Done! Again.

"Summer of..." MKAL is done, washed, and blocked!

MKAL = Mystery Knit-Along

The yarns and beads even came with stitch markers and a tiny parasol!!!

I'm participating in my first-ever MKAL (Mystery Knit-Along) project this summer. The project is called "The Summer of...", from Wild Prairie Knits, and consists of 7 weeks of clues. Each clue arrives via email on Friday morning, and participants are encouraged to finish that section by the next Friday. Of course, it's all pure fun, not a competition, and some of us are bound to fall behind. And that's fine. I've managed to keep up so far, and am excited to get started on Clue #5, which arrived this morning.

As for the project itself, all we were told is that the project is a shawl, in two colors of fingering weight yarn (colors are our choice), with the option of adding in some glass beads if we preferred to. I did. My colors are a lovely kettle-dyed navy and a beach sand, with clear glass beads knitted into parts of the navy sections. There are garter stripes and solid lace panels.

Participants have been asked not to spoil the surprise by posting photos of the work-in-progress, but I can share a photo of the yarns and beads I chose. They are from Stunning String Studio, and I couldn't be happier with my selection.

The entire experience thus far has been a delight!

Jane Eyre

Jane's Ubiquitous Shawl

I just finished knitting, blocking, and photographing this shawl. It took almost 1400 yards of sport weight alpaca yarn. I knitted it during a KAL (knit-along) organized by the WWMDFK? group on Ravelry. WWMDFK? stands for What Would Madame DeFarge Knit?, a book edited by Heather Ordover of the Craftlit podcast, and published by Cooperative Press, which features patterns inspired by a variety of characters from classic literature. This particular shawl, known as "Jane's Ubiquitous Shawl", was designed by Erica Hernandez as a tribute to that most upstanding heroine, Jane Eyre.

Whew. I think that's enough links, thank you! Now, on to Christmas knitting...

 "Next day, by noon, I was up and dressed, and sat wrapped in a shawl by the nursery hearth." - Jane Eyre, Chapter 3

"I folded my shawl double, and spread it over me for a coverlet; a low, mossy swell was my pillow." - Jane Eyre, Chapter 28

Fridays Are Good

...especially when it's a day off from school. The sun is shining brightly but it's chilly. Here are a few photos - in natural light - of the Malthese Shawl, which is about 90% complete!!! So much for making inroads on the stash in 2012 - who knew this would take 4 months to complete?

Today's selection celebrates the colors in the shawl - white is the only color mentioned in Rossetti's poem not present in the garment. 

Malthese with top border folded under but not sewn yet

Even though it's steeked, you STILL can't see the triangle

Seems like an awful lot of yarn is still left -
the chartreuse is the only small ball

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Color

By Christina Rossetti

What is pink? a rose is pink

By a fountain's brink.

What is red? a poppy's red

In its barley bed.

What is blue? the sky is blue

Where the clouds float thro'.

What is white? a swan is white

Sailing in the light.

What is yellow? pears are yellow,

Rich and ripe and mellow.

What is green? the grass is green,

With small flowers between.

What is violet? clouds are violet

In the summer twilight.

What is orange? Why, an orange,

Just an orange!

 

International Pi Day

You must have heard about 3.14…
In many cir­cles she’s all the rage.
She’s the greek char­ac­ter that we all adore,
whose irra­tional nature takes cen­ter stage.

Defined by divi­sion, as opposed to sum,
(a fact that is known through­out the land).
But don’t count on her with your fin­gers and thumbs,
she flaunts more dig­its than you have on your hand.

Men fight to reveal her dec­i­mal places,
– around 2.5 tril­lion is the cur­rent amount.
A com­plex atti­tude is not what she embraces,
but, she’s a real num­ber, and that’s what counts.

I hes­i­tate to sound slightly cliche,
but she’s a hero unhonored and unsung.
And after all, it’s true what they say:
two Pi is greater than one.

yes...

Our school abounds with Pi posters, streamers, banners, and, yes, actual Pi(e). Personally, I was never a fan of geometry - algebra was most to my taste. Maybe because my algebra teacher was not afraid to throw chalk at us if we ventured to answer incorrectly, as opposed to my geometry teacher, who was just plain boring.

Great strides in spinning, knitting, and exercise. It's been warm enough to lug the weights up and out onto the deck, which is a much more pleasant space than the basement, even if Zig and I did spend a few hours cleaning up the TV room. I MIGHT get my bike out today when I get home, and, if the tires are amply inflated, go out for the first street ride of 2012.

Tour Eiffel - not much to look at yet - just an expanse of gray

Knitting steadily on both the Malthese and the Tour Eiffel shawls. Will I finish both by the 13th of April? Too soon to tell. It might help to do the smaller size on the Eiffel.

Almost done spinning up the first 2 ounces of Spunky Eclectic's "Tartan" Corriedale. That's September 2011's shipment - I'm getting there! It's a better (easier, "funner") spin than I expected. 

Nancy's Knit Knacks magnetic chart keeper with Tour Eiffel chart

Spunky Eclectic "Change" Falkland 2-ply

Official S. E. label

Malthese as of 3/11/12

Green/Blue Ground for Malthese

Fuschia/Orange/Purple for Malthese Flowers

 

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.