Giving Knitters


Ginger and I are both working on our TKGA Masters Knitting Program I. We've been meeting up a lot on Saturdays to work on our swatches at Village Yarn & Tea. Ginger usually encourages me to buy yarn, I encourage her to buy yarn and we are both happy. We also discuss our gardenly pursuits.

Last week Ginger emailed to let me know she was thinning out her strawberries and she wanted to know if I wanted any of her plants. She kindly gave me six of them and I scurried home with them.



The next day, my friend Andi asked if I wanted some pots she used last summer to grow tomatoes but no longer had any use for. I knew it was fate! My new strawberry plants needed some pots (to keep them away from bugs, etc). It was perfect timing!

Tonight, I put my new strawberry plants into my new pots and now I'm anxiously awaiting the fruits of my knitting community labors.



Once my strawberries were in their new home, I visited my vegetable garden. It looks like some slugs had nibbled on a few of the beans so it was time for more Slug & Snail DEATH! Death be to those who try to eats my lettuces. It's not organic but it works and it's not affected by rain, very important around here.

TKGA Master Knitting Check-In



This past weekend, I completed the knitting for my TKGA Swatches. I still need to re-do a few swatches but rather than do more actual knitting, I decided it was time to start blocking the "approved" swatches.

In order to block my swatches, I decided that I needed a more structured blocking system that pining things to my floral armchair. So I headed over to JoAnn's on Sunday and found a small quilt blocking board which is working for my swatch blocking. It is great because it is small and CHEAP!



The Schedule!
Week of May 28th -- Review ALL Swatches and reknit any necessary swatches
Week of June 11th -- Answer TKGA questions
Week of June 18th -- Write Blocking Report
Week of June 25th -- Assemble TKGA packet in notebook
July 1, 2007 -- Mail out Master Knitter I program notebook

Love & Loss



On Friday night, I headed over to the Seattle Olympic Sculpture Park for a photo stroll with my favorite photo junkie. I spent much too long in front of the Love & Loss piece but ended up with a fun mosaic of the & sign turning and turning. It was a lovely night.

Eye Candy Friday



Daisies by Mary Oliver

It is possible, I suppose that sometime
we will learn everything
there is to learn: what the world is, for example,
and what it means. I think this as I am crossing
from one field to another, in summer, and the
mockingbird is mocking me, as one who either
knows enough already or knows enough to be
perfectly content not knowing. Song being born
of quest he knows this: he must turn silent
were he suddenly assaulted with answers. Instead
oh hear his wild, caustic, tender warbling ceaselessly
unanswered. At my feet the white-petalled daisies display
the small suns of their center piece, their - if you don't
mind my saying so - their hearts. Of course
I could be wrong, perhaps their hearts are pale and
narrow and hidden in the roots. What do I know?
But this: it is heaven itself to take what is given,
to see what is plain; what the sun lights up willingly;
for example - I think this
as I reach down, not to pick but merely to touch -
the suitability of the field for the daisies, and the
daisies for the field.

Learning to Fall In



For years my Mother has told me that I'm afraid of love, that I'm afraid of the loss of control over my heart and I have finally grown enough to say that she is right. Damn it, she is right. And now that I have realized this, I have begun to notice the world sending me messages about how to release the grip of fear that often surrounds my heart.

A few days ago, I read Martha Beck's advice, etc. column in this month's O magazine titled, "Lover's Leap". Her words resonated within my fearful heart.

Beck writes, "Whatever your own heart-coffins may be, notice that they're ruining your happiness, not preserving it. As poet Mary Oliver puts it,

Listen, are you breathing just a little,
and calling it a life?...
For how long will you continue to listen to
those dark shouters,
caution and prudence?
Fall in! Fall in!"



and later in the article, Beck continues,

"A man asks his rabbi, "Why does God write the law on our hearts? Why not in our hearts? It's the inside of my heart that needs God." The rabbi answers, "God never forces anything into a human heart. He writes the word on our hearts so that when our hearts break, God falls in." Whatever you hold sacred, you'll find that an unguarded broken heart is the ideal instrument for absorbing it.

