Of gardens, sheep, and clay

The Wordtapestry has been very busy lately, between the Indian Chief irises blooming, the peonies starting to perform, and a whole day without rain this weekend, in which to enjoy them. The Gardener has been very busy, creating holes for some new rose bushes that are due in this week.

But we did take time off to enjoy Maryland Sheep and Wool, on a delightfully overcast Saturday. Sheep were stared at, and stared back at us. Some posed pleasantly for photos (while other getting sheared simply glowered). Photos of the day will appear in my Flicker account eventually (on the sidebar). If you ever go, check out the food hall, where there are selections of lamb-burgers, sliced leg of lamb on a roll, or goat’s cheese platters. I had an awkward conversation with another knitter who was mildly put off that I was eating lamb (although I couldn’t identify if it was because her mother had turned her off lamb as a food, due to bad preparation, or for some other reason, like vegetarianism). There was even a ride back to the car (parked in the overflow lot, way far away) in back of a tractor. A totally satisfying day walking through and poking at everyone’s delightful wares.

I acquired some Icelandic yarn in natural colors from Solitude Wool, a farm in Virginia, and some undyed cormo wool from Winterhaven Farm. The sheep were there, having been shown (all the way from Indiana, judging from the farmer’s business card) that day. I can’t imagine the sheep’s mutinous thoughts as they contemplate the ride back from Howard County, Maryland. The sheep up above are Kerry Hill sheep, if the sign above their pen is to be believed.

The yarn shopping was slim, because I’ve run out of mothproof locations to stash the [um] stash. I guess I’ll need to just knit more things.

And today… Today I sang in the choir, and then later…. I lost 5 hours in the clay studio. Everyone has gone away for summer break from the colleges, so the whole basement was mine. Cornflower had a good conversation on the topic of time flying when you’re having fun. I’m stiff, I’m tired, but I learned a lot about what I can do and what else I should learn. Fingers crossed that I waxed the bottom of the cauldron really well, so no glaze gets between the bottom of the bowl and the kiln.

I hope your weekend was wonderful. As you can see by my jam packed post — not even time to breathe this weekend, but lots and lots of fun.

In which gauge kicks me in the shins

I’ve been knitting then tinking, then knitting then tinking… all on the same sock: Lichen Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks, by Nancy Bush. The yarn is lovely (Mountain Color Bearfoot); the resulting sock looks lovely, although I’m quite tired of 3 inches of sock that has been done and then undone. Whether or not the sock will fit the recipient is up to the fickleness of Gauge.

So far: one favorite set of wooden needles shattered. I substituted size 1 metal needles, and apparently my gauge gets much tighter when using aluminum needles instead of wood. I now have some red stained wood needles and have sized up to US size 2 (2.75 mm).

The result feels looser on my foot than the version of the sock before it was tinked, so I’m hopeful. However, the Gardener has sturdier, longer feet, so we’ll see how this goes. And Gauge is quite fickle.

Ripping out a stalled project

There are moments when I look at my knitting and think, “This is a hobby. Why in hell’s name am I keeping this stalled project around?” For starters: Honeycomb. I started it, and then it stalled out because I kept forgetting where in the pattern I was. Several life changes happened while I was knitting this one. And if I look in my Ravelry stats, it was started way back in March 2009. I’m beginning to think I should liberate this yarn for another project, and maybe try this one again in the summer with a different yarn.

So what should I do? Send this to the frog pond so I can do something else with different cables that I might like…. or hold onto it in the forlorn hope that the love might come back for both yarn and project? I have it listed as hibernating right now. But I may be able to rip back and use the same yarn for “Stone Walls” from Cheryl Oberle’s book Folk Vests. (or maybe the Crofter’s slipover in shades of teal.) And perhaps it’s time to admit I want to move something forward and wear it, instead of claiming “I’m a process knitter”.  Thoughts?

Sweet Norwegian baby cap

Was sighted on a friends’ FB page, so I guess it’s safe to reveal the picture now. Sadly, not with a newborn in it (the hat is too big right now, and baby doesn’t need to be in a blog — the kid’s Mom should decide when the kid gets a closeup on the internet). The gracious Miss Banister has offered to substitute for the baby in this instance, to give you an idea. The pattern is adorable, although I got distracted and ended up futzing some of the bind offs once I started the decreases (here’s a sample by someone else, who did a better job of interpreting the pattern). You’ll probably be able to see it pretty clearly either here, or on the version on flickr.

So, I have seldom ever knit anything without altering it or cobbling together some “fix” that seems good enough at the time but when I see it, the “fix” blazes with the white heat of a thousand, mortifying suns. (There’s at least one pair of baby booties that will never see the light of day. I just don’t think anything human could wear them. A goat, perhaps.) However, I think I might want to revisit the Sweet Norwegian Baby Cap, because it is a fun knit.

