Zeneedle...needleart as life

Expectations Continued

On the way to work yesterday I spotted a woman at the bus stop as she was trying on what surely must have been a hand knit sock. The yarn looked to be a self stripping red, white and blue.  The bus was right behind me so she would have been gone by the time I stopped to chat.

The weekend is shaping up.  It has even turn into a 4 dayer as the boss finally said it was useless to work when everyone else he knew would be off or only working half a day.  Expectations were running high that he'll call it a free day and we are very lucky that he did.  (He asked that I keep my cell phone on and that's a small price to pay.)   

My Trekking socks have been sorely neglected but, this weekend we expect to take a little Trek of some sort. I didn't expect to have so much trouble with the letter "N", but Smith thought of a great 'thing' and now I can't remember what it was.  I expect he will remember and we can find our way to it soon.  The TrekAlong Blog has had great participation and many Treks across the country (and world) have been posted. Thank you to all who have enjoyed this summer of the Trek so far.

Tomorrow morning I'll meet up with Shannon (her parents live in SLC and she's here for a visit) and head to Silver Fork and Silver Lake. Our expectations for spotting a moose, or two, are running high.  Lisa is also coming through on her way to Seattle and my expectation is that she'll have time to stop. Her expectation is to see a moose (and that's fine if she'd rather search for moose than see me).

As many of  you know Stephanie is on a book tour and she's coming to Salt Lake.  Vonnie at Black Sheep Wool Company called to let me now and so, expectations are running high that many a SLC knitter will be there. That's one expectation that will surely happen. Mark Friday night, September 8th, on your calender and watch for notice of where the event will be. Don't worry about getting a book as Vonnie will have plenty. The night is expected to be a hum dinger.

Expectations are running high that I'll finish CeCe this weekend. If there isn't time for a photo shoot on the weekend one can be scheduled for July 4th.  One way or the other another FO is expected next week (and maybe another pair of socks, too). 

You can expect to see me back here Monday and maybe for a quick post Tuesday. Wednesday is iffy as I'd like to hike all day Tuesday. (Any of you Stitch 'n Bitch Grrls want to hike?  Smith doesn't have the day off.) I expect to come back to Blogland fully loaded with pictures and some good knitting.

I didn't expect to see July so soon!!  Enjoy your weekend and your Holiday! 

The Challenge of (More) Lace

Monday night I met a few non-knitting grrlfriends for dinner.  I had on a white T-shirt with black pants and decided to throw the Flower Basket Shawl over my shoulders.  Restaurants are notoriously cold in the summer and a little something on the shoulders would feel just right. Even though my friends had seen the shawl before they oogled and petted it.  Lynn sat next to me and often tugged on the corner to see if it would slide unnoticed into her bag.  It was the perfect weight to keep the chill of air conditioning off my arms and I felt a little more 'dressed up' wearing it.

I've knit many a triangular shawl, however, all but FBS have been given away. The yarn for FBS was sent to me by Katy so the shawl had to be mine. Stoles have been my first choice and through the winter they were very easy to wear.  Triangular shawls are better suited to sit on the shoulders, almost draped like a collar or scarf, while stoles are good to wrap up in for warmth.   There is enough lace weight yarn in my stash to handle several future lace projects of any shape or style.  The problem lies mostly in my expectations and desires.  I want to knit them all now. I want to wear them all now.  Of course this can only cause stress if allowed to become obligatory and not a dream or wish.

The DailyOm horoscope comes through once again to calm my monkey mind.

You may feel compelled to address each of your obligations and could feel disappointed in yourself if you do not meet your expectations. But consider that your obligations are likely not equally important. You can ease your troubled mind by determining which of your duties are time-sensitive and which are less vital. You may find that you are less tense and more focused on your tasks when you concentrate on the quality of your activities rather than quantity.

Ah yes, quality not quantity…process not project.  Enjoy each stitch as a step in the journey. Learn, relax, enjoy and just be one with your work, your knitting.  Keep the joy in what you do. Oh, how could I forget?

The pace of Jóhö has slowed to a crawl
With a constant wish to knit another shawl.
Knitting desires are far beyond the pale,
Too many intentions will lead me to hell.

