyena while I shivered as I realized that nothing I was wearing would be dried out by the following morning.

We stayed in the most delightful B&B in Comfort, owned by Sandy whose gourmet breakfasts were amazing. She loves to cook. The place had plenty of wildlife...
This charming little object is to hold bits of yarn for the birds to grab for their nests.

And a porch cat who guarded our door.

We looked at typical houses and shops in Comfort and Fredericksburg.

Check out the sculptured birds on the roof. Way cool.
I've always loved the courthouse in Llano.
And this, gentle readers, is a yarn glutton, overcome with yarn fumes at Brooks Farm, on her bottom on the very dusty floor, balancing the merits of different colorways.
Lorelei said that if we were returning home by the back roads, we had to stop in Hico for chocolate, better than Godiva. Now that seemed strange... a chocolate factory in tiny little Hico. But since Lorelei is German, I had to think she might know what she was talking about. Well, she did. Wiseman House Fine Handmade Chocolates, the most elegant old house, all very fancy and full of wonderful chocolates. It would hold its own next to any European chocolate emporium. Texas never ceases to surprise me.

Thanks to Susan for some of her photos!

A Literary Meme and a sock, a single sock

2007-11-01T16:52:00.000-05:00

I don't often do the meme thing, but Di of ClementinesShoes had such an odd one that I couldn't resist.

So here goes. The rules: Open the book you're currently reading on page 161 and read the fifth sentence on the page, then think of 5 bloggers to tag. Well, would five of you please auto-tag? My results:

Le gros grec d'Odessa, le juif de Varsovie,

Le jeune lieutenant, le général âgé,

Tous ils cherchaient en elle un peu de folle vie,

Et sur son sein rêvait leur amour passager.

Well, that poem is the fifth sentence, but since not everyone will appreciate it, I will give you the sixth one:

"Finally there had been one "real" poet, Mother's cousin, Prince Volkhovskoy, who had published on velvety paper an exquisitely printed, thick, expensive volume of languorous poems Auroras and Stars, all in Italian viny vignettes, with a portrait photograph of the author in the front and a monstrous list of misprints at the back."

Hints: It is non-fiction. The author loves to write very long sentences. One of my gentle readers may perhaps guess, since she recently returned the book and I am re-reading it after years' absence. This is one of my very favorite authors.

And now for the obligatory knitting content, I present a sock, a single sock, with which I am very happy. Sock the second is underway and I hope to have the pair completed for the October Sockdown on Ravelry. They allow you until the end of November, but have already posted a mystery sock for November which looks downright interesting. The mystery sock for October was Sheherazade, which is absolutely gorgeous, and has planted itself firmly in my queue.

Brigit knit in Wollmeise.

A Horror Story fit for All Hallow's Eve

2007-10-29T04:14:00.000-05:00

In all the excitement the cooler weather brings (as in Yay! I can wear handknit socks) I pulled out my never worn pair of STR Monkey Socks the other day and pulled them on. Some time later, I looked down to admire my socks. Lo and behold, a large hole in the middle of the top of the instep!!! Of course, I took them off immediately and examined them, and yes, it was really a large hole where the yarn had snapped. I thought of reknitting the hole, but they had already taken every inch of the yarn, and then some. All options were eliminated one by one, except frogging back to mid-gusset and reknitting the foot. Deep breath, frog, frog, sigh!

So distraught was I, that I must have knitted like a fiend to repair this. Since in one day, it is reknitted and kitchenered and ready to go again. All's well that ends well. Still no clue as to what happened in the first place.

And here is a progress report on the Acorn Socks! And yes, all those seven stitches into one make perfect little three-dimensional acorns. I have photographed these in almost every light, and the photos just don't want to show how lovely those acorns are. Except when it totally changes the color of the yarn.

And this is where Miss Poppy lives most of the time. Helping me type. Aiding my deadlines. Yeah, right!

What a difference a buttonhole makes

2007-10-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

Witness the buttonholes on the Mason Dixon Baby Bib o'Loves I knitted up for my friend's new little one soon to come. Buttonhole on left is following their instructions, the typical bound off buttonhole, reworked three times and this was my best effort. I thought it quite sloppy, so I looked for my little Lucy Neatby booklet, Taking the Checquered Flag. And there was this neat buttonhole instruction that worked to a T in the yellow cotton yarn. She calls it a one row buttonhole, or somesuch, but isn't it a huge improvement? BTW, I frogged the one on the left and redid it.
And here are the bibs. Photo color is not good, but they are sweet little things. Someone said on their blog that they take about eight hours each and I don't think that timing is far off.
And here is a quick peek at my acorn socks. They have grown to several more motifs by now. Had my hair worked on today as well as a pedicure, and knitted along on them straight through.

Acorns of all sorts

2007-10-14T23:53:00.000-05:00

Just a little more progress on the Wollmeise Brigit sock. Needs a toe and I can start on sock number two. Plenty of yarn for once. And the designer, Gigi Silva of Socktopia, also designed Bellatrix, Fawkes and Nagini, amongst many other lovelies. I am very, very happy with this sock.
Actually, I set Brigit aside, as well as Bellatrix, to test knit the Acorn Sock for Anne Hanson of Knitspot. As most of you know, I am a huge fan of Anne's designs. They are beautiful, creative, and very well written. I was thrilled on Friday when she asked me if I wanted to test run the new pattern. There was a concert I had to attend, but I begged off early and ran home to go through the stash and choose a yarn and get started. I managed to complete the ribbing and the complete first repeat of the acorn pattern. If you are looking for a bit of a challenge, this might be the pattern. Ever tried knitting seven times in one stitch on size 1 needles? I'm here to tell you, it can be done. I'm actually fascinated as Anne has thrown in a decrease I've never done before. I'm not totally convinced with the yarn I chose. I picked it for it's fall colors, but I'm hoping it won't detract from those acorns. I used the custom dyed Some Assembly Required I received recently, in the normal sock weight wool.

Pictures next time, as I'm just not far enough along to show off, but you can see the master sock on Anne's blog.

Then I had to set the Acorns aside to knit some baby things. A friend in her mid-forties decided she wanted a baby before it was too late. She had a pact with an old friend that if she hadn't married and had a baby by the time she was forty, he would help with a test tube donation and play an active role in the baby's life. Well, a baby girl is arriving next month, everyone healthy and very, very excited. I thought that baby really deserves some hand-knitted love, so I'm knitting baby things for a few days. This child will be showered with love.

Here is a sweater I've never photographed and shown before, although I've worn it several times. Loosely based on Oat Couture's Silverlake Shirt, I made several modifications. It is knit in Softball cotton from Lotus Blossom on eBay. Just a comfy, cozy tunic sweater for our spring and fall weather.

Speaking of weather, that rain they've been promising for weeks finally showed up last night. A downpour with strong winds. Loved it. And this is the time of year that my house is bombarded around the clock for weeks on end by falling acorns (see Anne, how appropriate that I knit the Acorn sock) from the three huge oak trees that shade my house. Guests who don't know what it is are quite disturbed until I explain.

