Another Week in Paradise

Just a few photos from our last get-away to our favorite spot in Maine - Topside Inn in Boothbay Harbor. The weather was spectacular and we had a wonderful week of eating, reading, walking and then reading, eating, walking and then walking, eating, reading, ...you get the idea. I also got a bit of knitting in but this was more of a reading holiday - finished 3 books while I was there...and didn't feel guilty about just sitting and reading...now that is joy!

Late Summer Light & Blocking

I noticed today that the light in the backyard looked different than it had for months and I realized that it was a Harbinger of Autumn. The Earth has rotated enough so that the Sun is now lower in the sky and, around Davenport Pines, that means the light being filtered through the leaves of our trees is softer and not as intense. Welcome, the first visage of my favorite time of year...you have been long in coming.

As soon as I feel Autumn arriving, the energy I have been without during this hot & miserable Summer begins to return and I am renewed...at least a little. All of the projects that have been on hold or not begun because of my lethargy are un-earthed and finished or begun. One of these unfinsished projects is my Cat's Paw Scarf...my first lace project. I had finsihed knitting it months ago and all it needed was blocking; so, on this day that makes me feel alive again, I decided to block it...not realizing that it would take a long time to do. Threading the blocking wire, inserting the blocking pins (I was almost finsihed when I understood how they had to be placed and so I had to re-do all of them) and measuring and readjusting to make it as even as possible. Over an hour later, my 8" x 70" scarf was blocked (not too well) and sitting on the blocking pads & towels on the living room floor...the only space in the house available for this project. if you look closely, you can see the little 'Cat's Paws' in the photo below.

I may have discoverd that I enjoy lace-knitting but I have also discovered that I am not very fond of blocking the lace projects I knit.

Shawls and Weaving

Well, as I mentioned...I could not wait to start another lacy-triangularly-shaped-shawl and so I did...and then I frogged it all back to the cast-on! Nothing seems to have changed in my lace-shawl knitting except the yarn & the pattern...I still can't get the correct stitch count and I still make mistakes!! I am convinced that I cannot knit and listen to an audio-book...or a Yankee game...or music...or someone talking to me...or..................because, if I do, I make mistakes. I ask you, what does that say about my mental facilities? That's up to you to decide for yourself. This shawl is being knit from yarn gifted to me by a friend (Thank you, Rosemary) from Purls of Wisdom (my knitting circle) and a lovely and easy (or so I thought), well-written pattern called 'Parisienne' by Katie White which I found on Ravelry. The yarn is Elegance from Knit Picks which is 70% Baby Alpaca & 30% Silk in a glorious colorway called Redwood (think reddish-BROWN...the picture doesn't do it justice, and, no, the shawl is not going to look like a Sting-Ray when it is finished!). This yarn has an inner glow and shows the stitch definition beautifully and is very lovely to knit with. After I ripped out my first attempt, I almost immediately started over again and now I am on the 3rd lace row and my stitch count is correct (Yes!!) and I am really loving this yarn & pattern & knitting lacy-triangular-shawls...who would have thought?

Also, I am finally taking the plunge...I am going to learn how to WEAVE! I have always wanted to learn this art, even before I wanted to spin. Working at The Spinnery most every week and looking at all of the looms and the beautiful fabric on those looms has weakened my resistance to adding more projects to my never-ending list...but, so it goes. And, when, I was gifted with a sweet little 2-harness loom by a friend, what could I do. So now I am a knitter, crocheter, sewer, yarn-dyer, spinner, tea-blender...soon to be weaver...we really need a bigger house and I need more time in each day! I don't have pictures of my new loom but they will be forthcoming...and maybe I can weave some Christmas presents after I spin some yarn to knit into Christmas presents and knit the projects for the Christmas presents and dye the sock-yarn for the Christmas presents, finish knitting the sweater & socks for a June (2010) birthday present...and, maybe, just maybe, all of these projects will be finished for Christmas.........2012...unless I find some more projects to work on!

PS> The Garland Shawl is blocked!

C'est fini...FINALLY!

Well, not quite...I still have to block it and weave in the ends; but, for all intents and purposes, my very first lace triangular shawl is completed...done...over...no more knitting on it...Hah! Of course, it is about the size of a small hankie and I know I knit way more stiches than there seem to be in the finished shawl...I mean I have been knitting (and frogging) this @#$*% piece of knitting FOREVER!!! Well, OK, not forever...it just seemed that way. Now for the surprise...I can't wait to start the next one!!!!

