You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November 2010.
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“If a friend is in trouble, don’t annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.”
~Edgar Watson Howe
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What would you like?
(Now do it for yourself.)
86,400: the number of opportunities in the day. You win the lottery every day, did you know?
8: the number of push ups I managed with good form.
100 push ups: the website that will change that.
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The name? Bellefleur. A gorgeous combination of cables, lace, and leaves. The crown shaping is so beautifully worked into the patterning that I had to just sit back and marvel.
(It’s unblocked in the photos. I’m trying to decide how to block this cotton/spandex yarn (Lana Grossa Elastico). Any ideas?)
The cast-on process was time-consuming, but I felt like I was putting extra effort into making a work of art and that was plenty of compensation for the bother. And it wasn’t so much bother as just having to pay attention and learn a new skill. The brim looks amazing – the twisted rib, the cable, and the extra length are so snappy together. The flow of the cables up the brim made me look forward to finding out what happened to the cables and the space in between them when the second clue arrived.
The growth of the leaves was such a delight. At first they were just this odd blob of symbols on the chart. And then I realized, just as I’d formed the bottom of the shape and was proceeding to decrease, that it was a leaf. A leaf! I was so excited. I love the look of leaves in knitting and yet I don’t think I’ve done much with them myself. So that flash of insight into the pattern made me nearly giddy.
Most satisfying of all in an intellectual sort of way: the way the crown shaping perfectly worked into the designs already established. I’ll have to get a photo of it once it’s blocked.
As usual, Woolly Wormhead provided outstanding service and feed-back. She was so active in the threads about the hats on the Ravelry forum, and provided so much information and help. She’s made both of the mystery patterns half price until the end of November. Snap them up and get them on your needles.
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For the second time in a week, the sky has opened like a giant flour sifter and steadily let down a mighty flurry of flakes. White powder shifting through the air, hissing as it hits the branches and the drifts.
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We know what to do. It’s time to think like the cats: seek warmth, seek companionship, seek snuggles, seek comfort.
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We know what to do. Music. Tea. Shoveling. More tea. Embroidery. Christmas picture books. Warmth and smiles.
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“We live in a very tense society. We are pulled apart… and we all need to learn how to pull ourselves together…. I think that at least part of the answer lies in solitude.”
~Helen Hayes
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Are you alone?
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This sign from the Grand Canyon really resonated with me today as I thought about the holiday season. Careful, careful.
In past holidays, I’ve tried to save the world and I’ve tried to nurture the world. I’ve spearheaded selling cookie platters to raise money for charity – baking and delivering over 1500 cookies each December for the past few years. I’ve planned Christmas School for homeschooling. I’ve hosted dessert parties to raise money. I’ve decided to knit for everyone. I spearheaded our family having an entirely handmade Christmas, right down to stocking stuffers.
This year, I’ve decided to save myself and nurture myself. I am not setting rules this year. While talking my sister down from freaking out about the amount of knitting she had to do and reminding her that she doesn’t actually have to knit for every single person, I actually pursuaded myself of the same thing. Those difficult to knit for people? They’re not getting knitting this year. I’m going to work on a sweater for myself in December instead. Yes, knitters, read that and be astonished. I will knit a sweater for myself in December.
This year, I’m not selling baking. The kids and Rainer could hardly believe that I meant it when I declared that I wasn’t going to be involved with baking and organizing the whole 1800 cookies thing. In past years it gave me great joy and energy. A kind of holiday Everest to plan for and climb. But it’s become something less. No longer a choice, it’s an expected obligation.
This year, I noticed my mind had put up a sign very much like the one in the photo. Careful, careful. So I’m not making ambitious plans. My plan is simple and unambitious: to enjoy the season. To have what I always try to give others: a slow holiday, mindfully enjoyed, a time of home and family and nestling together.
I’m feeling really relaxed. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go count the stitches in my gauge swatch for the sweater and then read through the pattern.
I’m knitting away on my mystery hat designed by Woolly Wormhead. Oh, how I love this process: A brim clue to knit. What will it look like? A body clue to knit. What will it look like? A crown clue to knit. What will it look like?
I love that in this format I’m utterly unintimidated even by the complex bits. I don’t know what it will look like, so there’s no visual intimidation factor, no psyching myself out. And because I get a clue every week or so, I know I have time to work on it without trying to powerhouse my way through the whole thing. Little steps. Mysterious steps.
Terribly mysterious.
Which always leads me to a little movie quote:
The Blue Raja: Well, there’s The Sphinx, of course.
Mr. Furious: The what?
The Blue Raja: The Sphinx.
The Shoveller: I know this guy. Big crime-fighter from down South. Big-league hitter down there.
Mr. Furious: What’s his power?
The Blue Raja: Well, he’s terribly mysterious.
Mr. Furious: That’s it? That’s his power? He’s mysterious?
The Blue Raja: Well, TERRIBLY mysterious.
The Shoveller: Plus he can, like, cut guns in half with his mind.
I’m getting the squares for Knit-a-Square ready to send away. I have so enjoyed the chance to play with colours, to knit without caring about gauge, to enjoy the process of making stripes in garter stitch. The last batch of squares I showed you were all bright, fun colours. This batch let me play with the autumnal colours my family had dyed.
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And all 17 with the ends woven in and stacked so satisfyingly:
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Pattern: Reverse Mitered Squares
Yarn: the hand-dyed yarn my family made at my birthday party ( remember the fun?) striped with solids that were leftovers .
Did you know there are winter running shoes? I didn’t. Although, as I dabbled in four-season outdoor running for the first time last year, I did wonder why everything in stores had mesh toes.
Mesh toes. Yeah. My poor, frost-bite-prone toesies had a hard time of it some runs, forcing me to turn back, unearth myself from all the layers, and run on the treadmill. Two pairs of socks helped, but anything below -15 was out, especially if there was wind.
So when I saw an add in a magazine last spring (yes, in spring…I’m behind in some of my reading) I decided to hunt and gather. Look what I found in Portland at the race expo for half price:
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Saucony Razor. The outer layer is water-proof, with the laces for adjusting underneath on a more normal shoe upper.
Warm. Grippy. Mean-looking. (In an “I’ll eat up the miles” way. Not in an “I’ll eat up your face” way.)
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“If the minimum wasn’t acceptable it wouldn’t be called the minimum.”
George Muncaster
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Have you given thought to your minimum?
I need to read one more biography to settle the last slot in my 12 in 12 goal for reading. I just finished Henry: Virtuous Prince this morning before breakfast, and think I may be going for Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VII. I don’t want to muck about in the library very long today, since I’ve got herb buns on the rise and a busy evening ahead. Are there books you think I should pick up the next time I go?
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I’ve got one to recommend: The Wild Trees.
With only a day to spend with the Redwood trees, I was happy to find a way to experience them through words. The book’s structure unfolds with the scientists’ and adventurers’ stories, allowing the reader to experience the mystery, risk, and joy of discovery they felt.
I was sad enough about the schedule, now I wish I’d had far more time with the Redwoods.
