Vacation knitting

I'll be away from the runcible bin for a few days. I'm going to take the Central Park Hoodie. I like the idea of dedicating a vacation to one project without distraction.

Central Park Hoodie

This is some ancient Debbie Bliss Tweed stash yarn becoming an extra small Central Park Hoodie.

Ivies and vines

Thank you for the good ideas for windows! Lucy's ivy comment reminded me I have this book with a wonderful chapter on ivies indoors, beginning with the Victorians. I've also been reading Charles Keeler's The Simple Home. I would like to adapt some of the turn of the century Arts and Crafts styles he describes. Actually, I would like to move into his house, or any of his friend Bernard Maybeck's homes. I have a crush on one that I am trying to squelch. It is deep and dark with redwood paneling and fireplaces and balconies. There is an old picture of it with large palm trees planted in front.

Green socks

The color of these Smooshy socks is beautiful. After wearing them for a day I wish I had knit them a tad smaller; they have stretched out a bit. I still have not hit upon the perfect sock yarn/pattern combination for my clog-wearing self, but I am getting there.

This daylight savings/Spring Equinox shift in the light is too much sunlight! I love tall old windows lined with lace curtains, but I want them to look out on fog, rain, and deep shade, like summer cottages suffocating beneath Mermaid roses. I have seen people in magazines hang buckets of grasses or bamboo outside their window to hide air ducts or dumpsters. Perhaps I could staple some branches across my windows until some Wisteria or morning glories grow? Plastic ferns? I want softly filtered light, only Northern light.

Black over peacock egg

Here's the beginning of my Black over Peacock Sundara sock yarn. This year we tried some all-over black crayon scribbles before dyeing the eggs turquoise. It is especially lovely to crayon on eggs while they are still hot - it just glides on.

Willow socks

These were my first socks, same New Pathways Rushing Rivulet pattern, but this is Willow yarn in Hydrangea from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks here in California. It's part merino and part tencel. I really love these mixed blue yarns and will probably continue to knit Rushing Rivulet in mixed blue yarns for quite some time! Good Friday cleaning is today, maybe some Easter bread from one of Carol Field's books. Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Baby sweater

I finally knitted the sleeves on my nephew's sweater. I'm sure he's too big for it. I like the way cables look in Rowan Calmer. I am dedicating myself to using up my stash because it is not so much a source of inspiration and opportunity as a closet of skeletons. It is time for spring cleaning!

Gansey progress

I'm still only one skein into the alpaca wool gansey. I continue to hang on the door of my armoire and stare at the yarn. I am donating most of my single skeins to charity, leaving only things I want to swatch. I have frogged a jacket that looked all wrong. My stash is mostly things that did not work out and leftovers, and I need to change this.

Blue socks

These are the blue-ish/green Panda wool socks in the Rushing Rivulet pattern from New Pathways. I love this pattern and this yarn. There are some projects in the runcible armoire that need to be frogged or given away. I no longer want to have a stash.

Guinness cake and green sock

I only have one green sock for today. I'm planning on making Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness cake from Feast. It tastes like a deep and wonderful chocolate gingerbread.

A pair of Dobby socks

A pair of socks from Charmed Knits for my little chum. Next up is another pair for the littler chum.

Green socks and soup

I need to make some St. Patrick's Day socks - this green yarn goes in the runcible bin. I don't have anything Irish to throw in with it. I'm afraid if I throw in Seamus Heaney's Beowulf it will come out all Anglo-Saxon. I can't find my claddagh ring. The Irish wool is hybernating. I'm throwing in McCann's Irish oats.

In the pottery studio, I am in the soup and cereal bowl stage. I am slowly replacing our plates and bowls with my own.

Panda sock

I'm kind of stuck on Cat Bordhi's Rushing Rivulet pattern. I've knit it toe-up and top-down. The Panda Wool feels so nice. The Tuscany Jitterbug will be Monkey socks!

Sticky rolls

I was excited to read Angry Chicken's post on Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day because I really love the no-knead bread recipes out there. So this morning I mixed up half a batch of the basic recipe, used half for the Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls (using walnuts) and half for a lovely free form loaf. I highly recommend the sticky rolls for anyone who is butter-impaired. If you serve these to house guests you will not have to feed them again all day. The master recipe bread is fluffier than my no-knead loaves. Imagine having a stew in the crockpot and reaching into the frig and pulling out some already-prepared dough and baking some last minute bread with it. I'm going to need a lot more cabinet space for bags of flour.

Panda wool

This is the beginning of another Rushing Rivulet sock with Pandawool - a handwash, merino-bamboo blend. I really like how this feels. I'm finding it hard to wear my store-bought socks.

Book trouble

Slightly Foxed Spring issue came today - I was so happy to see the "foxy" adaptation of Eric Ravilious's illustration on the cover. I am in the midst of trying to figure out how to line my house with Ikea Billy bookcases - it's the geometry of turning the corners that drains me. I'm starting the green sock. Alpaca and Trekking socks became part of Barbie's wardrobe today.

Summer of the White Turtle

I'm starting down the front now. I hope this works out. I think some little white seashell buttons would be nice on the cuffs. There has been a request for a denim sweater with a white turtle on it. I am thinking of calling it: "Summer of the White Turtle." I'm going to throw the denim into the runcible bin with some white sea turtle articles and that children's book where they mistake the sea turtle for the full moon. Maybe it should be "Turtle Moon Summer"? I'm going to have to get my in-house art dept on this over the weekend.

Book sale

I've been hanging out at ApartmentTherapy.com trying to catch some inspiration. I saw a post that Cody's Books in Berkeley is moving this month and selling off all their interior design books - 2 for $6.98! The New Country Style England there on the left has a few pictures from Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably's weekend house! I have trouble seeing my house as it could be.

First Wednesday Homesick Drill

I did not hear the emergency siren drill last month, but I hear it now and I'm homesick for St. Louis. This is the snowstorm that hit the street I grew up on yesterday. It's early Spring when California seems farthest from Missouri. The crabapple tree outside my kitchen is about to bloom, and when the wind blows pink plum blossoms fly across the window like someone's just been married in my backyard. I miss St. Louis snow days.

I did make a happy St. Louis discovery lately, a new way to feed my sock yarn obsession: the Loopy Ewe. I love the search by color option!

Pink sock

This is a pink lace sock from the top down using Lorna's Shepherd Sock. I'm enjoying trying out sock yarns and patterns. This is the Cedar architecture from New Pathways for Sock Knitters using the Rushing Rivulet lace pattern.

Black over peacock

This is what has become of me: last weekend I waited and waited for Sundara Yarn's new upload, poised at the web site, pressing screen-refresh over and over. And here it is. I'm going to make something wonderful out of this lovely black over peacock sock yarn. We once dyed a skein of worsted weight yarn with cherry koolaid, and it came out fantastic. I'm itching to dye some sock yarn.

Happy St. David's day to the Welsh visitors! I could not find our flag today, but we usually fly it proudly on March 1, not because we are Welsh, but because we spent our honeymoon there and it has somehow rubbed off on us.