A picture is worth a 1000 words...

2007-10-08T01:24:00.000-05:00

And if I post two pictures??? I've been so busy, there is just not time to blog, so with these, you have a progress report.
Wollmeise Sock, Brigit pattern...love, love, love.

And the Great Yarns Kimono. About halfway and I'm going to run out of the main yarn, so calculating how to add a few rows in the accent yarns so as not to have to order more.

Sigh, neither of these is as red as the photos and I promise I do not always knit with red!

And more champagne, please!

2007-10-01T01:07:00.000-05:00

Drum roll, please! Finished up still another pair of socks. Monkeys this time. They were sitting waiting for a complementary yarn to finish up the toes and a bit of cuff. Both of these colors are Socks that Rock Rare Gems. I tried about five colors, and frogged all five until I threw this one into the mix and I like it. There are absolutely no colors in common in the two skeins, which somehow made it work better. This running short of yarn on a regular basis is really affecting my knitting mojo. The socks are put aside waiting for another yarn to add in, and then they languish in their basket for far too long. I can live with the size 10s, but it does drive me crazy when knitting socks.
CookieA's Monkey from Knitty.com
Blue Moon Socks That Rock lightweight
Size 2.5 and 2.25 needles
Added 1 stitch to each side of the stitch pattern to bring the count up to 72 and then knit it tightly. Worked fine.
I love this pattern. I could happily knit all Monkeys, all the time.
Well, I was feeling so smug at finishing still another pair of socks out of the WIPs, that I allowed myself to cake up some Wollmeise and start a new pair. I had researched and actually bought several patterns to find something worthy of my Wollmeise, and ended up tripping over Momma Monkey's Brigit at the last minute, and just picked up the needles and started. Oooooh, I love this yarn, and the colors just glow. Quite a bit further along now and love both pattern and yarn. I love STR yarns and have used them a lot since I love Tina's color sense and yarn quality, but always run out of yarn before finishing due to tight knitting and big feet. Well, with something like 580 yards per skein, I don't anticipate that problem with Wollmeise.
And this, dear friends, is sheer yarn gluttony (and I know you all understand the syndrome). This is beautiful Brooks Farm Fourplay, Acero and Mas Acero. The Bookgrump from the Sisters talked the Brooks Farm ladies, Sherri and Dena, into visiting our weekly knitting group. They brought along Alissa, the Knitting Fairy, with some of her patterns knitted up to show off. They had planned to come for a show and tell, but we had been saving our lunch money up to do some damage and we managed to convince them to come prepared. Well friends, it was a bit of a free for all, everyone clutching yarn to their chests. I was standing near a basked, pulling out the skeins I liked and putting them down on the table hidden under the basket's edge between all the baskets. TxKnitter was across the table from me and kept pulling up skeins of yarn and oohing and aahing. It took some minutes to realize that she was pulling out my hidden skeins, thinking they had just spilled out of the baskets. Hilarious. It was a treat to finally see these yarns in person and they are much more beautiful than you can tell from their website. I came, I saw, I stashed!!! Plans for everything. Socks and scarves and shawls so far. Think I see another Clapotis in there. And one of KnitSpot's beautiful shawls.

The last two weeks have been a complete fiber overdose. Dyeing at Heritage Arts, receiving our much awaited orders from Some Assembly Required and then Brooks Farm coming to visit. Not to mention I'm still waiting for a couple of Sock Hop goodies from Teyani at Crown Mountain Farms. And am dyeing to order some more Wollmeise soon. Whew, I'm already calculating my Christmas checks and allocating them to yarn purchases. Must knit from stash, must knit from stash, must knit from stash. Repeat that 10,000 times. So why am I making plans to vist the Kid and Ewe Fiber Fest in Boerne? Just because it's in the beautiful Hill Country? Just because Brooks Farm will be there? Sure, right. CelticMemory, do you see what you are missing? Over in cool, green Ireland knitting away on 99 projects at a time? Chasing the elusive vest? When you could be revelling in the heat, adding to your stash???

Fireworks and champagne, please!

2007-09-24T01:54:00.000-05:00

And what are we celebrating? Just look at this, two finished objects!!!
First we have the June installment of the Rockin' Sock Club, Solstice Slip Socks in the colorway Firebird. I ran out of yarn not once, but twice. Wendy and Sheryl came to my rescue, both from Virginia. And LBinVA also offered. Those Virginians are surely nice folks with small feet and I send huge thank yous their way.

Speaking of Socks that Rock, have you seen all the new colorways on their website? Downright exciting and inspiring and I'm going to cut up my credit cards before I do some major damage. My all time favorite Moss Agate is back, but then there are the chickens...lots of chickens. Gorgeous chickens. And Pond Scum and Froggy and Gingerbread Dude and...yup, I could go on and on. Go check them out. The second item for celebrating is this, the Flame Wave Sock by Ann Budd from Favorite Socks. Knitted in Elann Esprit, a dead ringer for the specified Fixation. OK, to be honest, all they needed was kitchenering those toes, but it's done. Finito. Basta.

Two more projects are in the final throes of completion, but for that I'll wait until next time.
And this was the week-end that the Sisters had a special dyeing day at Heritage Arts with Lorelei. So it was back to Beaumont Ranch, where we were greeted by the wrought iron trees that line the entrance, and lots and lots of pumpkins. They are really getting ready for Halloween.There was the sheriff and his prisoner...
Rocking Horse Dude, whose hat had blown off and was way down the field. I felt obligated to find it and restore it to his pumpkin head before taking his picture.
Perhaps my favorite was the Cook with the crow on his head.
And this very bowlegged cowboy with his pumpkin head baby in the stroller. There were many more examples, including a bride and groom pumpkin head couple at the entrance, but by the time I wen to take their picture, the bride had blown over and was bottoms up. As if she had over-imbibed and made a fool of herself.The sisters were lining the street, intensely concentrated on their work.
Our dyestuffs resembled weird party drinks.
Taya was here from El Paso. It was so good to see her after a very long time.
Micki creating another masterpiece.Julia and Aisling actually looked up for a moment. Julia had planned her strategy down to making a graph for color placement based on the measurement of her feet and her stitch counts. I think that plan flew out the window pretty fast. I loved her yarn, but I think it went home for an overdye.
Rebecca and Knitstress Mary totally absorbed in their projects, did not look up.
And here we have Spider Guy, who supervised the lot. The heat was oppresive, and when we had had quite enough, we headed into the chapel to knit (what else) in the cool air.
And what is this beside the church?
Mary, Micki, Wendy and Susan were quiet as the proverbial churchmice in the light streaming through the stained glass windows. I don't think I got a photo of Grace, but The Grump was there alright. And Julia's sister Jeannie. And Carrie. And some young girls who were there from Colorado for a wedding and bored out of their gourds. They did some first time dyeing which turned out quite beautifully.
And here is the first of four batches to make it through the heat process. We were all a bit heat processed, too.
I'll close with some yarny goodness. Here are my "creations" that Grace so kindly organized with dyer Beth from Some Assembly Required. Thanks Grace. And Beth. Nice job. Some are wool and some are Merino/Tencel. There were something like 35 skeins to admire for the group.

