Traveling? Think Mirasol.
Car Photography is a Challenge
Those of you who know us also know that Mr. Trask loves him a road trip. It relaxes him, he says, to drive and think, even if he’s on I-95 in holiday traffic. Whether Mr. Trask’s presence is relaxing to the other drivers on the road, we dare not ask. Certainly, driving is not my definition of relaxing. It’s more “how you get from here to there” to me. However – we have developed a pretty nice system. He drives, I knit, we listen to a book on tape (or on iPod, these days). Sometimes I hijack the iPod and play showtunes, singing along with wild gesticulations. [He finds this embarrassing even though we’re the only two people in the car. It’s that horrible, cringing embarrassment one feels for the actors at a really bad play. Therefore I don’t hijack very often. Maybe once a trip.]
Moss Stitch Hand Mitts with Contrast
So I generally get some knitting done while we’re on the road, but this Christmas’ road trip (to Boston and back, to see the Trask family!) was particularly productive. I blame the Mirasol Sulka (rav lnk) I bought at Fibre Space just after Thanksgiving. I considered making hats with it…but it just didn’t want to be hats. So it turned into a moss stitch scarf (above) and moss stitch handwarmers with a contrasting seam up the back of the hand.
I just love this yarn. The more I work with it, the more colors I see. The photos don’t do justice to it – the dark beige here has strands of blue, yellow, and even red running through it. The blue has shimmering green and gold tones. I could go on and on. I first used this yarn in the Cloud Bolero (rav lnk) class I taught at Fibre Space, and one of the major conversations was about our yarns. “This black has some gold in it!” “Hey, look at the light beige!” “Have you seen the purple?” Etc.
That Magical Beige
[Side note: this is just another reason to love knitting. When we slow down enough to make our own clothing, stitch by painstaking stitch, we notice so much more about what’s around us. Knitting as sensory enhancement. And another reason to love knitters is that they understand why we get so excited about little fibers of color running through the beige. All hail knitters!]
I started the neckwarmer and it just felt so good to knit that I finished it before we were home. Then I started to crave the Sulka some more. Plus, I had it all there with me, in the car, calling to me…and suddenly I had a nifty idea for some hand mitts. There was nothing for it but to cast on again. Though the Sulka selection in the car was vast, the needle selection in the car left something to be desired. Knitting them flat ended up being a boon, though, because I had the idea to seam them in a contrasting color. Supercool.
Stay tuned! I still have several colors in my stash, so who knows what’s next. I might even make a hat, after all.
Plus, knitting all of this kept me from blasting the soundtrack to Glee at Mr. Trask for a third time. Just one of many little touches that have probably saved our marriage.
Sign of a Good Inn
I knew our inn choice for Thanksgiving was a good one when I saw our neighbors (below, some sheep, the Inn’s lone llama, and a lovely porch on which one can knit). I am hoping to find a LYS around Middleburg, although Mr. Trask opines that having a yarn shop nearby is not strictly necessary for an inn to be good.
Meanwhile, we are decompressing and I am making good progress on various projects — photos soon. Happy Thanksgiving to all, wherever you may be.
Saturday Scarf
Headed north for a nostalgic jaunt to Swarthmore, Pa. Stay tuned for a report on their yarn shop (back in MY day, you had to go back HOME to buy yarn…).
Meanwhile, here’s a scarf in progress, on the road.
Welcome Back?
Well, it’s been quite the month, with new classes (knitting and otherwise) and a fair number of post-England tasks (unpack masses of books and yarn purchased in the UK, recover from Cadbury addiction, stare at photos of England, return to work, etc.). I’ll post a better catch-up tomorrow morning, but for now check out what I’m doing…
I have signed up for Stefanie Japel‘s spiffy UPcycled T-shirt class. Very, very exciting. [Wow, I’m a geek.]
More from Del Ray
Another very cool sign from our neighborhood, seen on some ripening tomato plants. How I love where we live.
Meanwhile, I’m working on a Featherweight Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. It’s in a fairly fine yarn – Malabrigo Lace – and I’m excited to see the final result…while at the same time awfully impatient about it.
Little Owls
This blog might as well be called Knit Like You Mean It PLUS bonus baby animals!. FU Penguin would be appalled. However – aren’t these baby burrowing owls great?
