Cave-In

Respite from Fair Isle madness in the form of a string bag

Fair Isle knitting overdose. Result? Cast on for a string bag. Yes, I caved in. I am THIS close to finishing the blasted Malthese, but I just couldn't take it anymore (for a little while, at least). Zig is sorely in need of replacement grocery bags, and an entire box of cotton/linen yarn sits just behind the couch. As we left the house for a bike ride yesterday afternoon, I found myself grabbing yarn and needles to begin the "Clementine" bag (Clementine being a trendy name for pale orange). The base of the bag is almost complete.

Spring

By Edna St. Vincent Millay

To what purpose, April, do you return again?

Beauty is not enough.

You can no longer quiet me with the redness

Of little leaves opening stickily.

I know what I know.

The sun is hot on my neck as I observe

The spikes of the crocus.

The smell of the earth is good.

It is apparent that there is no death.

But what does that signify?

Not only under ground are the brains of men

Eaten by maggots.

Life in itself

Is nothing,

An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.

It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,

April

Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

A Definition

The act of steeking - photo courtesy of Knit Buzz

Partially steeked garment - photo courtesy of Sheila Joynes

Steek or Steeking: It just occurred to me (thanks to Carol and Suzy's comments) that most folks don't know what the fuss is about steeking. Here are a few photos and links to explain/show why it's so freakin' scary!

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!

 

Cut

I CUT THE SHAWL. I AM TERRIFIED AND JUBILANT. My sense of geometry has abandoned me and I am panicking about where to pick up stitches for the two remaining legs of the triangle. There are zillions of yarn ends that need to be woven in, and frail, cut stitches in the steek that cry out for stability. What have I done? Only what the pattern calls for, but the earth trembles beneath my feet.

What's All This, Then???

The inch or so of heavy, wet snow that fell overnight brings back (not so fond) memories of the April 1, 1997 snowstorm, when several feet of snow were dumped on New England. Okay, there really is no comparison, but this frail forsythia coated with cold gives a pretty strong impression that winter is not done with us quite yet.

More fiber arrived this week, and  I love the colorway. Unfortunately, at the rate I'm going, I won't be spinning it until this summer. 

Spunky Eclectic Merino Top in "Little Fishes"

 

Snow in April

If you must slight me, let it be the touch
That snow in April, falling soft and white
Gives to the blossoms delicate and light,
So I don’t suffer, it won’t harm me much.
If you must spite me, let it be as quick
As snow in April falling, not to last.
Lies just one moment then, like mist is past,
So it won’t sting me; I won’t feel the prick.
If you must fight me, let the tender blows
Like snow in April, make no lasting mark
As soft, spring sunshine, on the grassy park,
Brings green renewal. But yet April snows
Can still surprise me, stir me from my rest
For snow is April’s chill, unwelcome guest.

 

C Richard Miles

Dooney & Bourke

Dooney & Bourke knitting bag from dear friend Pam

See? There's the proof!!! Who knew?

It's the end of the week and what a loooooonnnnngggg week it's been. Time turns elastic, I believe.

Snow is expected tonight. That's hilarious. Time rolls back on itself, too.

Two weeks to Paris! That's hard to believe. Zig has done a fantastic job of organizing, by arrondisement, daily trips out and about. There are a few limiting factors as to which day we'll do what, but not many, other than weather and museum closings. I can taste the banana/Nutella crepes already!

It just occurred to me that yesterday's poetic excerpt should have been held back until April. But March can be cruel, too - witness the weather forecast.

Why is it that work and stress almost always go hand-in-hand? Nothing more to say on that front...

Dinner  with Becky and George at the Old Riverton Inn, which reopens for the season tonight. It's always a delicious meal - we try to go there once a month. The Inn holds memories of quite a few wedding rehearsal dinners, retirement parties, wedding parties, Christmas parties, and the like, over the last quarter-century. We even stayed there on our wedding night, way back in June of 1982.


Here is a lovely, simple poem from Stanley Moss. I hope I remember it when I am 85.

Bright Day

By Stanley Moss

I sing this morning: Hello, hello.

I proclaim the bright day of the soul.

The sun is a good fellow,

the devil is a good guy, no deaths today I know.

I live because I live. I do not die because I cannot die.

In Tuscan sunlight Masaccio

painted his belief that St. Peter’s shadow

cured a cripple, gave him back his sight.

I’ve come through eighty-five summers. I walk in sunlight.

In my garden, death questions every root, flowers reply.

I know the dark night of the soul

does not need God’s eye,

as a beggar does not need a hand or a bowl.

...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.