knitting – Page 2

Outside

A bumblebee was having quite a snoop in the wild thistles on my walking path. I’m comforted that I find so many bees around.

Here is a green canopy for all who pass by.

And a place to make a fort.

Living on the edge of a big city I’m ever grateful for the open spaces. I yearn for views, but I shouldn’t be greedy. Every time I drive anywhere I can see the Rockies.

The rabbits (or SOMETHING) are eating my seedlings so next year I’m making the whole of our flowerbeds into sunflower riots.

The Sweet Williams are almost finished and I am so in awe of their beauty. They came from a big bag of wildflowers from last summer. Wow. What a nice surprise. This might be the last gnome summer. I had fun repainting them last year.

I’m seeing both our girls this morning. Jenny and I are meeting for breakfast and I will take Kelli and her girls lunch at theater camp (Jenny’s girls will be there, too! Bonus!). Then on to the Apple store to sort out my phone battery. I do love the Apple store.

Knitting. More pink knitting on my Skeindeer sweater (I cannot remember the name of the pattern! Sorry!) on lovely Jamison and Smith wool. It’s mindless because I’ve finished the hard part (the yoke) and now it’s all round and round and round.

I hear the neighbor children playing outside. I shall go play now.

Summer Knitting Thoughts

This morning I walked what I call The Ridge. It’s really just an open space with a path. No cars. Yay. I try to imagine the cold weather of Colorado that will descend in a few months time and I pretend I’ll want to take walks outdoors then. I will want to wear my wool sweaters, hats, mittens, and scarves. This year maybe I will. I will finish the thumb of my navy and white Snowy Woods mitten and start the next one. I learned so much from concentrating on the graph, holding navy wool in one hand and white wool in the other. Even though I made quite a few flub ups, the almost finished mitten is stunning and snug. I’m messing up the pattern on the thumb, too. Oh well.

The stripes below were going to be a sweater but the dropped shoulders were tight (I was fatter then) so I took them off and now I just have one sleeve opening to rib and it will be an FO, a vest. I even bought a knit turtleneck (such a granny thing) to wear with it. It’s a little clownish, but extremely cheerful. A win.

I ordered some watermelon smoothie colored wool from Little Knits because they are having a bag sale. Thirty dollars for a whole sweater of Lamb’s Pride Superwash Worsted. I shall have too many pullover sweaters, I fear. Well, I don’t really fear.

The Brown Sheep Company is SO my favorite. It’s in Nebraska, not very far from here. At the Interweave Yarn Festival in Loveland they always have a wonderful booth with SO MANY bargains. They are generous that way.

Now this cubby is full of my Bible study books (and some other small favorites) but it used to be a stash spot. I bagged up everything because of moths. I fear them. When I iron down in the basement, I look at all my wool and feel very content. I have never purchased very expensive wool, just a hand dyed skein every now and then. My LYS is full of hand dyed wool and it’s all in the middle (it makes a pretty show) but I like to look around the edges for mitten wool, sock wool, rustic stuff.

I used to tell my students that even grown ups can improve their reading. It just takes practice. Have you noticed this yourself? I have. I will pick up a book that seemed too detailed and operated from background knowledge that I didn’t seem to have before and I notice that now it’s okay, now I get it. We can always become better readers and we can always become better knitters. Knitting is that vast. Maybe I’ll pick up my Vogue Knitting today or the older version of The Principles of Knitting (I don’t have the new one yet, but I saw the author on Fruity Knitting and she is so inspiring).

Because I’ve had my walk, I shall knit without the “sitting too much guilt” I struggle with. Bliss. Knitting is full of hope and dreams.

Sheep Knitting

In an old book, The Country Diary Book of Knitting, I found a pattern for a toy sheep. I had to learn the loop stitch first. It hurts my old hand a bit to work the loop row, but it’s impressive looking. I love Brown Sheep Company because I’ve never met a yarn from their line that I don’t love!

I finished the Mossinette socks using Hueloco wool. Millie Rose wanted them and she’ll wear them to bed after her mama applies essential oils to her feet. Clara has some, too. Hers were knit from some Madeline Tosh sock wool. I’m glad they love the idea of cozy handmade socks.

I knit while Kelli and the girls relaxed after lunch. I might make this sweater’s sleeve 3/4 length. Perfect for working around the house, washing dishes, floors, and cooking, I think.

