knitting camel from across the seas

Do Camels cross the wide seas???

Anyway, The knitting camel caravan arrived yesterday at my house from far across the seas! Dear Marky sent knitting gifts that will keep me busy for a long, long time...



Knitting needles click:
a cup of tea scents the air,
The new shawl begins!



So, I started a new shawl that I like far better than the one I was making. This one is my own design, taken from several of the lace patterns in the books from Marky. I'm using a non-striping sock yarn in shaded blues, combined with light blue Kid Seta mohair and silk. It’s beautifully soft, and I'm still trying to finish it in a week! I've got a couple of feet done, while watching a Project Runway marathon. I'll knit more tonight because I have the new Pride and Prejudice to watch!

Life is a blossoming rose

Today is likely to be a day out of time…for many reasons. I am going with my childhood buddy Lori to a day spa, (a gift from a friend) and before that to a yarn shop, a book store, and a vegetarian lunch. It sounds like the ultimate pampered mini-vacation to me! I can use the relaxation and, yes, the endorphin-producing spa treatment!

Having the strength to move through stress is something we pretty much take for granted in our culture of five-day 40+ hour work weeks and crushed, errand-filled weekends. How many people work until 5 on Friday, hurry to the grocery store before going home, only to realize, week after week, that the Friday night crowds will keep them there until 7, when they rush home to make dinner and fall asleep in front of the TV by 9 pm – or drag their weary bodies out to the obligatory Weekend-starting night out with friends? I had a visit from a friend who is living in Europe now, and this got me thinking about this culture of stress we endure. For her, 2 hour lunches are the norm – a break in the middle of the day for chocolate and a roll and a chat with friends, energizes her for a few more hours of work. Thursday night is the common night out for everyone, and Friday at work is a relaxed day because of that. Fewer cars on the roads and lots of walking encourage healthy relaxation to and from work, to and from lunch, to and from the clubs. Shopping is done – just what she’s able to carry - on the walk home from work and in just a few minutes. Leisure is an important aspect of the culture – it’s the fabric of life, the bonding of love. For us, here, leisure is the snatched kiss in the copy room closet – too fast, too impatient, exciting but infrequent. No wonder stress-related dis-ease is so prevalent. Another friend related to me a story of his time in Switzerland, where hours were spent leisurely chatting with friends and toasting cheese over a fire. When was the last time I….? Well, never. No, never.

My life: I wish for the precious blossoming rose that is my life a little more leisure, a lot more love, a gentle presence, long conversations, meals of communion rather than fast food, and a pleasure in work well and carefully done.

The knitting:

Here is the single leg warmer (right leg). I *am* working on the second one! Perhaps not with the same fervor, but its coming along….



These are two of Holly’s Story-Hour finger puppets. As you can see, the Wizard is a bit giddy and the Witch needs her face embroidered!



I heard yesterday that I’ll be meeting another Pisces artist at a mutual birthday party on my upcoming trip to the West coast, so I have started this Old Shale shawl for her (she’s a potter and lives on an island, so Old Shale – or Old Shell, as its more ancient name reads – seemed right). The yarn is a spool I got at the thrift store for $2 and is marked 100% mohair. It’s a very light blue mixed with grey – like mist on the ocean….

A bag for the little finger puppets

Pictures of the knitting:



I didn't use a pattern but I think I cast on about 64 stitches and knit on size 7 needles. The yarn is cotton. The top hemming was done with 3 rows K, 1 row P, 3 rows K. I did a simple K2tog, YO, K2tog to make the eyelet for the ribbon drawstring and then knit every stitch the row after that, switching to stockinette stitch until I got the the band of Garter Stitch, then switched back to stockinette after a few rows. The grafting was especially hard - I must have frogged five times! Finally I used the bind-off graft, where you bind off half and have only half of the stitches on the needle. Then you can do the Kitchener stitch more easily because you can see the stitches on the bound off side.

Today I am going to look around for the right colour yarn for the bodies of the little finger puppets. I have all these ideas in my head and I'm exciting to bring them out onto the needles! (Oh, the obsessions of knitters and crocheters!! LOL)

Going to meet a friend at a little European-style Cafe today - ooooo! And there's a bookstore!

Happy when it rains

I *am* very happy with today and it is a beautifully rainy day here - not cold but Spring-like with a light rain that makes the fire in the fireplace and the peachy bread pudding in the oven seem very cosy! (if anyone wants the recipe, let me know :) The little dog has been Hoovering the floor looking for spare bits, and unknowingly picking up little snipped off ends of yarn from my knitting, so now he looks like he has a black beard!

