Stork's Nest

This Estonian lace pattern by Nancy Bush from Piecework seems right for spring knitting. It's a lightweight scarf made with Plymouth's Alpaca and Silk that I purchased from Sue at RI Handspun a couple of weeks ago. The color is a very muted purple; the picture is not an accurate portrayal of the color.

I now have three lace projects on the needles....MS3, a feather and fan shawl from and older Piecework Magazine and The Stork.

On another front........I had a short piece of knitting related writing published at Yarn Market E-Update. Be sure to scroll down to The View from the Blogosphere.

Sargasso Sea Sock Kit and More

"In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where two powerful currents come together like partners joining hands to dance and whirl round and around, there is a place shrouded in mystery. It is a sea within a sea. This place of calm, clear water and floating seaweed islands has been said to becalm ships forever and to harbor mermaids. It is the Sargasso Sea." My friend,Judy of Ball and Skein aptly describes the Sargasso Sea which is the theme of our sock kit.

After much revision and test knitting by Sarah, the Sargasso Sea Sock pattern kit is now available.The kit includes the cutest sea shell stitch marker.

Now I'm free to finish up the wing portion of Swan Lake Stole (MS3) and other WIP's.

I'm happy to report that I've spun up a considerable amount of rambouillet and silk at RI Handspun's Spin In........................

Pulled in all directions.........

What a dreary day today is. TS Eliot in The Waste Land said that April is the cruelest month; I vote that March fills that bill as well.I shouldn't be totally negative what with daylight saving time enacted earlier this year.

My antidote has been finishing the Sargasso Sea pattern and socks. Here you can see the texture of the sock while worn.

This pic shows the sock without the crocheted edging...suitable for a more practical look.

I can now get back to Swan Lake aka MS3. I needed to do some mindless knitting so yesterday afternoon I started a Norwegian beret in cream and dark gray Suri Merino ( alpaca and merino blend) by Plymouth that I bought at RI Handspun. I'm already heading down the home stretch with the decreases. The impetus for knitting this hat is all due to Carol M :). She made two of them. She felted the hat a bit and it looks wonderful.

Chinese Version of Swan Lake

This is an absolutely stunning mix of ballet and acrobatics.

I'm off to work on my Swan Lake Mystery Stole wing in celebration!!

Sargasso Sea Sock I is Finished

I've finished sock one and almost half of the second sock. It makes me think of Neruda's poem:

"Ode to My Socks" by Pablo Neruda (translated by Robert Bly)

Mara Mori brought me
a pair of socks
which she knitted herself
with her sheepherder's hands,
two socks as soft as rabbits.
I slipped my feet into them
as if they were two cases
knitted with threads of twilight and goatskin,
Violent socks,
my feet were two fish made of wool,
two long sharks
sea blue, shot through
by one golden thread,
two immense blackbirds,
two cannons,
my feet were honored in this way
by these heavenly socks.
They were so handsome for the first time
my feet seemed to me unacceptable
like two decrepit firemen,
firemen unworthy of that woven fire,
of those glowing socks.

Nevertheless, I resisted the sharp temptation
to save them somewhere as schoolboys
keep fireflies,
as learned men collect
sacred texts,
I resisted the mad impulse to put them
in a golden cage and each day give them
birdseed and pieces of pink melon.
Like explorers in the jungle
who hand over the very rare green deer
to the spit and eat it with remorse,
I stretched out my feet and pulled on
the magnificent socks and then my shoes.

The moral of my ode is this:
beauty is twice beauty
and what is good is doubly good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool in winter.

Sargasso Sea

This bit of winter doldrums sparked my creativity for the last couple of weeks. I began experimenting with some of Judy's sock yarn called Sargasso Sea.The Sargasso Sea gets its name from the sargassum seaweed that lazily floats over its surface. My imagination went to work and this is what I came up with..............

Pi is dry?

Last night I watched La Vie en Rose which is a must see. It depicts the life of French singer Edith Pilaf; make sure you check out the youtube videos of Edith Pilaf singing.

I finished the Pi shawl. Of course......as with all projects knitted with handspun the dreaded "will I have enough yarn to finish the shawl anxiety" plagued me for the last several days.

