Modern artist- mother nature

What a difference a 0 can make. last week is was 5ºF (-15ºc) and today, just add 0, 50ºF (10ºc)

The big thaw. The whole city is a melting away. Spring. I can smell it!

Is it spring yet?

Snow is lovely only the first few hours in the park (when you live in a big city).

After a few days- its yuk!

Elegance:

Yuk:

I am ready for SPRING!

But happiness is sitting with your knitting group for a moment of stolen sanity:And your son loving his socks and not wanting to take them off...

And talk about a moment frozen in time!

Very Knitterly week

It was a busy week and I did not get much sleep so I ended up exhausted on Friday afternoon. This was a sign for me to slow down, and I got to bed at 9ish the past 2 nights. We had a snow/sleet/ice storm on Wednesday. So my son and I rushed to the park to use our sled! It was fun, but cold. Lots to do with paperwork at work, and it had to be done at night. Some knitting. Some visiting with my friend Barbara who works at the Point, and a stroll to Purl Soho –fabric and yarn… I was very careful, and I was not going to buy any yarn really, but I just could not resist this little bundle. I was always sure everybody was overestimating Rowan’s kid silk haze, but this was different… Kidsilk Spray , it just grabbed me… On to visit LYS Knitty City to get Lamb's Pride Bulky for my 3D felting project. So if any of you are visitng NYC- WE GOT LYS baby!!

This week I also got rid of a mattress I had for 17 years, it was hard to do, physically (I found myself doing it- you guessed it- late at night) but I did it! With it I also got rid of the ghosts of an X-H, X-BF and a few X-lovers… it was interesting to me to hear at the meditation session I attended last week that when you get rid of an item, or clean the closet, or a drawer, even just one- you create the space for something else to come in… Now I know why all the destashing is going on around blogland… make room for more to come in…
Yesterday my sit n knit group went to see the “Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting” at Museum of Art and Design. It was an interesting show, some very very creative uses of knitting and also some very puzzling projects that found me wondering why. Why go to that length. I think with art in general, that is sometimes the case. Here, clearly there was an issue of scale. From a miniature to a flag knitted by 2 huge cranes (video). The fun part was of course a sit n knit session afterwards… and today (Sunday) is project knitway- 3D. My first felting ever. It was very odd to knit with size 13us. I used the Wine Cozy pattern from Dropped a stitch. I did not knit it all the way to 10-12", just to get the feel for it. I did the felting in the machine, and it took a good few times. I think 2 more times would have been better, but I had to go to meet the group, and wnated to have plenty of time to knit on the bus. The new motto- "Slow it down..." Lots of firsts for me. I feel I am ready to try the clogs.
Oh, and I forgot to mention- I went pro in flicker . I had to; needed to get the pix organized!

My first felting

For Project Knitaway - 3D

ECF- Snow in the City

Or was is Ice?

Multitasking Sunday

Just moved the laundry to the dryer. Put the kettle on. Checks are printing for the work account. Downloading statements from the bank. Uploading to Flicker. Stew is slow cooking. Gathering bits of yarn from all over the house on my way to the kitchen. Oh, here is that skein of Austerman Step I was looking for. Why did I come into the kitchen? Back to the bedroom to try to remember. Ah! Yes, I need the scissors to show my son (4.5) how to cut a paper heart for valentine's day. “No mom, let me show you!” They already did it in pre-K! Water boiling. Make some green tea. Aahhhhh! Checks done printing. Son helps with stuffing them in proper envelopes and stamps them. I hope we did not mix the checks… Going over the statements that downloaded as I talk to my dad (“aha. Sure. Really? Oh…”) “let me talk to grandpa!” Add some mushrooms to the stew (they cook the fastest, add them last). Turn on the rice- cooker (best kitchen appliance after the cuisinart!). Back to my cuppa’. Tea is cold. Where was I?
All this and still have time to ride our bikes with my son- priceless!
Next: his naptime. 1-2 hours. What should I do? Nap too? (I NEED it). Knit? (I have 3 WIP). And yes. you are seeing a lot of blue. I am part of Project Spectrum 2. First colors: Blue, Grey, White. Oh, that purple on the edge of the bird nest shawl? Did I forget to mention I also got 10 skeins of Virtue in Prudence, at the same sale? And that is a good thing, because a quick calculation of yardage made it clear I will not have enough for the BNS (Bird Nest Shawl) with just Faith.




Blog? Blog surf? Return my cousin’s phone call from Tuesday?

