A Salute to Stanley Kunitz

Stanley Kunitz is considered by many to be America's greatest living poet. Today, July 29, 2005 he turned 100. If you go to NPR , you can hear him read this poem. This poem is truly superb.
Kunitz explains before he reads that a long boat is a boat of the ancient Vikings for which the body of a fallen hero was pushed out to sea for an eternity to drift.

The Long Boat

When his boat snapped loose
from its mooring, under
the screaking of the gulls,
he tried at first to wave
to his dear ones on shore,
but in the rolling fog
they had already lost their faces.
Too tired even to choose
between jumping and calling,
somehow he felt absolved and free
of his burdens, those mottoes
stamped on his name-tag:
conscience, ambition, and all
that caring.
He was content to lie down
with the family ghosts
in the slop of his cradle,
buffeted by the storm,
endlessly drifting.
Peace! Peace!
To be rocked by the Infinite!
As if it didn't matter
which way was home;
as if he didn't know
he loved the earth so much
he wanted to stay forever.

Delightfully Cool

Ahhhhhh.....knitting weather! We can stand the wool on our laps today...not that it matters since I'm working on socks. I may even pick up my shawl and sweater to work on tonight after work.

I found a great site on speed knitting and crochet yesterday. I also had fun with this site .
It has some interesting pattern generators and stitch patterns. Below I've included a pic of my Butterfly Bush in bloom. Check out Judith's Mexican sunflower today.

The Heat's Off

Lizard sock is progressing nicely. One sock is done and I started the other last night so no second sock syndrome :) I really like this Trekking yarn.

It's been too hot to work on my slip stitch cardigan sweater so the sock is getting my attention.Not much to post today.

Shawlette Progress

The Eyelet and Garter Shapely Shawlette is showing some progress. I love this merlot merino/silk yarn from Judy. I'm happy with the pattern design,but I am not happy with the problems I'm having with the proper stitch count.

The Slip Stitch Cardigan is languishing in the family room because it's just been too hot to work on it. Good news on M's wedding stole/shrug. It appears we have found an interesting way for her to wear it so that it compliments her gown.

I must try some solar dyeing. Cathy's inspired me with her beautiful colors. I love her philosophy regarding spun yarn.....she spins it and then considers "what it will decide to be."

Next weekend I'm headed to the Foster Fair. I plan to spin and knit with my buds and indulge in some fair food :) Hope you can come!!!

Links of the day:
Knitagarden...you must check out her dragonflies and damselflies.
Audioknits....she's finished the lovely Dayflower scarf.
Catena....Her solar dyeing looks like so much fun. Today she's showing all the steps of the process from fiber to crochet.
The Woolen Rabbit She has some to die for angora roving and the cutest bunny pics ever.
String-or Nothing There are knitting links aplenty for a virtual tour of interest to knitters of Victoria & Albert museum.

Birthday Surprises

Yesterday we celebrated my DD's birthday. How time does fly;it seems like you just turn around and she's a young lady on her own. Marisa received a beautiful arrangement of flowers from her friends as you can see by the middle pic.

I also received a surprise; M and J brought their knitting and lo and behold M has finished the back and half of the front of her Ribby Cardigan in a wonderful Peruvian yarn from Elann. J has finished his first sock made on small needles and fingering weight yarn. The sock is a wonder right down to the kitchener stitch toe. J says he's going to try to avoid second sock syndrome :).

Resurrection

We had a delightful day at the beach encoding the beach sands with a secret message. The water was refreshing after sitting in the sun and taking pics of the textured rocks.

Below is the delight of this morning. As you know I headed to Tranquil Lake Tuesday for daylilies and one of my purchases wilted after neglecting to plant it until a day later. But the pic testifies to the resiliency of daylilies. The lily bloom that appeared wilted and maybe dead resurrected itself and proved Patty's point that daylilies are extremely hardy.Have a great day!

Daylily Adventures

Wow......did I have a great adventure yesterday even though it was blazing hot. I headed over to
Tranquil Lake Nursery to see their crop of daylilies. The lilies are at their peak this week so get there quickly. It was stupendous.....fields of daylilies in every hue and size and fragrance. Of course, one had to watch out for the insects and the pollen coating your nose..... If you want to see pics of the place toodle over to Judith's blog and you will see Outrageous Ramona and the lovely fields. I did make two purchases :) then headed out to do my errands.

