this pot shall remain lidless

The second Couvercle was more successful than the first, but , on me? Not so much. The very round shape was still wrong fitwise and the brim wrong for my nose face. Worst of all, when I looked in the mirror, I saw my Hassidic Aunt Chaya from Brooklyn looking back at me.

Back to the needles for this yardage. It was fun to knit, even if it didn't work out.


Way more successful: grilled zucchini and beet slices on our new grill. yay, we're cooking with gas!

PS : go enter our Shear Spirit yarn contest till midnight tonight!

PPS: If you're in the shoreline CT area (or want to daytrip), I'm talking at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison tomorrow evening, there's a LYS Madison Wool raffle for a $50. gift certificate. Bring your knitting & say hi!

things i like about miami

(no knitting today, maybe tomorrow.....)
You learn all kinds of things because of being a parent. There's patience (ahem, still workin' on it), flexibility, the ability to love deeply yet want to throttle. There's other stuff. From my older son, I've an encyclopedic knowledge of animals and their environments. Go ahead, quiz me on tapirs, komodo dragons or frigates. I know sea chanteys (a phase that passed, yo ho) and I listen to hiphop (and reggae, but he learned that from us).
There's more but to get to the point, last week I learned I really really like Miami and south Florida. It's not going to be so bad having a college kid to visit there.

Green and juicy all year round, coconuts growing right in your motel room balcony, the crazy color palette , vernacular architecture, the beach.
And in September, on more thing I really really like will be there, too.

Ok, I'd better go, getting a little teary. This is like that kindergarten bus feeling all over again.

fly by posting

Or close to it, waiting to board the plane home. Here's where my son'll be going to school. I've always thought Miami was OK but this trip converted me .Totally. Details later.

couvercle, part duh

I was ready to walk away from this pattern after my unhappy experience , when I received this in a comment from Kelly:

Yup, coo-VER-cluh. Forever in my brain after studying a thoroughly depressing Baudelaire poem in 10th grade which describes a sky as oppressive as a pot lid:
Quand la cielle base et lourde pese comme une couvercle....

Suddenly , the name was charming , the project endearing. The knitting of a new potlid was imperative! A speedy swing though a yarn store before leaving for Miami to get some Araucania Nature Cotton, had me realizing the difference from what I tried last time and this suggested yarn . And oh! the colors. The store had only the Patagonia line of handpainteds (it also comes solid dyed). All beautiful but one skein really spoke to me.
I love me some tertiary colors. That shade where the acid/mustardy yelllow hits the dark aqua blue and turns an odd mossy/olivey green ? Perfect.
Anyway, I didn't just like the colorway, it made me way happy to look at it. I could have just left it in a skein unknit and been happy. The next morning, on my flight to Florida I cast on and noticed something. My purse. That I carry all the time.
Too funny! Here' another view

and here's the yarn with the clothing I was wearing while knitting it on the plane


Talk about predictable (yet oblivious)
It's knitting up promisingly,
we may have a successful potlid soon.

things are peachy in miami beachy

Seriously, this blogging every day is a challenge when you're here there & everywhere. I started knitting something new on the plane down this morning and was all set to tell about it but time's running out , the internet connection in my hotel is iffy so....tomorrow.

I'm here for a quick 3 days with my older son for his college orientation. Cheers, fears , tears--and we're just talking about me-- but that's a whole other blog entry.

hey though, psst , go over to the Shear Spirit blog, we've got a contest giveaway going on.

in which we learn that two mouths are better than one

Especially if the mouth joining me is my Shear Spirit co-author & friend, the wonderful writer Joan Tapper.
You can hear us interviewed together (um, except for the 3000 miles and 3 hour time difference) at CraftCast with Alison Lee.

at Old Mill Farm in Mendocino, hopefully not too smokey this week

fyi: this is an all crafts podcast so the questions were less about knitting and more about sheep, and goats and fiber and what we found out about farm life, it's a nice change of pace. Joan's clear brain kept us on topic, something that eludes me when speaking alone. None of us knew how a two-at-a-time phone call would work but somehow it did. I guess it's my week to blab-a-lot!

pronounce it tra-jeeek

My Couvercle turned out not so tres bon . Whose fault? That'd be moi.

I bypassed a gauge swatch because I'm lazy wasn't sure what size I needed, in its utter pinkness I knew it wasn't staying with me. I figured it'd wind up fitting someone in my orbit. I hadn't counted on just how far off I was from the average head. Perhaps I'll try a wash and a hot dryer.

