Zeneedle...needleart as life

Up, Up and Away

Saturday morning found us on our way to the airport.  Soon after boarding the plane, we were flying over the Great Salt Lake.  On we went through Nevada and over Lake Tahoe where the smoke from the surrounding fires hung over the mountains. It was easy to see Birdsong has been suffering with the poor air quality.

Before long we were over California and the San Francisco Bay while on approach to the Oakland airport.

We had a wonderful time at the wedding of Smith's niece, Rahel and her partner, Caroline. There are few things in life as awe inspiring as two people who are in love and who are totally committed to each other.  The wedding could not have been more fun or more perfect.

Before we knew it we are on our way back, flying over hill and dale, over the Great Salt Lake and landing back at home.  It was a quick, enjoyable and fabulous trip.

O is for On (an airplane) and Over (Nevada) the only way to travel to Oakland.

Crazy Busy

While still in the process of catching up with myself (home and work), processing pictures, and enjoying time with grrlfriends (SnB was last night), this is all I can muster for the day.  There was not as much knitting time on the trip as I thought (is there ever?) and learning the repeat lace pattern of Susan's new On the Vine Scarf was slow going (I blame airport distractions). The pattern will be on Susan's blog later today. It's loads of fun to knit and very beautiful.  The Malabrigo Lace yarn is soft and heavenly, not only wonderful to knit, but it should make a warm and cuddley buffer from the cold this winter.  Now that the pattern repeat is programmed (properly) into my memory the process should go more quickly.

Isn't it yummy?

Pass the Hat

Actually, I mean pass the haiku, cause that just what TeresaC did. She passed it to Sandy, who passed it to me, and I'm passing it to Carole, who will pass it to one of you AND we'll start the journey of a very long and successful Haiku game.  Are you ready?

Terry started with:

Steam heated
Lightning splits dark skies
Dramatic summer storms.

Sandy added:

Steam heated
Lightning splits dark skies
Dramatic summer storms.
Winds howl through the leaves
Bird clutching branches tight.

My contribution:

Steam heated
Lightning splits dark skies
Dramatic summer storms.
Winds howl through the leaves
Bird clutching branches tight.
Clouds dance in circles
Clean laundry snaps on the line
Warm rain falls in sheets

(Read Terry and Sandy's posts as they have good explanations of what we're doing. I'm on the run! See ya.)

Goofing Off

Today is a State Holiday in Utah. A HUGE State Holiday....the biggest State Holiday.  There is a bigass parade, lots of celebrating, barbecuing, and fireworks at the end of the day.  The best thing about today is I can stay home, knit and drink martinis, mojitos (which I don't care for much), or margaritas.  Maybe I'll stick with a tonic instead. Whatever I drink, I do plan to drink (starting at the cocktail hour of 4:00pm)...it's the thing to do. It's the rebel in me that makes me talk about (and actively pursue) drinking on Pioneer Day.

Since I won't be around for a Saturday Sky picture, let's do it today.  We've had clear skies for a couple of days....clear and partly cloudy anyway, as the storms have blown away any lingering smoke.  It's been a lovely summer, for the most part, without too many days above 100 (unlike last year when I thought I'd melt).

If you check "Friends Activity" regularly on Ravelry, you might have noticed my glove obsession.  The Sock Mojo may be replaced with Glove Mojo. Not a bad thing, eh? Winter is coming. I know you don't want to hear it (and I'm not too crazy about it, either), but it is reality and my plan is to be warm.  There maybe fingerless gloves in my future and maybe a pair of mittens, but what I want (now) is fingers, gloves with fingers.  Maybe even every finger a different color. (I've done that before and would love to do it again.)  There will be gloves, loads of gloves (at least one or two pair) and, if there is time, I'll start a glove on the trip.

The one thing I don't want to be without on this trip is knitting, enough knitting. From the sounds of it we'll be waiting for long periods of time and, since I'm not a patient waiter, knitting will get me through the long hours. Therefore, there is airplane/airport knitting, relaxed, easy knitting and small portable knitting all packed and ready to go. Good knitters plan and pack necessary knitting first, right? Enough knitting. Right?  This is one time when too much of a good thing is never enough.  One never knows....we must all be like boy scouts, prepared for anything.   

