Walk with me?

It would seem my immune system has had enough of the Maine winter; I suspect she's headed out for a vacation in some warm, sunny locale, leaving me here to deal on my own. As you may surmise from that, I'm not dealing so well. I'm working on the third (Fourth? Who knows?) incarnation of the Common Cold in a month, and it's wearing me down. I'm barely managing to keep up with school, let alone housework, and knitting is moving at a snail's pace. I recall last year a friend said to me, "Oh, Lori, you're always sick!" and it seems to be true, at least during the dampness that often comes with the change of seasons. My lungs just don't like it, no siree. So that's why I've been scarce of late, please forgive. I did get a reprieve on Sunday, both from the weather and feeling under it. I took full advantage and let my Constant Companion lead me out for a meander down the road. Believe it or not, this is a sure sign of spring in these parts. See how dry the road is? No ice whatsoever. And those banks of snow are crusty and wet, melting more each day. If you step on one, you'll break through the icy crust and down into the "rotten" snow-slush underneath. As usual, we stopped by the river to see what's new. Just a few weeks ago, there was knee-deep snow on the bank and an inches-thick sheet of ice over the water . Now one can almost imagine the grass growing green again... I stooped low to inspect the ice that was left clinging to the bank when the water level dropped. It looked a bit like lace. Just around the bend, the snow was still deep in a little shaded valley. I saw a tiny leaf, just the size of my thumbnail, hanging on still. We walked on. I saw through the trees a little rise I hadn't noticed before. Picking our way through the brush, we were rewarded with a short climb and over the top - a wide open field, full of sunlight and dry, dead grass. It made for one very happy dog. You can hardly see him there in the center, he blends in rather well. He raced exuberant circles for no less than ten minutes while I stood watching and soaking up the sun. I don't know who owns the field; it seems to have been mowed before winter, and there is a trailer with some boxes parked at the edge. It was not posted "No Trespassing," so I felt free to enjoy the space. Walking back toward home, we found this little bit of a creek broken free of the ice and burbling along merrily. This "Tree Throne" has been one of my favorite sights along the road for some time now. It's taller than I am, and looks like it's just waiting for someone to come have a seat and hold court. I stopped to inspect the birch bark that is peeling in thin strips, fluttering like streamers. Rudy snuffled and tasted a bit and seemed less than impressed. I'm hoping it's another sign of impending spring. Here's to warmer weather and green stuff. I have to say, I'm about ready for it.

I Caved

I have a confession. I've fully and unabashedly given in to my desire to cast on a new project. You know, it's spring now (despite the howling wind and spitting snow I have outside my window... but I'm getting kinda used to such things by now) and I just needed something... new... to knit on. I'm not sorry about it either. Before I caved, though, I finished the Painted Desert socks.

Painted Desert Ribbed socks Superwash/nylon yarn handpainted by me, available at fromthewoolroom.etsy.com 2mm (size 0) dpns

They're really simple; just a ribbed leg with ribbing continuing down the top of the foot, a flap heel and my normal wide-toe. But I enjoyed knitting them, they were just the sort of "mind candy" knitting I've needed the past few weeks. My new project is not mind candy knitting. Josette and I had discussed knitting the Spider's Web Shawl (Ravelry link) from Victorian Lace Today as a sort-of informal knit-along, and then she had to go and cast on. Never one to ignore a throw-down challenge a good dose of peer pressure a fellow knitter's taunting a gentle push in the right direction (assuming, of course, that said direction is one I was considering anyway...), I chose some yarn from the stash and cast on immediately. The yarn I'm using is a fine laceweight cashmere/merino/viscose blend from Colourmart, in a lovely shade of blue that falls somewhere between cobalt and medium navy. The shawl is going to be enormous (I'm knitting the full hexagon version, so it may be as large as 6 feet across) but the pattern is fairly easy to understand once it's established, so it doesn't require quite the amount of heavy-duty concentration that some lace does. I had it with me at school today and was working a couple rounds between classes; one of my classmates expressed surprise that such intricate-looking needlework counts as "relaxation" in my world. Of course, that got me talking about knitting and spinning, and within five minutes her eyes were glazing over and she was looking around for an escape route. I let her go; no sense in detaining someone who shows so little potential for conversion... ;) All for now!

All things come to an end...

Some things just have more ends than others. I finished my mittens last night, wove in all the ends and damp-blocked them overnight. I'm really pleased with how they came out, and I hope my pal likes them too.

Sea Mineral Mittens (pdf) (also a free Ravelry download) by SpillyJane (blog, pattern link in sidebar) 1.75 mm (US 00) dpns Knitpicks Palette in: Nutmeg, Sky, Verdant Heather, Hyacinth, Golden Heather, and Blush

Whew! Not that I didn't enjoy knitting these mittens, but for awhile there I thought I'd never be done... Now that they're off in the mail, the question remains... what to knit on today? There's my poor neglected Autumn Rose, still Precioussss, but I'm starting to wonder if I'll get it finished before sweater season is through. There is the second of the pair of socks I've been knitting from my Painted Desert yarn. I've only had the toe to finish for the past week... I mean really, who lets a pair of socks sit around with only ONE TOE left to knit!!?! Sheesh. I suppose I'd better get on that ASAP, just to maintain some semblance of knitterliness in this place. I've also started a Baby Surprise Jacket for a friend who's expecting her baby (gender as yet unknown)in April (Hi Sarah!) and I'm hoping to knit a pair of baby pants to go with it. Oh, and wait, didn't I have another pair of mittens, nearly half-done, that I started back in January?? And here I thought I'd have room to start a new project... Back to the WIP's! Oh, and by the way, I've arranged for the blog to post the date etc. in "Irish" today, just for the fun of it :) Happy St. Paddy's. All for now.