The pattern is written for Araucania Cotton, a thick & thin yarn that's 14 st to 4", and I used Cascade Luna, which claims 18 st to 4". I went down to a size 8 needles from the pattern's suggested 9US but I'm a loose knitter anyway, and cotton stretches.....so you do the math. Obviously I didn't.

On the bright side, I totally enjoyed knitting it, and I rawwwked the crochet. I haven't crocheted in earnest (read that as according to any instructions) since my high school days when epic length treble crochet stitch scarves were my oevre. You know, to go with our maxi coats.

To sum up: hat too large, pattern a thumbs up, must get more cotton yarn in non-pink & try again.

3 from the 5th

I fixed the links from yesterday's hasty post,and added one more, this posting every day is harder than I thought

Inspired by Norma's post, which I accidentally read as "185 things I did on the 4th".
Geez, I thought, will that woman take a rest?!!
Here're 182 less:

- enjoyed knitting the Couvercle, shown here cast on the night before. The operative word here: ENJOYED. Consider that I don't love knitting cotton, the seed/moss stitch is my least favorite combo of k's & p's and I am not sure why I chose pink because I love the hat but will never wear it in this hue.
Yet I am having a great time with it. It was the perfect almost mindless knit for an evening quaffing homemade sangria on the porch, waiting for fireworks, with this view.

2. sat by the waves and read a good book

3. sadly returned my beach bike, one of those flat land, no speed, pedal backwards to brake cruisers. I rent it every time I'm there, with a big old fashioned basket in the front for running errands. Sadly because returning the bike is always my last act before heading back here to the real world

Which is where you'll find me today, tackling preparations for a hectic week ahead.

Not to mention bellying up to the challenge of crocheting the edges and brim on the Couvercle . How do you pronounce it , anyway? coo-vehr-kill? cou-vay-clay? coo-vehr-clay? This is worse than clapotis for those of us in Layz Etaz Oooni.

blabfest link

So, a few weeks ago I had a chat with Kelley Petkun from KnitPicks. And here's what happened:
episode 55 on her podcast (!).
I kind of forgot it was supposed to be an interview, can you tell? I had a great time and Kelley, I think , got miniature sheep & some tattoos.
A gratuitous babydoll lamb image here. You can't tell me that little one is not smiling.

Warning: that link offers a breeding pair of miniature sheep at a very reasonable price. Proceed at your own risk. You can't get cute lawn mowers at the big box stores, you know.

colors of the day

The expected.

The less expected. I crossed paths with some Cascade Luna on sale , and watched my hand shoot past the nice drab green and subdued blue, right to pink. For this hat.
Freedom to choose whatever damn color I want. Happy Independence Day!

in situ

The mitered square afghan, in the place we aimed for when we began it oh so long ago.

I'm almost ready to do another. Almost.

gotta go, gotta blog

Running out the door for that long haul to my fave beach in Delaware. Always worth the drive. What's packed so far? Clothes? Nope. Sunscreen. uh uh. You guessed it. Three knitting projects. Because I'm going for three days and you never know what I might feel like working on.
Car knitting, here I come.

(and btw? thanks for the birthday wishes, you all made my day)

it's my party and i'll blog if i want to

While others ponder impending death (or whatever) of the knitblog I decide this: it's my birthday and time to shake things up, I will try to blog every day. For a while at least. A little challenge is good. It is going to be a year of change , why not mess around immediately?

And since I haven't any new knitting to share, a rare look at my posse, out at a lobster shack for one of the 1,818 things we celebrated recently: graduation fr 8th grade! graduation fr high school! fathers day! birthday! 'nother birthday! visiting parents! visiting sibs! enough with the eating out! All good. Not to complain.
Steamers, also good.

all kinds of crazy

Summer's here and everything's just a little...off.
Some of us have taken up favored positions. Till October. I wonder if passersby think they're lawn ornaments?

Others are sleeping till noon and dropping crumbs, towels, cellphones and ipods in their wake. Lovably annoying. Will spare you the imagery.

Me? I'm experiencing weirdness. I was knitting at the beach a few days ago, on the Lace Ribbon scarf that's at about 45" and growing. Later,I picked it up to knit and had only one needle in the bag. aarrrgh! Retraced steps, looked around the sand, poked by the trash can, the tide had come up. Gone. Replaced grudgingly with a cheapo new pair the following day. Because of course, I have plenty 2's and 4's but no other #3.

Yesterday, 5 days later, walking with a friend almost a mile in the complete opposite direction from the beach, I caught something shiny in the grass.

My #3 bright blue vintage Susie Bates, REUNITED! I guess they want to get out for a walk more? Or less?

local color sneaks up

If you ask me, I'd say I'm not drawn to blue. Unless it's water I can swim in, I mean. So what's up with what I've been knitting this year?


