another knitting blog

getting my feet wet

Although you wouldn't be able to tell from the frequency of my posting, I have returned from vacation. I've actually been trying to write this post all week; but every time I sit down to write, I lose the will and usually end up going to bed. And every day, what I was planning to say becomes less and less relevant. Even now, I'm struggling to get this post written.

I had a restful week visiting my parents. I got out on the lake on the floaty chair twice before the weather turned unseasonably cool. The rest of the week I took lots of naps, sat by the lake, read, and knit--just what I planned to do.

Click above for wide view

This is the scene I contemplated last week; it's the view from the dock at my parents' house. The house is on the left and over on the right are channels to two larger lakes. There are neighbors all around and boats going by; but for the most part it's peaceful.

Other snippets from my week off: strawberry pie made with fresh strawberries like you can't get in the store, apple pie, four different kinds wind chimes, birdsong, bird watching (goldfinches, humming birds, woodpeckers, ducks, cranes, and loons), frogsong, turtles, deep thought, and swimming for the first time in five years.

OK, that's all I can manage tonight. Not very literary and no knitting content yet. I promise, it's on the way.

vacation zen

On Monday, I took a picture of this wild iris growing by the lake. By Tuesday, the bloom had shriveled and died, but the plant lived on.

things for you to look at

I am supposed to be packing for my trip but the cat is sleeping on my lap and I am wracked with guilt at leaving her for a week, so I'm trapped here until she gets up or the clothes in the dryer are done.

Instead of knitting content, how about some fun animation links?

Making Fiends: The last episode of season one is up. Charlotte and Vendetta are going on summer vacation; they'll be back with more in September. Ooh, look, t-shirts!

No time to watch movies? Angry Alien Productions has The Exorcist, The Shining, Titantic, and Alien in 30 seconds (and re-enacted by bunnies).

Pencilmation has some cute and/or disturbing little movies. Pencilmation #1 is a favorite.

The clothes are dry. Gotta go!

Have a good week!

Back from the dead

After a week of shuffling around in a daze and a weekend of cycling between recovery and relapse, I appear to have thrown off the control of my zombie master and most of my higher mental functions have returned to normal [and about time too!].

I know this because I functioned better today on two hours of sleep [why only two hours? I don't know why!] than I did all last week with a full night's sleep and two naps a day.

Tangent:
I also knew I was getting better because I made it through my new yoga class last night. I've gone up another half-level. No more fooling around. We are now expected to be able do some patently ridiculous things. But the funny thing is: I can already do half of them. Although I may never be able to do all of the other half, I'm continually amazed at what I am able to do. After five years of warring with my body I am finally able to enter into an amicable truce [transient zombification aside, of course].

Back on track:
On Saturday, during one of my recovery periods, I managed to swatch some lace with the Silky Wool. Aha, looks like a possibility.

During my Sunday recovery I headed down to Stitch DC and picked up five more skeins of Silky Wool.

[I paid mightily for this expedition. When I got home, I relapsed and collapsed into a deep, yet troubled sleep and had a long, disturbing dream. Whew! I was glad I had the comfort of some new yarn to wake up to].

My intention is to make the Lace Blouson tank from the cover of the Summer 2004 Interweave Knits. [The Fall issue arrived yesterday. There's some cherse stuff in there.]

This is going to be my vacation knitting. Next week I'm going to visit my parents, celebrate my birthday, sit in the floaty chair, knit, and read. That sounds like a pretty good vacation to me.

zombie knitting

I've been feeling wiped out a lot again lately. I'm behind on responding to emails, I haven't blogged all week, and I've all but given up on television because I can't maintain my concentration through the commercial breaks.

It's a good thing that this was a short work week for me. l've managed to be productive during the day, but it's been a struggle. Yesterday morning, I filled the coffee grinder with preground coffee. I'm lucky I don't operate heavy machinery for a living and that I had today off.

At night I haven't had much mental or physical energy. So, no more bear faces, no sweater finishing, nothing that requires much focus.

I've been knitting a basketweave pattern scarf from the skein of the Brooks Farm yarn I bought at the MS&W. The 8-stitch, 10-row pattern is simple enough for me to knit in my zombiefied state and I only have to emerge from the fog every 5 rows to exchange the knits and purls.

I'll eventually be enveloped in a soft, fuzzy red scarf. How fitting, the whole experience is fuzzy.

Other adventures in zombie knitting:

swatching in stockinette = YES!

swatching in lace = NO!

Stitch DC

A full week and a day after my visit to Stitch DC, I'm finally getting around to writing up my report.

After leaving the Folklife Festival last Sunday, we hopped on the Metro for a quick ride to the Eastern Market Metro stop. On a beautiful day such as last Sunday, the shop is an easy walk down 8th Street [731 8th Street SE, WDC 20003, across from the Marine barracks].

This is the view of the front room. There are chairs and a couch in the back by the window. [Hmm...what's out there?] The shelves hold familiar and enticing selections from Rowan, Karabella, and Debbie Bliss (to name just a few).

Shop owner Marie graciously allowed me to take her picture. [I'm sure that she was thinking, "Who is this crazy woman who wants to take pictures of me and the shop?"; but she posed and smiled all the same].

The shop continues back to two more rooms and wraps around a central courtyard. [Aha, that's what's out there].

This is the view from the back room toward the front of the store. You can see the courtyard--doesn't it look like a pleasant place to sit and knit?

The back room has a big table perfect for classes or or sitting and browsing though knitting patterns.

I definitely plan on adding Stitch DC to my LYS rotation. We are so lucky to have lots of choices of old favorites and new faces in the DC Metro area. [I promise to do my part in supporting as many of them as possible].

We passed some interesting shops and restaurants on the walk to the shop. And, of course, the Eastern Market Metro stop is also in walking distance from the weekend flea market at the Eastern Market. After a morning at the festival and a stop at the yarn shop, the market was a bit overwhelming last week;however, I can envision many future weekend outings for lunch, the market, and yarn.

Finally, I did not leave the shop without yarn. Here are my two purchases (SDC) along with the yarn I bought the week before (Ira) and the info on everything.

Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool :color 10 (65% wool/35% silk) - Yum. One skein for swatching. The band recommends US6; I'm going to see if I can push that down a little. (SDC)

Harrisville Designs Jasmine: Arabian Tea (wool twisted w/ rayon chenille) - Two skeins. Probably enough for something small and fun. (Ira)

Araucania Nature Wool:color 10 (100% wool) - One skein for swatching. Very soft. I'm going to play around with this and do some test felting. (SDC)

Harrisville Designs Flax & Wool: Cranberry (20% flax/80% wool). One skein for swatching. I love this color and flecky flax bits. I'll have to be careful with this one because it's very loosely spun and breaks very easily. I'll probably test felt this too. (Ira)