Woolythyme

yarnalong...WIP Wednesday

100-year-old-man proved to be the almost perfect beach read....if it had been a bit longer---PERFECT!   It was light, quite imaginative, didn't need total focus to enjoy, funny, totally charming.  I loved it, and am not quite sure I'll be able to get into the much more serious The Keeper of Secrets.   This story is set during Nazi Germany and the present--about Simon Horowitz, his violin, and love of music---and his grandson, Daniel who inherited that love, lost it, and found it again with help of a kind conductor.  I just started it.  Too soon to tell how drawn in I'll get.

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I brought Leaves of Grass with me to the beach.  I was very naive to think that I was really more than halfway when I started the final chart!!!  (Thanks, Lori!!!!   I probably wouldn't have brought along all the remaining 5!!! skeins, and it's going to take every bit of it!)  It's moving along nicely, mainly because our first two days were so beautiful and so sunny and so windy.....(and it had been a whole year since I had been on the beach).....that I got SOOOO sun-burned!!!!  (I was slathered with 50, promise!)

L-O-Grass and I are now having some quality time alone in the shade on the porch-- overlooking the sun, the beach, the pool and the other burned members of my family who can't pull themselves away from all the fun.  Knitting in this perfect setting!???  Most definitely FUN! 

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joining Ginny for Yarnalong and Tami for WIP Wednesday

Yarnalong...WIP Wednesday

 

Look familiar?  Grey yarn, black bowl?  Same bowl, but different yarn/different project.  Promise.  

 

I dragged out Leaves of Grass.  I had only gotten several rounds into it---trying to convince myself that the two (of eight) center stitches that somehow got knit into the back instead of the front and twisted would never be noticed (and believe me, they wouldn't have been.  Can you see them?  The Rav picture was taken before I ripped out).  Didn't work.  HAD to start over.  For a change, I didn't wait until I was several inches into it before ripping.  Usually, if something bothers me on row 2, I wait until row 82 before deciding to rip it out.  Why do I do that????  Drives me crazy.

 

 I'm now well on my way.  Just starting chart D (knit 2x), then E, then.....ta-dah!!  I'm having a rather hard time believing that it's really going to take all 5 skeins I have left to finish.  If it does, it means I'm only 1/2 way.....which means that Ta-Dah moment isn't coming any time soon.

 

 

I'm reading Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson.  I've followed her blog (of the same name) for quite some time, and while there is much to learn and even more to admire, I've pretty much convinced myself that zero waste will never work for me.  Note:  this is ZERO waste---not just recycling.  Limiting junk mail (actually all mail)--to zero.  Bringing in NO excess packaging of anything.  No tubes of toothpaste, so you make your own from bulk materials you carry home in jars and bags.  Make your own cosmetics.  Nail polish?  too many chemicals.  banned.  Of course, she's right about it all.  We only have one planet--and we really aren't treating it very well.  She simply has much more energy than I have, because not only does she walk the talk---but she's an activist and has convinced many major companies to change their wasteful ways.  She's my hero.  She makes major strides.  I find a few baby steps that make me feel better.

(But note:  even she decided that scavenging for lichen and moss to use instead of potty paper was going too far!!)

 

joining Ginny for Yarnalong and Tami for WIP Wednesday!

 

 

 

 

Bridgewater

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Bridgewater.  Blocked.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Yarnalong and WIP Wednesday.....

Bridgewater is knit....not blocked.  It's huge and I'm still debating how the blocking might happen.  One side at a time?  Cordon off a room?  ????  So, it's finished....just not FINISHED.

Last week, while 'reorganizing' the  yarn closet , I found a few projects that had -- for one reason or another -- been put in time-out.  Some much longer than others.  The lace-edged cardigan was one such find. (You sort of had a sneak peak yesterday.)   It was started as a sweater for a grand-daughter...who has no love of sweaters at all, being a hot-natured little one.  It was rather selfish of me to try to foist this on her----or any of her hot-natured siblings, and honestly.....how many years would it take for any of them to 'grow into' this thing?  Back in the 90s when this pattern was written, Debbie Bliss sized her children's patterns quite generously.  So generously, that I'm pretty sure knitting the size for an 8 year old is going to fit me.  I'm giving it a try.  We'll see.

Books?  I just started the Age of Desire by Jennie Fields.  It's an historical novel about Edith Wharton, with her real letters and diary entries scattered throughout-- told from the points of view of Edith and her secretary, Anna Bahlmann.  I've hardly started it, but I'm thinking already that I need to  pause at some point and read The Age of Innocence or The House of Mirth to really enjoy this.  (Never read ANYthing by Edith Wharton. How is that possible?  Am I the only one never exposed to this famous lady?)

 

It's starting out OK, but having just finished listening to The Sandcastle Girls, anything I pick up next is  going to have to be an incredibly well written story to begin to stir the emotions and garner the attention of Chris Bohjalian's tale of the Armenian genocide during WWI.  It's a story that resonates long after the last page is turned (or read!).

What are you reading???  Any good beach book suggestions?????  ( hee, hee---hint, hint....guess where we're going in a couple weeks???! ) 

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Joining with Ginny for Yarnalong and Tami for WIP Wednesday.

Oh...to be 8 years old!