A trend, right here under my nose, and I hadn't noticed, until I was sitting near part of my garden and realized what I'd planted, which got me thinking.


My wandering into the blues may have passed already, soon as I finish that upper left indigo Montana Tunic (Ravelry link ). I'm all about the reds & oranges now, like the Lace Ribbon (scroll down to end of post) spooling off my needles this month.

And this inspiration last weekend:

A sweater in my future: some kind of barn red raglan with toothpaste minty green colorwork around the yoke. Or maybe mittens, or a hat....yep, you're witnessing the downsizing of knitterly ambition right before your eyes.
Someday soon when I'm procrastinating on a deadline I'll jump into the Bermuda Triangle of Ravelry patterns and just a few hours later I'll have the right project queued.

oh! Ohio

The good thing about taking almost a week to post about being at TNNA is it has already been super covered .

I spent my 36 hours there saying dorky things like" You're Nicky Epstein? I love your books. You're Jillian Moreno? I love your books! You're Bonne Marie? I love your designs! You're Clara Parkes? I love your..... you what? you love my book? pop! tinkling glass sound.

That was the me plotzing, while dropping the sauvignon blanc in my hand.


Columbus itself was geometric. And hot. When the yarn overload on the trade show floor got to me, I took me a superheated hike to the German Village neighborhood, charming in a way the rest of downtown, um, is less so. Hot tip- the Book Loft in that neighborhood has a huge selection of knitting books and a splendid shady courtyard garden. It'd be my hangout of choice, with stiff competition from the friendly coffee shop next door if I lived in the 'hood.

Meeting talented designers/writers /bloggers/knit cartoonists/knit world entrepeneurs was too fun. Tagging along with MaryLou and her Yarnery posse was great , and not just because they introduced me to Jeni's ice cream (gravel road is salty caramel ice cream with smoked nuts, and a side scoop of chocolate cocoa gelato. need I say more? I thought not). And I just discovered through that link you can order it online? Brilliant.


May we speak of my knitting? I am in love with the Lace Ribbon pattern. In my altered flying state I messed it up badly enough to rip out a 30 row start and begin anew. But now? Blissfully proceeding , full lace mojo on high.

heavily scheduled yet easily distracted

yep, that sums it up.
F'r instance, I've been focusing on finishing my Montana Tunic, slogging that shawl collar. It has the magical power of the more you knit, the less it grows. But sticking with it, in whatever knitting time I squeeze in around frenetic work. Eyes on the prize and all that.
Until, while book blabbing about Shear Spirit at Saybrook Yarn,the group fixated on double knitting. We were examining the Hardrock Snowboarder jacket pattern. When Mary Lou Egan designed it for us based on this flying prototype , she thought it'd be pretty awesome as a vest. I'd kind of forgotten but, now, well, it's got to happen. Here's the working sample, knit by MaryLou with 2 strands of Lambs Pride Bulky held together on size 15 US needles. Picture it sans sleeves. It'll be quick, right? Zipper or toggles up the front and walla!

Another distraction: I'm heading off to TNNA this weekend. So exciting. What to knit enroute? Too hot there to drag a partial sweater.
I'm thinking, hmm, my Mass Sheep & Wool souvenir Tashi crying to be a Lace Ribbon scarf . Advantage: if I run into a problem, there'll be at least , I dunno, 400 people or so in the Columbus OH downtown area who have already knit it.

Rounding out Temptations Today: I did a talk at Sit-n-Knit in Bloomfield CT. I love this place. The joint totally lives up to its name. Owners Barbara & Richard made a store that welcomes you into 3 sitting areas. That's a class up above at a high table near the back of the store, there are also lower tables in the middle and comfy sofas to sit on near the windows. I plopped down for part of my visit with a friendly gang up front(not shown, I was too busy blabbing) and after a while noticed this shawl right in front of my face. Turns out it's a pattern that's never grabbed me but someone discovered you can knit it in two skeins of Noro Kureyon sock yarn and this stripey magic occurs. I have a hunch that link is the very same shawl I had the close encounter with. Do we love Ravelry? yes. we do. At the end of the evening of watching others nab yarn for it, I trotted myself over to the shelf . Just the earthy colorway 149 was left. Will return!

Matters got more complicated last night- I finally took a look at
More Big Girls Knits. Check out that link, it has a window that opens inside pattern images. Love this book. A useful, well-written, conversational front section discusses measuring and knitted garment structure and analyzes how a sweater might work your assets, and then there are all these great patterns. I hope I cross paths with these two.