Kittin' Up Socks

It's another one of those weeks when socks have taken over my knitting, my brain, my imagination.  Part of this love affair is because of KSKS.  My Kit Swap pal had mentioned that Scouts hand dyed yarn was on her 'coveted yarn' list and to fulfill her wish I contacted Scout.   The dyed yarn arrived yesterday and I couldn't wait to pull it out of the bag. Scout perfectly captured the colors of the flower pictures I sent to her as inspiration.  The skein is SO beautiful and I confess it's going to be tough to give up this yarn.  I've been looking for other fun and useful items to put in the 'not yet made' sock kit bag for my pal, too.

Many people left the comment yesterday that socks were good to knit when it's too hot for other things, when your too tired  and anything else would be too complicated, or when you're on the go.  It's the perfect summer knit and I agree.  It's so exiting to think about the next sock and  have several balls of yarn waiting in tote bags, with pattern and needles just ready to go. Cassie's ESK has come in handy to have in my sock bag too, as there has been a bit of bad needle karma the last couple of weeks. I've broken 5 needles by sitting on them, knitting (happened while it was sitting on the table and not in my hand (?), and by snapping them in half while they ride in the bag, Good thing I bought an extra set last week. 

Project Spectrum for July will be as exciting as June, because Purple is going to be easy for me to knit, too.  This sock, in Karen's Sleeping Dragon yarn, is moving along nicely.  The colorway displays a bit of pointillism in purples and lavenders as the slipped stitches move down the leg.  The yarn is also soft and yet has a quality that should make a long wearing fabric.

Birdsong's DyeORama yarn is also pictured, wound and ready to go.  It will become the Little Child's Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.  The dye has very subtle value changes and should make a fun sock to knit and wear.  It will be the next sock in my very long queue of socks to come.

Jóhö has been neglected but, CeCe has been secretly growing. Since she is mostly blue there may be one more FO for PS June under my belt. You can see one funny little sleeve has just been attached so only the yoke and shoulders remain.  Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep my expectations in check...more  details on that and CeCe later.

Pair of Socks #Seven for 2006

Ah yes, yet another pair of socks shows up on a blog.  Socks have become ubiquitous knitting.  While not every knitter knits socks, it seems, given time, many knitters will try (and love and do again and again).  This love affair with socks may have started in the mid-1990s when Nancy Bush published her book Folk Socks and it's grown rapidly from there.  (That's my humble opinion.)  Socks are portable, small enough to go anywhere, rewarding, fulfilling, and useful in the end.  There must be more sock KALs (and patterns) around Blogland than any other type of Knit Along.  We love our socks.

Dave's wonderful hand dyed sock yarn made this sock quite special to knit. The yarn had a nice twist and created a solid fabric that should wear well.  The colors are vibrant and fun to watch as they spiral around the leg, flash at the heel, and continue to spiral down the foot.  It was purely pleasurable knitting and the wearing will be sweet as they are fine enough to fit inside a regular pair of shoes.  The socks spent the day in my purse last Sunday and came out at special times during the day for a photo op here and there.

Six pair of new socks now reside in my sock drawer (and have only been worn for photo shoots), and since summer is such a great time to knit socks, I should have a few more pair of nice new socks come fall.  That factoid gives me much pleasure as covering up my toes can only be good if it happens with hand knit socks.

Pattern:  Openwork Rib from Sensational Socks
Yarn: Parrot colorway from Cabin Cove Mercantile
Time to Knit: 6-01-06 - 6-22-06

The settings on my camera were set properly later in the day Sunday, so I was able to capture this truer color of the sky while the grrls hung around the Gilgal Gardens. 

Blue socks, blue sky, true grrls...it's all good.

