Zeneedle...needleart as life

Socked

Last Friday night a friend came to stay (hi Jo!) and we sat up knitting and talking into the night. She was knitting socks and I bemoaned it had been such a long time since I'd knit socks, which lead us to look through my sock yarns, a bin full of neglected wonderfulness. I felt inspired by Jo's calm constancy as she knit her sock and by the time she headed home I knew there would be sock on my needles before the end of the day.

Hey look! I'm knitting socks! Instead of using one of the many processed yarns in my stash, I went with a gorgeous handspun from the divine Ms Cookie. The color, the texture, the feel of this yarn is something special and, if all goes well, there may soon be a new pair of socks in my future.

I have not forsaken Chicane. There should be a report on that front soon.

Touching Base

Crazy days in the office
Laughter of grrlfriends all evening
Blog days neglected

I missed my 9th blogging anniversary and missed the first day of spring, but I've been crazy busy either working my fingers to the bone, or laughing with friends. It's all good.

The only picture available for your viewing pleasure (or not) is of me wearing a wonderful cowl Laurie knit for me.

The only thing I remember about this warm and beautifully blue cowl is the yarn, Blue Moon Medium Weight Sock in Midsummers Night. The construction is very cool, as the alternating sections of stockinette disappear, so the lace sections come to the fore. I love the color and love the Laurie hug.

Spring is her fickle self. The weather has gone from blue skies to rain, and snow is in the forecast. No matter the weather I hope you're out enjoying life!! Anything good happening?

Romancing

I knit. Yes, I do and, every now and then, I finish a project. 

Occitan captured my heart from the moment she caught my eye. Little did I know luck was with me the day I wandered into The Uncommon Thread Etsy shop (now closed) to purchase a kit.  Later, one of the SnB grrls told me what a commodity I had.

Part of my wonder with Occitan was why the name? What did it mean? Was it something specific that inspired the design? Was Occitan a time, a place, a feeling, a language? (This is the most interesting link I could find.)  I did see the romance, the elegance, and I could feel the draw of an unusual, far away, place. Whatever Beth's inspiration, through this shawl she took me to a a lovely place with this glorious design. 

The luxurious yarn, a lovely blend of wool/silk/cashmere from of the The Uncommon Thread was exquisite to knit and I loved watching, as the subtle beauty of the hand-dyed yarn slide through my fingers.  As if Occitan wasn't a beautiful enough name, Comulonimbus is the name of the yarn.  It's blue, it's named after a cloud formation, it was clearly meant to be.

Occitan was a magical, delightful project, as each stitch of its elegant simplicty filled me with calm. This was the right project at the right time and it has brought me joy all the way along.

Even more joy came my way as Carole visited Utah just when I needed her skills for a photo shoot! Thank you, Carole, for taking such a great picture of the shawl!
The Uncommon Thread shop is now open here.

The Way Things Go

My usual MO is to stay focused on one or two projects, and I was doing well until Marin and Occitan came along. Their draw was strong, a draw that has been unusual as late, so I decided to jump in and see where this case of startitis would go.

The beginning of Marin seemed to go quiet well and I was excited to be knitting with Kim's yarn (Kashmir Sock). But then, (cue ominous music) the pattern got a little confusing, the chart more so, and even starting again (and again) has had me in a befuddlement. I vented to Cheryl, who had also found the pattern confusing, but she was further along than I. Talking to her helped me get things straight (I hope), but without her advise and support I may have remained befuddled and, in the end, given up.  May the third fourth time be the charm. (I will keep you posted.)

Because of my befuddlement with one project, I decided it was time to start another. Perhaps, thought I, I am a glutton for punishment, but with high hopes, I started Occitan. Right from the beginning everything went smoothly and I was able to understand the instructions and line up the increases properly. I am so relieved, and quiet delighted, with the results of yarn and pattern. The color, Cumulonimbus, has happy written all over it.

Blue Moon

Sometime my reward for being an early riser is the chance to see the moon just before it slips beyond the horizon. On the morning of August 2nd I saw the first moon of this blue moon month.  I may stay up late enough to see the 2nd moon, the blue moon of August on the 31st, and maybe even catch it at both ends of the day. 

Day After Day

Pretty great skies, right? For the most part, July's skies were blue, sometimes streaked or dotted with interesting cloud formations.

Even when we were subject to extreme heat (100+) the skies were beautiful, not the hazy white skies, filled with layers of smog and ozone, we've suffered through in years past.

Great sunrises and sunsets have graced the skies, as have a few days of scattered showers and not quite realized thunderstorms.

While writing this post it came to me that I have not touched the Sky Skarf since July 1st, half way, and the point I should be starting to decrease.

Being at the point (pun intended) of a project growing smaller is something to celebrate, which I may do by catching up a months worth of rows. Um, yeah, that would be a good idea, no?

