oh gosh, WHAT a day. such a brilliant sky, such a fresh breeze, such beautiful, clear light—these are the days i’ve been waiting for. this is why we keep our hopes up during those gray months of winter, right?. sigh. spring is here . . .
this morning, everything was popping up and showing off—crocuses, daffodils, hellebores (barb, it’s blooming!!), tulips
so determined they pierced right through the ivy leaves that were covering them
(i didn’t know tulip leaves could cut like this, did you?)
and my favorite, the hostas, are emerging like turtle heads from the mud out back. i’m very excited, can you tell?
speaking of plants growing, i want to mention a really special effort that teachers and students at hudson junior high school are taking up this year, at no cost to the district—the henry hudson discovery gardens.
knitspot readers who live in the hudson, NY region and are familiar with the school will know what a great resource this will be for the community. my cousin lynn (on the right; frequent commentor and a wonderful gardener herself) teaches at this school and is a leader for the project.
the goals for this inaugural year are to:
- teach students about the lives of various plants and a better understanding of where food comes from and how to grow their own food
- provide produce to the school cafeteria; students will eat what they grow
- possibly develop a farm stand; money made on the sale of produce and/or plants will be used to sustain the garden
- begin a composting program to provide nutrition to garden soil and reduce monies spent on waste removal
even the small amount of funding needed for a project like this is hard to come by, however—though participants and leaders are working to secure grant money, several responses will remain up in the air until after planting time has passed. SO, they are seeking donations for a list of desired plants and tools and are gratefully accepting tax-deductible cash donations to purchase supplies.
if you have a few bucks to share and love the idea of kids getting involved in gardening, please visit the garden blog and send your tax-deductibe donation to the address listed on the left.
if you live in the hudson area and are growing starts that you can share or have some tools that you don’t use any more, please use the same contact info to make yourself known; your generosity is greatly appreciated.
we’ll be sure to direct you to blog updates as the spring and summer passes; i’m hoping that students will fill it with wonderful photos and accounts of their garden adventure. and possibly, i’ll get to visit the garden myself for a tour on one of my trips east; that would be amazing.
this afternoon when i got back from my bike ride, the same buds i photographed this morning were open as wide as could be. a welcoming smile, for sure.
so yeah, i know this is a knitting blog and i do have fibery news to share as well—actually, i have news going all the way back to sunday’s spinning class.
anne marie arrived in her completed highlander sweater, knit in briar rose glory days BFL
it looks like a dress stewart plaid, i love it (great buttons too, from joann). she is thrilled with the fit and the color; let’s face it, there’s no feeling like that of a really successful project.
i’m working my way through some beautiful, dark shetland, produced by my friend beckie’s former flock of sheep. this is from angus; i’m spinning it into a lofty, chunky weight yarn.
susan is spinning a nearly-identical batch of shetland that she picked up at our local fiber show last may. we are having a dueling shetland event.
some of you may wonder if susan is a real person or just our imaginary friend, since she is so rarely included in blog photos. she IS real, though she doesn’t make it to class as often as everyone else does (which gives us plenty of time to talk about her, haha!)
anyway, there is she is, real as can be, spinning her shetland and getting ahead of me.
have i mentioned how happy i am to be home ALL month long? i love seeing my spinning and knitting classes and it’s so productive to be in one place. i’m trying to enjoy every minute of it before i head out again in april for several more teaching dates.
i’ll be at stitches with style in delaware (spots available; please contact the shop for more info) and loop in philly over the weekend of april 9 and 10.
then it’s on to sock camp from april 15-20 and the loopy ewe spring fling from april 22-25 (both of these events are sold out).
so while i’m home, i’m focusing on getting some patterns out, starting new projects and writing new patterns for those, as well as working away on a bigger, behind-the-scenes project.
i blocked my newest pine and ivy rendition this morning—this is the one i’ve been waiting for; the one that inspired the whole design, knit in my precious skein of handspun silk/cashmere (fiber from chasing rainbows dyeworks). i’m SO happy with the result
the pine-cone browns and spruce blue/green colors in it are lovely. the color changes in the hand-dyed fiber translated into subtle, shifting bands of winter forest shades throughout the yarn and stretching the fabric made them even more mysterious.
i worked this one as a regular triangle shape so that i could use it as a scarf or shawl—it’s soft and light enough to make multiple soft folds up near the neck if i want it that way.
i know some of you are very anxious for the release of this pattern and we will deliver it as soon as the test knitters give me the go-ahead. i don’t want to pressure them though, so hang in there; it won’t be long!
now that i see the green and brown one blocked out, i’ve decided to work my brown/plum mini version as a straight triangle as well. i didn’t work on this over the last couple of nights, but tonight i’ll add some rows; i think i’ll probably finish it by the weekend. tomorrow we do a photo shoot at my friend’s farm; i think we might end up with some excellent photos. and then that’s that for pine and ivy
(at least, that’s what i’m telling everyone, haha).
because really, i need to design some new things; almost all the knitting i had on the needles last week is done.
