summer idyll (not idle)

The formerly beer marinated, now eucalyptus and lavendar scented sock-and-a-half spent the week like this, as it took its sweet time drying.
There's a reason you normally unwind a ball into a long skein before washing.There's a world of pain inside that center pull. Nice yarn though, no? Its from Autumn House Farm.


I turned my attention to this, a Shear Spirit project I'm testing in Cascade Dolce. Alpaca /silk/wool blend. Mmmm. I wish I could show it finished, I might love it more than anything I've knit in a while. This ice pink/chocolatey brown combo works great in person, I wasn't so sure about it when I cast on. I have this idea that red/aqua will be the next brown/light blue, but this isn't too bad, either.

With a slew of work and a bored 13 yo in tow, I made a quick trip to visit the parents at the Delaware beach. I won't show you a picture of the sad scraggly blanket they keep by the sofa, the spot that should be covered by the unseamed mitered afghan my sister and I so lovingly conceived . And knit but haven't finished. I called sis threatening to send her said picture. We made heartfelt pledges to get seaming.

Mom's been test knitting for the book and did overtime duty deciphering tech problems in patterns, so it was a good working trip. I got a lot done in 36 hours, despite finding my parents, at times, um, distracting. Yet cute. (Don't tell my dad. He was a football player. He hates when people think he's cute.)

This and they taught my son three new kinds of poker. Wholesome beach life!

karmic update: knitting edition

You know Lauren, until recently she posted at Almost Felted.
Since she's moving to a warmer climate , she decided to unload many of her handknits. If you read her blog, you know that not only is she talented but prolific. She has a lot of handknits, and all were just the right size for her very small self. Here she is , bullied into posing on a packing day ( doncha hate photographer bullies?) with a basket of her gorgeous garments.


There's a group that helps new arrival refugees get set up here. Here being New England, they have a chilly time the first year. Since third world females are smaller than your average North American woman, I told Lauren about them, and she passed the whole big basket of wooly love on. This week, seven Iraqi women who arrived with nothing warm, are set for the winter. If that's not good knitting karma, I don't know what is.

Elsewhere in the karmic knitting world balance, at a backyard party , a frisbee hit a small table, sending a large cup of beer flying . The table was surrounded by grass except for one flowered tote bag. Which held my knitting. Since just then I had been persuaded against all good reason to get up and sing backup with the jamming musician friends- all good reason being the fact I have a horrible voice- I wasn't there to grab the bag. The sock and a half were inside, in a zip lock bag. Unzipped.

In the car home, I reached in to knit a few rounds and found a sock, yarn and needle marinating in a couple of ounces of ale. Maybe its me but I think you should at least finish knitting your sock and wear it before it sops up a beer at a party?

The bit of good karma here is that the alpaca/silk project underway was not in the bag. Sock & wool are recovering now, after a quick bath, needles and all. Those who heard me sing? I think they are still recovering.

chewing on this

So many times lately this thought popped into my brain: "The devil is in the details".
And then a minute later, I'd think, no, I'm remembering that wrong, the saying is "God is in the details".

Finally it bugged me so much - and besides, gave me an excuse to turn away from the nasty little details themselves- that I looked it up. Turns out both of these are "the" quote.

So there you have it. They are both right. There are detail people and there are big idea people. Its half-empty and half-full, toe-may-toe and to-mah-toe. Big idea people like plunging in and making it happen somehow. Big idea people are sure the details will work themselves out. Big idea people should not be in the final stages of helping to edit knitting patterns for their Big Idea book even if they have been knitters most of their lives because it is making them very nervous that they will not notice a P3 together in the wrong spot, or the lack of explanation how to start armhole decreases at the same time as shaping the neck.

On the bright side, most of this nervous energy has been channeled into a pair of basic socks. Maybe I'm not a detail person but at least my feet will be warm come fall.

six boats later......

Ferry knitting rocks. That's all I'm saying.

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Ok I'll say more. (added later: no pun intended) . That's a sock up there, and I am so enjoying knitting it, after a long sock hiatus (the hiatus, not the cuff length) I can scarcely put it down. However. My favorite clients from last week, that I ferried to? They rock too. And if they are reading this......I am editing, I am, I really am. Not knitting. Nuh-uh, not me.

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This is Michelle Shocked, she really rocks.

In Northampton last Friday night. If you can see her on tour this summer, go. She's one of those performers who does a totally great and unplanned live show.

Also rocking this week: the summer farmer's market is back. Including the really good goat cheese guys. If I ever find a farm that does both goats for fiber and goats for cheese, I might just move in for keeps.