Fleecing-2010

On a couple of days recently, the 'Fleece Connection' got together to pick and cold wash this year's fleece...3 bags of Dorset mix and 1 bag of Border Leiscester. With that completed we just have to hot-wash, card, spin and ply the pounds and pounds of fleece we have and that does not even count what is left over from Fleecing-2009. It might be time to send some off for the final stages, because we really wnat to start knitting with this gorgeous fiber. And, oh, yes...we want to start dyeing some of the Dorset....oh, yes and then we want to learn to weave and there is plenty of fleece for Nuno-felting and.......

Hello Again

It has been a while since I posted...partly because I have not been feeling up to par and mostly because it has just been too bloody hot to do anything! The gardens are in a terrible state and no spinning has been done but; at least, I have been reading and knitting. I am moving along on my Garland Shawl

and have just started the 3rd (of 4) pattern repeats and I have decided that I really enjoy knitting these little triangular shawls with lace borders. In fact I have enjoyed knitting this shawl so much (even with the frogging and re-knitting that has gone on) that I have ordered more yarn from The Yarnarian for two more shawls...who would have ever imagined! I am also knitting a pair of "2-at-a-time toe-up socks on one circ" for my great-niece...these socks will match the multi-colored stripe on the sleeveless sweater I am knitting her.

We also managed a trip up to our favorite holiday place - Topside Inn, Boothbay Harbor, ME and a trip to Ocean Grove, NJ to hear a concert by an outstanding chamber orchestra,  the Carnegie Ensemble, which was founded by a dear friend from our NJ State Opera days.

Time to turn the air conditioner on and start knitting as I listen to the next chapter of my current audio book (Careless in Red by Elizabeth George) before meeting a friend for dinner. I really am anxious for Autumn to arrive!!

The Dreaded YOs Strike Again

OK, so I thought I had mastered the dreaded yarn-overs and was ready to take on a more challenging project. I was SO wrong! This is a rather long story; so if you are busy, you might want to skip it or, if you have the time, just curl up with a good cup of tea (may I suggest TnRs own 'Mozart' blend) and read on.

While reading The Yarnarian's blog a week or so ago I came across an absolutely beautiful new yarn (yes, definitely earth tones with lots of brown hue...you knew that already, didn't you) she had dyed. The Yarnarian had been browsing art books and a picture in the book on John Singer Sargent particularly caught her eye.

She says, "When I look at a painting, I first see the composition and subject, and then I look at the colors, and Sargent was brilliant in his choice of colors. What I did was look at each painting, and then whatever area of colors my eye was drawn to, that's what I tried to dye. So if you should look at any of these paintings, please note that I singled out a small portion of each one." As she says, the boat caught her eye and, hence the yarn and the name of the color "The Boating Party". And since one of my all time favorite paintings is Renoir's "The Luncheon of the Boating Party"...you already know what happened.

Well this yarn called to me and , even though I ABSOLUTELY do NOT need any more yarn and especially I do NOT need any more sock yarn, I rushed to her Etsy store and bought it. It arrived in a couple of days and the colors were everything I thought they would be...just warm and lush and lovely. Now, what do I need to knit with this yarn...not socks - it is too lovely to hide in shoes...I know, a small triangular kinda lace shawl. Perfect...and The Yarnarian had exactly the one I wanted in her Ravelry store...the Garland Shawl...not too lacy (I am not a 'lacy' person) but just enough and the pictures looked really nice...so I bought the pattern and was ready to go. And go I did...and frog I did...and go I did...and frog I did....and go I did and...you get the picture! Frustration was setting in, but I refused to give in; so I took yarn and pattern to my knitting circle and, YES, my lace-knitting teacher, Dearest Rita, was there that night. I thrust the pattern and my sadly lopsided attempt at the shawl at her and cried "I really hate YOs!!" After a few minutes contemplation, she realized that the pattern started at the neck edge and I had thought it started at the point end (the pattern did not say) and also my knit-to-purl YOs were non-existent; hence the lop-sided nature of my 4th attempt...that is because I didn't know how to do them. Dearest Rita patently explained the pattern and the YO and sent me home happy and convinced I would prevail! After frogging 3 more times (for a total of 7), I was finally on-my-way and now I can't put it down...I am really lovin' knitting this triangular lace shawl...YOs and all! Here's a close-up of the center section showing those blasted knit-to-purl YOs (the bigger holes on the right of the picture...don't really like the asymmetry, but what-the-heck) mastered...at least for now! Thank you, Dearest Rita.