Salina will be finished today (w00t!) and the photo shoot will happen in Berkley, California...at least that's the plan.  I'll be taking tomorrow through Tuesday off from the blog.  Packing, traveling, having a good time, etc. will be the agenda and, since I have no portable blogging devise of any sort, you'll have to live without me for a few days. 

Enjoy your weekend and see you next week!

First Up

With only two projects on the needles, a nightlife filled with ice (not in a drink) and elevated feet, this Jill is a boring grrl. Salina races toward the finish line, Emmylou sits alone as treadling with a sore foot isn't in the cards, and the Black Velvet scarf grows slowly. There is a little pre-trip laundry gonig on, but looking at life from a recliner is not that exciting.  That means another lame post is yours for the reading. TeresaC cracked me up with her version of this meme. I sadly have no story as funny as her cricket suicide.

1. Who was your first prom date? Prom? No prom dates, no dates. I was the too tall, too thin, too shy kid no one knew. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
2. Do you still talk to your first love?  No.  We were 6 years old and met while playing cowboys on the dirt hills of our new subdivision.  His horse was a black stallion, mine was a paint.  He was tall, dark and handsome. His name was Larry.
3. What was your first alcoholic drink? A Tom Collins. I was of legal age (totally boring and safe).
4. What was your first job? Short (hahahaha) order cook in an A&W Drive In. Fired for undercooking the burgers. It was a crocked up charge as the other cook was more "willing" than I was.
5. What was your first car? Here's where I get cool. It was a 1971 Midnight Blue, Triumph Spitfire. It had a hard top and a soft top...so very cool and fun.  It ran about half the time. Bastard.
6. Who was the first person to text you today? Does email count?
   
7. Who is the first person you thought of this morning? Me.  Then Max (who is technically not a person) because he was also up at 5:00am.
   
8. Who was your first grade teacher? My memory only goes back to third grade and Mrs. Ockey. First grade was 52 years ago so I'm forgiven, right?
9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane? In 1976 I flew to Washington DC with a grrlfriend. I had a very bad earache and it was miserable. The rest of the trip was great.
   
10. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends? Craig, who lived next door and played Ballerina dolls with me.  Larry lived up the street. The three of us were friends from the ages of 5-10.
    
11. What was your first sport played? Sports? Not a sports fan. The sport that gives me the most nightmares was volleyball as I was hit in the face on a regular basis.
    
12. Where was your first sleepover? I have no memory of it, but I stayed with a baby sitter (there is photographic evidence) when I was about a year old and my parents went away for a few nights.
    
13. Who was the first person you talked to this morning?   Laurie, via email. If that doesn't count then it was saying good morning to Moxie who was also up at 5:00am. He is technically not a person.  (I also talk to myself on occasion.)
    
14. Whose wedding were you first in? My Aunt Valene's.  I was her flower grrl at the age of 5. My dress was butter yellow with a large white lace collar.  I was very cute.
    
15. What was the first thing you did this morning? Pee
    
16. What was the first concert you went to? It must have been a Utah Symphony Concert. But, my first rock concert was the Steve Miller Band (1968). Big Ol' Jet Airliner! wooeeeee!
    
17. What was your first tattoo or piercing? Ears 1972, one hole each. Boring, but there you have it.
    
18. What was the first foreign country you went to? Canada, for about 2 hours.
    
19. What was your first run in with the law? 1968. The cops tried to bust us for pot and came to the house with guns drawn. (Three of us were roommates and we always had a bunch of "hippies" crashing on the floor.)  They couldn't find a thing.  The "joints" were hand-rolled cigarettes butts (not mine).  We were starving students and couldn't afford to get high (or smoke real cigarettes). Back then we were scared and grateful, today we'd sue.
    
20. When was your first detention? I was a good grrl. Really I was.
21. What was the first state you lived in? Idaho
    
22. Who was the first person to break your heart? I don't remember her name, but she betrayed our friendship in 5th grade. I was heartbroken about it and just didn't understand. She was a bitch.
    
