It Was a Ten!!!

Yesterday was so beautiful! DH and mom and I took a trip to the beach. What is it about the shore that intrigues us and draws us there? The water's calming effect, the birdlife, the boats or the salt air? It's all of them for me. We like to park at Galilee renamed Salty Brine Beach a few years ago. We left home at 8 am stopped for "coffee and" and arrived at 9:15 to park near the rocks to take in the view you see in the pics below. Naturally I took my knitting along. I've finally begun Grumperina's Picovoli at long last. I bought some Debbie Bliss Cathy in a lovely gray blue and began in earnest. Sadly, I didn't read the directions carefully enough and wound up ripping it out last night. I restarted immediately and I'm on track and loving the softness of this yarn made of cotton, silk and microfibre.












Here's another garden pic! Any ideas about what I could name it? Interlocking Echinacea?

Baby Hoodie is Finished!

My daughter, Marisa, finished knitting a sweet baby sweater for her friend's baby shower. The sweater will be much appreciated I'm sure. It's so soft and a great color for a boy or a girl. Best of all she tells me she will be free to knit whatever she wants now. Deadline knitting can be trying as we all know. She used a free pattern from Bernat.

All in a Day!

What a wonderful day in pictures! Below you see DH's prized plecostomus. To be precise a Leopard Pleco ~ Sailfin Plecostomus (Adult) Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps.


Of course, I'm happy to have finished my Opal tiger socks. Hmmmmmm....time to begin another pair of socks. Perhaps I'll consider the new Knitty when I choose a new pattern. It's called the extremities issue!!

My purchase at Tranquil Lake Nursery paid off. Below you see Numinous Moments. She bloomed in all her glory yesterday morning. I have another that is to die for. I will be posting that pic soon.

Here you can witness my Echinacea plant in two stages.........

Challenge # 3 Amazing Lace

The Red Shawl

Red linen loops
Formed on smooth pointed sticks
Cheer its creator
Knit a row
Purl a row
Yarn over and knit together
A purposed balancing act of more or less
Makes undulating fabric beneath her fingers
Shoulder decoration.

Saturday's June Spin In

It's such a joy to spin at Sue's RI Handspun on the last Saturday of each month. As you can see Carol M was present to model her lovely Inishmaan sweater, one of A Starmore's beautiful aran designs. Carol made it from yarn that was purchased in Ireland.



Here you can see a close up of the shoulder detail. Maryann, I know you'll appreciate these photos of Carol's work.....



Below we have a Navajo spindle in use. Can you guess who it is?


I spent Saturday afternoon spinning some gray mystery wool on my Ashford Joy. I even was able to stretch and align some locks to ready them for the hackle. This technique perserves the color variation. I will post a pic of a finished skein if anyone cares to see it.

Bolstered

Why have I neglected posting a second time this spring? I have a good reason.....

As you all know I have hinted that I have been working on a test knit project designed by Gina Macris. Last Monday I had the distinct pleasure of finishing it! Although there was the challenge of knitting with hemp on size 3 needles and the creation of many bobbles, I learned much from this project.

I learned how to knit the bolster shape in one continuous piece which begins with the circular end of the pillow. This was accomplished with circular needles and increases to make the circle grow. The addition of knitted staggered bobbles on the straightaway of the pillow made me understand and appreciate their amorphous nature. I found making knitted bobble buttons a clever addition to the pillow. I think I will use them on a future sweater.

Below are two pictures of this pillow pattern that will appear in the spring release of one of Gina's new knitting pattern books that will feature accents for the home. Late fall is the planned release date for her pattern book on accessories. One of her books called Start to Knit: From Casting On to Binding Off is posted at Amazon with a five star rating.

Finally, I learned what it means to test knit a pattern for a designer!!! It means tweaking a pattern and being prepared to rip back if necessary. I'm glad I was willing to persevere; it was well worth the effort!





I'm back to the amazing lace project which is growing. I've also finished spinning one skein of variegated gray yarn. I began by washing one of my gray fleeces, then using a hackle to open the locks. It spins like a dream on my Ashford Joy wheel. I will post pictures soon.

Springtime Blooms

I've been remiss. I haven't posted in weeks! There is so much to tell you about starting with my garden. I am enjoying its blooms daily. Here are some pics to enjoy. I'll share more about my knitting projects in the days to come. Particularly a test knit I'm doing....

Amazing Lace : Meet the Team

Here you can see the circuitous teammate otherwise know as a Lady Gray Susan Bates jockeying in position with white place markers. The markers separate the eighteen stitch repeat of Feather and Fan Stitch, or Old Shale taken from another prominent team mate called Barbara Walker. She illustrates this pattern on page 205 of A Treasury of Knitting Patterns.


The strongest teammate is the cranberry linen which interprets the pattern deftly. Notice how she holds the hills and valleys of the old shale course. She is sadly nameless due to her humble birth. She was found among many lonely cones of yarn at PASA yarns in Uxbridge, MA. She's been jostled about by other brand name yarns in my stash for years crying out to be a team mate for some time now. I've decided to give the unknown a chance to perform and I believe she's doing admirably.









Don't be scared away by her length; I still need to add three feet to this growing project and my teammates are up to the challenge!!! Keep in mind I am an experienced knitter who hopes to finish this project and move on to another lace project this summer.

Here Comes the Bride

Long Overdue

I've finally taken pics of my latest projects for you to peruse. This is because I've finally got all my ducks in a row for the wedding. We are 5 days away from the special day!!! We are sooooo excited.

