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!

 

 

 

 

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.

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.

Yarnalong...WIP Wednesday

Bridgewater (by Jared Flood) is finished but for the applied border.  Ha!  Finished???...but for the 768 stitches that each get 13 x 2 stitches knit in order to bite off one stitch--or....19,968 stitches to the finish line.  (You can tell I'm rather bored with this project when I start doing the math.)  Ordinarily, if I had a great audiobook, or a good movie---I'd be sticking this out....but

 

Dan Brown's new book came in the mail yesterday.  I'm hooked.  Of course, I'm hooked.  I love Robert Langdon (I was an art history major, too--spent a year studying iconography!)...I love Florence....I actually read the Inferno once upon a time and didn't hate it.....and those short little chapters suck me in every time---you know, just one more...oh, the next is only two pages long....OK, one more....and the next thing you know---the characters are in the middle of a crisis, and you just HAVE to read a bit further.  It probably won't win any literary awards, unless you consider shooting to the top of the NYTimes bestseller list is an "award", but it sure is a page turner----and I'm not able to knit a border and turn pages at the same time.

 

So the little green blob is going to be a dress for the Maggie Rabbit that I will make someday after the kit arrives.  I'm sort of putting the dress before the rabbit (cart before the horse) thing.  It has some mindless knitting that will allow some reading and page turning.  

 

 

 

Like jam making....I can crush, stir, read, and turn pages.....couldn't get that French tarragon planted, though!

 

Yarnalong....

Three Junes has been on the bedside table for a long time....a page here, a chapter there: it's such a good, well written story--and I'm enjoying it immensely, just not finding the time to read.

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I'm not sure why I took a picture of that skein of yarn.  There IS enough lace-weight for the Rill scarf, but how do I dare cast on yet another something when there are UFOs everywhere I look!!!?  Just tonight I did a little embroidery, worked on kozue, stitched a few rows of the Imogene cowl, all the while looking longingly at Bridgewater.  (Those were the projects piled up and handy on the table....I can't even think about all the ones hanging in the project bags!--fortunately out of sight.)

It's going to take some luck to turn even half of them into FOs before 'the love runs out' and they are put indefinitely into time-out.  (which happens a lot around here.)

yep.  more luck than even this.

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joining Ginny for Yarnalong and Tami for WIP Wednesday

Yarnalong...WIP Wednesday

 

Volt is nearing the finish line....one section to knit, then an endless applied I-cord border.  I've loved everything about this knit....and will be sad to see it come to an end.  (It's that process thing going on again....loved this, but believe me, I'll also love the shawl!)

 

Knit Red was an impulse purchase this afternoon.  I was buying fun, funky purple needles for a grand who wants to learn to knit....and there it was.  Of the 31 patterns, I would be quite happy with at least 28 of them on my needles.  30 knitwear superstar designers cooperated in this effort to raise awareness for women's heart health.....there are stories from heart disease survivors, recipes for healthy heart meals, facts, resources and of course--- the projects......all knit in red.  This one, this one, and this one!!---which to start next???   I don't knit with red.

 

But I think each of them would look equally great in any of the above shades of grey!!!

 

 

joining with Ginny for Yarnalong and Tami for WIP Wednesday.

Yarnalong.....options

This might have been the fastest yarn shopping I've ever done.  Knit1Oxford is one of my very favorite yarn shops---great yarn selection and super friendly staff led by owner, Patsy.  I was really afraid last week's trip to Oxford wasn't going to allow a visit....we were scheduled really tightly....but one morning, PapaGeek produced a hardware store list and I was real quick to volunteer to head to town to fill it.  I grabbed one of the other admins---who just happens to be a new knitter, and who just happened to have been given some letters to mail......and off we went.  

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Finished at the hardware store just as the yarn shop was opening.  So, I knew exactly where we could go to mail those letters!  (hee hee!!!)  Twenty minutes later---with a much lighter pocketbook but much fuller stash (and minus the letters--thanks, Patsy!) we were heading back to camp.  

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Decisions.  Decisions.  What to start first???  I wore my kusha-kusha scarf a lot last summer, so got some Habu for two more.  Got yarn to knit PapaGeek a sweater---but I'll definitely put that off for awhile---no one wears sweaters in Kentucky summers.  Got some Shibui linen, but still need one color to do another scarf.  Ordered some Habu cotton for the twisted shell (there was a sample/I even changed clothes and tried it on---very cute!).  And surely there is some fingering wt something in the stash for the rill scarf.  Lots of options.

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So until I decide......I dragged out Bridgewater by Jared Flood.  The center of the shawl is a giant garter stitch square....great mindless knitting to do while reading Three Junes or listening to the end of Z (biography of Zelda Fitzgerald).

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joining Ginny for yarnalong and Tami for WIP Wednesday

Yarnalong and WIP Wednesday.....

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As I dragged out the partially knit dots blanket #2, I downloaded Z:  a Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald.   I had hopes of the blanket and audiobook ending together---sure that an additional 13 hours of knitting would wrap this up.  Nope.  Probably not even close, although I have some car knitting coming up, so it might (might!!!) end up closer than I'm now thinking.  But, I've been enjoying both the book and the project, so it is still a win-win.

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The book opens with Alabama-southern born and bred Zelda Sayre meeting young lieutenant F. Scott Fitzgerald at a country club dance when she was seventeen.  It's a familiar story.....against her Papa's wishes, she runs away to be wed in New York City, the riotous partying that follows, the emotional ups and downs, their uncertain finances that never kept them from doing what they wanted/when they wanted.  I've just gotten to the move to Paris and their meeting with the Hemingways....I remember Hadley's description of Zelda in the Paris Wife; now it's fun seeing Zelda's impression of Hadley.  Theresa Anne Fowler has done a lovely job of giving voice to this often unhappy, used and even abused young woman who is so much more than just a girl who wants to have fun.

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joining Ginny for Yarnalong and Tami for WIP Wednesday.

WIP Wednesday and yarnalong.....

The spots are all knit on the pop spot shawl; this is one project that I will be very sorry to see come to an end.....just like a good book.  I've enjoyed every part of this....the yarn, the colors, the pattern -- it's all been good.  And I'm most likely actually going to keep this one--not because it was a 'souvenir knit' from a recent trip, but because I made a mistake in it.  Usually, I'm all about 'the fix'; I rarely hesitate ripping miles of yarn for the fix....but while I know it's there, it simply is not that noticeable; even I have a hard time finding it and I know what I'm looking for.  So, it's flawed.  A second.  And a mighty fine excuse to add it to my wardrobe.

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My book this week is The Brother Gardeners by Andrea Wulf.  It follows the lives of six influential gardeners/naturalists from the eighteenth century (Peter Collinson, Philip Miller, Carl Linnaeus, Joseph Banks, Daniel Solander, and John Bartram).  I had always thought that American gardens were influenced and cultivated by British ones---I had no idea that so many plants were introduced to Britain from the boxes of plants and seeds John Bartram sent to Peter Collinson, actually transforming the English landscape with hundreds of American species never before grown in British soil.    A fascinating story...told delightfully.

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joining Ginny for Yarnalong and Tami for WIP Wednesday.