23. Who was your first roommate? Arlene, Marcia and Rose
    
24. Where did you go in your first limo ride? There have been so many I just can't remember the first. :-D

Shocking Salina

Thank you everyone for the good healing wishes.  It's actually the foot, not the ankle and it seems I blew out a blood vessel...no sprain.  Ice (and anti-inflammatories) has reduced the swelling.  The foot still has a blue tinge, but overall it's better...I'm walking without undue pain.  I will call the airport and use the cart to get to the gate, which we all know will be as far as possible from the entrance. (You know that's always how things work, so why not be prepared?)  There has been a large amount of knitting going on while I keep up the icing (it's pure icing on the cake, all this forced knitting).  Poor me. (Eh, wink, wink.) Being a very good blogger, I thought of taking a picture, truly I did. In fact, several times I thought of taking a picture, but I just couldn't do that to you, dear friends.  It was in your best interest that picture taking was skipped, as just the sight of it may have caused you to faint dead away and I wouldn't be able to help you up. See, this blog is all about you.

The minute I saw the Shocking Pink Silky Wool I knew it was a rare gem.  Elsebeth Lavold's colors are usually more muted and subdued, so seeing the vibrant, and shocking, pink mixed in with her other colors was pure delight and, well, a shock.  I bought every skein Black Sheep had in stock without hesitation. Sweater quantities of yarn usually don't become stash when there is no known project. But the skeins were "my" color and I had faith the right project would present itself.

The skeins must have been in the stash about a year before I realized Salina, a sweater on my must knit list for longer than that, was the perfect project.  You might remember last months day of discovery and now, here is Salina nearing the finish line. The second sleeve is about half finished and with the extra knitting time (due to foot injury and Thursday's State Holiday) she may make her debut while on our (short) trip to California for a family wedding.

But first, the quest must begin to find the perfect buttons. 

The first stop tuned out to be the only stop on my trek home.  Fashion Affair has a wonderful selection and they had my dream button.  Too bad mother-of-pearl doesn't photograph well as this little treasure cast a beautiful translucent light of pink, green, white and gray.  They were soon mine and we all headed home to ice up the foot and knit the rest of the sleeve.  The finish line is within sight!

Knitter Down

Lame post ahead (hey, just thought of that this morning). Bad sprain, two days with  a foot on ice, not exactly fun. Although, I did hang out with friends and knit while foot was on ice.  Can't complain too loudly if you can get some sympathy, knit and gab while icing a foot, no?  I did not think to take pictures of the egg-sized blue knot on the side of my foot (which did disappear after enough ice), impressive though it was.  The foot is still swollen and there is no way a shoe will fit (thank goodness it's sandal season)!  I'll keep you informed as healing progresses (or not).  Anyway, there isn't much to show for the weekend ,as any plans made were canceled or changed. 

As I said, there was plenty of knitting.  I HAD to cast on for Susan's new scarf, as it will be weekend airplane knitting. (Hopefully I'll not be hobbling through airports.)

The pattern is easy to memorize and the yarn (Malabrigo Lace) is so heavenly soft it may be illegal. This will be a warm, soft and lovely scarf for my neck this winter. 

It's very difficult (I kid!) to live around great minds like Susan and Miriam, who always have such wonderful ideas.  In truth our SnB group feels very lucky to have such great minds in our midst.  Mim's new shawl is going to be so spectacular (we do get sneak previews), so when I saw the perfect colorway in Ruth's gorgeous yarn, I had to order and have it ready and waiting.  This is Sunbleached Bluefaced Bliss.  It's perfectly named, fabulously soft and will make a warm and cuddly shawl. 

Ok, now please excuse me while I go put my foot up and knit.

Golden Tree Saturday Sky

Every summer this tree becomes golden with seeds.  They make the street a mess, but the vivid color against the sky is something I love to see.  Maybe   Laurie or Manise know what kind of  tree this is, as I have no clue.

