the surge is on

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lace is everywhere (second in a series).

when i got up this morning and looked out the upper hall window, my eyes met a crosshatching of glazed branches fit for the lace museum (and debby, i hope that worked in your favor).
i put the coffee on and quick got into my coat to run out in the freezing rain to take pictures (anything for art, right?).

it was getting ready to melt as the temperature rose a degree or so, but i got a few good photos in before it went away. look—a faroese shawl, only in the sky

(btw, that is the same tree we photographed with Irfa’a a few weeks ago.)

here’s some with glass beads dangling for rosemary

with whom i had a discussion last week about beads and knitted lace.
it was really chilly and miserable so i stopped and went back in for coffee, and by the time i had filled my cup and stepped back out, it was all gone—just moments later (only a little after 9 debby, just what you asked for).
a refreshing start to the day; i was ready now to pack patterns and answer email.

for those that have been asking, i now have a few more details about this knitting war i have stumbled into. i know i will be pitted against another knitter, but how that affects the donations and whatnot, i don’t know. i think i am just supposed to put my nose to the grindstone and knit as many gifts as i can before the end date (i don’t know when that is).

THE ORGANIZATION I AM TARGETING TO RECEIVE DONATIONS FOR MY KNITTING EFFORTS IS KNITTERS WITHOUT BORDERS (MSF).
Knitters without Borders will be the knitspot recipient of the month.

david and i will add a personal donation as well; as much as we can.
(there used to be an old TV ad telling us to “give til it hurts”—for some reason, that has always been my guiding hand in these matters; i find it a reassuring standard to meet.)

anyone who wants to join the benefactors to add $5 for every gift i finish can do so by going to the war blog and leaving a comment that says:
I’M IN for knitspot. my blog/email address is [your address].
please (and respectfully) don’t leave the comment here—they will not see it.

any questions? i know i have many, but i’m putting them aside to go with the flow. i love the feeling of secret stuff swirling all around and have no inclination to figure out the mysteries of this war—just point me to the yarn and needles, and give me an end date.

this is what i have finished so far from the list i posted over a couple of days last week. as you can see i finished another hat last night in class, along with several more repeats on oh! canada (not shown). here we have the finished “plain james” set for my nephew

perfect for the thief, spy, SWAT man, or ninja warrior on your list.
there’s just one word for these: s-s-smoooth

i am nearing endgame on the bee socks, too. i’m past the heel

and figure i have maybe one more evening of work on these to finish (CHA-ching!)
(sorry if that “cha-ching” thing is annoying .. . for some reason, i’m finding it sooo entertaining, but maybe i just need to get slapped)

the sweater is a whole other story but i’m working on that . . i’ll share it when i have something of note to show for myself. let’s just say that i am holding in my mind a picture of exactly what i want it to be, but am a little nervous about whether i can pull the whole thing together. i can cast on today, but after that i still need to sit with pen and paper to draw up some sort of blueprint. once i set down a few rules i think i’ll be fine, with the exception of one question . . . zip neck, or button placket? nevermind, i’m opting for the buttons; they’re much cozier.

i got a couple of cool gifts in the mail from people on opposite sides of the country who don’t know each other at all, but managed to each send me somethign related. how cool is that?
first, i got an envelope the other day from my cousin lynn with some project booklets for lace stoles and wraps from our grandmothers’ knitting days (our grandmothers were sisters)

i have some very similar pamphlets from my own grandma small collection. they only had a few books each and used to pass them around to each other, so that we all ended up with the same afghans and hats, etc in different colors. it was an early form of a KAL, i guess you could say. i don’t know how many knitters there are in our generation of the family, but i know lynn is one; she’s been diggin’ knitspot this year and cheering me on—thanks lynn!

then today i got a book from deb that i have almost bought so many times this year

those that know me know how much i love vintage fashion photography of all kinds and this book is a treasure trove of it. so fun, and i’m sure, full of inspiration for new designs—it’s the perfect gift, deb.

so, off now (finally) to my dream date with that cranberry yarn, a good audiobook.
ironically, it’s the ice harvest i’m in the middle of now.

28 thoughts on “the surge is on

  1. I read Ice Harvest a few years ago when it was new. Before the movie (disappointing). I found the book to be great fun. Hope the audio version holds true.