Tattered Sky

Dear Sky Skarf-

You are not as beautifully executed as Cheryl's elegant scarf, but that doesn't mean I don't love you. Well, maybe I'm just a little envious of Cheryl's talent with yarn and pattern. However, I realize the way you look is my fault. I am a slap-dash knitter and I tell myself I'll never wear you so, what does it matter if my increases are a little awry, or whether weaving in the ends makes a bit of a mess on the back?

You are the day to day diary of my sky with no days off...every cloudy, rainy, snowy, blue-sky day recorded for a whole year! You are an amazing project and when you think about the commitment I've made to you, and the scope of this commitment...well...

Oh, dear. That's big.  I think I need a lie down.

Blue skies to you, my friends!

One Day at a Time

It would have been nice to collect an album of 365 sky pictures, but I knew it would never happen.  The days are short this time of year, the camera gets left behind, or the memory doesn't kick in until it's much too late. Therefore, pictures of the sky will be taken as often as they can be.  

The sunrises have been puny, the few sunsets I've seen have had no glow, and the sky has been a soft, hazy blue.  The inversion hasn't taken hold and the only (partial) day of gray led to a small amount of snow.  You might say, nothing much is happening. 

Lacy Baktus is small, at this point, each row is under a dozen stitches.  If there isn't time to knit a row one day I can catch up rather quickly the next. You can see just that one little row of gray, and the next two rows (days), at least, will be back to blue, the same blue.

Each day I write down the time of day, and the color of the sky, in a little journal. If a few days go by, and I haven't had a chance to knit the rows, I can catch up with my notes. My hope is there will be day after day of blue skies, different colors of blue, but blue nonetheless. The little bit of salmon pink in the sunrise reminds me I must find just the right color to capture the many sunrises and sunsets I see throughout the year.

Comes Around

For the next few days the cold is taking hold. The skies are blue, but the "i-word", is being bandied about and from my window the view is somewhat hazy. This is not my favorite winter condition...far from it.

The carport garden Smith built never quite got off the ground, as the seeds were sown a little late in the year. They didn't germinate and grow as expected due to the cold October we had. A few baby leaves of lettuce and kale have been thrown into salads, but over all the ground awaits the returned of the sun (as do I).

While I was checking out the very small, and now frozen, radish plants, Smith decided to snap a photo of my finally finished, Mondo Cable Pulli. I let this project go dormant a couple of times during the process and wasn't sure I'd ever bother to tie up loose ends. However, I'm glad I did, as it is happily off the needles, and on my body.

I made a few modifications, such as limiting the "trapeze" effect of the body and lengthening both body and sleeves. Short rows were added to the back right under the armscye. This little trick keeps the back from riding up unflatteringly. Other "mods" were more mistakes than true mods and I don't, usually, confess my knitting errors.

Bonne Marie's pattern has some very cool techniques, such as the way she finishes the neck band. The trick is simple elegance and it brought a smile to my face, as it was just so creative.  At first I thought it would be hard to make the neck band look smooth, like it was one piece, but by following the instructions the neck band looks lovely.

This sweater also reminded me (one more time) that I'm not a fan of raglans. The shoulders feel too snug, simply not as comfortable as set-in sleeves...I think I've knit my last. I'm also not a fan of worsted weight pullovers, another thing to be wary of in the future. The yarn wasn't a favorite (maybe it's the pullover problem), but the color is exceptional.  

So, back to the garden...we're dreaming and planning what we'd like to plant in the box come March. Salad lettuces, herbs, and greens we can cut and eat immediately will be mostly likely.  Lists are being made in anticipation of ordering seeds late next month. We know the season of snow (although not much has arrived) will give way to the growing season, eventually.

Where Does it Go?

The weekend goes by too quickly, especially this weekend, as there was much to do to catch up with myself from the crazy, busy week.  As a reward for a weekend of hard work, I picked up a couple of amaryllis, one red, one white, at least I hope they will be in the future.

Following in Teresa's footsteps seemed like the right thing to do. It's going to be awhile before there's much to see, but as the pots sit on the table in the sunny fiber/guest room, it will be fun to watch as they grow and blossom.

All weekend the skies were gray and gloomy, with nary a bit of blue peeking through. While the clouds would normally bother me, I was moving at the speed of light, packing as much as possible into a day, and I hardly had time to notice, to look up!  

However, each evening I took a bit of time to knit, to work on the "Utah (Blue) Skies" gloves.  The traveling stitches sometimes travel in the wrong direction, which means the only thing to do is tink back, but the gloves move forward, even though forward movement is slow at times. (The side facing away from the camera is the stockinette palm and thumb stitches.  Maybe I should have shown that side as it proves there is progress. Maybe next time.)

It's Monday, a long week looms, and it's going to be very cold for a couple of days.  I'm looking forward to that longest night and the (slow) return of the sun.