The first in 30 years, apparently. And they have a look that says, “Took you guys long enough.”
Hop on over to the National Zoo Photostream for more photos. And consider knitting some Owlings hand mitts (rav lnk) to welcome these little guys to the world.
Poem Fence
Here is one of the reasons we love our neighborhood: down the street, one of our neighbors has started a Poem Fence. Mr. Trask tells me that there used to be poems tacked on the fence, here and there, but now there are two established cork boards: one for children’s poems, and one for poems by adults. Children who have written a poem can post a copy of their poem on their board; the same for adults.
Some folks have posted original poetry, and a few have posted poems by well-known poets that they just wanted to share. Some post one copy of their poem; some post several copies so passers-by can take one if they like.
I’ve never met these neighbors, but I’m sending them goodwill and good vibes today for this excellent public service.
Yarn…In…Spaaace!
Yes, one of my first stops after I returned to the U.S. was fibre space. All I expected and more! The shop is large and well on the road to “bursting with yarn.” [Disclaimer: I teach knitting for Knit-A-Gogo, fibre space’s parent company, and all my classes will move there this fall.]
As we’d expect from a shop owned by the glorious Danielle, the shop is funky without tipping over into inaccessibility – and has some of the most beautiful yarn I’ve seen in quite some time. Spud & Chloë yarn and patterns — yarn from The Mirasol Project, and all the Miss Babs sock yarn you could ever dream of.
Best of all – a dedicated classroom for us teachers. Can you tell I’m excited about the shop? Sadly, at this rate I’ll be spending all I earn before I even walk out the door…but, heck, what is money for if not to exchange for yarn?
Today they’re receiving something like 43 boxes of yarny goodness from Malabrigo, Blue Sky, and others…I’ll be there late afternoon to help unpack. Will post another report soon after — or drop by and see for yourself!
Wooly Adventures
Big Knitters in Cardiff
It’s Day Two of Mr. Trask’s and my jaunt to Cardiff, which has been lovely indeed. After studying intensely all summer, it took me a few days to recover (sleep, read bad-for-me books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, etc.), and I think today was the first day I really felt myself. After sleeping until 11:30 a.m., of course. [I expect to get no harassment re: P&P&Z. Check out the Onion AV Club review. There, that’s distracted you.]
So, since I was feeling myself, what did I do with myself? Why, I found two yarn sources in one day, of course. First up: Big Knitters in Cardiff, which doesn’t yet seem to have a web presence. But they’ve been open just a few months and they are definitely there! The neighborhood clearly knows about them; several other knitters stopped in while I was there (on a Wednesday afternoon, no less), and a few area bloggers have written them up (see blog_bletherings and Chopped Tomatoes). I splurged on a Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball (see rav lnk) and some local handspun with Shetland fiber. Photos soon… I also splurged on Kim Hargreaves’ Amber (rav lnk), which I’d been unable to find in the States, and a set of KnitPro Symfonie DPNs. Huzzah!
Carolyn of Bulldog Krafts
Then we wandered into the Cardiff Summer Festival, where Bulldog Krafts had a booth. Carolyn Kennington, the owner of the company, was so charming and enthusiastic about seeing us. She stocks yarn that no one else in the UK does, and explained to me that she started out bringing some amazing cotton back (EL D Mouzakis – rav lnk) from Greece for herself (“I’d bring a whole empty suitcase with me every summer!”) and then started her business to share her goodies with the rest of the UK.
I bought some lovely J C Rennie Supersoft Cashmere (rav lnk), which came with a free shawl pattern (we do like free). Carolyn has just started posting her patterns on Ravelry; you can find them here. Watch out; they have an online shop as well. Dangerous!
All in all, a grand day. Cannot wait to start knitting with my finds here. Am carefully not thinking about how I will get all this yarn into my suitcase.
Another Leopard Cub?!?
Yes, the National Zoo has done it again. The mother of the male cubs born in March gave birth to a female cub last week – July 13.
As always, I find myself wondering how I can get Mehgan Murphy’s job (she’s the photographer for the zoo). Anyone got any tips?
Pop over to the flickr feed to see more photos, or the National Zoo’s cub update page to follow the little guys’ progress.
Knit Like You Mean It. 