    Love those ice pictures! You go with the knitting. I’m rooting for you.

  2. You are brave to go outside. It was worth it though, beautiful photos. Great books I can’t wait to see how you are inspired by them. The ‘ChA-ching’ is funny.

  3. I take my (summer) hat off to you northern hemisphere people. You must have backbones of steel to live, thrive and survive in a climate like that. Trouble is, I’m getting the urge to knit socks after seeing pictures like that. I don’t know why, but the idea is growing on me….

  4. The Ice Harvest? Come, on, that’s too perfect!! I love the photos. There are so many beautiful patterns in nature. Thanks for sharing them. Oh, and I think we all need slapped at this time of year! We’re all just a little too freaked-out. We need to settle down! You are the fastest knitter, ever.

  5. sure…the ice is pretty and lacy…but you didn’t have to scrape it off your car this morning in a valiant effort to get to work almost-on-time!

  6. Thank you for the lovely photos. Just the thing to cheer me up on a “not so great” day here. Hugz!

  7. Have you been to Lacis? The lace knitting display is so inspiring and suckered me into more lace books. 🙂

    Photos are beautiful! I love the look of winter but not the cold unfortunately.

  8. what fabulous ice photos… it’s been one heck of a storm that crossed the US – I wonder if it was related to the rain/flash floods that we had a couple weeks ago?
    I look forward to seeing that sweater-in-the-making.

  9. I love ice shots. They are always so pretty.

    I know that you can blow the other knitter out of the water. Keep that knitting mojo going.

  10. Beautiful ice pictures! I don’t know how in the heck you finish so many things – you are SO fast. I’m just fast at BUYING yarn. hehe

  11. I love the ice pics and references to lace and beads. It’s ironic that you’re talking this way about tree branches with ice on them, because our trees are just loaded up with ice right now from two ice storms we’ve just had. My sons and I were just commenting to each other the other evening how beautiful and shimmery everything looks all covered in ice. Kind of like it’s all decorated for Christmas too.

    BTW, I got a cryptic message via my blog comments that I’d been choosen, and to go to the war blog if I am brave enough to accept the challenge….the problem is I don’t know if I am. I think the two mitten projects I’ve just started are a little too ambitious!

  12. Lace is everywhere, but not everyone sees it (or braves the cold to photograph it)! Lovely pictures. I can’t wait to see what evolves!

  13. The ice lace was beautiful–but did not work in my favor.:(
    School buses had no problems, so I had to find time during my classes to knit the sweater. 🙂

  14. Well, the PoWERS THAT BE say that your favored Miss Anne CANNOT make the hit. She’s WEAK they said. She caves in the face of Holiday Knits. She cries in desperation for the Knitting Gods to help her and then, she falls to a pile weeping,sniffling, sobs. THEN, it has been said she runs to a secret stash of ACRYLIC WOOL BLENDS! *GASP*. This was all in a secret letter written by PumpKin Mama. So, are you gonna take that Warrior Anne, we certainly wouldn’t. Oh, and what kind of fans do you have, they won’t even attempt to try and enter and beat you at your own game. C’mon Knitters, can YOU be the one to take down Anne? We shall see!

  15. What beautiful icy branches! I saw them and started to think about what fun it could be to knit something with a bunch of random patterning and shaping, to mimic the crossed branches of iced-over trees. And I think I have some yarn that would be perfect for it, too! *goes off to plot patterns*

  16. My favorite winter storms are the ice storms. The trees are magical. (unfortunately, they’re also devastated.)

    I remember one specifically in Wisconsin, pulling all the branches down to the snow. And another in Birmingham Alabama that closed the city down a couple of days (and knocked out the power – people died of course, but it was a beautiful storm!).

    Knit like the wind! (a nice, strong, steady wind – not the capricious, gusty wind)

  17. Can I get a virtual blogger “wave” going on over here? Considering how fast you knit, I really can’t see this will NOT go your way. 🙂 Rock on.

  18. Sigh. You see a Faroese shawl, I see a truly heinous walk over dangerous sidewalks to catch the train. I’d rather be looking through your glasses than mine…

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