This morning I'm planting the lilies in my driveway garden before the heat of the day arrives then I'm off to the beach....


Here's on of my latest Fo's...a bag I made out of my spindle spun and plyed and then hand dyed wool. I used a dye bath that didn't fully exhaust after dyeing some silk about a month ago.Now I need to find a suitable button.

The crowning jewel tops the show.....

This Weekend's Floral Display

The lovelies....

As you can see I had fun taking pics of more flowers. Thank goodness for cameras...we can enjoy the flowers that much longer.Me thinks I want to visit a daylily nursery in Rehoboth. Apparently the daylilies are at their peak this week.

YesterdayI worked in my driveway garden after walking quickly with R for 3 miles at RIC. So I can say I got my exercise and weeding done in this muggy weather.

Last night I had a terrible dream trying to use different cell phones to call my boss and never being able to make a call.I even tried to use Carol R's phone. It's just one of those dreams where you can't get anywhere...... at one point the phone became a huge game boy. Ahhh the wonders of technology and its effects on the psyche!

YESSSSS....I'm finally moving along with shapely shawlette. I'll post pics if you want.Lastly A Perfect Red is an excellent nonfiction read!!!!

Weaving at R&D and A Fiber Lesson

Here we have David weaving some colorful rayon at his loom for a scarf. Richard has been experimenting with an interesting fabric design that allow windows of light to appear in the fabric when held to the light. Jan D. gave him a silk scarf with this design which he plans to incorporate in his next project. He has also made some Huck cloth that is to die for.

Judy joined us as well and received an angora combing lesson from Richard. She is pictured above pulling some angora through a diz.

I did manage to work a few rows on my sock and the shapely shawlette last night before I had to get some shut eye.

Oceanstate Guild Meeting

Here's a pic of me wearing Kristen's Tie One On knitted with Judy's hand dyed yarn.Read Kristen's and Judy's site for highlights of the meeting. Sandy was so thoughtful to have us all come to her house to learn to make wonderful crocheted beads and wire. I made a two strand bracelet.

Me thinks I want to make the shawl in the picture. When does it end :)?

Awwww and Movie Quiz 6

Ruth begged me to take this pic of her. Now Bennie's jealous.....

Last night I started APerfect Red and I couldn't put it down. If you love color and textiles, this is a must read. It's well- written considering there's plenty of history and technical information.

I did knit several rows of the Trekking sock and Kilmainham scarf. I also finished a feather and fan shrug.

Welcome back Judith!!! Check out her Oregon pics.

Movie Quiz 6 was submitted by Richard M

“Oh, I don’t know. Some paint, some flowers, a couple of throw pillows . . .”

“This isn’t a hospital, it’s an insane asylum!”

“Land is the only thing that matters. It’s the only thing worth fighting for, worth dying for.”

Link of the Day: Thanks to Gerald

Larissa's Blog ,Stitchmarker

Knit In News and Reading

Tuesday night knitting at RI Handspun is always fun. Carol R appeared with her Shapely Shawlette in tow....a lovely colorway of purples. She is conquering the pattern for all of us including the 13th row. Way to go, Carol!

Patty's conquest is the shetland shawl in a wonderful gray green reminiscient of some of her garden greens. Her construction sounds worth a try. She began with a garter stitch square from which she picked up numerous stitches around its border to create an undulating old shale pattern. We all can't wait to see it liberated from her circular needles. Here's a link to a round old shale pattern.

Judy is working on Tivoli in a cotton/rayon type of yarn... the color of a inner rib of celery! She, like Carol R, is perfecting this pattern for the education and edification of the group. Judy also brought along her spindle spun wool that is a soft creamy beige and medium brown.

Sue continues her work on her feather and fan sock in Trekking XXL in a red, blue and pink colorway. The yarn is so soft.

I am having fun knitting with my hand dyed spindle spun yarn....I hope to post my finished project soon.

Below are some of the books on my reading list. I'm reading Leonardo and enjoying learning about the genius of this man who understood the relationship of art and science. My next reading choice is a tie between The Perfect Red and The Orientalist. Both of them intrigue me.Last but not least..... I want to read Mummies of Urumchi.


Movie Quiz 5 ( Quiz 4 is still unanswered)

• " May the force be with you,"
• " Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn,"
• " They're here!"

Secret Pal Gifts Again!