You know there was not enough yarn to finish the longest edging in the world. I managed to find another skein of handspun mohair wool in a somewhat similar colorway that I substituted. This shawl was born of a need to bring together handspun that produced varied colored skeins due to my neglect to spin it with color in mind. Instead I spun the fiber helter skelter just enjoying the color as it emerged. Due to this spinning approach,I had the dilemma of what to knit with these varied colored skeins. The thought of several small projects did not interest me. Then I thought about the Pi shawl. I've made 3 Pi shawls..two as gifts and one for me in unspun lopi which I dearly love. Here are some before and after blocking pictures of the finished shawl.
Oh yes.........I also finished the fake isle hat for DD in Noro Silk Garden and Patons Classic Merino

Ah..... the Comfort of a Pi Shawl

You know how it can be......you've been toiling away on a "pay attention" lace stole and fair isle sweater. You've finished a few UFO's and you just have to start another project. The dilemma begins as always....what will I knit or spin next?

I need a relaxing " I can talk and knit" type project. What's more comforting and long winded than an EZ Pi Shawl taken from the Knitter's Almanac? I've made this shawl twice. Once you can see here. So that's what I did last night....started the Pi Shawl using my hand spun Copper Beech yarn from Tintagel...you know Barn 31 at Rhinebeck. This fiber was spun randomly so the colors of each skein are somewhat related but essentially different. That's when I thought this shawl would fill the bill.

I'm working the shawl in concentric rounds or YO's. Brooklyntweed's Pi Shawl/Blanket made me decide I needed to make this shawl. Of course ......I may changed the pattern if I get too bored with YO's. We will have to see. I love circular knitting for the many design opportunities it can afford.



I did want you to see the socks that I hand dyed and finally finished using a 4knit, 1purl around pattern..............
These were long overdue in the UFO department. I used Silkwood handpainted yarn from the UK and Knitty's Crusoe pattern...................
Love this shot of Ruth in profile taken in our sunny hallway........
Here are DH's assortment of Cory cat fish lined up in parking lot fashion. If you 'd like to see DH's African fish check out this link. You can hear him in the background announcing we've got another Electric Yellow African Cichlid baby....so cute!!!

Sunday Visitor

Who says you can't see wildlife in your backyard in the city? Banish that thought immediately. I was privileged to see a ringnecked male pheasant this morning while washing my dishes. Now I know it's not comparable to a raptor in your barn, DD and SIL, and not a bear in Vermont, Judy.
The pictures are a tad blurry, but that's what happens when you use zoom from your house. I went out into my Florida room to get a closer pic but the dang bird knew I was coming and took off to my neighbor's yard. Did I want to go out in the cold with wet hair to chase this bird.......

Time for a walk with DH....................talk to you later about knitting that's moving along.

Public Art and Make My Day Again

A friend sent me a must see video of public art.........Check it out!


Make My Day Award Redux
Thanks to Cathy and Sharon for making my day for the second and third time this week. I must say that there are so many worthwhile knitting and spinning bloggers in blogland. This award gives us an opportunity to tell each other what we all need to hear from time to time. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Someone is reading my blog.

Zebraknits This blogger rivals Brooklyntweed for photography and journal titles.

Cathy is the queen of crochet in every sense. Her creativity with that hook inspires me.

Audioknits is one of the most prolific knitters and readers I know. She continually makes attempts to link the knitting community.

Sharon lives in Reno writes the funniest comments and her dyed wool is heavenly.

Carol writes so thoughtfully about knitting, weaving, painting and her dogs.

Thanks! :)

Special thanks goes to Two Crazy Knit Chicks for giving me the "Make my Day Award".
A blogger doesn't always know if postings are of interest to other knitters so it's sweet to be recognized in this way.Sometimes readers will leave a comment and that makes my day.

The rules are as follows: “Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.”

Here are some bloggers that make my day with their posts which include knitting, pictures and whatever else strikes them as blog worthy. I wish I had time to mention the many more than ten bloggers I read and have not recognized.

Riverrim : Cyndy's postings always touch the heart of the natural world.

in my mother's name : This blogger has such a talent for creating lovely patterns for Norwegian mittens and more.

Habetrot :Marcy has a penchant for finding the most interesting pictures of spinners, knitters and sheep from other centuries.

Stranded on Fair Isle : Marina never fails to impress me with her volume and execution of fair isle knitting. Because of her I have picked up Starmore's Rona once again!

Etherknitter : Laurie has a wonderful way of providing witty descriptions and pictures of her knitting, spinning, traveling and indeed healing.

Spinning Spider Jenny :I had the pleasure of taking one of Jenny's spinning classes at Webs. She generously continues to educate the spinning community through her blog.

Smatterings : Judy shares her daily encounters through her poetic postings, well composed shots of natural beauty and an overflowing dye pot.

Seed Stitch : Another good read with a cup of tea in the morning. Cheryl's cheery knitting
perspective and great photography make my day. She even creates a chart for knitters so we can make our own Poetry Mittens!!!