i have just a few hours work left to do on this french quarter sock and another pair will be completed. i got two new cuffs underway for the mates to the longjohn socks; those will be my take-along projects for a while.
so now what?
we-e-ell, i’ve been thinking quite a bit about baby blankets lately—don’t ask me why; i have no idea, haha. i just think they are fun to knit, i guess. i enjoyed knitting the honey baby blanket so much last summer that it was done and gone away before i could blink, really.
i have this beautiful blue winter sky yarn from knitting notions in my stash which i’ve been drooling over for a while. it’s catherine’s soft, squishy classic merino sport yarn and it’s just begging to be a little blanket, i think. i’m working on swatches now—this one is a stitch i’ve been eyeing all winter that is just the kind i like—it’s got rich texture and depth, but is easy to work and has good rhythm; a great stitch for a traveling project.
funny thing though—it hasn’t worked in most of the yarns i tried. so many yarns are too busy or too relaxed or too colorful and don’t play well with the motif. but i think it just might work here.
i washed it to see if the texture got lost once it was wet and it didn’t; i think i like it a lot (never mind about the seeming color change; that’s a mechanical issue, heh. the color of the dry swatch in the photo above is the real deal).
i’m may try another couple of motifs, just to see if there’s one i like better (but why??).
so that’s one thing i’m playing with. i’m also obsessed with the idea of a laceweight mitt and beret set. something really lightweight with a bit of a period feeling. that one is still in the imagination stage, but i do have a yarn and color picked out (is that weird?).
i brought this skein of miss babs merino/silk laceweight home from sock summit, already thinking of the mitts and beret set—it has really stood the test of time. i think then, that this yarn should be knit into mitts and a beret . . . just for fun, babs is also sending me a skein of sport weight in the same outback colorway so i can work the set in two weights.
and now for something completely different
can you believe it? i never buy yarn in these colors, though i always admire a really good neon psychedelic mix when i see one and am envious of those who are visionary enough to use them freely. my friend gail though—well, she’s an absolute master at recognizing good ones and it was she who found this rare gem at the blue moon barn sale on new year’s eve and snatched it up for me. we call these colorways “chiclets” colors.
i’m working on finding just the right stitch pattern to bend your mind with it, baby.
i actually have more pictures and stuff to tell you, too (i’m a real chatty cathy today, aren’t i?), but it’s after 10 pm, i’m running on way too long, and i had planned to have this post up by like, ten hours ago.
so i’m gonna sign off now, but i’ll try to get back tomorrow to tell the rest (we have a big day tomorrow though, so it might be friday instead . . )
33 thoughts on “sprung”
I love that neon red!
Hi Anne!!! Beautiful flowers! And tell Anne Marie her sweater is AWESOME!!!
Hmmm…I think my goal for 2010 is to spin a proper laceweight yarn, i.e. no cheating by plying with a commercial silk filament. I’ve been thinking about it long enough. New wheel is on the way as of this morning so now I have no excuses!!! Your handspun pine & ivy is just beautiful and I loved your friend’s white one too.
Fantastic knitting as usual. And your garden is a few weeks a head of mine, as usual, though I do have a few tiny daffodils nodding their bright little heads in the front border. The back garden still looks clothed in it’s winterness, though there is a slight hint of flower buds in the cherry tree today that were not there two days ago.
Holey Cow – you’ve got me pining for spring and a pine & ivy shawl all in one post.
Nothing is blooming here yet – sixty miles west lots of daffies and crocus. Drat. Keep the photos coming so I live vicariously!
Oh my, thanks for sharing the photos of spring flowers! Minnesota is a bit behind you but soon…
The neighbor’s daffodils have bloomed, but I’m still waiting for mine to pop. I love your tulips’ determination. Anne Marie’s sweater is sensational. One thing that I’ve noticed in your pattern pictures is how nice all your garments look on all types of women. I’m short and it’s nice to see handknits looks so incredibly marvelous all the time!! Anne Marie did a masterful job matching color to pattern. Please pass along the “Kudos!”
How phenomenal that by the time you got back from your ride the buds opened up! You know already hoe I feel about the “Evergreen” pine and ivy…heading over to Crown Mountain now to order some.
That shawl is gorgeous! Can’t wait for the pattern… and am curious to see what the chiclet yarn becomes. I love those bright colors, but a little goes a long way, and it is hard to choose just the right kind of pattern/project for neons. Spring is definitely here — saw a pair of bald eagles doing what looked to be a dating/mating flight over my house last week — so cool!
Glad to see you are doing another baby blanket. I’m finally working on the edging for the Honey Baby. I love this blanket! Only been working on this 6 months but not “full time” with other projects plus portability when it got huge.
Anne- You have Crocus? I just have the leaves- but Mr. Bunny Rabbit ate the flowers last year.
Awesome Highlander- just gorgeous.
I noticed a KAL is starting for Pine & Ivy- before it’s released- that’s funny.