Bits of yarn on the floor? Yes! I finished the Rose Leaf Gloves for Karen and mailed them off a couple of days ago. She wrote a poem about how she felt like a rose bush that was waiting to bloom, and it inspired me to design these: {don’t look any further Karen if you want to be surprised}

"Sophia Roseleaf Gloves">


and



For the cuff detail, I used a pattern from an old, old booklet from the early 1900’s (I collect these, though they’re getting more and more scarce – I haven’t found one for several months) but then had to cross-reference it with a more modern book to figure out how to do it in the round for a glove cuff. It was fun working on the design and then bringing it into being!

Today there are so many possibilities before me. I do need to prepare for my class on Tuesday, and see if any students have emailed with homework problems. A while ago a couple of people wrote about how past problematic students had enrolled in their classes this semester. The same thing happened to me! A student I had in a different class who I had to speak to about being “disrespectful” and who then refused to say anything for the rest of the class, joined this class! So far, she’s been just fine and her work is excellent. Whew! I was worried for a while. I think that teaching is so self-revealing. Every time I am confronted with this group of minds, my own “growing edges” come to the fore, and I have to work on myself and develop myself in order to help my students grow and learn. I know it’s supposed to be that way, but we should get paid *way* more for this much inner work!!

Other things to do:
Watch America’s Next Top Model and knit on the soft blue legwarmers that are going to bridge the gap between my nightgown and my slippers when I’m on the computer late at night;

Go to Borders Books for the Superbowl Sunday live music alternative with my friend P; bring my knitting; We might also wander around to other shops that are having special events.

Update my farm (Luminous moon Farm) in Harvest Moon, More Friends of Mineral Town. I have a puppy named Danny and a Pony named Shawnsie and I give them lots of attention but I haven’t had enough crops harvested in order to buy a brush for them, so they haven’t grown up. I also keep forgetting to visit the Harvest Elves and bring them flour so I don’t have any help on the farm. I really want to bring them some cookies. I brought them some flowers and they said “we don’t like those!” Ha Ha!

Draw pictures of the finger puppets I’m making for my Librarian friend, Holly, to use in her Story Hour. I wonder if I can make the Wizard look anything like Snape????

Trailing rose leaves bind your wrist

This is a cuff, knit into rose leaves.... Oooooooo



The light coloured one is the photo in the instruction booklet Knitting on the Edge), but you can see the vine better than you can in my knitted black yarn....

Sophia, the Movie

A Cautionary Tale of Curiosity and Appliances

Director: Frances Ford Coppola

Today was a day for a million and one things to be done, things that have been waiting for attention during all these weeks that I’ve been recovering from slipping ont he ice and getting a concussion. But in the middle of hauling a ton of laundry down to the basement washing machine, I suddenly doubled over –

“What Fresh Hell is This?” I asked my imaginary pal, Shakespeare.

“Oh it’s just the stomach flu,” he said nonchalantly, as he flipped my undies into the whirling machine – darks and lights together, mind you.

“Arrgh!” I replied. “Get Thee to a Nunnery!”

Shakespeare threw me a quizzical look, arched eyebrow and all.

“Sorry, wrong story,” I mumbled.

I managed to get everything in and turn the machine on (this is a tale of appliances, after all), and get back upstairs. A cup of tea, that’s what I need, I thought as I flopped down at the kitchen table.

“Not to worry, dearheart, I’ve already got the kettle on” quipped Jane Austen, my other imaginary friend. She had even set the writing desk under the bay window with crumpets and strawberry jam made by Trappist Monks (Holy Jam, Batman!). I had Pleine Lune tea (Full Moon – Vanilla Almond Black tea with Lavender flowers) from Mariage Freres. Jane offered cups around to a whole room full of imaginary friends and we had a jolly time, while cold rain fell outside the windows. Catherine the cat curled up on our toes and the Professor’s CD played beautiful, inspiring music.

Ahhhhh, I felt pretty good! I would go out, I thought. I’ll go to see Harry Potter again. I really need to study Snape more closely in this movie; I didn’t quite catch everything yet… I’ll stop at the Thrift Shop first and see if they have any nice old cashmere sweaters… maybe I’ll stop at the corner market before the movie and smuggle in a cheese sandwich…

Jeeves, my other imaginary friend, had the car ready and warmed up when I got out the door. The thrift store is near the theatre and I'll be right on time, I thought. Jeeves and I had wandered around the thrift for a few minutes, when I begin to feel a bit wonky.

