...and it's still here!

Gorgeous day. Beautiful place. So lucky to be here.

5 mile walk starting at 7:00 am, a bit later than usual, but sleep was so delicious. The cannon fired at 8:00 as I was heading back.

At this point in the vacation, the days begin to blend together, in a delightful way.

Knitting continues on the "Summer of..." MKAL, with the final clue due to arrive on Friday, August 2nd.

Maybe I already posted this. Losing my memory...

Handspinning: plowing through 17.2 ounces of Romney in pinks and reds. I wound bobbin #1 into a cake this morning so I could measure it. The second bobbin is filling up quickly. Trying to get 2 ounces spun up each day.

443 yards of Romney singles

??? yards of Romney singles.

Dragon's Egg Sock #1 for ??? The heel is turned and the gusset is half done.

Nine little hexapuffs are complete.

S

Some new purchases:

Artyarns "Regal Silk" for another MKAL starting August 1 on Craftsy

Malabrigo Sock for the Estuary Shawlette purchased at Over the Rainbow Yarn

 

Quince and Co. Finch for Aranami Shawl - did I already post this???

That's all for today! Hope to finish the first Dragon's Egg sock and make more headway on my Vitamin D sweater, along with spinning 2 more ounces of Romney. Will it (the Romney) never come to an end???

More

It seems that I'm settling into a routine here:

• Early morning fast walk (at least 3.5 miles, more often 5.0 miles)
• Coffee and knitting
• Knitting on sock
• Knitting on sweater
• Knitting on MKAL
• Knitting at least one hexapuff
• Spinning
• Needlepoint

I'm doing a little bit on each project everyday. Works for me!

Photos!

Approximately 5 ounces of Romney singles

MKAL through Clue 6 (of 7 total)

Dragon's Egg Sock #1

3 more Hexapuffs!

Quince & Co. Finch Yarn for Aranami Shawl

Quince & Co. stash of Finch AND Tern

Progress...

on all fronts today!

Hexapuff #187! For Beekeeper's Quilt

Dragon's Egg Socks by Anne Podlesak for ???

1. 5 mile walk bright and early
2. Made another hexapuff
3. Started a pair of socks
4. Worked a few border squares of needlepoint
5. Spun an ounce of romney fiber

It's so hard to be on vacation.

1 ounce Romney

Rainy Day

I just happened to actually notice the title of this blog - and the part about the exercise? Well, I've been walking between 3 and 5 miles most days, or using our elliptical trainer. We just purchased a new treadmill, and on quite possibly the hottest, most humid day of the year, we moved the elliptical from our bedroom down to the basement to join the new treadmill and the weight bench in our "new" exercise room.

It's raining, so we're doing indoor stuff today. Morse's Sauerkraut, so my mom can stock up on the mango chutney she loves, and I can get German mustard and Wilhelmina Peppermints. Then on to Rockland, for lunch, the Farnsworth Museum, and a trip to Over the Rainbow Yarn. Will I escape unscathed? (Yarn Store, not Farnsworth.)

As promised, here are some visuals of recent progress/works in progress...

Spunky Eclectic Oatmeal BFL "Seashells"

Complete! 552 yards of laceweight singles Spunky Eclectic's Oatmeal BFL in "Seashells"

3 little Hexapuffs - the first ones done since early June

Needlepoint - barely begun.

Vitamin D Cardigan - 80%?

MKAL complete through Clue #5

MKAL detail

I Guess You Could Call It a Hiatus

July 14, 2013. Back from blogging limbo. It's summer vacation, which is supposed to mean that there is more time to do all sorts of leisurely things. We'll see.

Updates:

• Younger son is now married
• Older son has a love interest
• I am 54 now
• I am still in love with my 55-year-old husband
• We just bought a treadmill 
• My two older sisters are both retired, leaving me just a BIT envious

So, what have I been up to craft-wise? Lots. So here's what I'll do - I'll post photos of different types of items/projects that I've finished since (gulp) last November. Since the last post mentioned secrets, I'll out myself.

Hats were a big theme for Christmas 2012. I knitted a total of eight Button-Tab Hats and gave them all away.

More Button-Tab Hats by Marcie Nishioka

This Big Snowy Owl from Purl Soho was for my future daughter-in-law. It's really more like like a Gray Owl.

Ferryboat Mitts for a dear friend. One skein, quick knit, lovely. From Churchmouse Yarns & Teas.

Ferryboat Mitts redux for another dear friend.

Many, many Colorwork Ornaments by Amy Munson were given to friends and family.

My own needle-felted Santa. Selfish ruled - I kept him for our tree.

Boot Toppers by Kristin Nicholas for Jess

...and March fades away

(excerpted from The Waste Land, by T. S. Eliot) APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

(excerpted from The Waste Land, by T. S. Eliot)
APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding

 

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

 

Memory and desire, stirring

 

Dull roots with spring rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malthese Shawl - first half of the top border - the second half will fold backwards onto the first half, wrong sides together.