 From:   Great Knits for Kids--27 Classic Designs for Infants to 10 Years Old by Debbie Bliss.

Look at the sizing.....!!

 

 

I think it will fit me!

pretty in pink...

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I completely understand how this Traveling Woman shawl ended up multiple times in my favorites.  First of all, it truly would be the perfect traveling project----large enough to keep you knitting throughout a trip, but using only a single ball of yarn, so you can travel lightly.  The lacey border is the only part requiring any attention whatsoever, but it's a very easy, intuitive pattern, so even then, you can certainly enjoy your travels while knitting away.

The pattern is written for x-small, small, medium, large, and x-large sizes---in lace, fingering, dk, and worsted yarns....and from the variety of samples present on ravelry (all 7589 of them!), you can see the amazingly different looks you can get from this one pattern.  There are even instructions on how to customize your shawl, but how many more variations do you really need??!  And...row by row stitch counts are provided for the entire shawl---so, if you are careful, you simply can't  shouldn't mess up.  

I knit this one with Blue Heron merino/silk lace in the x-large size, and the result is the most wispy, lightweight shawl I've ever knit.  It can ball up into the teeniest little ball....again, perfect for traveling.

I really think this is quite pretty in pink.  

So, what's in the travel bag?  Why, yarn for another Traveling Woman shawl, of course.  I'm thinking it might be pretty in blue, too!

Yarn along....WIP Wednesday....

The traveling woman shawl by Liz Abinante had somehow made it into my Ravelry favorites three times.  It was just a matter of time before it found itself on some needles.  I found  some silk/merino lace in the stash closet when I 'cleaned' this weekend, I wanted something with a lot of plain knitting for the above book..... the stars sort of lined up, and ta-dah....another shawl cast on.

 

Yes, bridgewater is still waiting for its border and (eeek!!) I started two other things this weekend; plus, I noticed that my Rav page was lacking the Rill scarf which I found this weekend, too, and gave a couple rows in apology for having neglected it so long.  I keep thinking what fun it will be when I start seriously finishing all these in-progress things.....they should be cranked out like crazy!  (in my dreams!!!)

The Burgess Brothers is Elizabeth Strout's new book.  It's a family story....Jim Burgess, the successful NYC lawyer--his big-hearted little brother, Bob, a Legal Aid attorney--and Bob's twin sister, Susan, who never left the family hometown in Shirley Falls, Maine.  Single mom, Susan, finds her only son in a heap of trouble----and calls on her brothers for support and help.  It's beautifully written, the characters are deeply moving, and the themes of family, home, struggles and triumphs are well developed.  

So far, I'm really loving it.  

Joining Ginny for yarnalong and Tami for WIP Wednesday.

Sunny day....

 

Both outside....

 

 

and inside.....

 

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The large version of Sunny Days Shawlette by Carle Dehning, knit with a #5 needle, using fingering wt yarn (Miss Babs for the trim and Springtree Road Julep sock for the main body).

Meet Miss Rosemary Chively....

I barely got her second boot laced, when she grabbed her cape and bolted out the back door.

 

Of course, she's going to dance in the rosemary!  

 

 

 

 

The cape immediately got ditched.  It was a glorious day....and Miss Rosemary (Rosie to her friends---and they are already many) was ready to explore every bit of it.  She found a playmate right away, although she had to do a bit of tunneling through the mint to find her.

 

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Then, off to the jungle gym.

Hey!  Wait!!  Those are the tomatoes.  Be careful up there!!

 

She rolled a bit in the thyme.

 

Checked the cabbages for white caterpillars.  So far so good.  Was there an ulterior motive, maybe??

 

And then, finally, found her true love.  Bunnies don't waste much time!

 

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Meet Miss Rosemary Chively--we call her Rosie.  She originated here, at Rosylittlethings, arriving flatter than Stanley late last week.  She's hand-sewn, and went together like a dream.  There were a couple little short-cuts with the sewing machine for her Liberty dress and the use of some elastic thread (who knew!?) that made the entire project very quick.   (The pattern for the knit dress came from the same site.)

 

And yes, I know....what's with the button?  Beats me.  I got this from Laura (hi, La La!!) at the Middle Tennessee sheep and wool festival---Rosie saw it on the desk and immediately pinned it to herself.    Not sure if she's proclaiming her love of the podcast, the fact that she considers herself a knitgirlll with all her handknits, or that she was enjoying an Awesome Monday.  Probably all of the above.

 

Here's hoping you are having an Awesome Monday, too!

a little day-trippin'.........

A little day trippin' with some friends to.....

like my summer do?  

i look pretty beautiful after getting all my cage pooh out of my lovely angora fur....

don't I have great curls?  (probably not for long)

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yes, I'm very cute.....and I'm going to keep it that way.

snack time at.....

The Middle Tennessee Sheep and Wool festival.

It was a little show---about 50 vendors, some animals, some classes and demos.  But a good time was had by all....in spite of the fact that we didn't come home with tons of yarn.  (If we had had spinners in our group, things might have gone differently.)  I chatted a bit with Laura (LaLa) of theknitgirlllls fame (and got their button), quickly met up with a blog friend, and just thoroughly enjoyed the cool spring day, the company of friends...and.....

five hours of uninterrupted knitting!