Endless miles of Garter Stitch

2007-09-14T04:24:00.000-05:00

In sheer frustration at running out of yarn again on my Solstice Slip socks, I started still another project, a biggish one, a lovely reasonably mindless one which has been lolling in the stash since the trip to Rockin' Sock Camp in the spring. Joy and I stopped in Everett, Washington at Great Yarns on our way to Anacortes and the ferry to the islands. We had a grand old time. I watched Joy put together the yarns for their Kimono pattern to make a jacket for herself. Then she did it again to make one for her daughter. Then I thought what the heck, get one for yourself. I do love it when yarn shops have examples of their best patterns and it is possible to try them on. Joy and I both tried this jacket on, and although our figures couldn't be more different, it looked good on us both.
This is a sleeve to sleeve pattern, the most basic pattern imaginable. In fact, I kept looking for a second and third sheet to the pattern, and there wasn't one. Let's just call it minimalist. A hint or two on the bind-offs and cast-ons would have come in handy, but I eventually figured out the best for me to use. In fact I ripped back a good chunk of the long rows to recast those side seam edges exaggeratedly loosely. I had first used a loose cable cast on, which might have been just OK, but I decided that a crochet cast on would be even more flexible, so frogged and reworked that. With the help of several knitters on Ravelry, it seems the best CO/BO for the fronts will be a standard BO and a crochet CO, which give a perfectly matching edge. Joy ran short of yarn, as did her daughter. And I'm looking like 3 to 4 balls short and I had bought an extra ball to begin with! I'm waiting to arrive to the middle before calculating the final needs.
The combination of the different yarns is quite beautiful, better than this photo shows. I wish I had paid more attention to the yarns the shop had chosen. I was focusing on color and didn't notice content so much. The MC is only 52% wool. But I still think this will be a very practical jacket, which I would quite possibly knit again in Noro or something else. It fit quite nicely. The only change I made was widening the sleeve to 20" for a real kimono effect.
Isn't this just lovely? My friend Micol spun this beautiful light fingering weight yarn for me. 8 0z. = 880 yards, which should make a perfectly lovely shawl. Her spinning is really very nice and this color, which was quite variegated in the bat with greens and other colors, came out the most gorgeous dried blood red. I've been playing with a drop spindle, but haven't even begun to approach the quality that Micol does. And there just aren't enough hours in the day. Sheri of The Loopy Ewe has been talking about using glass containers to store the odd bits leftover from sock knitting, in plain sight but decorative at the same time. So I've been searching for proper containers. This one was the children's cookie jar. I dumped the cookies and gave it a good wash and voila! Of course, since this isn't even half of my yarn ends, I may be needing more jars. I'm eyeing the flower vases at the moment.

Speaking of The Loopy Ewe, I missed out on yesterday's Sneak-Up by minutes. I was at the doctor's and just happened to check TLE when I got home. It had been up for about an hour and every possible thing I might have wanted was gone. All the Wollmeise. Wendy's sock patterns, etc. I understand that this is unavoidable considering how nutty everyone is about that site, but it is highly frustrating and stressful to have to check constantly, then miss out by minutes. I just have to let that go. Brawling over sock yarn is just too hilarious.

Back to those Solstice Socks, with the yarn W sent, I was able to finish the toes. Then a care package that Sheryl sent late August got lost in the postal system for over ten days. But it finally arrived this week and now I can do some sort of ribbing to finish the socks and be done with it. I can't tell these wonderfully kind knitters how much I appreciate their help! Now if I can just find my sock mojo again, I will get them finished. Running out of yarn on that project really soured me on socks.

Bellatrix for All Hallows Eve????

2007-09-01T13:41:00.000-05:00

Progress report. Here is Sock 1 of Bellatrix from Socktopia. We've turned the heel, it fits, the weight of the skein seems to be almost OK to finish the pair. If I need a few rounds of black for the toe, so be it. It seems like it wants to stay up. Life is good.
Here were my STR Rockin' Sock Club Solstice Slip socks in Firebird. This is the length I arrived at, 7" leg, size medium, foot size small, size 2.50mms on the leg and 2.25mm on the feet. This is it, not another inch of yarn left, used up my keychain spare! With multiple inches to go on each foot, plus I'd love a dab of ribbing at the provisional cast-ons. Several angels stepped out of the woodwork to offer their left-overs, so I'm starting to knit again. Bless you each and every one. Hope to have them done over the week-end and post them to Summer of Socks. A package arrived from Japan on Thursday. First, I managed to order directly from the Amazon site without going through the other page for setting up an account.I'm just amazed. Late Wednesday, I received some sort of confirmation e-mail, totally in Japanese, and I wondered what was going on. Thought I would print it out and take it to a nearby Sushi restaurant for translation. I ordered these evening of August 27. Dawn Thursday morning on the 30th, they arrived with a Fed-Ex truck, although the package is marked Intl. Priority. Most of these are being carried by a shop in Canada, but I felt adventurous. Did I mention...they are fabulous!
Fleegle encouraged me with this Japanese order. Just want to thank her and put the blame where it belongs.

This beautifully dyed skein of sock yarn is from Madeline Tosh, who happens to be local, who knew? I believe this color is Peacock (I'll correct this if I find otherwise). Now I don't know which socks it wants to be, but it will let me know, I'm sure. I'm guessing zeros??
And here is the STR Rockin' Sock Club Summer of Love Lace, August's kit. The second pair this year designed by J.C.Briar. Lace cuffed socks. Not my color or pattern, but beautiful all the same and they will make good gifts. Two more kits to go for the year. Since we've heard a rumor that Cat Bordhi will be designing one, it leaves me wondering who will design the other and what colors they will be. Sivia Harding did the extraordinary design for the last year's holiday sock and it was gorgeous. CookieA did another. It is now getting truly exciting and I will be anxious to see what's in the next two kits. Guess I'll just have to knit something else until they arrive.Off for errands and dinner, then back to knitting. Wishing a happy and safe holiday week-end to one and all.

Dyeing is Addictive

2007-08-23T02:47:00.000-05:00

Another beautiful Saturday, not too hot, amazing for Texas in August. And I was tempted back to Heritage Arts at the Beaumont Ranch to test dye some Kraemer Sterling before proposing it to the group for our dyeing week-end next month. OK, any excuse will do. Micki and Susan decided to come along, and off we went to the ranch.

Where Lorelei and Sue had already set out the dyes and our worktables on the wooden porches of our little western town.
The process involves a bit of mental planning, then some measuring and stirring.
Then it's off to apply the results of our concoctions. Note Lorelei's blue/green hands here. She hates gloves almost as much as she hates shoes! Susan is hard at work creating "Noriko", a colorway to honor her beloved kitty of the same name. Thanks to Susan for all but two of the photos today. Ms. Angeluna forgot her camera!
Notice how "chic" we all are in our aprons provided thoughtfully by Micki. One of the neighboring shop owners wanted to buy them off our backs if we would stain them with "blood" so they could use them in the upcoming Civil War Reenactment. Impossible. Hard as we tried, our dyes wouldn't work on the non-protein fibers of the aprons. And here is Ms. Angeluna working hard to get the colorway she has so clearly in her mind.
Dyeing done and ready to ~~cook~~ heat set.