Below is a feather and fan shawl I've resurrected from the UFO pile. I'm knitting it with a cone of cranberry linen I picked up at PASA in Uxbridge, MA. You never know what goodies Paul has there. I've knitted a good 3.5 feet so far and plan to at least double this length to make a wonderful shawl for moi. I just love linen; it improves with washing and drying.



Here you see the Opal Tiger sock coming down the home stretch. I am very happy with the ringwood pattern since it breaks up the striping of this yarn...notice the difference between the bottom of the foot versus the leg or top of the foot. I think I want to use this pattern again perhaps with a solid yarn.


And here is a cutie I saw at the Tolland Fair on April 29th.


If you are a bee lover trek over to Judith's blog to see her swarm. It is awesome. Then visit Kristen to see her honey harvest.

I've been exploring new blogs and enjoying reading them.

Pursed!!!

How often can we say we can make something from virtually nothing? Below is a case in point. As you can see below these are scraps of fabric in very odd shapes;perhaps they could have been thrown away. Not a chance....these "scraps" are pieces of my daughter's wedding gown that were mailed to me by her seamstress after she altered her wedding gown several weeks ago. My daughter told me she would like a purse for her wedding day. At first she suggested that I make it from my wedding gown as I did for the ring bearer's pillow, but with the scraps of her dress below I decided to create a bag for her. It was not easy. You see my dilemma;curved scraps that would not behave in the sewing.


Nonetheless I forged ahead and sewed them together as you can see. With the addition of my wedding gown fabric as a liner, a my wedding gown button and some satin cording I was able to create this.....


I managed to cut some lace flowers from my gown to cover the cording's frayed edges inside the bag. She and I are very happy with the results!


Obligatory Knit Content: The Opal Tiger sock number one nears completion. The linen feather and fan shawl is growing. I know I promised pics of these but I've been wedding busy. They will come in time.

Setting the Stage

This weekend was a special one because it set the stage for a wonderful event...Marisa and John's special day! Here you see gathered Marisa's sweet cousins and friends posing before their night on the town. They took Marisa to her Bachelorette Party in Newport. Need I say more....

Below is a very special pillow. It will hold the special couple's wedding rings. It's made from my wedding dress worn 35 years ago next September. I'm thrilled to have it be part of the ceremony and carried by my grand nephew. The excitement is building!!


Knit content: Work still continues on my Opal Tiger socks. I also picked up a linen feather and fan shawl from the UFO pile. I will post pics soon.

Standing Room Only

Last Friday the sock and I had a damn good drink after visiting Classic Yarns of Grafton. This was all Judy's fault, of course. On the spur of the moment I agreed to visit Grafton in order to hear the Yarn Harlot speak to quite a few knitters. I was at the back of the room and could barely see and hear her speak because there were so many in the audience. Many of us brought knitting along. As you can see above Judy is holding my sock ( made with Opal's new Tiger in a pattern for Gentleman's Hose in Vintage Sock Knitting) over a two limit Margarita at a lovely Mexican restaurant whose name escapes me at the moment. I drank while waiting for a low carb dinner ( just kidding).

Below you can see some of the knit bloggers who gathered at the restaurant after visiting with the Yarn Harlot. First we see Carol, who smiles so sweetly behind her beverage. Notice her wonderful cat's paw shawl knitted in Koigu.


Of course, other bloggers were there as well.


Can't forget these bloggers....... Somewhere in the crowded restaurant is Laurie, who has been waiting for the Alpaca man...hehehe. She sounded seriously addicted. I got to see her lovely blue socks in person by Jove.

Last but not least here is Stephanie speaking to other bloggers.....Notice Stitchy's aluminum can couture bag just behind her head in the pic below! Very Kitschy, Stitchy!

I did have a great time and believe it or not I bought no new yarn to add to my ever growing stash. I even managed to knit almost the whole leg of a sock by the end of the night...when I wasn't drinking Margaritas!

Shoots and Socks

This week has been exciting in the garden. One of my fragrant lilies...can't think of it's name at the moment....has begun to show itself. It is a beautiful snow white with a spectacular fragrance. I hope it will be as lovely as when I bought it. It is planted next to Cathy's daylilies which are popping up as well. The thrill of springtime in the garden is such a joy.

Here are the Trekking XXL fraternal socks I completed for my mom. I gave them to her as part of her Easter gift last Sunday. They fit her perfectly. She's very happy to add them to her collection of handmade socks. She loves all of them so much that she has me mending the older ones. She claims she's saving this pair for next fall and winter.

Well...I'm off to the coal mines!

Springtime Fibonacci and More

Fibonacci Poetry is in the air according to the Knitting Curmudgeon so I wrote one using Fibonacci sequencing:

Fibonacci Spring

The slow
The slow growth of
The slow growth of spring buds
Inflames my tenth sense
Sixteen times I have held the bud which cast me in its pregnant spell.



Blooming Pussywillow


Mrytle...Mrytle Turtle


Judy.....this is for the hummers of spring!

A Surprise Gift!

This is quite a week!!! Laurie sent me a lovely trio of Blue Sky Alpaca. She is so sweet to think of me. But how did she know that I needed such a treat this week of all weeks!!! My mom's illness and other events have made life challenging lately. Leave it to the kindness of the blogoshere to come to the aid of the weary.

I did continue working on socks for my mom. I'm coming down the home stretch of the second sock. I 'm thinking of what I can make with the Alpaca.......hmmmmm....maybe a hat or scarf!