I'm Knitting as Fast as I Can: Susan lives up to the title of her blog in every way. She not only designs lovely patterns, but she also knits up the patterns of others even though she has an aversion to blocking ;)

Snidknits This knitter who is also named Cindy has recently moved to India and allows her readers to live vicariously through her postings. She just had to get over the fact that I grabbed the name cindyknits before she could ;)

Promises, Promises

I finally got my act together and wrote up and posted two of my patterns. One is the Vine Lace Shrug I made for DD's wedding. The other is Optically Squared Headband that I first posted about here. Joining Ravelry has challenged me to put some free patterns on paper. Let me know if there are any problems with the patterns should you decide to knit one.

The Russian Knitting Experience

My Komi knitting contribution to the blogosphere from Knitting Marvelous Mittens.

Two Knitters Join Forces

This is what happens when two knitters work on a project together. DD knit most of Rosedale with some modifications. She decided to eliminate the zipper and/or buttons. She also asked me to knit the bands in sideways ribbing. The yarn is Noro Silk Garden. I especially love the corrugated ribbing on the collar, cuffs and bottom ribbing. And it fits her well!!

Knit, Knit,Knit..........Walk

Progress on three fronts this weekend............Mystery Stole 3 nears the end of the cat's paw section, my Komi Hat closes in on its peak and I made another beret in my hand spun using my new Knitpicks needles thanks to DD and SIL. To deal with the boredom of working on these UFOs, I had to start a new project...another pair of socks....LOL......I still have two other pairs to finish.

I also found time to take a walk in a wooded area with friends....................

So Much Depends on the Temperature

The natural dance of winter.............


Hibernates....................



And protects.................

To stand silently............

Bearing the burden.....................



Yet eyeing us the whole while....................

Waiting for spring......................

My Plan for Today

This painting by Romanian painter Ignat Bednarik captures the bliss of spinning!

Knitting in Color or Black and White

These days have been filled with the search or should I say the research of knitting in color or black and white. I am a devotee of knitting and spinning, but nothing gets my mojo going than the patterning of two or more colors in knitting.This mitten picture is taken from the NATO Summit Mitten Collection I downloaded recently.Talk about eye candy! See Marcy's blog for details.


It is the atavistic urge to delight in patterns. From time immemorial mankind has delighted in the simple pattern whether it adorns the cup or the textile. I love fair isle,Latvian mittens,Norwegian sweaters and mittens, Icelandic designs. Thanks to my friend Patty,I've been perusing mittens from Sata Kansanomaista Kuviokudinmallia by Eeva Haavisto, a Finnish book that has patterns for 100 traditional mittens from Finland.The book is from the 40’s and it’s OOP and the publisher is WSOY.

Here's a sample of my online search travels which I'm sure that Marcy and Cassie have visited at one time or another:
NATO Summit 2006
Knitting in Color
Looking Glass Knits
Nordic Fiber Arts
Nordic Mitten Kits
The seven links below are in Ravelry so you may have to sign in first:
HelloYarn's NHM #10 Mitten from Selbuvotter :: Biography of a Knitting Tradition
Helloyarns Lined Mitten
Norwegian Mittens
Man's Norwegian Mitten
Mittens Hokuou no knit komonotachi / 北欧のニットこものたち (大型本)
Norwegian Snail Mittens
Spillyjane's Mitten
Knitman's Machine Knit FairIsle
Baltic Shop Mittens
Graph for Norwegian Mittens
Handschuh rot
Lara's Latvian Mittens
Blogdogblog's Mittens

How I rang in the New Year............

I rarely stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve. I haven't watched the ball drop in Times Square for eons. This year I crossed into 2008 knitting, of course. I remember well about 5 or 6 years ago I crossed into the New Year doing a small weaving project. This New Year's Eve I managed to start one of my resolutions............continue knitting Mystery Stole 3. You remember this 2007 project I'm sure. Perhaps you knitted one or still have one in progress. Now the thing about UFO's is their desire to remain that way. I think it's the law of Knitting Inertia............projects at rest tend to want to stay at rest..LOL!!! I broke the inertia barrier, folks. I resurrected MS3. The biggest obstacle was figuring out how to tink back and figure out what row I was on. I did it!!!

It gets better.......I also worked on another UFO,my Komi Hat from Mostly Mittens by Charlene Schurch started a few years ago.
And....................on Sunday I plyed another skein of mohair/wool and llama purchased from Rhinebeck's Barn 31.