Straight out of the oven and too hot to handle. The Kraemer Sterling needed to be rinsed ASAP before the vinegar tarnished the silver.

Voilà, the products of our labors...the two ends are both skeins of Sterling.

And here we have the Sterling samples, which dyed up beautifully. Think these two skeins of Gitane may want to be a shawl.

Just nearby, these beautiful water lilies were languishing in the lake. Eye candy for the overheated dyers.

Can't wait to return. Have lots of new colorways floating in my head like sugarplums. We missed you Celtic Memory.

Gauge Happens

2007-08-16T04:06:00.000-05:00

The latest round of books to arrive on my doorstep were each a real treat. Knit Kimonos is so good, I want to knit every single pattern in the book. Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters is a terrific workbook for sweater creation. And then there is Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters which I found at Knitter's Bookshelf (Nancy shipped it out in record time). This is really an exciting book. Cat takes sock construction and turns it inside out before turning it on it's ear. Lots of lovely and innovative patterns, but also lots to learn. I couldn't be more pleased with this little collection.

And since I mentioned knitting immediately from the Kimono book, here you can see I've been swatching. There are actually several swatches, each more confusing than the one before. I have a nice little stash of Celtic Memory Yarns cashmere/silk which Jo hand-dyed in the most luscious scarlet/coral colour. Wouldn't it be beautiful in this kimono jacket? The pattern shown was knitted in cotton (heavy?). So I set about trying to get gauge, 10s, 10.5s and 11's. 11 is too airy, although the closest to gauge. 10.5 actually gave me a tighter gauge than the 10s. Both were Denise needles and I've no possible way to explain that except...gauge happens. I even blocked the swatches. If I get stitch gauge, I am way short on row gauge, etc. etc. Just about decided to redesign the piece a bit to allow for these irregularities. Just itching to get started.But first I must absolutely finish my June STR Sock Club sock since the next one should be here in a couple of weeks, plus I need to get them posted to Summer of Socks, where I am a complete laggard, with no shame. I've been painting the house as much as knitting lately. Both socks are on the straightaway of the foot, and it is now clear, I am falling way short of enough yarn to finish. Way short. So if anyone has bits and leftovers of STR Firebird, please take pity on me. I will happily pay postage.
And just for fun, here are two versions of a Cat Bordhi knitting needle sheath from an April Fools Day Workshop in Newport, Oregon.It's lovely, practical and sentimental. The last night, Cat has you share bits and pieces of each others yarns with beads and bits and whatever you want. You knit up your shape, felt and twist, and they make these elegant little sheaths to protect your precious needles. And you can see Mary's red yarn and Celia's pink yarn and, well, you get the picture.

We do so love the mountains

2007-08-12T06:16:00.000-05:00

First off, I don't think I've yet shown off the finished handspun socks, my first completed pair for Summer of Socks. TahDah!! I keep falling asleep on my knitting and it's for sure I'm not going to win the most socks completed prize, but I do so love these. Colors are much nicer, ochres and mauves, but my camera just wouldn't show it this time. Crown Mountain Farms Sock Hop Handspun, 2 skeins

Size 2.25mm &2.5mm circs

Undulating Rib Sock from IK Favorite Socks

Had a few days escape from the heat and relative flatness of Texas. Headed to Idaho! Through Phoenix, into Boise. Boise was a delight, not at all what I expected. Neat, green, pleasant. All the people we came in contact with were great. Areas of downtown had been renovated and guess what I found near the Capitol? This is Drop a Stitch, a neat little shop with just lovely yarns and the nicest owners. You can just smell a fiber store from miles away, can't you? And this is a wall of Koigu, and Alchemy and other goodies!! None of which are carried locally, so it was fun to look things over.
This is adorable Anne, very sweet and she really does smile tht much. She is probably giggling over the fact that the BF would not hang out in the shop. This was his first yarn shop and he had a look of panic before he fled for several coffees. He definitely didn't get it.
Anne recommended the Alchemy Bamboo sock yarn. They have a local Russian knitter who makes a lot of socks. She first turned her nose up at this fiber, but then she knit a pair with it and loved it. So I shall give it a try.
They had a LOT of solid Koigu, and I have definitely been in the mood lately for some solid socks, so got enough to do Loksins and some of CookieA's patterns, Thelonius will be the next.And then they showed me the new Lorna's Laces Twist. Looks like a Clapotis to me. Leaving Drop a Stitch, there was the most beautiful pottery horse in the middle of the sidewalk. Now he seems to belong to a Chinese Restaurant nearby, but isn't he lovely? Actually, Boise had several other yarn stores that sounded interesting, but the BF looked as though it was best not to ask for another stop!
Then it was into the car for several hours drive through rolling desert with a thick haze over it. The BF and I wondered what this weird haze might be. Found out the next day it was smoke, that there were fires all over the state, one very close to Sun Valley where we stayed, just a mile or two up the canyon.
And this most unartistic shot is Ketchum, a rather charming little town just a mile or two down the canyon from Sun Valley. Excellent restaurants, lots of galleries, lots and lots of real estate offices and banks, and a shop called Isabel's Needlepoint. Who knew that this delightful and sunny little shop on the second floor of a neo/old building had such a wonderful knitting side? One thing I loved, as I always do when I find them, is all of the sweaters they have made up that you can finger and try one. This is only a few. Every window all the way around the shop had a sweater hanging in it. But the big excitement was that, in addition to their very well stocked wall of Koigu, their shipment (ordered the year before) arrived while I was standing there. Being totally Koigu deprived in North Texas, I had to take deep breaths to keep from swooning.This lovely lady is Trina (short for Katrina I believe), who was a huge enabler! There was also Jane and Julie Jane, one of whom is a crack sock knitter and both of whom were very helpful.

This gives a bit of an idea of this little patch of green in the desert mountains. Sun Valley is extremely green with beautiful flowers and fountains and symphony in a tent and an outdoor ice skating rink that gave a show with olympic champion skaters, and several gorgeous golf courses, all very Disneyland for grown-ups. But delightful. The views in all directions were fantastic. The air was so wonderfully mountainy crisp, it was a joy to sleep with the windows wide open.Even the swans had luxury accommodations here! These are the babies from the spring hatching. I love the mountains. Spent much of my childhood in the mountains of Colorado and most every summer thereafter. And I miss it!