If you fall into intimacy without resistance, despite your alarm, either you will fall into love, which is exquisite, or love will fall into you, which is more exquisite still. Do it enough, and you may just love your fear of falling. You'll get better at missing the ground, at keeping a crushed heart open so that love can find all the broken pieces. And the next time you feel that vertiginous sensation of the floor disappearing, even as your reflexes tell you to duck and grab, you'll hear an even deeper instinct saying, Fall in! Fall in!"



I think I'm ready to fall in.

TKGA Master Knitting Check In

When we last spoke about my TKGA Master Knitting I Program, I was in pure panic mode. It is amazing what a few days does for the psyche. Oh! and good knitting friends!

After I posted my schedule, Ginger wrote and said, "I'll see you on Sunday with Swatches #9 and #10." Now last week was a busy one and I was panicked that I wouldn't be able to get my sh*t together but I was more panicked that I'd let Ginger down and not have my swatches. So I SWATCHED!

I marched into Village Yarn & Tea at 10:08 a.m. (I was running late because I needed coffee...lots and lots of coffee!) on Saturday and slapped swatched #9 and #10 down. Then I proceeded to sit down next to Ginger, drink my coffee, swatch #11 and #12 before drinking some tea (I really needed that caffine).

On Sunday, I completed swatch #13 which leaves really ahead of schedule! I plan to finish up swatch #14 and #15 this week and #16 by the end of Memorial Day weekend (Hey it's a three day weekend and I am going leaving town so I may as well KNIT!)

Here is my new revised non-panic plan. It's a good one.

Week of May 21st -- Knit Swatch #14, #15 and #16
Week of May 28th -- Review ALL Swatches and reknit any necessary swatches
Week of June 11th -- Answer TKGA questions
Week of June 18th -- Write Blocking Report
Week of June 25th -- Assemble TKGA packet in notebook,
July 1, 2007 -- Mail out Master Knitter I program and FREAK out because it is not RIGHT!

Whew! I feel better now....much calmer...

Eye Candy Friday



Thunder rests in the gravel reministing about past adventures.

Stash Acquistion



On Monday at Ferals, Melinda brought me some beautiful handspun yarn. I won it in a blog contest awhile back but we kept missing each other at Ferals for the yarn delivery. It was worth the wait!



I love the thousands of colors in this skein and how as I wound it up, its appearance kept changing. I can't wait to knit this up and see how the variations appear. The yarn has told me that it wants to be a scarf with an interesting stitch pattern. I'm not sure what pattern yet but I am doing some research. I so love the research! Any ideas on what scarf I should knit with this yarn?

TKGA Master Knitter I Freakout



Last July, I ordered the TKGA Master Knitter I Correspondence Course and set about becoming obsessed. As time wore on, my obsessions moved on to other knitterly items.



Today, however, I realized that I have a serious deadline here! I need to get my packet into TKGA by July 10th!

So I went through my emails etc and it looks like I got my TKGA stuff on 7/10/06 which puts me on SERIOUS deadline here. I must get this done by 7/1/07!

I need to get this in before the year is up since TKGA altered the program after I ordered it. If I don't get this in before a year is up, I need to use the new program which has different requirements.

As of right now I have knit Swatches #1 through #8.

In pure Supergirl panic mode, here is my plan...do you think I can do it?

Week of May 14th -- Knit Swatch #9 and #10
Week of May 21st -- Knit Swatch #11 and #12
Week of May 28th -- Knit Swatch #13, #14 and #15
Week of June 4th -- Knit Swatch #16 and review ALL Swatches
Week of June 11th -- Answer TKGA questions and reknit any necessary swatches
Week of June 18th -- Write Blocking Report
Week of June 25th -- Assemble TKGA packet in notebook, try not to become Martha Stewart.
July 1, 2007 -- Mail out Master Knitter I program and FREAK out because it is not RIGHT!

Sunday Scribblings -- Second Chance

She should have given him that second chance. She often wondered what would have happened if she had given him a second chance instead of striking him down after one meeting over coffee. Would he have taken her to faraway lands? Would they have children now? Would he have broken her heart after three dinner dates?

The opportunity for a second chance can be barely noticeable but should be quickly grabbed when offered. Second chances are like second dates, sometimes regretted, sometimes enjoyed. One doesn’t know until they are offered the second chance.

He offered her that second chance when he asked her out for the second time but fear gripped her throat causing her to croak out a "No" in response to his question. Moments later she regretted her words but he had already hung up the phone. Calling back would have taken more courage than she had in that moment.

