Zeneedle...needleart as life

Weekending

Happy things from the weekend include:

Finishing a pair of Susan's mitts
Sending them a friend
Driving to Park City on clear roads
Spending a lovely evening with friends who are here to ski
Safely navigating through fog on our return trip
Staring at a bluetifully blue Sunday sky (I'll share pictures later)
Time with my wheels and feeling wool slide through my fingers
Quiet time to reconnect with Henley
Being away from the computer
Checking on Smith's poo pots
Drinking a dark chocolate latte while visiting with knitting friends
Laughing, talking about books with the same friends
Not watching the Oscars

Weekending is inspired by Amanda

TGIF

You may have heard about Norma and her comment contest.  For some reason I have been able to best her when it comes to comments. I will never try to best her with humor, words, or the number of words in a post.   Norma is NORma. Anyhoo, she is trying to catch up and, in all likelihood, she will surpass, within days, my comment milestone of 60,000.

Knitting time has been at a premium this week, so instead of kniting progress, here is "my spot".  There are two things about this spot I want you to note.  Before the dejunking of this room the futon was constantly covered with detritus.  Piles of yarn, books, patterns, knitting, and anything else that needed to be put away, or thrown away, ended up here.  This room was intended to be my fiber refuge and it ended up being a refuge of junk.

I am very pleased to say the room has stayed organized and clean of extra crap and there is a place for everything and everything is in its place.  Here is where a sigh of relief is uttered. I now have a room of my own.

The second things I'd like you to note is the swift and ball winder set up.  Yep, that's where they stay unless company is coming (because the futon is also the guest bed). It's nice to have a swift and ball winder at the ready as you never know when a skein will cry out to be wound and knit. 

The swift is around 18 years old and, as you can see, the years have worn away the original arm connectors.  I have no memory of the connections, as when they gave way, they were replaced with a anything at hand and, over the years, my swift has become adorned with colorful ties.  Yarn is always handy, and through all the abuse of winding skein after skein, my swift has been ever ready.

Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to sit in the room and knit.  Or, I could sit and spin as this is where my wheels also live.  They're at the ready, too!

Happy Weekend, everyone!

It's About Time

It takes time to knit a beautiful pair of mittens.

It takes time to deal with life when it comes at you from all sides and Suzy's had more than her fair share lately.

It takes time to get two people together when the weather is cooperative, and. lately, the weather has been far from cooperative.

But, when things work like a waterclock, and everything falls into place, we get to show off how we spent our time. 

Suzy and I have new mittens!

 
It was a cold and sunny day, so we decided to go out and hug a tree.  We didnt care if the tree had a fungus (Smith's is turning all master gardener on us and told us it wasn't moss). The color was a spectacular backdrop for our lovely Clepsydra Mittens so we hugged away.

The yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Candied Yams and Steel Cut Oats, with black for the cuffs.  We both agreed it was fun to knit the pattern and the yarn, as the design flowed in a peaceful and easy way.

We knit our mittens independently, as there wasn't much time to get together. However, this pattern gave us hours of good entertainment and, even when we weren't knitting, we were talking about it.

We are both very happy with our lovely, warm and timeless mittens.
(The alpaca yarn we can live without.)

My mitten is Raveled here, Suzy's is Raveled here.

Kirsten has an eBook with both the Clepsydra mitten and the hat. The fun is not to be missed.

The time to knit mittens is over, thus ends Mitten Madness.

Ahhh, I Needed That

A holiday is even better when it looks like this...

Of course, the beautiful white mountain is brought to you by Sunday's snowstorm, which means yesterday was dang cold!  The ice stopped me from walking before the sun came up but, I headed out as soon as the ice melted and took the camera along. The day was beautiful and dressing in warm woollies made my walk comfortable.

Mother Nature has a way with color and texture, more so than any yarn company or knitter.  A gnarled trunk of gray and rust creates a backdrop for moss of green and gold. The icing of snow is a nice enhancement.

Usually, I walk under the stars, but walking with the blue sky and fluffy white clouds has its benefits. By looking up, I saw branches of trees tenuously holding last years nest. It made me wonder if the birds returned to repaired their homes or move on to build something new.

 
There maybe something to this walking in the sunlight, as I spotted a tree Edward Gorey may have had a hand in sculpting.  Once it's covered with leaves the unique character of it's shape could disappear.

This walk was all about the trees, or so it seems, and when I ran across a trunk covered with a layer of bright gold, I knew it would be a perfect place for a photo shoot.

I put in a call to Suzy and we had some fun...

Weekend Extension

Smith made delicious blueberry pancakes and oven bacon (the only way to go). 

The weekend has been a little on the hectic side, as we enjoy a house full of friends on Saturday, and tried to catch up with things on Sunday. Today we plan a quiet day of restoration.  The sun is shining at the moment and I think a walk is in order.  Happy Presidents Day!

I just found out I won a prize in Jessa Lu's contest! squeeee!

A Quick Note

My friend Jess is celebrating her SIXTH Blogiversary and she's having a contest. I wouldn't want you to miss out on her beautiful prizes (and I would like a chance, too).  If you mention I sent you she'll give me and extra chance and you can get an extra chance by passing on the word, as well. 

Now, if you don't mind, please read about my new favorite mitts in the post below.  Happy Weekend!!