What I didn't mention here yet was all of the airports and the throngs of people and the fact that every flight was oversold (that gets tiresome) and the fact that every connecting flight seemed to come into the totally opposite end of the airport. There is no glamor left in air travel, that's for sure. But I had to manage all of this, plus all of the mountains, with a toe I broke the day before I left. I heard it snap and did I feel stupid. Swollen and purple, then yellow, there was no way that toe was going into anything but a thong sandal, even in the cold mountain air. I debated unraveling the toes of a couple of my handknit socks so they would fit into thongs, but thought better of it. Then you got to worry about people bumping you. Thank goodness for knitting. Waiting for hours and hours sure goes better with a bit of knitting in hand. Now for the truly weird part. I'm knitting various absolutely lovely socks on magic loop, and nowhere, not one single person mentioned it. Days of knitting on planes, waiting at gates, in restaurants, no one commented. It's strange.

New projects starting up, but that will have to wait for the next posting!

Sock Slogging Away

2007-07-25T13:35:00.001-05:00

Hmmmm, the Summer of Socks is going to get two pair out of me, I think. Other stuff just keeps coming up. But they are two lovely pair which which I am quite content. Lots of other ideas, but must finish these two first. One sock plus 1/3 of one to go. When I look at one of our fellow bloggers and her methodical and creative production. I hang my head in shame. A wee bit anyway.
From the garden, this is one I don't think most people know. Unless they lived in New Orleans, or at least the Deep South! Spider Ginger!!! The most fragant blossom I know. I dug it up with my bare hands to take with me when I left the Crescent City. It decided to bloom about a month earlier than usual, and I'm not sure what to think. The rain? Odd. But may I tell you how heavenly it smells tonight under what appears to be a full moon. Something between ginger, honeysuckle and gardenia with a bit of tuberose thrown in.

And here is my sock progress. Took these photos yesterday since which I have finished the toes and they are waiting to be kitchenered. Wondering if I will have the patience for that at Knit Night? The most beautiful things about these socks in this photo are those little balls of yarn. Nervous as could be to run out and in fact I have a dab of leftovers.
And here is my STR Summer Solstice sock, waiting for a foot and a brother. So you see, although slow, I am slogging away at my projects. Once these darlings are done, I can finish the three pairs which are ever so close, then I get to start something new! What shall it be?These were the sock yarn stash additions from the yarn shop with Jo.
These are two new yarns from Rio de la Plata, quite reasonable and decent yardage.

And here is a skein of Madelaine Tosh. There were at least twenty colors to look over and this one single strand had my name on it.

And here's a close-up of one of my hand dyes from Heritage Ranch. Of course, the photo doesn't do it justice.
Now for fun, here is my Peculiar Aristocratic Title:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Her Noble Excellency Angeluna the Innocent of Herring-le-hole
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I must admit I had way, way too much fun with this and found these other titles:

Lady Madame Angeluna the Ineffable of Goosnargh on the Carpet

Countess-Palatine Angeluna the Subversive of London by the BowHer Most Serene Highness Lady Angeluna the Fifteenth of Pease Pottage

Reverend Lady Angeluna the Erudite of Lower Slaughter

Her Most Serene Highness Lady Angeluna the Subversive of Molton St Anywhere

Her Noble Excellency Angeluna the Blue of Witchampton Under Buzzard

Now, go get your own!!!

Celtic Memory comes to Texas

2007-07-25T02:28:00.000-05:00

What a surprise! Jo of Celtic Memory came to visit! Well actually, after reading here about Heritage Arts at Beaumont Ranch and something about sock dyeing, she decided that's what she wanted for her upcoming birthday. And dear Richard made it all possible. We are talking 4 days warning here, for an international trip. The spontaneity of it all was too fab!

Richard e-mailed that the "bird" had flown, so there was the rush to pick Jo up at the airport. Out into the evening sun and a bit of hot and humid Texas atmosphere soup! She really wanted to meet the Sisters of the Wool in a normal KnitNight at our regular Border's Books, so this was arranged and we went straight from the airport. The Sisters were out in force and delighted to meet Jo.

Show and tell included Micki's gorgeous Print o' the Wave from Eunny Jang. Check out Micki's blog for all the details, but gotta tell you, it's wonderful.

Aisling and the PatternWhisperer were hard at work. In fact, most of the Sisters were there. Please note, Aisling is knitting socks!!! Finally!And BookGrump's babies were much admired. Thanks to sadly blogless KnitTX for these three photos.

Jet-lagged and over-stimulated, we tried to get some sleep, then it was off to Yarns Ewenique to give Jo an idea of our LYS. We did so well there, that we decided to hit Louis Kahn's Kimbell Art Museum, with its special exhibit of The Mirror and the Mask - Portraiture in the Age of Picasso, instead of still more yarn shops. This wonderful exhibition is up through September and I highly recommend it.

Posing in front of the "Wall of Needles" at Yarns Ewenique.

A quick stop at Central Market turned up a lovely Irish lady who lives in the area. She overheard Jo's accent and immediately introduced herself. Within minutes, they were singing "The Spinning Song" and waltzing in the aisles of the market. This photo was taken sureptitiously since an employee had already come up to Jo and told her there was a no photos policy. Not to mention that there was a band out front...a Celtic Rock band called the Killarneys, with bagpipes! Who knew there was so much Irish in Fort Worth?

We toured the Stockyards and downtown, with a stop at the Philip Johnson designed Water Gardens so Jo could tour the fountain used in the last scene of Blade Runner. Then we of course had to be at the bookstore at midnight to get a fresh off the press copy of Harry Potter and see all the craziness that is a HP booklaunch. The next morning, we gathered the PatternWhisperer and were off to the Ranch where Lorelei and Sue had hung banners for Jo's birthday. These two ladies are just a pleasure, Sue is quiet and sweet and Lorelei is a very positive force of nature! The shop has changed since I first went a few years ago. Less normal knitting yarn, and much more spinning and dyeing and weaving. You can buy wheels and looms and all sorts of odd gadgets as well as fiber, dyed and natural, and all the dyes to go with it. Spindles and carding combs and such. If you haven't been, they are well worth the trip. There are classes on spinning and weaving and other fiber arts. Third Saturdays are for spinners just to meet and gossip and share. That was delightful! Everyone is open and helpful. I'm going back to get my spinning mojo working. Nice atmosphere and the spinning room is well air-conditioned. We noticed.

They only do this workshop once a year, but Lorelei offered to do a special dyeing workshop for the Sisters. Are we excited? You betcha. Now the difficulty is finding a Saturday in the next six months which suits us all, easier said than done. We met some spinners who had come in from Waco to dye yarns.

And here are our efforts of the day. It was very hard not to grab another and still another skein just to see what else we could do. Like children with fingerpaints. A quick downpour raised the steam factor several notches, and I must say, we just about melted.
This little fellow saw us off from the ranch. The zedonks and alpacas were in hiding. Too exhausted to go to dinner, we spent a quiet evening knitting, then sent our Irish friend back to Cork. There is nothing more delightful than an Irish lilt and Jo was a joy to have around. A few more days would have been more relaxing, but we did our best. The age of the internet is so amazing...to read someone's blog from continents away, develop a friendship, then meet as though we had been friends forever. Ain't life just grand??? What's next?