Five Silver Lake Vir*gins

First off just let me say my photographic skills, such as they are, failed me completely on Sunday.  Every picture taken was over exposed as I had set the camera to take some indoor photos and hadn't reset it.  Damn, it was such a great day!  Maybe Mim and Laurie will have had better luck. Michaele, Mim, Laurie, Gwen , Janise (a new member to our SnB) and I headed up to Silver Fork for breakfast on Sunday. It was Michaele's last weekend in Utah (she's moving back to Colorado) and we had to show her what she'll be missing. It was great to have 5 grrls along who had never been to Silver Lake. It was a pleasure to introduce them to the beauty just a few minutes out of the Salt Lake Valley.  The sky was a deeper blue than the water in this photo and not the washed out color you see here. 

It was a magical day as if the lake knew we were coming.  It just shimmered in the sun and made an exceptional showing of flora and fauna.  As we rounded a corner we spotted a moose across the lake and ran to find a spot nearby.  It turns out there were 5 moose dining around the lake yesterday but, we only saw...FOUR.  Two bull moose were feasting on willows right off the trail and the one we could see best had a small (just starting to grow) rack in full velvet.  It was too easy to get up close and we did our best to stay out of their way and watch in safety.  Directly across the lake from the large beasts, we saw two calves, surely the two Smith and I spotted a couple of weeks ago.

Later in the day we met up for Sunday Stitch 'n Bitch and then went on together to the Gilgal Garden. This is one of Salt Lake's most unique spots and is known by very few.  We wandered throught the sculputres, relaxed in the shade and read about the wonders built by Mr. Child and even took some time to knit.  It is a strange and kitchy place.

 

It was a fabulous day with grrlfriends but I did miss my Smithy.

We will miss you Michaele and wish you the best in your new home.  Don't be a stranger! 

Sandy's Sky Saturday Begins

That's it....the sky has been blue for some time and this picture is pretty close to the real color today.  Humidity 11%.   Wish you were here.

Here's to no more boring Saturday's in Blogland. Thanks Sandy!

Ah, Friday…

It has been a crazy couple of weeks and last weekend will be hard to top.  There are few things better than hanging out with grrls who get you, who love you, who know you and share many of the same interests (and put up with your crazy driving skills). Carole has been documenting our weekend of revelry very well.  What else would you expect from a librarian?  The down side of travel is how tiring can be. A quiet weekend is much needed but, while it may have been nice to kick back, relax and knit in peace, the SnB grrls are cooking up some fun for Michaele (sadly, she's moving back to Colorado). It will be worth the time to send her off with some Utah wackiness and extra TLC. 

Truthfully, little knitting has been accomplished over the last two weeks.  The only project nearing an end is the Openwork Rib socks in Dave's Parrot yarn. Almost all of the second sock was knit on the way to Estes and back.  The yarn and pattern are great together and made for good car knitting. The toe is near...an FO they will be very soon.

Wednesday was the first chance in some time to sit quietly and knit.  CeCe was nearby and found her way into my lap. Progress was made...the body is up to the armscye and the first sleeve is on the needles. (Did you see Julia's CeCe?  They both look great!)  As soon as the socks and CeCe are finished I'll dive into The Amazing Lace project, Jóhö, with abandon.  She deserves some quality time (along with another pair of socks, of course).

It's the weekend of Claudia's 150 mile MS ride! Let's wish her success.  Generous knitters helped her raise over $15,000!!   And Cara's Spin Out is in Central Park tomorrow...sigh, my heart is with you all.  Cara raised over $10,000 for Heifer International and there is still a chance to  give and win until the 30th! (ETA: link now fixed).  That grrl cooked up some prizes that make it well worth a donation. Claudia and Cara, you two have brought knitters together in such a positive way. Knitters really should take over the world.

The first weekend of summer is already here.  Make it a good one whatever you do!

The Booty

Nothing, but NOTHING, can compare with meeting grrlfriends and spending time together.  The reason for going to a Fiber Festival, or Wool Market, has little to do with fiber or wool...it has everything to do with friends.  If nothing had been purchased and brought home, the trip would have still be a success and full of fun, good times.  A nice bonus is the fiber booty that finds it way home in your bag.