My SP surprised me yesterday with another wonderful package of goodies!!! Check out the Koigu yarn (my favorite)!!! She also sent me a lovely craft calendar, sheep pad and hand lotion!!! THANK YOU, SP!!!!

No look again...this isn't the rain forests of Africa...it's my backyard. If you look closely you can see my pal the red Cardinal in the trees. He and his mate have been entertaining me and the cats with their antics :)

Koolaid dyeing is so much fun. I told you I would be up to something on Monday.....

Results: this is Border Leicester dyed and drying in the sun. Now...what should I make with 8 ounces? Any ideas out there?

Movie Quiz 4

Movie Quiz 1 and 2 have been answered, but MQ3 is still missing an answer to the first movie.

Here are today's movies:

• "Yo, Adrian!"
• "You talking to me?"
• "A martini. Shaken, not stirred,"

Link of the Day:
Mathematical Knitting

Sock it to me!

As you can see the Trekking toe is coming along nicely. Soon I'll be doing the Lizard top. Bennie nicely posed for me yesterday so I could get this pic of him.

Now...I'm in a quandry about what to do today...hmmmm...there's dyeing using my new secondhand crockpot or fleece washing(got 3-4 of those to play with) or starting another knitted shell.What I should do is work on the projects that are already swamping my family room floor . To date I have one scarf, three sweaters, two socks, 4 shawls....seems like they should take priority huh :)

Now the crockpot dyeing is still calling to me. Fibernation has a wonderful tutorial. Then there is koolaid dyeing...especially since I picked up 12 packages for a dollar at Job Lot.

Here are some sites for information:

Dyeing Protein Fibers with Koolaid

Koolaid Dyeing

Knitty's Koolaid Dyeing

Dyeing Yarn with Koolaid Colors

Who knows what I'll do, but I plan to have some fun today one way or another.

Movie Time Quiz 3

• "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,"
• "I'm king of the world!"
• "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary,"

Gilding the Lily

Well....as you can guess the RI Guild meeting in the park was a success due to fair weather! We had a great picnic with ample spinning and knitting. Judy and I spun with our forester spindles. I'm presently working on my third skein!

Richard was spinning some lovely brown wool after preparing it in rolags using hand cards. He plans to use this singles for his next weaving project which is a blanket.He used the long draw while spinning...a method he taught me in one of his superior workshops on fiber preparation and spinning. Richard taught Sue and me Navajo plying without the benefit of using a wheel on a bus trip to Rhinebeck several years ago. He was also responsible for teaching me to use my first drop spindle. Thank you Richard for all your sharing!!!

Patty spun some Wensleydale on her newly acquired antique spinning wheel. David knitted away on a scarf with some very soft mystery wool he spun. Sharon was knitting a sock with colorful Sockotta yarn while Marie spun some of Barbara T's wool on her Hatchtown spindle. Jean spend time working on a project in dark blue yarn. Judy, Patty and I managed to buy wool, camel, Jacob and alpaca/cormo from another member.

Knitty Alert.....the new Knitty The Man Issue is up and running.

Here's a great site featuring textile artists that is worth viewing! Be sure to scroll in order to check out all their work.

Movie Quiz
Name the title:

• "Here's Johnny!"
• " It's alive! it's Alive!"
• "You're gonna need a bigger boat,"

RISG Meeting Today and Movietime

Today..... I plan to head out to the RI Spin Guild meeting for a picnic in the park weather permitting.

I hope to continue spinning on my Forester. Last night I plyed another skein...it appears I'm on a roll.

The Lizard Trekking sock is moving along since I'm heading down the foot.

Got a Movie Quiz today. Name the movie titles for the following:

• "Rosebud,"
• "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
• "La-dee-da,la-dee-da,"

The Day After

The recent events in London are horrific to say the least. The world grieves their loss. How difficult it must be for the families of the victims, the survivors of the explosions and those folks who are to returning to work today.


A spindle full and my Trekking sock.....

I'm making progress on my spindle spinning. This time I used my Forester spindle instead of the CD spindle. It appears that I am getting the same grist as I maintained on the CD. Soon I'll be plying.

I love Trekking yarn!!! I also love the colored striping as I finish up the heel flap. Speaking of sock yarn I bought some Regia stretch yarn in some lively colors from Bella Yarn's in Warren at their 30% sale. I also bought some black rayon silk, boucle- mohair and linen at Peter Patchis.