This Little Chickie Needs a Name

2007-07-20T02:23:00.000-05:00

Please let me introduce you to my birthday chick. Isn't he/she the cutest thing you ever saw? He is one of BookGrump's babies and I am in love. Now, I just said he, didn't I? Must say, I do think he is a "he". Well...he needs a name. Any ideas are welcome as I just know you are more clever than I. I keep trying to call him Rufus and I'm not sure that's who he wants to be. Grace, I am honored! Thank you.

By the way, check out her blog because Bookgrump is madly working on a pair of Molly Weasley's sleeves. I suppose she must finish them for the booklaunch tonight. Who's gonna be there? I'm taking a surprise guest with me, and that guest is looking a lot like Severus Snape in the costume we are putting together. Stay tuned for a BIG surprise!!!!

Now I promised to show you some of of my "score" from Heritage Arts. I went wild in front of the wall of roving and had to restrain myself by reminding myself that...I don't spin...YET.
Here is Merino in Mojave...

and in Sage... And since I got a spindle from Hokett Would Work, a lovely thing in Yellow Heart wood, slightly heavier and wider and slightly belled underneath, which is supposed to spin longer, I suppose I'm committed. Well, we shall see once I get it spinning, shan't we. Lorelei, the fabulous, showed us how to activate the spindle by placing it between our feet and kicking one foot back. Sure worked for her, but I'm hoping I don't unbalance and break my neck while I'm at it.
And this was an interesting bunch of Texas natural spun yarn. Got a nice big bundle as a birthday present for a special friend. There will be a reveal on this in the next few days, but here is a hint.....

You will have to tune back in to see what this HUGE surprise is all about!

A ranching we will go, a ranching we will go...with yarn content

2007-07-15T01:35:00.000-05:00

Up for adventure on a Saturday afternoon, the Pattern Whisperer and I headed off for the backroads and a ranch about an hour south of town. Once off the highway, we wandered down farm roads like this, under a brooding sky...

past a little church...

down a dusty street...and ended up in front of this shop...through the screen door and into this... Walls and walls of colorful cones of various yarns, past a display of cones and cones of Zephyr, tripping over looms and wheels and various spinnerly, weaverly goodies. This, fiber friends, is Heritage Arts on the Beaumont Ranch, run by dear Sue, who ducked out of the pictures, and dynamite Lorelei, a German married to a Sicilian and somehow planted in the backwoods of Texas.
This is barefoot Lorelei, modeling some roving...
and this is Lorelei doing her Princess Leia imitation with linen roving waiting to be spun. One inquiry about spinning and Lorelei hopped up grabbing spindles and roving and quickly answered some of my burning questions about the art. Easy peasy! If peasants in the Himalayas can spin while walking down Mount Everest, then why can't I?
And then I stopped dead in front of this display. Well, to be honest, this is the display after we raided it. And this was only one of many clusters and bags and boxes of various goodies. There was buffalo and possum and cashmere and silk and merino and alpaca and cotton and mixed fiber and even a bag of perfectly nasty feeling nylon to be spun in with the merino or whatever for stronger socks. Fleeces and pencil rovings and carded bats. From the full of lanolin to the most beautifully prepared.
This fellow observed it all. Lorelei said she had two old goats and one of them was her husband! Now Lorelei claims she doesn't really knit, and though Sue seems to keep a pair of socks on the needle, her passions are elsewhere, so all of our ravings were met with tolerant smiles. But humor us they did. They are weavers and spinners and braiders and Civil War re-enactors. They actually have a workshop coming up where for two or three solid days, they will prepare Civil War costumes from scratch. I suppose that includes dyeing and spinning and cutting and sewing. They say it is great fun, everyone is welcome, and there is even a cot or two somewhere for those that need a bit of shut-eye. This place is crammed with goodies, it is tiny, but that doesn't seem to slow them down.

Last time I visited them, I so extased over this lovely ferny plant that Lorelei gave me some seeds, which I took home to plant and every single one germinated and grew to about 20 feet tall. These are Cypress Vines, feathery but hardy. This time she had a bag of white, red and pink seeds ready and waiting for me when I walked in the door.

Another view, OK, so I love this plant.

And this is how they light the place up at night...

and this was a lovely old typical house that had been transplanted to the property. Love the roofline and the porches.

Notice anything strange about this ~~horse~~, ~~mule~~, animal? Can you see the seemingly painted eyelashes in this small photo?

And does this one remind you of something?

Well here's the daddy! Not exactly what you would expect on a ranch in Texas, and the two offspring above are zebra/donkeys called Zedonks, oh you of curious minds. There were alpacas, too, but for some reason none of their photos came out. The Beaumont Ranch is outside of this little town of Grandview, as you can see, 11 miles from MayPearl and 22 from Waxahachie.

And we ate tacos here at La Campasina, the only eatery in town and quite good if not fancy. We pulled out our knitting at the table and everyone in the restaurant had to come see what we were doing. The mother/cook was quite cross-eyed and spoke no English, but she loved what we were doing, especially when I showed off my birthday chick, who is waiting for a name. He/she (not decided yet) was a huge success.

Pattern Whisperer made for a great companion and partner in crime. Since we both bought new spindles and roving, I can see we are committed to mastering this spinning thing. I scored a KniddyKnoddy, the last one, a magazine on turning my roving into sock yarn, and various other treasures. Since I got home so late, I had no good light for photos. So with the next post, you will see the newest goodies. It was so fun, I shall not wait so long for my next trip back. They have a spinning/gossip day once a month, and sock yarn dyeing happens there, too. I'm going!

How exciting is this?

2007-07-09T04:36:00.000-05:00

We all love getting surprise packages in the mail. Can you imagine my delight in opening these two.
These beautiful fat balls of silk/cashmere and merino/alpaca came all the way from the Emerald Isle and our friend Jo. They are to be dyed (by the person who has never dyed anything, at least since the tie dye experiments of my childhood). They had some lovely little carved wooden symbol thingies wound in, which I forgot to photograph. One is a tiny serpent to represent the House of Slitherin (which Jo and I feel has been overly maligned, there must be some brilliant and not too evil wizards there), another is a Celtic spiral to represent infinity.
And then there was a box of squishy, glowing goodness from Vermont from K and W. This is from Coppermoose and the Cinnamon one is Silk Tussah while the silver is Alpaca. Coppermoose has some lovely multi-color spindles that look tempting.

What these say is that my friends have much faith in my untested abilities to spin and dye. I shall be working on that spindle this week, having found a lovely little book by Priscilla Gibson Roberts called Spinning in the Old Way, a rave on the virtues of top whorl spindling, which she claims is as fast and more controllable than a wheel, and much more portable.
Since my knitting lately is just more of the same (sock one in Sock Hop is at the toe, sock two started, STR Solstice Slip is getting a heel on sock one) I shall fill in with some photos of one of my assistants, in knitting as well as the office. Here is Paprikas, AKA Poppy, as a most adorable kitten. This photo is "Where is ~~Waldo~~ Poppy? She seems to think she would pass for a routing book. She was there for hours before I saw her. And this is quite a high shelf, which you can't tell from the photo.
And here is Poppy warming the files, a very important job.
And here she has managed to file herself. Barely saw her this time before closing her up in the file drawer for the week-end. Since Persians don't make noises, I suppose I would not have found her until the next time I opened the file drawer. These are not unusual places to find this young lady, she wants so badly to be in the fat middle of everything. Her new trick is draping herself in front of the monitor with her fat paws laid over the keyboard, so that every time I try to see the screen, I see her tail instead.