Totally envious of your croci. Still and always, your spring leapfrogs mine. And laughing about the chatty cathy reference. Wonder how many remember her?
Love the Chiclet yarn! I, too, never buy yarn in colors like that, but a year or so back, MIL gave me some of her yarn from the days when she tried to knit – lots of 80s Crystal Palace and Pingouin in all those crazy colors. Nice yarn, colors I wouldn’t be caught dead in. I made several lovely shawls for her out of those yarns – got to enjoy working with them without having to figure out what to do with them when I was done!
Waiting anxiously for the Pine & Ivy…and becoming more and more inspired to spin with each day that passes…
Lovely news and photos. I’m loving the crocuses (is that croci ?) Fun to see them unbloomed and then bloomed. Fabulous. Pretty funny about the Pine & Ivy pre-KAL, but then I can understand how that could happen!
Love the yellow crocus!! Beautiful shawl! So many intriguing items in one post…I need to pause for breathe! 🙂
Yay!!! Chiclets!! I haven’t test knit for awhile (too long, really!)…if you’re contemplating socks, I might be your chiclet knitter!! 🙂 🙂
Have a great and sunny day!! 🙂
the flowers are beautiful! i think they opened just for the sun!
nice shawl! i think the part that you dyed turned out splendidly!
The flowers are gorgeous! Spring certainly has sprung, hasn’t it? And I love the way your handspun shawl turned out – it’s just lovely, and the color shifts turned out to be really subtle now that it’s blocked. I have got to spin up the fiber I got of hers myself. Hope your busy day goes well!
Anne Marie’s sweater looks wonderful! The shawl is as lovely as the flowers and I LOVE the idea of the lace weight mitts & beret set. Chiclet looks and sounds like fun. New baby blankie? Yay!
Ooo! I have laceweight yarn and I need a beret!
You are so useful, Anne. Dang!
Please tell Anne Marie that I want to knit sweaters like her when I grow up! If my Highlander turns out half as well I will be happy! She did a great job!
Not fair that you had more snow than us but your spring flowers are already underway! We have tiny crocuses just starting, but not a whiff of hostas. It did hit 60 today for a couple of hours so maybe there’s hope, but I’m sure there’s at least one more snowstorm in our future!
Great post and well worth the wait! Lovely crocuses-you are ahead of us. It’s 61 here and tomorrow is to be nice and then rain/snow 40’s for the weekend. Isn’t that just how spring is? It’s nice when I’m at work and then runs and hides for the weekend.
Anne Marie’s sweater is lovely. You would never know from your shawl that you had to do some emergency dyeing to finish it. I think that neon yarn is great fun! Can’t wait to see what you do w/it!
Love the flower pictures! How did I miss the Highlander sweater, have to add to the queue.
The shawl is beautiful.
I’m one of the anxious ones. Take your time!!! I can’t stand two things.. patterns full of errors, and patterns that leave what the designer meant to say, up to my imagination. 😉
Thanks for all the lovely pictures of the flowers. I love spring & all the lovely blooms. Your shawl looks great!
I’ve been thinking about baby blankets, too – I want to make one for a friend, but so far haven’t found one I love….
And I’m jealous of your flowers – none here yet!
Your handspun shawl is beautiful, what a glorious play of color. The bit at the neck knit of the yarn you dyed really blends in well, hopefully as well in real life as in photos!
Anne Marie did a fabulous job with the Highlander. What a great fit and a great color.
I’m ready to knit the laceweight beret. Will the pattern be ready tomorrow??? 😉
gorgeous spring blooms and gorgeous shawl – i have my yarn all picked out for it and am dying to get my hands on that pattern!
and of course since i am the baby blanket queen i will welcome the new pattern! have a fab STR heavyweight all ready for a baby boy to be born this summer!
Spring has come here too although its a bit grey today! I have just finished a baby blanket in a lace pattern, such a great knit!
Anne – Your pictures always knock my socks off (both knitting and garden) I will admitt that I frequenty don’t read anything but just look at the pictures. So pretty.
Oh, Anne, I continue to marvel at your talents…not only do you knit beautifully, design marvelous things, but your photography is something else!!!!
I can’t wait for the new shawl…I particularly love the one in white…gorgeous!!!!
Tre bela trikajo!
The flowers are beautiful, but OH, the shawls are pure delight.
As I often do, I have a spinning question for you. Did you really get the handspun scarf out of only 2oz. of the Chasing Rainbows? I have two oz. of the same thing, and have been wondering if it would be possible.
Until then, I am happily spinning some lovely merino/tencel with which to make one of the large Pine and Ivy shawls when the pattern becomes available.
By the way….my Olympic challenge was a large sized Trevi using my light gray merino/tencel handspun. It came out beautifully, though I was 5 hours late finishing. Dang….I had to stop in the middle and spin another 2 oz. which slowed me down.
Thanks again for all the lovely patterns and for all you do for us.
Ann
I have just the wool for that cardigan. Just have to finish the other two I have on the needles already and this one will be closely behind it! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!
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