My lack of posts is criminal. My dear college friend Carol gave me a very gentle kick in the pants via Facebook yesterday. Thanks to her, I'm back. All I can say in my defense is that the Malthese Flowers shawl has taken over my non-professional life. I work on it and work on it and work on it and work on it ad nauseum yet never seem closer to the top of the piece. I was taken unawares by the fact that the border on all three sides has to be knit twice so that the second one is the facing of the first one. That added a solid week and more to the project. It's not looking good for Paris. But maybe it's just too BRIGHT for Paris - I would stand out like a double dahlia amongst all the sober, chic BLACK.

Speaking of black, I did purchase yarn and a new pattern booklet for a simple, shaped tank. That's the first yarn purchased this year, I do believe. Marji had a model on display in her shop, and my resolve vanished.

DeGraw tank pattern with black "Ripple" yarn - Tahki Stacy Charles

The only other yarn purchase was a carton full of Knit Picks Cotlin - 20 skeins in all. These will be used to knit up a new armada of string bags for Zig, as the ones he currently has are much the worse for wear, with runs and breaks and all kinds of knitterly havoc. It pains me to knit an entire new set in BEIGE, so I ran wild with color selection:

Knit Picks Cotlin for string bags

I justify this purchase by filing it under "Household Expenses".

No progress AT ALL on handspun - the photos here are probably the same as in the last post but it's Thursday night and I'm tired and too lazy to go check:

First half of Tartan

Wimpy start on second half of Tartan

As regards diet and weight loss, I'm stubbornly hanging in there with diet and exercise, but not seeing much reduction. I do, however, feel really good, and it seems as though my clothes fit me better, so I count that as progress toward the desired goal.

Conference Week

It's the second of two crazy school weeks. The first was back in November, after the first trimester report cards were sent home. Now we're done with the second trimester, and parents are streaming in for evening and/or after-school conferences. Our school is always bustling during these weeks - the PTO holds a Scholastic Book Fair in the gym, sells Hartland clothing in the front hall, and a town resident who is a portrait photographer sets up her portable studio in the library to shoot photos of kids. Kids stream in and out of the library while their parents meet with teachers. We enjoy it, but we all breathe a sigh of relief when the week ends.

Zig's traveling this week - gone for two nights. As always, I'll toss and turn...

Knitting and spinning. The spinning (Falkland wool) has been spectacular. I'm now plying (2-ply) the singles, and the finished yarn should be lovely. Knitting-wise, the second vanilla sock is on hold. I'm working on Malthese in the morning before school, and on the Tour Eiffel shawl during lunch and in the evening.

It's March, but it's still pretty darn cold:

Winter Clothes
by Karla Kuskin

Under my hood I have a hat
And under that
My hair is flat.
Under my coat
My sweater's blue.
My sweater's red
I'm wearing two.
My muffler muffles to my chin
And round my neck
And then tucks in.
My gloves were knitted
By my aunts.
I've mittens too
And pants
And pants
And boots
And shoes
With socks inside.
The boots are rubber, red and wide.
And when I walk
I must not fall
Because I can't get up at all.

Snow Day

A snow day on March 1st? Unheard of in these parts this winter - we haven't had a snow day since November 4, 2011. It's been (indoors) a lovely, relaxing day with lots of knitting, spinning, and exercise. I started listening to 11/22/63 and am enjoying it immensely. It's been awhile since a audiobook has captivated me like this.

Great progress on spinning Falkland - I finished the first half (approx. 2 ounces) and started the second half. I hope to dedicate some time on Sunday to washing and flicking all the yarn I've spun recently - I have four or five different types of handspun awaiting this final process. Then I can figure out what the yarn weights are. I find that I spin mostly DK or sport weight with the occasional worsted weight thrown in. I would love to spin finely enough to produce a laceweight yarn. 

Cruising along on the Malthese Flowers shawl, as well. I almost let it go into hibernation earlier this winter, but I pulled it out last week and haven't put it down since. It's still far from being even 50% complete, but that's okay.

Tomorrow is my 53rd birthday. We're going to see "The Descendants" at the Gilson Cafe/Cinema. What with all the dining out this week (Monday, Tuesday, tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday), I don't think tomorrow's weigh-in will be an occasion for celebratory fireworks, but I am feeling SO MUCH HEALTHIER and energetic than I was at Thanksgiving. And my clothes fit better. Numbers don't mean quite so much as those two intangibles.

No photos today - it would just be more of the same, albeit a bit more.

Dare I post this poem? Am I tempting the gods of frozen precipitation?

Last Snow

By Heid E. Erdrich

Dumped wet and momentary on a dull ground

that’s been clear but clearly sleeping, for days.

Last snow melts as it falls, piles up slush, runs in first light

making a music in the streets we wish we could keep.

Last snow. That’s what we’ll think for weeks to come.

Close sun sets up a glare that smarts like a good cry.

We could head north and north and never let this season go.

Stubborn beast, the body reads the past in the change of light,

knows the blow of grief in the time of trees’ tight-fisted leaves.

Stubborn calendar of bone. Last snow. Now it must always be so.