Some blog housekeeping:
By popular demand here is the "easy as pie but great bang for the effort" Elizabethan neck hug:
Yarn: I used Esperanza yarn, from Schaefer Yarn, 70% lambswool, 30% alpaca, in the Memorable Women collection (Any Worsted/ bulky/ chunky yarn)
Needles: US 10, 10.5
My finished dimensions: 5.5” wide X 14” long, But: You should measure your piece around your neck to personalize!
CO 20 stitches
[Note: I P the last stitch of every row and slip, K wise, the first st of every row, but you can do any edge st you like]
Rows 1-4 seed st.
Rows 5-8 stockinet st.
Rows 9-12 reverse stockinet
Repeat rows 5-12 until your hug almost overlaps with the seed st band. End on row 8 or 12.
Next row: seed st
Next row- button band: k3, YO,K2tg,K5,YO,K2tg,K5,YO,K2tg,K4 (or you could match it in seed st.Next 2 rows: seed st
Bind off.
Go to your button stash and look for the “just right” buttons. I ended up using just two buttons, cause I like the folded over look.

The cashmere was indeed THE bargain of 2006 private sale by Jodi from Collectors Crafts they have a website with very little content, so contact her.

Alpaca- Dave asked: “Do we see the beginnings of a herd?” coming soon: Confession of an alpaca herder [or is it hoarder?!? (and we DON'T want to get into the definition of that!)]) or “honey, you ain’t seen nothing yet…

ECF- Fire and Ice

ABC- all about me...

Ingrid has tagged me- and the challenge is to use all the letters of the alphabet to describe yourself. (except x, y and z ). I did not tag anybody, but feel free to jump in.
Ahhmm- here we go:
A-Assertive
B -Busy, all the time. Too busy.
C -chilled. I am always cold. Need to knit more…
D- doubter.
E -Eccentric.
F-Furious at many world events. Can’t stand to watch the news. I’ll skim a bit on the internet.
G- global. I have lived in 4 continents and visited a fifth.
H- Homebody
I- Impatient
J- Jealous. Jealous of people who seem to have leisure time all the time.
K- Knitting addict
L- Loyal
M- Motherhood. Changed my life.
N- nurturing.
O - Organized.
P- Procrastinator. Ya’p.
Q- Quick thinker. Ya’p. They are not contradictions.
R- Reader. I wish I could do both at once. I tried reading while knitting mindless stuff. Nah! And books on tape are cool, but not the same as reading.
S- Sleep deprived. I should go to bed right now, instead of writing this…
T- Tough
U- up-front. Too much for some people’s taste…
V- Vulnerable. Can live side by side with tough without a problem. Ya’p.
W- Worrier. I worry too much.
X, Y, Z are exempt.
Phew. That was tough.

What is Virtue?

I have 10 of these. I got them at an insane sale (Dec 2006)- all 10 were $5! you read it right. Says they are cashmere- I was a bit suspicious, but it is real. Artful Yarn's Virtue in the color Faith.

They came up to me yesterday and asked if they could become the Bird Nest shawl from Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle, and I said, sure, why not?......
The names of the yarn could not be more befitting! I am going to feel very Virtuous when I finish this, but I'll need a lot of faith!

Now what?

So I finished my first lace scarf ever! The most simple lace imaginable! I started it in September 2006 but did not get hooked on it . This is a multi-tasker (ala Dave). It is for PS2 (blue/grey) and it is lace. (I resolved to finish 3 lace "things" this year). This is only 45" of scarf. I did not finish the skein. To be honest, it is a bit boring, but I do like the yarn. The yarn is handmaiden' seasilk, (no, it did not smell of seaweed when I blocked it) and the pattern is: Storm Water Scarf .
What is next? So many ideas, can't make a decent decision! I need to get some yarn from knitpicks. belive it or not, with all my stash I don't have enough of one yarn for this cardi I want to knit from an old Rowan magazine (Kim Hargreaves' Pin Stripe ). Wool of the Andes, which I used and like very much, or Merino Style . We are talking about the blues. I found 10 skeins in the stash of a great yarn called: Madil Loden, in dark blue. I found a place in Denmark (I think) that still has the yarn- but NO BLUE! Moving on!
So what's a girl to do? Cast on for some kid socks with leftover blue/grey sock yarn of course!

More neck warmers and a pal for my pet...

The pink/ purple and blue Ribbon neck warmer- made with merino of unknown origin, from stash. 3 color seed st over 30 stitches. make a button hole. fold in half. crochet closed and sew the button.
for a little girl who likes pink/ purple and blue.

And another red neck hug for a friend's birthday. Hope she likes it. I call it the Elizabethan neck hug.


Its Esperanza yarn, from Schaefer Yarn, 70% lambswool, 30% alpaca, in the Memorable Women collection, but this one is old- the color is called Lucille Ball.





And after reading that alpacas are social animals, and one should never have just the one, I had no choice but get mine a pal...
You all want to know what I'll be asking from this and the other alpaca pet- but I don't have a plan for them yet.