“Tummy trouble?” murmured Jeeves, sotto voce.

“Arrgh!” I said as I writhed on the floor.

“I’m sorry madam,” Jeeves said evenly to the woman behind the counter, “we haven’t found anything to suit today. Thank you, though; Very nice selection. We will be certain to return.”

Jeeves helped me to the car and we high-tailed it home, where he settled me on the couch and handed me two pink Pepto-Bismol pills. How do you spell relief?

I woke up later and William, Jane, and Jeeves were messing around in the kitchen throwing out old things that have been in the refrigerator too long.

“Billy Corgan came while you were asleep,” Shakespeare calls out. “He’s down in the basement putting your laundry in the dryer. But he’s hungry. Don’t you have anything with an expiration date sometime in this century???”

“You should talk,” crabbed Jane.

“Uh,,,,,” I moaned guiltily, “I was going to go grocery shopping next Friday on payday.”

“Planning on eating between now and then??” Jane said sarcastically. (Jane can be very cutting at times. She’s one of those people who gets crabby when they’re hungry.)

Billy came up from the basement while Jeeves was taking all the garbage food out to the tip.
“Yo, Bitch! Get up from the couch and make me some cheese on toast.” He said with a cute little grin.

Of course, I did. You’d have to be nuts to refuse someone who can write something like “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness”.

We all had cheese on toast, then Billy took the dog out and then we decided to watch America’s Next Top Model DVDs for the rest of the evening (Shakespeare really likes Tyra Banks; “She would have made a great Tatiana,” he says.).

I finished knitting my Seawave Shawl:



And I hope I feel well enough to go to work next week so I can wear it. But I’ll have to leave my imaginary friends at home to clean up because I know there’s going to be a popcorn brawl when we all watch the NFL Playoffs later tonight.

Holiday FO's

My computer crashed just before Christmas, so I never had a chance to post about the things I was making!! The good part is that I can show you the finished views instead of the WIPs :-)...Knitting Madness…

This is a scarf I made for my friend Rose from a fancy mohair yarn with metallic sparkles. It only took a couple hours to make. It’s just CO 11 with Garter Stitch. When I finished, I threaded a matching ribbon yarn through it from end to end in random places and then used both the sparkle mohair and ribbon yarns in the tassels:


This scarf took a LOT longer! It’s a hand-dyed lace weight merino in subtle pinks and roses – you can’t see the colours very well in the photo. This was my first try with lace knitting and I had to frog more than once! The pattern is from my LYS, but it says on the pattern that the lace design is from Mary Thomas Knitting Patterns so you could find it. The cast on was 41 stitches with 3 knit st at each end to keep it from curling and three knit rows at beginning and end to make that scalloped edge.



This is my favorite scarf – it was for my sister's BF John, who is the lead for the band Terrene (www.terrene.net) . Isn’t he cute in it? The picture was taken at Tealuxe in Boston yesterday. The yarn was a hand-dyed thick yarn (Malabrigo)I got at the Windsor Button Shop in Boston some time ago. It’s a mix of beautiful browns, black, and dark green. I used a simple 24 st CO and k2 p2 until I used up the whole ball.



Here’s a better photo of the colours of the yarn:



I started to make a nice black sweater for my sister, but didn’t get further than the back, so I packed it in a box with the picture of the pattern. She thought that was great and laughed and said “An open-ended knit project! Great!” But I wanted to give her something finished too, so I quickly made these fingerless gloves. The yarn is the same type as the brown scarf, only with variegated light blues, and the lacy part at the beginning is the same lace pattern as I used on the pink lace scarf because when I got done with that it was indelibly burned into my brain LOL! Then I just K2 P2 until with was the right length and sewed up the side leaving a hole for the thumb.



But the very BEST thing of all was what my sister made for me for Christmas! This is a cover for my Gameboy Advance SP! It’s an owl (obviously) and the eyes, which don’t show up very clearly in the photo, are vintage glass swirl-y buttons! I love it very much. She also gave me “Harvest Moon More Friends of Mineral Town”, which I’ve been playing non-stop.

She’s really creative! While she was here, she made a pair of lacey fingerless hand warmers and a cover for her new i-Pod.



Well, that’s everything so far…. Now to finish the sweater and hopefully make some sock gifts for friends