Who is going to the midnight showing of the new Harry Potter film? ME!!! I tried to tempt some of my Sisters of the Wool, since opening night is knitting night, but I don't think anyone bit. My oldest son and I did it last time and had a blast, there is just something so delicious about catching a midnight premiere. Though we barely got in and they were showing it in every theater in the cineplex, like on ten screens. It was that full! Evidently they are showing it at the Omni theater, on that huge surround screen. That would make for some wild visuals. Might try that. As one of the Sisters said, can you imagine Quidditch in the round? Better catch an extra hour of sleep the night before.

A Mystery

2007-07-05T16:34:00.000-05:00

First let me show you progress on the Sock Hop Sock as of July 4. May I say, I LOVE this yarn and am quite fond of this sock. It's all coming along quite nicely, and if you will notice the little ball of yarn posing under the heel, I may even be able to finish this sock without supplemental yarn! Keep your fingers crossed.

Now, for the mystery. I saw a query on Tsocktsarina's blog about this lovely yarn which Lisa had been gifted but had no clue what it was. Go over there to check out the beginning of the story, and follow it through several other posts for all the suppositions and guesses as to what it might be. Lisa posted it to Knitter's Review hoping someone would know it, but no real luck, although a few false leads. Nancy Drew here looked at it, thought a bit, and went stash diving.

And found this...

Last year, Susan of the Sisters of the Wool and I, also of the Sisters of course, made a field trip to check out a funky little yarn shop in Aledo, a tiny country town near here, that was closing its doors. Susan knows my love of Noro, and almost immediately, pitched a skein of this stuff over to me which I clutched to my breast as I searched for its sisters. It was the only Noro yarn in the shop. The owner was not there to ask questions. So I just bought all they had of it, figuring I would certainly find a use for it eventually. I scoured the web hoping to find more of the stuff, but there was nowhere any mention ever of Hisui by Noro.

Well, this looked just like the yarn the Tsarina was trying to identify, so in several conversations, we decided this was it!!! First mystery solved.The Tsok Tsarina even knitted up a swatch to see what it would do and it is pretty amazing, don't you think?

So now, the real mystery is...what will we do with it??? I'm going to watch the Tsarina to see what she comes up with. She is so clever. I'm liking the simple slightly lacy slipped stitch she has going on in this swatch, so we shall see. Stay tuned.

Still raining daily here, all the flowers that were planted for the hot summer have shriveled and given up the ghost. No zinnias for my garden this year. The lantana and hibiscus look sad. The roses are rotting with black mold. And even my standard cypress vines and herbs look pretty miserable. This can't continue, right? July in Texas, with temperatures in the low 80s and daily rain for months??? My phone lines are all waterlogged, making communication difficult and home officing a nightmare. People leave messages and I can't even tell who it is from the scratchiness in the lines. At least the lakes are full now, after years of running low and water rationing. The farmers are now worrying about waterlogged cotton and crops, instead of looking to the heavens and wondering if it would ever rain. One thing we have always been able to predict were hot, dry Julys and Augusts. Not this year.

The Birthday Meme for the Fourth of July

2007-07-01T00:38:00.000-05:00

Since the old birthday is right around the corner (as in this week), Leslie the Tapmouse encouraged me with the Birthday Meme. The rules are to go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday month and day only. Then post 3 events, 2 births and one holiday that occurred on your birthday, then tag 5 friends.

It is no surprise that Independence Day would have to be my holiday, fireworks and all. But, these very interesting things happened on July 4:

1054 - A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star ζ Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.

1826 - Former American presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson die, fifty years to the day after the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence. I always found this a poignant footnote to history.

1865 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published.

1918 - Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).

For births, we have the twins, Ann Landers and Dear Abby. Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976) Funnily enough, my father was posted in England for much of WWII and, as a young Air Force officer, was invited to teas and such by the English. He met both Angela Baddeley (Upstairs/Downstairs) and Angela Lansbury at these affairs, as well as other quite famous actresses. I have those two to thank for my name. Gina Lollobrigida with whom I celebrated a couple of birthdays while living in Europe with my Italian. 1943 - Geraldo Rivera, American reporter. Oh my! He is definitely older than I am. Wouldn't know it by the way he behaves.

This research actually amused me for quite some time, so if you are reading this blog, and want to check it out, consider yourself tapped.

Now for knitting content, we shall give a brief progress shot: There is now half a heel done. I was setting up said heel before going to sleep last night, and I have no idea how, but I spent at least two hours on that last row to set it up, stupid mistake after miscount after whatever. I kept falling asleep on it. Then I would wake up and happily knit some more mistakes right back into it. With the light of day, it was a piece of cake.

White spots in the terrace photo are raindrops!

And we have FIREWORKS, beautiful fireworks as seen from the above terrace of the Orangerie at Versailles, looking out over the reflecting pools of the King. I love fireworks, well visually if not the dangerous part. In Monte Carlo's Port Hercule in the summer, they have an International Fireworks Competition. Countries from around the world put on huge long drawn out evenings of fireworks. It is quite magical. We summered there yearly and I made sure to watch them all.

Socks just a rollin' along

2007-06-28T20:41:00.000-05:00

It just keeps raining! The amazing thing is that Canadian friends are talking about the roasting 100+ temperatures, while Texas is in the lower 80s and nonstop rain. Who turned the world upside down?? The Tuesday night meeting of the Sisters of the Wool had scarce attendance. Just before we meet, the heavens had opened and the rain came down so fast, there was lots of flooding and streets blocked. Some of our most die-hard knitters didn't come. I mean we've knitted through tornadoes in the bathroom at Starbucks before, no sissies here! So they asked for a rain check meeting and we are having an extra on Sunday. It's always fun if I can get away from the family.

So instead of activities in the great outdoors (where we would be drowned or hunted by mega mosquitoes), knitting is looking like a good activity. First, a lovely little flash of a colorway that Tina, the color wizard, just dyed up over at Blue Moon. Metamorphic was my pseudonym at Sock Camp, and let me tell you this colorway knits up beautifully. I had asked about its availability and Tina made sure I got enough from the next batch to make any old sock pattern I wanted to! Luxe! She had some other new colorways on the site that I am already studying.
Here is progress on the Solstice Slips, the June installment of Rockin' Sock Club. As you can see, those alarming rectangular pools finally started to spiral, no needle or stitch change, just relentless tugging.
And here is the reverse side of the leg. I am liking this stitch pattern, although I will have to change everything else on them, different heel, probably add some sort of ribbing. It is very stretchy and solid, knitted on Addi 1s in lightweight STR. I'm taking a brief breather before starting a flap heel here, in order to knit on these...Sock Hop Handspun in Wild Thing colorway. Bless Teyani who said that if I ran short, they could scrounge some short skeins to finish things up. Teyani, I can't tell you how that eased my mind. Thank you.
I'm really liking these. The pattern is from IKs Favorite Socks and it is the Undulating Rib sock. So far, it's doing all the right things. Knitting on Addi 1s, but as soon as I can get it over my arch, I will go down to 1s or 0s to give a firm fabric for the foot.