The bag of mulch and wild flower seeds I scattered last summer is making such a gorgeous show!

I ordered an old Shetland Wool Week magazine (2017 with an article by Ella Gordon in it that I wanted to read). I received this year’s program and I can’t wait to browse through it and wish I could go. Someday we’ll go to Shetland.

I found a new gansey pattern in a Pam Allen book. It’s up to date and more in line with what is practical for now. The wool I have is too slippery and the needles from China are in packs of four. Drat. Oh well. I want to finish my Fair Isle from Skeindeer Knits first AND my February Lady Sweater. And a bunch of other works in progress.

I’m studying the book of James. I’m reading The Salt Path and The Honey Bus. I also must continue with the Paul Tournier study I’m doing with Sondra. So much reading to do, but luxurious and delightful it is!

I set up my swift and winder and wound some lace wool, a skein of flecked sock wool, and two navy merino and nylon balls. That was very fun. I love the swift. It’s practically poetic.

Tonight we shall grill bison burgers but I might have salmon instead. I made scrumptious picnic beans with ground turkey. I’ll buy the deviled egg potato salad when I go to the grocery store today. I really love food. The key for me is waiting until I am hungry to partake. I’m done with this little knitting post. I am going downstairs to my ironing board because I love clothes and ironing makes me thankful that I have plenty of pleasing garments. Thank you, God. Thank you for caring for me.

Today’s Stitches

The yarn name is something “poems” and it was a good bargain from Knit Picks (I think). I like the roving texture and the stripes are fun to watch as they appear. I chose a v-neck pullover pattern and the challenge (aka something I am not completely sure how to execute) will be the i-cord trim on the V. I learned quickly how to make an i-cord bind off when I completed my Penguono (that never LOOKS right) which is one of West Knits designs and has been floundering in a pretty Vera Bradley bag for a very long time. I’m happy it is finished. Wool. I like to pretend that I am a knitting granny of old, from England or Scotland, finding my knitting way from books and photographs.

There is nothing like Lopi wool from Iceland. The Cowichan sweaters that I fell in love with when we were at Young Life’s British Columbia Malibu Club (Christian outreach camp for teenagers) used a type of roving wool. Because the camp had formally been an exclusive club for wealthy boaters in the 1940’s (I think that’s when) there remained a camp store called The Totem Trader. On the shelves were handmade Cowichan sweaters, a tribute to the wool shop of the wealthy resort days where they sold Scottish and Canadian woolens. All the buildings at camp were named native names, too. Anyway, I wanted one of those sweaters but they were over 100 dollars and we were barely able to stay afloat financially so I didn’t even consider buying one. I fawned over them. I still do like to look online, watching videos of older women knitting the lovely thick sweaters. They use five needles.

This will be my first try at Norwegian mittens. I am so proud of the design (a free pattern) and the mistakes are not bothersome. The corrugated rib looks fine and so does the picot edge. The stars are lovely and I’m getting better at interpreting the pattern. I’m working on the thumb and soon I’ll start number two. They are tight fitting and very warm. I imagine myself strolling the neighborhood when the winter comes, wearing my handmade mitts. I hope I am not hesitant to go out in the cold. Sometimes I am. House mouse.

And here are the ingredients for my own gansey. I’ve been reading Traditional Knitting and when I saw the photos of the fishermen’s wives knitting fine ganseys for their husbands I had to dive into more reading about knitting during that time period. Now I am semi-obsessed with the Yorkshire knitters. They were so artistic and unique in their pattern design. I want a fine wool sweater knitted in the round on long double points. I am waiting for them to arrive in the mail.

Finally (for today ha ha ha) I ordered this from WEBS (I think) because I decided to knit my next Flax (Tin Can Knits) sweater from a durable yarn. This is mostly synthetic with a little wool. I gravitate toward green.

I have an embarrassing collection of knitting books and I shall find some cheerful and industrious words to go with my dreamy plans. When I can’t decide what to do with all of my freedom (now that I am not teaching anymore or working more than a tiny bit doing part-time bookkeeping) I KNOW that knitting for a while, sitting in my hobbit spot (the family room sofa), I can gather my bearings. I might listen to the audio Bible while I work. Psalms, maybe.

More later.