New Phone Finally!

My poor Blackberry died. Not recently...it died sometime during the New York State sheep and wool festival at the end of October. And I haven't missed it terribly, but recent bad weather made me a bit more aware of my vulnerability as I travel the back roads from St. Lawrence County into the Adirondacks. So I had to have an iPhone. Of course. Yikes. It is fun.

But not really as fun as finishing knitted projects. Here is a fun pair of socks I finished for my dad this summer.



I've also been looking at the Holiday Yarns sock knitting club.. Crazy, I know, but it looks like fun and what's better than socks this time of year. Now that I think of it, I need a pair of them on right now! And I would dearly love a snow day. Hmmmm.

Alaska Socks

I've finished the first installment of my sock club from Alaska. We stopped at a shop called Mission St. Yarn Shop in Ketchikan and they had some of the wonderful sock yarn with cashmere in it, hand dyed, of course. Then I noticed they were offering a fall sock club. Just 3 installments and it would bring back Alaska to us, right? Who could resist? Not me, and my sometimes enabling husband agreed.

When I was at this point, I noticed that I would not have enough yarn to finish the second sock. So I contacted the shop owner, Sheri, who very quickly sent me another half skein which was plenty to finish. I've worn then once and they are heavenly - soft, cushy and warm. I can't wait til the next shipment! Now why can't I finish a few sweaters this quickly?

Here they are finished:




In other fiber news, I did a bit of local shopping with the kids this afternoon. Our St. Lawrence Arts Council has a lovely display of fiber art that will be available for viewing until Jan 23. I really enjoyed looking as well as shopping for gifts from the bounty our local artists offer at this shop. I even bought a show piece for a Christmas gift for my husband. It's a wall hanging that merges traditional rug hooking with metal working. The artist is a person Tom has bought jewelry from for me several times, so I can't wait until he sees that I could get something for him from her collection as well. I'll post a photo as soon as we are able to bring it home.

#3...A travel sweater

This was my Chicago sweater. Most of what you see in the photo was completed on a crazy weekend school trip I took with my son and the Spanish club at his school. We drove to Chicago in a bus which left lots of knitting time. Before we left I happened to stop by my LYS and noticed a new line of yarns they were carrying - The Earth Collection, an organic line of yarns made from different fibers by Plymouth. I chose an alpaca yarn called Ranch. And I never do this, but looked at the accompanying book from Plymouth and loved the sweater on the back called Pandia. I bought the whole lot on a whim at 10% off as I had filled my frequent buyer card. I think it will be a great throw on in all weathers sweater due to the 3/4 sleeves and lace knitting at the top. Someday I'll finish it!

Red ripple blanket

Now this is a lovely thing. Fun to knit, I'm using those wonderful nylon needles, size 7 as most of the yarn is worsted weight. It's a wonderful collection of yarns, some remnants and some added simply because they have a bit of red in them. Brown sheep plain colors create sedate narrow stripes between wilder and wider stripes of handspun. Often the colors are variegated or tweedy and textured. I should try to remember to bring this along to knit when I must focus on other things. I'm not sure why it got set aside the last time. Probably, I started a new sweater or something. Oh, look, a butterfly. A short attention span is an embarrassing thing. Maybe I'll dig it out and bring it to knitting group night in Massena this Wednesday. I feel better already. Project #2, documented.

An accounting begins

I wonder just how many projects I have on the needles. Here I plan to start a brutal accounting of these projects, with photos of each. I do need to finish a few. But starting is my second favorite part of the process, and so much easier to achieve than my first favorite which is finishing, of course!

This first is a sock knit of handspun. I purchased the hand dyed roving from Ginny Tullock, aka FatCatKnits, and spun it fractally. This was my first attempt and I am pleased. Having achieved 300 yards of double ply yarn, I thought I'd have enough to finish the pair. Sadly, this seems to be not the case. But no fears as Ginny is a sweetheart who dyed me up another batch of roving. I'm finished with one sock, minus kitchener ending, and have enough from ball #1 to start the second sock. I have started spinning ball #2 and should be good to go for my late August deadline. Project #1, stay tuned for more!

Let go, Winter!

In the North Country winter, nature provides us
With only a soothing palette
Which by April has become monotonous,
A tapestry of threads of
Brown dirt,
White snow,
Gray sky,
Darker gray branches
Weaving upward with interlocking fingers,
Neutral dark green fir trees, spruce and pine
Spearing the sky.

Look closely
Before complaining bitterly:
This tapestry is shot through with
The bright blue flash of a pair of jays,
Iridescent green of a wood duck's neck,
(Sitting in our uncovered pool)
Drunken fruit cocktail in the sky
Mornings before rain,
And the tiniest shoots of spring green -
Of crocus
And snowdrops
Promising purple and orange and pink.

And that promise
Will have to suffice
As winter's snow quilt melts away
And spring's light counterpane of green
Grows to cover the landscape.

April is Poetry Month!

One last gasp - winter
Eternal lace blankets all
Both blessing and curse.