Friday, March 27, 2020

4 on Friday: recent discoveries


1)  Right now, right here, bobbles are my jam. The twitchy maneuvers and focus are perfectly suiting these twitchy times. Everything about this project is Not My Usual Thing. I think a lot of us can say that describes our lives now. 

The yarns are a treat:  Fig Lace from Once Upon a Corgi , I don't know the colorway name. She's a local to me CT dyer and soooo talented- go look at that link. The deeper intense solid is from Neighborhood Fiber Co., another of my faves. I rarely knit with skinny singles or skinny mohair and silk  yarns so the whole thing is a break from reality.  Even the project bag I'm using is out of character- a cheerful  indulgence purchase from MinnieMoonSewing. --it's made from a feed sack with canvas apple green lining and is so well made... (and reminds me indulgence is not necessarily wrong). 

The pattern is the ShannaJean Cowlette. .  Here I am trying on the sample of it at  TNNA last June when visiting the delightful BFFs designer Shannon Squire and yarn dyer Knittted Wit (LoraJean) in their booth.  Not my usual style or colors but I loved it . The design totally captures their playful spirit. And easier to keep around your neck than a light and floaty shawl.
                         
My blues are a little subtler than the sample colorways. So, as much as wearing bobbles can be subtle, I'm good.

Maybe I should note I am only in my second section of bobbles. When I sent Shannon a message saying how much I was enjoying the bobbles she replied, not very cryptically, wait till you'get to the longer rounds and you're on your 10,000th bobble ....she didn't add BWA_HAH_HAH but I sorta felt it.



2) I can give some love and handwash one handknit a day since I'm not going anywhere. By the end of April my wardrobe will be so clean and fluffy! 
This is my Dangling Conversation, fresh and clean.   I mean, I have a home office. Normally  I'm not near it quite so 24/7 .  The whole secret to home offices is to work in them, not mess up your productivity trying to do personal chores at the same time as working. This is a hard learned truth here for decades.  Since I'm not running out for any other activities, nor doing any  new photo shoots, all work-at-home rules are out the window.  Also--I'm homeschooling now...so....plenty of interruptions and a lot less productivity.

3) The one thing we can't live without in our kitchen is a can opener! Guess whose broke? With a huge pot of chili on the stove, 30 minutes before dinner at our full house, the can opener flat out quit just before I got the Ro-Tel into the pot.  After A LOT of swearing and unsuccessful attempts with alt  tools, I called a neighbor and did a socially distanced borrow. We are super well stocked with food here but that broken can opener brought us to a grinding halt.

4) The Fitness Marshall. A great find if you like to dance and don't mind making a fool of yourself pretending to be a pop music video dancer.  He breaks down the moves (kind of like Zumba) . If you walk by at the right time each day (or...maybe it's the wrong time) you might glimpse me and an 8 year old dancing along,  with my phone propped on the kayak rack on the side of the house,  laughing  at ourselves. This week we nailed Poker Face by Lady Gaga.  I hope you're finding some fun way to move-- or to laugh at yourself--because it really helps.

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8 comments:

Kirsten said...

Those blues are so gooooood! Just the kind of knitting we all need right now. Also, love the name Dangling Conversation, I mean who doesn't love a Simon and Garfunkle reference. xxx

MarmePurl said...

Time is such a great gift. Like time to read blogs and really enjoy posts like this.

AsKatKnits said...

I am with you on the washing of the handknits! I feel like I am getting so much done and it is so rewarding! (AND I love your dangling conversation out of Rifton!)

Mary Lou said...

I love the bag! However, I averted my eyes from the bobbles. In mohair. But if it makes you happy, rock on! I

Sarah said...

Isn't it interesting how this crazy time is making us do things we normally wouldn't? Right now I am all about crochet (which I have known how to do for as long as I've been knitting but am less good at and did very infrequently before). I think whatever we find soothing that brings us comfort right now is A-OK.

Ellen Mason said...

I would like to come out of this with new skills. Dance moves sound smarter than the bread book I have in my shopping cart. And FWIW, bobbles are the bomb, except when they are lined up in two vertical lines of four on the front of a sweater. Unless you're Kirsten Wiig or Tina Fey.

Kym said...

I SO get you on the doing things that just don't seem like your usual thing. There must be something psychologically significant about that . . . but bobbles???? Oh, that is way out there! Can't wait to see it finished -- it looks like a perfect wrap. And that dance thing sounds like so much fun. Thanks for the tip! XOXO

Pam said...

I love those blues - and for a new can opener, I love my Kuhn Rikon lid-lifter. No sharp edges, no motor. And soothes my phobia of sharp things.