This morning the full moon was still up to greeted me as walked out to the patio.  Summer mornings are so lovely.  We still have a little smoke coming our way from California, thus the haze.

Shear Spirit

Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns & Miles of Yarn (Isn't that a great subtitle?)

Gale and Joan crisscrossed this country visiting farms, ranches and the people who have found their fibery passion and built their lives around it. The fruit of their collaboration is the book Shear Spirit, a beautiful book full of animals, people, projects and the places they live.

No matter your favorite fiber craft, whether knit, spin, weave or crochet, chances are you'll love this book and find it inspirational and usable.  Gale's photographs of animals and the countryside, in combination with Joan's stories of the artisans who tend them, will take you on a wonderful adventure. The book shares in depth stories of how the farms were started, the problems faced and overcome, and the daily lifestyle of fiber ranch/farm life.

If you love sheep (and other fiber animals), beautiful pictures, and fabulous projects (doesn't every knitter?!), you'll love this book.  Several projects from the book have been added to my queue.  The Luna Lace Scarf is on my short list, as is the Noho Boho hat.  Maybe I'll spin the yarn, too.  So many possibilities!

Speaking of spinning…I'm so far behind in the Tour de Fleece that I may as well drop out.  Together the fluff and spun fiber on the bobbin total 1 oz. and that means I've not even spun half an ounce!  It would take days of constant spinning to stay in the running and have any hope of finishing this by the end of the Tour.  I'll keep plugging away, as I love what's going on…it just seems races and alongs are no longer 'my thing'.

Miles to go before the end....sigh.

Several people wanted to know what I was holding in my hand yesterday. It's the eye glass case. When she pulled the case from the cupboard Smith got asked, "How did they know?"  There it was a pink eyeglass case!  The blue frames had called to me from across the room and I didn't look at anything else.   They glasses are Kate Spade, but I'd just as soon they were Sponge Bob like Teri's. The case is rather cute, however.

Since it is Flower Friday, how about a little pretty.

Poppies in Park City.

Happy Weekend!!

Scarves are the New Socks

Lauren, a Ewe-tah grrl extraordinaire, had a contest for her 500th post and I was the lucky winner.  Lauren is a fabulous knitter and spinner and the rest of us are always amazed at the beautiful, unique projects she brings for show and tell.  She spun a coiled yarn, and then, knit a hat with it!  She really does awesome work.

While I'm touting one of our own, I may as well share with you Susan's new scarf pattern. She gave me a preview copy and I'm working it up in a fabulously soft and lovely yarn, Malabrigo Lace  (color Garnet. Oh it's so yummy!). The pattern should be available soon and it is fun to do. Don't like nupps? Use beads. Me? I'm a nupper…love me some nupps.  Nupps are easy peasy if you use an Addi Lace Needle (or Knitpicks Options work, too).

No need to worry, I won't give up on the Japanese Waves Scarf.  I love the yarn too much and the pattern, together with the yarn, creates a quality I love.  Maybe others don't see it, but it looks vintage and velvety and I can see it around my neck with a lovely vintage pin.  The vision of a finished product is a good way to keep the process alive. (It will look better blocked, I promise.)

And speaking of scarves…I have not given up on my handspun version of Lace Ribbons. Rachel asked what had happened to it and I must confess that it was frogged.  NOT permanently! Just temporarily, as the needle size was too big for the yarn and the yarn (angora blend) was too sticky for July knitting.  As soon as the weather lightens up, cools down, and angora doesn't stick to my hands, we'll get back together.  The pattern and yarn made a nice combo and it's another wonderfully soft, warm scarf that see will keep me warm. (I'm so concerned about being, feeling warm enough during the upcoming winter, I may even knit some leg warmers.)

Here's the "new do". I don't do much to my do and realize the new do is a lot like the old do, just shorter.  You'd think when you tell your stylist that you'd like to grow your do they wouldn't do their best to chop it all off, now would you?  Anyhoo, if it didn't look so cute and I didn't love it, I would be mad at him.

And the other new?  GLASSES! I've only ever worn readers, but now at a certain distance things become blurry.  It feels good to see clearly again.