There are a couple of other stash yarns tempting me, but I have no more needles for the moment, they are all busy. Now, I can either finish me some socks, or order me some needles. Hmmmmm.

The Pooling from Hell

2007-06-25T07:32:00.000-05:00

Talk about a high...

It's been very busy around here, but...take a look at this weird flower I have nurtured for years. Know what it is???? Datura. Evidently you can get quite high from any part of this plant, but it's not easily controlled and could be fatal. Not being into hallucenogenics, we just admire it around here. It only has a few of these huge hanging flowers each year. They start off quite pink. In a day or two they become yellow, and after that they are white. Then they fall off and we just see greenery until the following year. This photo was taken in the dark of night with no flash. See the light streaming out of the windows in the back? Quite odd, this glow in the dark effect.

There is a new poll on CNN.com this morning about favorite pastimes. Unbelievably, they included knitting as one of the choices. Knitters...go vote. We're not in the top 10 yet. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/leisure/your.picks/index.html

It's quick and easy. Represent!!!! Have your husband, your dogs, your children, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker vote for knitting.

Can we tell them how much we would like TV knitting programs at our level? One hour programs with intelligent and talented knitters. No Knitsters, no silly skits, just knitting. That other program tries way too hard. But whenever the one about the steering wheel cozies and the computer cozies comes up, I run for the hills. Can't push delete fast enough. And I've calculated that after removing the commercials and the really silly stuff they do on that show, you are left with 7 minutes or less of Cat Bordhi, or the Yarn Harlot, or CookieA, or Iris Schreier. It's absurd! What a waste. As long as I am on my soapbox, we should write to our stations.

And here is the third installment of the Rocking Sock Club 2007. A slipped stitch cable pattern in a gorgeous colorway by that genius Tina!!! Firebird. I actually dove straight in and cast this one on. I feel quite guilty that I haven't yet finished the other two, but had real issues with patterns and yarn shortage. And after all, The Summer of Socks just started with the Solstice, so these will be an appropriate first pair.

Those of you who know me know I love pooling, and spiraling and other serendipitous effects. But here may I present the "pooling from Hell". The sort which brings even me to near tears and utter disgust. Almost 3" long rectangular pools, pale pink on one side and orange on the other, that have only now, with lots of tugging and yanking, started back into a spiral. I hope. You are seeing a grey temp cast on at the top. If I have enough yarn at the end, I'll knit a tad of ribbing.

I'm hoping you won't see much of this under slacks or somesuch. Cause I'm not frogging now. This represents a lot of work! I used the medium cast on with Addi 1s. Will go down to 2.25mm as soon as I can get it over my arches.

So knit those socks, represent and just generally kick ass!

Reveling on Ravelry in the Rains

2007-06-19T01:30:00.001-05:00

We have been suffering the deluge in North Texas lately. Last night and this morning were quite unbelievable. You hear torrents hit the shingles and seconds later the gutters are overflowing. But please don't misunderstand, I love the rain. And in our area, you are thankful for every drop that falls since we look forward to summers with months and months of no rain and water rationing. This was tonight's sunset from the front steps.

My invitation to Ravelry finally arrived last week and only now have I had time to check it out. Oh my my my my, it is the ultimate Black Hole. Once you start playing with it, you go on and on and on until you realize hours have passed and you haven't finished your work for the evening and the animals aren't fed and the dishes aren't washed and you haven't wound those two skeins of yarn you will need for knitting tonight with the Sisters of the Wool. Not to mention you haven't knitted a stitch and it is past time for bed. And you are worried that you are about to exceed your free photo limit at Flickr! Never mind, it is wonderful. It references and cross references everything that interests you. It will inspire and organize and with luck help to sort out the stash. I hope all of you are in soon. Many thanks to the Freckled Girl and Casey for their genius idea and hard work. Oh, and photogenic Bob for all his help (their really, really cute Boston Terrier).
Just so you know I've been knitting for a long time, here is an old photo taken at the French Market in New Orleans when we lived on Bourbon Street. I am wearing a sweater, one of ten I knitted in different yarns to the same simple pattern and lived in quite happily. I did them in wool and chenille. Will have to dig through old albums to find other versions of The Sweater. It was around this time that I convinced the local needlepoint shop, the Quarter Stitch on Jackson Square, to order yarns for me. I taught Jill, the owner, how to knit and thus began one of the most delightful yarn shops around. I hope she is still there since Katrina, but the shop quickly became more knitting than needlepoint.

And here, keeping ~~them~~ me honest, we have two more UFOs from my ~~collection~~ Hall of Shame. The socks are in Fleece Artist and I love them and I just got busy with other things and never got around to finishing them. BTW, Nancy at ColorSongYarns carries 150gr skeins of their sock merino which lets me knit without worrying about running out, which I usually do with my size 10 feet. Nancy is thinking about dropping this larger skein to make room for other yarns, so if this is something which interests you, let her know. And then we have the almost finished Sunburst Sling Bag from Jill Vosburg, Just One More Row. It needs a lining cut and to be seamed, can't seam until I cut the lining, Catch 22. I already have the lining fabric and even the strap is already almost knitted, but I can't finish that until I cut the lining and seam the bag. Oh, well. Soon, soon.
I've decided to begin with some Art Pron, which will be flashed from time to time. From a collection of odd little paintings (and some not so little) by my old and dear friend Elizabeth Taggart, the Irish painter, which you might enjoy. This is The Topiary Hat. Elizabeth has a show up now at the Molesworth Gallery in Dublin. Check it out! They sold out her show last year. We go back about 37 years. Cheers to you Lizzie, wish I were there.

Last but not least, speaking of very old friends from New Orleans, I received an e-mail tonight from my friend K, who with husband W, their 3 Persians and I Love Lucy, the Irish Wolfhound, fled New Orleans to stay with us for the months after Katrina. Consumate Southerners, they went back home, sold their house in the French Quarter and moved to the mountains of Vermont, of all places. This is what she wrote...

"BEAR! A real BEAR! Was just circling the house. Our own Bear (Pooh the Persian) was sitting in the window looking out intently when we looked out and a BEAR's ass was just walking past the bedroom window. Then we looked out the wide sliding glass door going out onto the deck and the bear was standing on the deck! I yelled and jumped up and down and pretended to be bigger than he was (It was a BIG BLACK BEAR) and he ran away. Whoosh! Things occasionally get exciting in Vermont after all! XOX"

Ah, it's the little things that make life exciting!