More gift knitting underway as we speak.

No, I did not medal in the 2010 Knitolympics

I didn’t even come close. Just one of those things where real life got in the way of a goal. But I did get a mitten started, using yarn from my stash (a lovely impulse buy). So, I lift my skiing pole/um, knitting needle and shake it at the sky. No giant slalom for me. No long-distance skiing. Instead, the start of a lovely mitten. Let’s call it a practice run.

Going back in time

My friend’s baby shower was recently. I wasn’t able to go, but I was hoping to have something packed up and handed off to her sister beforehand.

So, what am I doing right now? Tinking back a wee, small item that has managed to stump me. Once it looks less embarrassing, I’ll do a photoshoot. But for now, I’m tinking, and hearing Huey Lewis and the News while in my mind’s eye I see a DeLorean, a kid and a mad scientist. I’ve managed to morph the song into “Power of Love,” which I at least know the words to. Hopefully sometime this week I’ll be able to sit and listen to the audio book I have on tape and enjoy some knitting time.

So, how about you? And small, easy projects suddenly surprise you with an unexpected challenge? Or are you breezing through intarsia or entrelac?

Knitting items that look like ISBN bars

You know those scanner bars that are found on packaging in the shops? You know, the ones with thick and thin lines that look like they’re some sort of code from caterpillars?

Back in the 80s, decade of skinny ties, Michael J. Fox, and Sheena Easton (whose style seems to have come back in the costuming of Rhianna, but nevermind), I had a dark blue shirt with dark black pinstripes (or perhaps it was a dark shirt that was pinstriped black and navy blue). It shimmered and flickered, possibly giving everyone a headache. And now that pinstripe look is back again, but changed a bit by the designers. So there’s the mermaid sweater from Hanne Falkenberg. This beauty as well (yummy rippled stripes). And this design for the wee set (Ravelry link right now).

I’m starting out small, to see if I like doing side to side designs. If I do, someday I may splurge on a Mermaid kit (purple/lilac/aubergine or black slate/cyclamen — it’s sort of delicious trying to decide without spending any money). But for now, between starting small projects and daydreaming about the time to complete my big projects, I’m back to knitting again. And it looks like pinstripes are in. Hurrah!

We have been helped greatly by the grey interloper

“It is always easier to knit when your instructions are underneath an impenetrable, fuzzy, breathing wall. Cats know this. Knitters need to accept this.” Thus spake the Cat with great gravitas.

Quote the knitter, “Ack! Get out of my way! Stop playing with my stitch markers.”

[Purring from the cat. Then he hops off the bag with the knitting*, the instructions, and my knees, his work done.]

*Yes, that’s the Honeycomb vest and its instructions, waiting for me to be able to find out what I did wrong. I’ve knit the same 5 rows over and over again. If this piece doesn’t work, it won’t be for want of trying and then dawdling.

Fluctuations in pressure

Life is always filled with some sort of pressure. The drive to get work done, the physical crush of crowds at a festival…. And then there are lazy Sundays in the summer which should be more relaxed.

Today, because it’s been really cool for summer, I thought, “I will bake a cake. That will be relaxing…”  So, to the tune of the Gardener mowing the lawn, I slowly wash eggs and crack them one by one into the bowl. Until I get to number 5, when the water pressure dies, shoots air, then suddenly all of the city’s water pressure shoots the egg out of my hand, out of the sink, and onto the floor.

Splat.

Much bad language and cleaning.* And then I put a small bowl under the spigot to get water to wash another egg. The cake is in the oven. I am hiding away from the kitchen, stuck with a David Bowie/Queen song going through my head (wonderful for highway driving, but not so much for incorporating flour).

I’m going back to my knitting. At least I can frog errors without egg on the floor. Honestly, there are worse things than water pressure fluctuations. Earlier in the week there was no water at all.

On the left is the Honeycomb vest. I’m a few inches away from decreasing for the arms. Yes, it’s still the back.

*The cats were no help cleaning up the egg. The only one to show up probably wanted me to rub the runny egg on his head. Ewww.

Yawn

The knitting isn’t going to make a great photo opp. The blue and white striped sock continues to be blue and white. Once I’m past the heel or near the toe, perhaps it would look more interesting. But really. Yawn.

Last night was filled with disturbing noises from the outside world… perhaps a bit too much excitement for me to sleep enough to make today any fun. Hopefully everyone who was on the warpath last night has sobered up and are willing to stay the heck home. One can hope, eh?

Hopefully by the weekend I’ll have laddered back and reknit the Arches project (I did catch a runner in the lace section before it got too far… there’s hope). Maybe pics of that before too long. It’s at least pink and fits into PS4 Red.