ECF- Alpaca and winter

100% baby alpaca, handspun from Loop. She calls it "Ice Cream Sundae"

(Chocolate, caramel, vanilla); I call it my new pet!

Winter wonderland (I love the neutral colors!)- on frozen "Pond."

Moving on....

Thanks for your nice words about my knitting! Many of you have asked how I knit so fast, (which I think of only as so-so fast, compared with some pros...). well, its simple- I knit while I watch television, at lunch time from work, and sometimes, (ahmm) when I am supposed to do other things... Like paperwork... Sigrid gave me permission to NOT do paperwork on the weekend, and I will use this card! (thanks pal!) You also asked about the pillow my feet are resting on. Its my sudoku pillow. You can read all about it in this post- (scroll to bottom)
So here are the Zombie socks. I did have enough yarn. What lovely yarn! Its very "Koigu"
The yarn is sKNITches’ Bebop Sock in Zombie
The pattern: Oak Ribbed socks (Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush) but I made the rib K3, P1,K1,P1 over 66 stitches.
US1 2 circs.
I am going over stash and old books to pick a next big project, and one thing got nixed: Minimalist Funnel Neck. I started it with Rowan felted tweed, but it was just too annoying. I recall Alice had trouble with all those confusing increases. Its a shame, since it looked like a fun pattern, but- NO. so what next? Not sure. Looking. Its really fun going over old books. I do want to use the felted tweed. I have the color Ginger. Have you seen Dave's awesome mitts?
I also frogged Hopeful. I was really not into that pattern. Its a great Rowan cotton/wool in red. I will use it better some other way.
OTN- a little scarf in 3 color seed stitch in pink, purple, blue. Its for a little girl in the same gym as my son's. She saw me knitting while waiting for him and asked me if I'll make her something in those colors. Dive to stash! Some nice merino, but no bands, so I don't know what is the yarn.
Its fun to make, even as it is bright....

FO Saturday

I should be doing paperwork! But, here I am in blogland. So much to catch up, to read, to bookmark, to download patterns, to buy some new yarn. Ahhhhhhh, big sigh. Why am I buying yarn? Well, See, I visited sockpron, and she now makes these stitch markers (gorgeous!) and I lost the one I got in London, so I need a new set, so I got them, and so I just happened to key in Etsy "handspun alpaca", and I just happen to find some lovely lovely "handspun alpaca" in natural (undyed ) colors, and they just happen to end up in my shopping cart. So what was I to do? I did not want to be rude, so I purchased them...
But- I have been knitting. And from stash!
Finished (the zipper) the ribbed cardi from chic knits in the incredibly inexpensive but great yarn from knit-picks. Despite some wonderful zipper tutorials I opted to have it done by a seamstress at the cleaners. I just was not ready... It was great to knit, and awesome to wear! The rib thing makes it warmer!
I am really into the neck-warmer thingy. Knit with alpaca from the stash (alpaca yarn I bought in London. Artesano alpaca- Inca cloud, color#53 knit in the round with size 6US,) in a cable stitch I wanted to try. You make the cable over 10 stitches, and alternate where you start. It was fun to make, but I will not make a sweater from it.
Also finished my Gentleman’s Fancy socks (Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush) in Trekking Pro Natura Bamboo socks (color 1603). What a great fiber to knit with! Wool and bamboo. These are great fitting socks. I modified with a shorter leg portion, so no tapering, and I made an eye of the partridge heel flap and sq heel. They feel and fit so well. I highly recommend this yarn. And for those looking to knit for guys who do no like too colorful socks (...) these are very toned down colors, yet never boring! (hello, its Trekking!)
OTN now is another pair of socks Oak Ribbed socks, (Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush) but I made the rib K3, P1,K1,P1. Its a combination I wrote down on a scrap paper a few months ago (don’t know what inspired it) and have wanted to try it. The yarn is sKNITches’ Bebop Sock yarn (100% Superwash merino) in color Zombie. Lush and lovely yarn!!! For some reason I was in a rush to de- skein this and wound it into one ball, so I could not do my usual of knitting from two ends together, and now I am worried I will run out of yarn, so I started the second sock. I sure hope it lasts, although I am already prepared to knit the toes in black. Does a rib take more yarn? Maybe I’ll do the foot part in stockinet.. This is a pleasure to knit with.
My next socks will be toe up. You read it here first...
I also joined Project Spectrum 2.0! I am super excited but also a bit nervous, since I chose for the first section ( February / March Blue, White, Gray) to have another go at my VK lace shawl.

Early bird catches the flake!

So we finally had snow today!

Well, OK Colorado, it was just a dusting, and yes it melted by 10am, but still...

Thursday

Friday