Birdsong and Carole each came bearing gifts of fibery goodness.  Carole picked up a 'skank' of the oft sought after Vesper Sock Yarn as she was amazed I had never tried it. It's the color of a desert sunset and was a perfect choice. Birdsong's gift was a skein of pure silk, in the same color as the yarn she dyed as my Dye-O-Rama pal, and a beautiful bird pin. They make a perfect combo and will soon be made up into a neck scarf that will be held with the pin.  You two grrlfriends are so sweet and I can't wait until we meet again. Thank you for your kindness, laughter, hugs, silliness and generosity.

Cassie was kind enough to send one of her Emergency Sock Kits (along with one of Cara's fabulous cards) as a thank you for knitting her sock pattern (be patient, she's been very busy).  The ESK is beautifully made and will be a perfect companion to my sock bag.  From now on I'll have everything needed to knit and finish a pair of socks at my finger tips.  Thank you Cassie for sharing your talents.

And now, just what you have been waiting for...the Estes Booty.

My first stop was the Plain and Fancy booth to see Grayce and her lovely selection of hand dyed yarn.  This year she had little lace weight (thankfully I bought mine last year) but, I loaded up on beautiful sport weight.  The colorway on the left, called Magenta, will become a sweater (pullover or cardigan to be decided).  The darker color is called Plum and should knit up nicely into Mim's Seraphim shawl. Surely no one is surprised by the colors purchased.

From Skaska this beautiful lace weight merino will become Icarus, another of Mim's fabulous shawl designs, which is in the current  IK magazine. Last, but not least, is a gift for Katherine, as she created the artful design used on our Utah Grrl T-shirts. It's a skein of Brooks Farm's new sock yarn sold only at fiber festivals (for now anyway).  Aija was the winner of last Friday's comment 'contest' and she will receive the Autumn Leaves colorway from Plain and Fancy Wool.  Thank you  for your kind and supportive comments.  It seems that most of you left comments which reflected who you are as a person.  You all rock!

M is for...

Market, as in Estes Wool Market.

This market is has barns full of multiple types of fiber animals...


and many products for knitting, spinning and weaving (to name a few).

M is for Meeting other fiber lovers face to face.

The whole gang in one picture (if you are in the picture please comment) and another of Stephanie, Lisa, me, Jess, Kara, Erin, Karen, Michaele, and Miriam.

Wanda and I have wanted to meet since last years Market as we found out we were both there but, unaware we were both bloggers.  It was great to meet, albeit too briefly, Kim, and Stacey (perhaps others?).  The meet up is a blur but, it was loads of fun. My biggest regret was not being able to talk to all the bloggers I know only through their blogs. (This trip made me realize that I'll be completely overwhelmed by the bloggers I meet at Rhinebeck.)
Also, at the Market was a little eye candy (a cowboy with a suri alpaca) and a thing or two you wish you'd never seen (that's a leather jacket in his left hand).

M is for...

Memories!
All of the above certainly created memories but, hanging with grrlfriends is positively the best memory maker.  We had a duplex condo and took over the whole place. Snow, Jen, Kristi, Amanda, Michaele (who also bought a wheel) and Karen stayed upstairs.  Stephanie, Carole, Birdsong, Anne (sadly not pictured) and I were in the downstairs.  Here we are at our front door.

Me, Birdsong, Carole, Stephanie- Stephanie and Carole (yes, she bought a fleece)...

Jess and Laurie    -   Kristi, Miriam, Karen...

Birdsong, Carole and Stephanie - 3 'Musketeer's' after breakfast at Silver Fork...

Trekking at the Divide - Jen's Best Pie Ever!

Imbrium and the Utah grrls who stayed in another location, joined us for dinner on Saturday. Jen did all the cooking. Her Shepherd's Pie was so tasty and the Strawberry-Peach pie for desert was truly the best pie ever.  This grrl knows her stuff. Fabulous English scones were also served Saturday for breakfast and were beyond compare.  Jen was so sweet to spend time in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove for all of us. We enjoyed every single bite!

The last shot of Estes, as we drove away on Sunday morning, was of this handsome elk near the Big Thompson River and picture of the sky for Sandy.
 

Thanks for the memories everyone! 

Trying to Catch Up

The weekend will be revealded from  the end to the beginning....
Breakfast yesterday. Work today. Estes details to follow.