My Favorite Mitts

Many times I've dreamed of mitts long enough to cover my arm and long enough in the hand to cover my fingers and for that reason, the minute Susan brought her new creation to SnB I went crazy over it. Everyone there went crazy over it. She had a winner.

There is something about mitts, knitting and wearing them, that attracts me. They make quick, portable projects for on the go and I love the warmth on my hands and wrists, along with the freedom of uncovered fingers. Following Susan's lead I used Malabrigo Rios, a yarn I love, in Azul Profundo. Azul Profundo! How's that for a name!

Leave it to Susan to figure out how to make a well fitting mitt, with an awesome thumb, a top that can be flipped up or turned down, and a long (or short cuff). This is the mitt for all season.

Thereare too many lovely yarns in so many colors and they feed my mitt addiction.  Now, I'm asking myself the question, "Would it be silly to knit a different color mitt for every day of the week?   I might just do it anyway.

 

Just because you'll ask: Susan's new creation is only available at Blazing Needles (with the  purchase of yarn).

Ragtop by Susan Lawrence
Raveled here

Happy a nice long weekend, everyone!!

All is Not Lost

A friend was bemoaning her knitting progress and how many times she had knit, found a mistake, and needed to reknit a large potion of her project.  She said it was not fun.

Granted, it is not fun and it does not create good feelings about this craft when it is rife with error. The project may sail across the room, followed by many "technical terms" but, at some point, we pick it up and start again. Knitting errors are not like breaking a favorite teacup. Knitting can be fixed, it is within our control, and it can be put back on track.

Many times I have needed to frog, tink back, or completely restart a project. Perhaps there are people who can knit all the way through without error, but it will never be me. It is in my nature to misread, or misstep, with my knitting and the only thing to do is to begin again. 

I feel as if I am an expert in the art of reknitting. My beautiful Henley is a mess and it's by my own hand, by my lack of knowledge of the yarn and how it would work with the pattern.  A big swatch might have helped me figure it out, but I didn't knit one, and even then, it may not given a complete answer. The point is, the sweater is waa-aay too long. I'm telling myself it's because I loved knitting the pattern and loved working with the yarn, both of which are true. However, the real truth is, I was not paying close enough attention.

With the realization we were headed for a trip to the frog pond, my heart was broken for a time, and I knew a separation was necessary. Time apart has been good for us and now I am ready to face the task. A few inches will be frogged and the process of reknitting, and finishing, my beautiful blue Henley will begin.

Lots of Love

When Sunday looks like this...

...nothing happens on the blog.  There is no doubt my emotional ups and downs are largely driven by the color of the sky.  If it remains gray day after day after day, I'll take a dive into a gray mood but, if the sky is any shade of blue, with perhaps a bit of fluffy white thrown in, I'll be a smiley happy soul.  Our patio faces south and it was bathed in sunlight for part of the afternoon.  We sat, faces turned upwards, basking in the light.

Yesterday was the declared day of love and, while we're not big on obligation days, Smith the Romantic surprised me with a treat.  After I went to bed Sunday night he taught himself the art of hand dipping strawberries into chocolate. I nearly burst into tears the next morning when I opened the refridgerator to find a dish of sweet confection inside. The guy knows how to make a grrl happy.

Favorite Thangs

Scattered thoughts have been hard to pull together and instead of trying to make sense of any one idea, I decided to make a list of good things, favorite things, happy things. 

At the top of my favorites list is a snow covered mountain paired with beautiful blue sky. This view is better than aged wine. Monday was bitterly cold and I nearly froze my fingers off taking this picture but, as you can see, it was worth it.

The extra layers of clothing we've been wearing maybe coming off, as warmer temperatures move in for the weekend. A reprieve from winter is always welcome.

However, I know there will be plenty of days ahead to wear my favorite, perfectly warm, new mittens.  Kirsten not only designed the mittens, she's designed a matching hat!  I fear I will be heading back to the yarn shop for another ball of yearn yarn.  (Does anyone else type yearn when they mean yarn or yarn when they mean yard?)  You can also buy the pair as an ebook.  Ebooks are my new favorite way to buy knitting patterns. Do not worry there will be a better photo shoot to show off my favorite new mittens.

Another of my favorite thangs are the seedlings popping through the soil in Smith's improvised "green house".  He installed grow lights and shelving under our basement stairs and turned the space into a mini-growing station.   Little seedlings of salad greens, broccoli, cabbage, and tomatoes have started their growing process. 

Another of my favorite things is giving yarn and goodies away.  Thank you to everyone  commented last week while I celebrated 1800 posts and 60,000 comments.  Laurie, of Etherknitter fame, left the 60,000th comment and since she is a dear friend it seems quite appropriate.  I'll show her gift after she receives it.

Another Laurie, this one of The Art of Tying Holes Together, was the winner of the "grand prize", Miriam Felton's book Twist & Knit.  Laurie may or may not be happy to receive the skein of handspun which should be enough for the Comfy Shawl. (I know she likes purple, but the yarn could be another matter.)

Mr. Yarndude won the prize of Shibui Sock and a notions bag. Hopefully the colors will be something he likes and will use.  Dear reader, please scroll down a bit in Peter's latest post to see his beautiful "Blue Whale", a design by Stephen West.  I'll be waiting impatiently until its "general public" release in April.  So many fabulous new patterns, so little time!!

Happy Weekend, everyone!!