Winding what I think will be the last skeins needed to finish this sweater....a generic top-down sweater pattern that hubby LOVES! I've lost count how many times I've knit this, but I totally 'get it'. When I find that perfect something, I want it in every colour, too. Lucky for me, I get to start the new year off right with a lovely shade of....grey ('sweatshirt' in BT Shelter)! I'm definitely in my happy zone. The body is done, one sleeve is well on its way, so this should be a done-deal real soon. And here it is....day 4 of the New Year, and I have yet to cast on some impulse knit (although there are several waiting in the wings for when the will-power falters.)
The sweater actually could have been off the needles if not for the annual 'I've-got-to-get-organized' frenzy I've been on. The refrigerator is cleaned...the freezer declared a disaster area and left alone (for now); houseplants have been purged from my life, combined and repotted or just repotted (I know it's the wrong time of year to do this, but the temps have been in the 50+ and the plants are as confused as we all are); furniture rearranged....rooms re-accessorized; and kitchen drawers and cabinets given a major Marie-Kondo once over. Today, I'm tackling the knits....getting shawls, mitts, scarves, cowls, sweaters all together in like piles----the socks, bless them, seem to stay together. I've been putting this off. They are stashed E-V-E-r-Y-W-h-E-R-e....but, in my defense, I believe they've been reproducing on their own. Freddy may have helped relocate a few.
If you noticed....there is no book in the photo today. That's because I'm reading Hamilton, and you will be seeing it a whole lot before I'm finished with it. It seems I've been on a revolutionary war era kick lately....finished Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, and waiting in the wings is Washington's Spies, the story of America's first Spy Ring, and Gore Vidal's Burr. I started reading Hamilton because we'll be going to see the play later this year. In doing my 'homework'....I've found myself totally immersed in the story. If 800+ pages doesn't turn you off...I highly recommend this one.
What IS in the above photo is my treasured antique swift with its carved bird decoration and painted grip...
bought in New England years ago. I thought it too delicate to actually USE, but after retying the slats, and finding a short wooden needle to replace the peg, it's been a true workhorse all these years for me; I just wish it would tell me stories about all the yarn it wound before coming into my life.
Oh, that swift is a treasure!
Posted by: Flora Mae | 01/04/2017 at 09:02 AM
LOVE your swift! What a find - glad it is working for you. The grey sweater looks wonderful.
Posted by: Vera | 01/04/2017 at 09:14 AM
I love that swift! Vintage and blue together make me happy!
Posted by: Amber | 01/04/2017 at 09:21 AM
perhaps you could come to Colorado and help organize here? Great yarn shops are here...
Posted by: Jennifer Miller | 01/04/2017 at 09:39 AM
I'm on a real tear here.....i don't think you'd want me messing with your stuff!!!!!
Posted by: steph@woolythyme | 01/04/2017 at 09:48 AM
I love that swift. ♥
I have a plant that needs to be potted. It's a piece of a yucca at the library that was broken off and I stuck it in a vase of water and it's grown roots. I just haven't gotten to the store to get dirt or a pot to put it in.
Posted by: MelissaPurls | 01/04/2017 at 10:04 AM
lovely sweater! and vintage still working items are so wonderful! what great blessings!!!
Posted by: Elizabeth | 01/04/2017 at 10:06 AM
What a beautiful swift! and it works too! I have my great-grandmother's spinning wheel here, but never wondered until now about all the stories it could tell. I still hope to have it repaired one day and learn to spin. Until then, I treasure its beauty, as you do the painted handle on your swift.
Posted by: Carol | 01/04/2017 at 10:06 AM
Love the swift! Mine is cheap, rickety metal and plastic. But I suppose I use it rarely enough that I can't/shouldn't complain.
Posted by: Michelle | 01/04/2017 at 10:13 AM
Oh, I just love that sentiment that you've capture in your last sentence - if only objects could tell us what they've seen ... and thank you for the book recommendation - it looks fascinating.
Posted by: Helen Pugh | 01/04/2017 at 10:21 AM
The swift is amazing! I wish I could have a whiff of whatever you are smoking to make you so productive!! LOL I'm very impressed!
Posted by: Lee Cockrum | 01/04/2017 at 10:37 AM
That swift is incredible! Here is to the frenzy calming down and the knitting picking up!
Posted by: Kat Christensen | 01/04/2017 at 11:40 AM
We saw Hamilton in Chicago last night. It lives up to all of its hype. So perfect! David and I read the "Hamilton" play book and listened to the music and followed the words on tape. The rap is hard to for us to pick up and that way I could really "get it". It is 2 hrs and 45 min of pure joy! Your organizing attempts have put that nagging plan in my head to "down size". I need to let go of so many items. First, will be books for the library book sale. I do love my books! Happy New Year!
Posted by: Ann Denton | 01/04/2017 at 04:24 PM
WOW, what a start to the New Year! You go girl, my inspiration! I'm still working on Breezy and several other UFO's...haha.
Posted by: Eileen | 01/04/2017 at 05:02 PM
The gray sweater looks like it will be wonderful. I've never knit with Brooklyn Tweed yarn but have looked often. Next week the straightening, cleaning out, and reorganization of kitchen begins or so I'm telling myself. Ride the wave of tidying up - you never know when it will flow back out to sea. :-)
Posted by: Jane | 01/04/2017 at 07:29 PM
What a treasure that swift is!! Yes, the stories it could tell would be wonderful to hear:)
Posted by: Shannon | 01/04/2017 at 08:53 PM
When you say you replaced the peg with a short wooden needle, does that mean the centre pole has holes in it? My swift, a modern one, had a wooden screw to hold the umbrella up but the thread wore and it kept collapsing, mid wind. I now use a very ugly plastic clamp, that my husband gifted to me (!!), to keep it up. I was thinking of buying a new one but I'm sure the same thing will happen.
I wish I could get into a big tidy mode!
Posted by: Caroline | 01/05/2017 at 05:40 AM
I'm glad I am not the only one going through the entire house on a purging spree :-) January seems like such a great time to do that! Of course our Christmas tree is still up (until this weekend) so I haven't done as much cleaning as I would like. I like to ease into everything I guess :-) You are the second person I have heard mention that Hamilton book recently, I might need to pick it up.
Posted by: Heather | 01/05/2017 at 05:46 AM
Oh, yes, to hear the tales of yarns wound before... ;) That swift is a jewel! I need to get on a purging frenzy myself. Just barely getting the decorations down (and running back and forth to Ft. Worth to visit the Little Men & Co.). LOVE that gray... blessings and hugs ~ tanna
Posted by: tanna | 01/05/2017 at 06:45 AM
Thank you lovely lady for your kind words on my throw and for answering my question. I think holes along the shaft is a much better design and I might ask dear husband to do that on mine so it's more workable and I can ditch the ugly plastic clamp!
Posted by: Caroline | 01/05/2017 at 09:43 AM
I think I'm on page 584 of Hamilton...I can't wait to be done with that door stop of a book. I LOVE it!! I wish I was seeing Hamilton but we all want to go together (five of us) and that isn't happening while two are on the west coast. WE will see. Do you recommend the Jefferson book? I saw that and pondered...
Posted by: karen | 01/06/2017 at 07:27 AM
That swift is a treasure! I love that your husband has a signature sweater pattern -- I agree, if something works well, it's worth repeating. So cozy!
Posted by: Jodi | 01/06/2017 at 02:01 PM
Love the idea of the beautiful talking swift.
Posted by: Gale Zucker (she shoots sheep shots) | 01/06/2017 at 02:44 PM