So if you're at TNNA, say hi, I'll be the one wandering the convention center with her head swiveling around and eyes boinging out. Just don't show me anymore enticing patterns..ok?

maa-a-a-asachusetts

(click top photo to go through stack)

Does it get any better than a spring Sunday country fiber fair? I wish I'd stopped blabbing long enough to show you the folks I was thrilled to meet in person: the uber talented Judy Jacobs, the as charming in person as he is aurally Guido Stein with his wife, Pumpkin - they shlepped their magnificent handknit wedding chuppah out of the car to show me, Patricia from Tidal Yarns who, it turns out, has the day job of cheesemaker at Beaver Brook Farm. (aka the indulgence I can not resist a local farm markets) . A field trip to visit her in action is already planned. And of course, also not shown, my partner in crime at the show, Botanical Shades dyer Jody MacKenzie aka Shear Spirit chapter 2 , along with her former associates at Tregellys Farm.

That photo of a woman happily clutching her yarn purchases? She's the infamous mitering sister. The one who said , when we finished that project;" OK, that's enough with the knitting for me now......" yeah. sure.

accessorized

More from my Shear Spirit knitted -but- not- shown sample vault, modeling by the visiting sister who was told she couldn't get on the road home until we'd shot all the samples. Glad you're not related to me?

patterns: The Noho Boho Hat and Berkshire Tote from Shear Spirit

yarn: Botanical Shades hemp blend from Jody MacKenzie in Mulberry and Bittersweet.

Here's the tricky thing: Jody's website is down :-(
You can buy her yarns this weekend at the Massachusetts Sheep & Woolcraft Fair , and at some yarn purveyors. It is worth tracking her down. She is a master natural dyer, using botanicals in the most intensely wonderful hues. Most of her yarns are wool or wool/mohair blends but she gave us patterns for the book in her wool/mohair/hemp blend so that is what I tested. It is worsted weight and a little stiffer than 100% wool yarns, but still comfy to touch..

needles: oh puh-lease, I knit these a year ago. I can tell you I swatched for the hat but not the bag.

notes: Matchy matchy = not usually me. I mean, shoes and bag? Never. Mittens , scarf and hat? Nope. I feel dressed to the nines having these at my ready. The tote is a perfect book & sandwich size.

Fun fact: In Shear Spirit , Jody is associated with Tregellys Farm in Massachusetts as their dyeing partner. Her studio was there until a move last winter to Maine. So you can still go to Tregellys and visit the fabulous animals, walk the labryinth, picnic by the stupa but no yarn for sale. They do have wonderful weavings for purchase in their shop in Shelburne Falls, so you don't have to leave the area empty handed!

This is a skein of sportweight Botanical Artisan Yarn I brought home from Jody at Maryland S&W, in Poppy, dyed with madder, osage & cochineal. I'm thinking socks, nice cheery , poppy red socks. Maybe with cables.

Just so you know I practice what I preach.

the past, a present

oh no, I can't really sound like that?
That's me chatting with the charming Guido Stein on Its a Purl, Man podcast.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

As in, what a gift ! Blog content sitting right here under my nose, um, actually on my shoulders. This is how happy I feel wearing my handspun alpaca shawl, knit last October. (full disclosure, I am portrayed here by a sister but I didn't have to coach her, it feels that good to be wrapped in this yarn)

I can finally show projects I test knit under shroud of secrecy feverishly and sometimes just barely competently last year while working on Shear Spirit.

A sister and niece passing through last weekend were invited bullied into modeling , you'll see them a few times in more of these posts.

pattern: Meseta Alta Shawl from Shear Spirit.
yarn: handspun alpaca from Victory Ranch. Luscious beyond belief.

For reference, here's the pattern shown in the book, knit by the designer for us.

notes: I made my brown shawl smaller intentionally than the one above , using (?) 430-ish yards of the heavy worsted weight handspun yarn, instead of the 700- ish yards of the lighter weight machinespun Victory Ranch alpaca shown in the book. The larger one is flowier and certainly more delicate looking but I adore mine, and its gotten a lot of wear. I like to make believe it's dressy but earthy may be the better adjective.

fun fact: see all that fringe? every inch of it was cut and attached to the shawl on a MetroNorth train enroute to a meeting in NY, I'd idiotically decided I had to have this shawl to wear and cut the timing too close. I 'd been fringing calmly for about 20 minutes after leaving the New Haven station when I did the math of how many fringes I had to do, how long it took me to apply each one - I think I decided it was 3 in every 2 minutes- and divided the remaining 90 minutes of the trip, and started to sweat...let's just say I looked like Lucy & Ethel in the candy factory. I bet I scared onlookers.

It was worth it.