Now years later, she sits in traffic and thinks about him. What he is doing, where he lives, whether or not he's married with little ones and pets. She'll never know though since she threw her second chance away when he asked her out on that second date. She vows then and there to never throw another second chance away like that.

Eye Candy Friday



I visit the Seattle Art Museum last night and I'm thrilled that it is open again after such a long closure. The work they did to expand the space is fantastic and the art is even more enthralling.

In Need of Relaxation



The last few months have been full of social engagements, an intense workload, new people, obligations, dogs and very little relaxing. I'm not actually very good at relaxing so that hasn't been too big of a problem for me. The problem is that my "relaxing" time is when I knit, write, take photographs and come up with new ways to express my creativity and there just hasn't been adaquate time for all of those creative outlets. One thing I have been doing though is taking photographs -- lots and lots of photographs.



I realized last night that we are entering the time of the year when I stop knitting so damn much and start spending more time outside. And now that I have my Nikon D80, that means spending time taking more photographs while also taking time to partake in outside activity. I do love biking and running in the Spring and Summer. Winter always drains the desire to bike and run right out of me but Spring always brings back the want.



I'm not however neglecting the knitting. In fact, just this morning I cast on for a new project. One I've been contemplating for a long time.

For one day, this...



will become this...


Image from www.LeighRadford.com

I can already feel my relaxation time coming back to me.

Finito Suéter Verde

Last night I finally finished the Manteau Maillane Sweater which has been giving me fits for the last two months.

Shortly after casting off, I looked around for a victim to model the finished sweater for me since I have no patience to wait for an actual baby to model said finished product! Unfortunately for Hugo, he was nearby and almost the right size!



You'll notice that his legs are stick straight out as he trys to pretend that I have not shamed him by dressing him in baby clothing. Oh but I have!



Right after this photo session, the sweater was dunked in soap and laid out to dry. Clean baby clothes are only proper when gifting! Now for the said part of this story, since I took so long to finish this sweater, it no longer fits the intended baby but no worries, I have another baby in the loop that will fit this next fall when the weather turns. Baby J! You are going to look so cute in this!

Eye Candy Friday



A bit of Eye Candy for this fine Friday before Cindo de Mayo. This is the open sign for Aqua Verde, a place I'd highly recommend if you love good Mexican food.

AND THE WINNER IS...

I'm making the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and yesterday I asked for everyone's advice on what colors to use.

Originally I was going to use Child's Play as one of the colors but darn Amanda and Meg suggested that I use Envy and Lakeview instead and save my two skeins of Child's Play for something different.



I was easily swayed by these two ladies and now four skeins of Envy and two skeins of Lakeview are on their way to my yarn stash from Two Swan's Yarn.

Ermmmm, yes I only need two skeins of each of these colors to make my scarf but I AM IN LOVE with the Envy colorway and had to have two more of that yarn to make socks or something else. I NEED MY ENVY!

Thank you to everyone who voted! I love knitting by committee.

Chevron Scarf Making

I'm making the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and I need everyone's advice.

I selected my first color by diving into my stash and picking up two skeins of Lorna's Laces in Child's Play that I purchased long ago while on a trip to Washington D.C.



Which leads me to the tricky selection of the second color and where I need your advice! Leave me a comment telling me which two colors you think I should use in my Chevron Scarf. Remember one of them has to be Child's Play.



This is my first pick -- Child's Play with Envy



Second Pick -- Child's Play with Lakeview



Third Pick -- Child's Play with Motherlode



Fourth Pick -- Child's Play with Watercolor



Fifth Pick -- Child's Play with Jungle Stripe



Sixth Pick -- Child's Play with Bucks Bar

So tell me in the comments which one you think I should knit!

Words Trapped in my Throat, Projects Stuck in my Fingers



It seems that words are trapped in my throat. As I drive to work, the words swarm around my head and I think, Oh I have to blog that or I must write that down. The words are forced to wait though and they lose patience before stomping off where I can't hear them any more.

It is the same with my knitting projects. My fingers itch to create but when I get a moment to sit and create, they refuse to work. It's as if the projects want to live with my words in a place that I can't reach.

So instead I shall wait patiently for the words and the projects to come back. I shall sit and wait, patiently here until that time comes.