On the Net....
Check out this knitting accessory. Of course...I also love the book that is on the stand...good old Leopold Bloom and Molly grace those pages.

Maybe we want to make this.

This is interesting: Freddie Robins, a knit designer.

Join the Microrevolt!

A Tisket a Tasket a Walnut Finished Basket

Here's my finished basket. I took a basketmaking class at RI Handspun with Norma. I didn't quite finish it on time so Sue helped me finish this baby. I love it!

Garden flora......


Spindle spun fiber using my CD spindle

I made the CD spindle with a top and bottom whorl. After spinning some fiber from my Rhinebeck foray years ago, I Andean plyed the singles then transferred it to a felted ball and did the final two ply using the CD spindle again. Here's another andean ply link. I have to say I am very satisfied with the final result. Who says we have to buy a 1000 dollar wheel to make yarn :) ? I learned this technique of plying from Rita Buchanan at the 2004 Gathering. Check out Purlwise's blog for a description of another of her classes. She is a wonderful teacher. If you get the chance take any and all of her workshops.

Knit In...Last night we had a great time: Judy was there with her silk scarf in tow...a lovely hand dyed silk in dark red and gold. Paula, still Queen of Aran, is working on her latest design in her hand dyed silk/wool yarn. She incorporates such lovely cable choices. Marie is knitting a lovely cotton poncho. Sue worked on her old shale sock in Trekking XXL. Patty has begun a sweet baby blanket in cotton/rayon. Debbie arrived with Carol and brought her new quilt creation of the cutest pigs. Carol R showed us the Civil War Era quilt she has begun. It is sooooo beautiful ,not to mention totally handmade with her own stitches...no machine stitching for this gal on this quilt. I finished plying my mohair and silk yarn that you see above.What a lovely evening we had with such a creative bunch!! I love these get togethers and missed our other knit buds.

A Surprising Fourth with Wedding Bells

Guess what this is? A cheescake commemorating the 4th of July? Guess again....give up? It's a fourth of July Wedding cake! Yes...you heard correctly...My brother -in-law tied the knot yesterday at his annual picnic with family present. My mother-in-law, his mom, married them as well. A different twist, huh, on your average wedding. Not a soul knew about this event. Luckily they gave me time to scare up my camera to takes pics :)

Below you can see that John was busy taking a walk ( code for napping) on the hammock.Of course we had to take a family pic as well.....

The 4th of July Garden

Angelina has a delicate orchid-like appearance. She is a joy to behold this morning.

Behold the humble geranium....we make so much of other flora and forget her loveliness.

Obligatory knit and spin content: I made more knitting progress on Marisa's stole. I also plied more of the yarns as I am almost finished with the first ball of yarn.

Secret Pal Card and Forester Spindle Arrived

Yesterday I got a beautiful card from my Secret Pal. It certainly lifted my spirits. Thank you SP!!! I am so lucky to have received such a thoughtful SP.

Look what elseI got in the snail mail yesterday! My very own Forester Safari spindle from the Bellwether...and yes it spins like a dream forever.I can't say enough about it. It came with some fiber called Hale Bop made of natural black corriedale with comet streaks of blue and pink hand-dyed bombyx silk across it. I started spinning with it last night around 11pm. Isn't Hale Bop the name of the last comet? Well...this fiber is aptly named. I had to buy some more of this stuff....like I need more fiber.

Campanula

Gerber Daisy

Gazania in a solo....What a glorious day today is!!!! The flowers testify.

Obligatory knitting news.....I am thinking about starting another project. I want to make another shawl, sweater and or shell. I have no business doing this!!! What do you think I should start next? Maybe you have a better idea for a new project. Make a suggestion and don't limit yourself to ideas I've already alluded to in the past.

Lastly...I scored a secondhand crock pot so I may have to do some more dyeing:)

Check out this site for crockpot dyeing ideas........

The Overuse Syndrome

Doing too much of this.....

Causes.....

As you can see I've been knitting. Darn arthritis is acting up....yes, folks, that's what my doc says it is.....The only help is Advil, ice, cortisone shots or surgery( only in extreme cases). He didn't seemed moved that it's cutting into my knitting time. He told me to rest it. Hence the wrap which helps somewhat.

I started Lizard socks and I'm moving along on the right front of Slip Stitch Cardi. The sock pattern is free so get to it.