Thank you !

It's taken me a couple days to make Blogger accept my photos... Lookie what arrived in my mailbox a couple days ago!!! This super-cute but unassuming-looking little case came to me from my No-More-Humdrum-Mittens Swap pal, Carolyn in Chicago. It sprung open to reveal so many wonderful goodies! The mittens, front and center, first and foremost, are awesome. They're knit from the White Witch Mitts pattern, from Knitting Daily (a pattern that made it into my Ravelry queue, but not my needles...) and they're fantastically soft and warm. A good thing since the temperature had "warmed up" to 26 F by the time I opened the box. I love the colors, and they fit perfectly. Carolyn also included a gorgeous skein of Dream in Color's "Classy," a worsted weight yarn, and the "Bird in Hand" mitten pattern. I can hardly wait to cast on! The last little surprise (which, sadly, has been mostly consumed by now) was a little box of the most delectable handmade chocolates, which are locally made in Carolyn's area. Don't you just love the little "Owner's Manual?" Thank you so much, Carolyn. Your mittens will warm my hands for years to come!

Moments in my morning

Did you know you can change the language option on Blogger? As a former linguistics student, it amuses me to no end, so you can probably expect to see the language of the date etc. changing quite a bit. (It's the little things that make me happy...)

My favorite sight on washing-day.

The wool room may not be seeing too much fiber-action, but the futon pulls out into a fabulous napping spot... ...sometimes I get to try it out too. By the way, I should have known someone would ask: the sock yarn in the previous post (er, the one before that, rather) is some of my own hand dyed. It's the stuff I called "Painted Desert," and I think I might have a skein or two left. I'll have to re-list them in my Etsy shop... (That'll go on the to-do list above the darning, I believe...) All for now.

A little bit makes a big difference

Cayli, of Spin A Yarn For Ewe, is holding a raffle over on her blog, and you really ought to check it out. Not just because she's going to be giving away some really beautiful yarns, but because she's taking donations for a necessary cause. Cayli's made the commitment to walk for the Susan G. Komen 3 DayWalk, a fundraiser towards finding a cure for breast cancer. It's a really involved process; she'll be training for and completing a 60-mile walk. Additionally, she needs to raise a significant amount of money, so she's asking for a bit from the blogosphere. Every little bit will help, even if it's only a few dollars. Mosey on over and donate a little or a lot, and be sure to cheer her on!

Darn!

No, really. Darn. It's what I need to do... I have a grasp on the general idea of sock-darning, but I've only attempted once. The results were laughable at best. I quickly came to the conclusion that it's one of those skills that takes some practice to do well, and I'm sure practicing darns is not, for most folks, up there on the list of favorite pastimes. I'm moderately certain (and fairly ashamed to note) that, historically speaking, there have been children under the age of eight who could darn much better than I can. While it wouldn't be difficult to convince myself to forgo the process entirely, learning curve and all, I am rather attached to the two socks that I've worn holes in (Come to think of it, I've probably worn them out because I wear them so often...) and I want them to last a bit longer. So add darning to my too-long to-do list... I do already own a darning egg. Any suggestions on how to use it well are welcome. Or maybe it would just be faster to knit another pair...

*******

For your not-so-daily dose of viewing pleasure, I present a photo I took quite some time ago, during February's lunar eclipse. The eclipse was nearly complete at this point, and I was out on the front porch fumbling the camera with numb fingers. I was fascinated watching the shadow slide over the moon. We had perfectly clear skies, and it was very cold so the night sky was crisp and sharp. As expected, we're still in the midst of winter here in Maine. I finally had the opportunity to build the first "real" snowman of my life (The snow in Alaska was generally too "dry," or I wasn't available at an opportune time.) Please do note the fuzzy eyebrows; they're made of lichen. (And yes, that is a carrot nose. And real coal eyes, smile, and buttons. I'm a purist.) Of course he melted and fell over the very next day. That's winter in Maine, apparently. By the way, a town in Maine finished constructing the world's tallest snowman, er, snowwoman, during the same storm. Really impressive stuff. Crazy Mainers. ;) I've been struggling to come up with blogging material, since I generally consider this a "Knitting Blog," and there's been precious little time for knitting in my life lately. I'm afraid it's made for very poor upkeep of the blog. So I've made an executive decision: I'm going to post bits and pieces of my life, probably mostly photos, maybe some stories, not necessarily fiber-related (though of course when I snatch time for knitting or spinning, you all will be the first to know!) I've been particularly inspired by the Noticing Project blog, and find myself wishing I had a camera to capture more of those "daily beauty" moments. I hope to be able to share a few of them with you! Until next time...