morning hike

Stephen West's Boneyard Shawl in Quince&co. Chickadee

catskills

This time last week I was waking up

at my favorite campsite in the Catskill Mountains of New York.

The previous night's walk around Little Pond.

Another Henslowe Shawl in the works,

this one is made with naturally dyed merino from the region.

A cold night with touches of frost the next morning.

Morning coffee

I sat on a small suspension bridge and knitted for a while.

The night was full of visitors as the moon was just a day from being full.

Two types of owls called, mice jumped and tried to burrow under my tent,

a fox answered the coyotes howl/bark at the moon and a raccoon tried desperately

to crawl into my tent with me!  The bears stayed away.

xo, j

tuesday

reset

henslowe shawl

eastern american toad

I took a walk on a favorite trail to settle my nerves

and reset my peace of mind.

Encountered one man with the face of a buddha.

Nod and a hushed hello.

xo, j

wrestling a bear

Almost a week to the hour and I have finished my Icelandic Cape.

The pattern is from a book called Icelandic Knits by Helene Magnusson.

I have never knit anything with such large needles (US #15) 

and the Lopi wool is coarse and bulky.  

At times it felt like I was wrestling a bear!

Still must block the piece, weave in the ends and then

find just the right clasps.

The robins have left, walnuts are dropping from the trees 

and sumac leaves have started to burn bright red and orange.

It won't be long before I'm fighting the autumn chill 

by wrapping myself up in The Bear!

(Or pulling it close while standing under the aurora borealis in Iceland!)

dreamer

xo, j

clothing tags

Clothing tags provide provenance

but more importantly they aid in navigation.

When getting dressed the starting point is always the tag,

back of the neck, back of the waist.

With hand made clothing the lack of a tag results in 

a fumbling about, situate the arms now line up the shoulders…

Until I can decide on a font, color, size for my future oakworm tags

I have pulled scraps of fabric out of my stash

 and stitched them onto the back neck line of my sweaters.

I rather like the sweet little bits that combine sewing memories

with my knitted garments to create my 'start here' points.

xo, j

summer blues

Cool, breezy, damp, misty, overcast

all are words to describe the day.

Instead of my usual black, grey or charcoal 

I am now knitting with blues.

The top piece came out a little large under the arms,

I tend to lose myself in the trance of Stockinette stitch and 

ended up with too many stitches after separating the arms,

but it will be great for bundling up in the winter.

(Effortless from Knitbot Essentials)

The yarn is Quince & co. Lark in colorway Fjord.

It knits up beautifully and blooms to a perfect drape.

The work in progress is Nauset Tee made with a cotton blend

from a local mill called Tatamy Tweed.

I may knit it to tunic length and will definitely

add 3/4 or full length sleeves.

Keeping busy!

xo, j

another yarn sale...

Cascade 220 Heathers in Walnut Heather

Woodstock Knits Tinted Tweed in Violet

Quince and Co. Lark in Fjord

The view from the empty farm stand.

Yarn buddy Jenn texted me Sunday morning that our favorite LYS,

Conversational Threads, was having a sale of 30% off all clearance yarn!

Soon after the shop opened we met up at the back table 

to rummage through the goodies and both walked away

with enough yarn for two sweater projects each.

sigh…so much yarn, so little time…

happy knitting!

xo, j

weekend

chamomile sprouts

"gale" in Cascade 128, Nebula Heat

terrarium

branches bare

common speedwell, the first flower

xo, j

snow day

Another day of snow,

how fortunate that it is all mine.

Willi Singleton cup

the hot tea melting a ring in the snow.

I finished a pair of gloves.

Next time I will carry the twisted knit stitch 

up the middle finger.

xo, j

this week...

tuesday morning snow

washing sweaters

starting over

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

There is so much to be grateful for…

xo, j

pottery and such

On Saturday I visited the studio of potter Jeff Kleckner and finally

bought a cup I've waited over a year to purchase.

The beautiful quatrefoil shape is enticing and the porcelain enchanting

but it's the glaze that sets my mind buzzing.  

It bears such a strong resemblance to the skin of a spotted sea ray!

Yes, both tea and coffee taste better in my spotted cup.

*smile*

The little fingerless gloves will be a Christmas present.

There are four requests for such gloves and I'm knitting quickly

 to try and finish them all before the holiday.

It smells like rain tonight and surprisingly there are still 

crickets chirping in the darkness.

Lastly…I had an idea that prompted me to pulled out my oil paints.

It's been many, many years since I've painted but I'm excited about my project.

Oh, and there are two skeins of plum wool/silk waiting on my loom…

So many things to make!

xo, j

The weather has turned colder and 

gusty winds have pulled most of the  leaves from the trees.

The maple outside my window has left a golden carpet on the ground.

I apologize for not posting in a week, 

my life has been a bit like a train running out of control.

work, work, work

The mossy green sweater is finally finished.

It must be almost a year ago that I started it and the easy

stockinette stitch made for good "mindless" knitting.

I regret not following the pattern decreases on the body but am pleased 

with the 3/4 length sleeves, I'm always pushing my sleeves up!

Will weave in the ends and then wash and block it before wearing.

Maybe I can reshape some of the boxiness.

Thank you to all who left comments on my previous post.

It's been two years since I first started this blog

and I so cherish all the friends I have made.

xo, j

first frost

ice on the windshield

All week I've been waking up early to go into work.

This morning I was greeted by the first frost of the year.

It took some digging through my car trunk to find the scraper!

Nestled in the oak and dogwood leaves is my latest knitting project 

along with some pumpkin seeds I roasted last night.

The fingerless gloves are knit with a qiviut/merino blend.

(My treat from last year's trip to Rhinebeck)

They're very light and yet cozy warm, perfect for the cold weather,

and I love the mushroomy color.

The seeds were roasted with olive oil, salt, cayenne pepper and a pinch of sugar.

A spicy sweet snack, they taste almost like popcorn.

Thanks to all who left such nice comments on my Rhinebeck posts.

It's lovely to be able to share it with all of you.

xo, j