the long road home

Posted on Posted in designing, lace/shawls, projects

hello, i’m home again, yay.

i intended to come back friday, but then the check engine light came on in my car and i had to take it in friday morning to see what was wrong. good thing i did; the engine thermostat was dead.
this is how long i sat in the car dealership waiting for it to be good as new

halfway down the foot now. not a problem—i was all to happy to wait and knit on tesserae.

unfortunately the repair—and the impending snowstorm that was headed toward albany— put a severe dent in my travel plans for friday. so i waited til saturday morning to leave. though i had my sock close by in case of a traffic jam, i didn’t need it this time.

the weather was still a bit nasty for the first 100 miles but then it cleared up miraculously and i traveled from utica to canton under mostly-sunny skies and over dry roads.

we had a nice dinner (i was SO happy to see david again!) when i got home and i conked out early, after knitting just a little bit.

but today, well, today is a different story. first of all, there were a dozen or so robins twittering around one of our large shrubs when i went outside this morning. i ran in for the camera but they moved on while i was inside, darnit. we still have quite a bit of snow on the ground but i think they are scoping out nesting places.

and secondly, today is all about the snow shawl. i’ve already had a good 3-hour knitting session and i’m taking a short break to blog so you won’t think i died on you too.

you can see the forest almost in its entirety at the hem—i’m nearly done with the last row of trees.
i know, i know—i keep saying that. and i keep thinking it to myself, too. i only have six rows left in the forest, then a bit of snowdrift lace, then the edging

vanessa finished the body of her shawl and then ran out of yarn, so we are waiting for some more. it’s my fault; i sent her two full skeins and a partial skein, thinking that would be plenty and it wasn’t.

the rows take about a half hour each now; so when you do the math you can see that it takes a while to make a lot of progress . . . still, i’d like to finish off the body by midnight tonight.

but sometimes i have to take a break and work on the socks just a bit . . . the shawl doesn’t fit at the breakfast table any more, and it’s not exactly a take-along-project either.

i made just a little progress on the second violets sock

have i mentioned how very much i love the new knitpicks sock needles? now that i’ve had them a few weeks i am a convert—i am using them on all my current sock projects. they feel sturdy and they have wonderful points . . . very tapered with a smooth, slightly-rounded tip—just perfect. not too sharp; they don’t snag my yarn at all. i like them so much i ordered some more. i’m hoping they might make them in neutral colors at some point; i think they’d be gorgeous . . .

ok, i hate to be a bore, but i have a shawl waiting and i am on a mission. i just wanted to say hello and leave a few pictures.

31 thoughts on “the long road home

  1. I am drooling over the snow shawl…needles and yarn in hand, waiting patiently for the pattern!! It is simply gorgeous! Sharon

  2. Oh, I’m so glad you’re back. I’m happy to see all your progress. The snow shawl is an entire landscape and story. It reminds me of the Matryoshka dolls of Russia with the story within a story that goes on and on. It’s really pretty!

  3. I just received a set of the Knitpicks needles yesterday and switched over from the two circs. I thought I would never, ever go back to dpns–but, oh, I just love ’em also. They feel so good in the hand.

  4. I’m loving my Knitpicks sock needles too. I’ve only been using them a few days now, but I’m having to restrain myself from ordering more. I want to use them for at least a couple of weeks before I go crazy buying them in all sizes.

    I love the violets socks!

    I still can’t get over how different tesserae from pave. I’m glad you split them into two patterns.

  5. I’m so glad to know that someone else knits at the breakfast table. I knit anywhere except the shower and cooking at the stove. Your snow shawl is beautiful. Welcome back.

  6. That snow shawl is amazing. I can really see the story of the snow falling from the sky and landing on the trees in the forest. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that sort of thing in knitting. You may have invented and entirely new concept!

  7. Glad the weather cleared for you on the way home and that you had a good drive. I feel really guilty, but I am half-pleased about that check engine light thing because I am waiting very impatiently for tesserae! LOL

  8. So glad you caught the car thing while you could get safely to a repair place. I had a bad day the time we were on the way to NYC (to sing the next day) and we stopped for 5 minutes… and when we started it up, it was loud and making irregular putting sounds. Needed new spark plugs, one had actually popped out and they had to drill a new cylinder, ugh.

    In a VW Bug, in a town with one shop that would work on imports. He said he could get to it Tuesday (this was Friday). We told him what our trip was, he dropped everything and got us on our way, same day, for less than $300. But talk about nerves!!!

    So it sounds like you had waiting to do but nice yarn to knit, and you had a place that could do the work. I am happy that it went that well. After all, cars do need parts sometimes.

    Hope your birds get spring soon. May the snow shawl be the only white in your life very soon.

  9. It’s the colors that keep my from trying the Knit Picks DPNs. Not a fan of the multicolor bright DPNs.

    Waiting patiently to see the finished shawl. 🙂

  10. So glad you made it home. I recently bought the set of sock needles from Knitpicks and I just love them….you just inspire me to do more than I should…have a box of socks all done and ready for xmas already…I love your blog and I read it daily…I can’t wait until something is written…it’s always a wonderful read and the pictures are to swoon for….especially when you show “food” wow,well I must give credit to your patterns, LOL they are just spectacular! I’m originally from Hudson and you from Albany, such a small world….I’m now in Texas…it was such a change (culture shock) for me….especially when Texas has no idea what a toasted hard roll is….boy do I miss them…kids send me a package every once in a while and I eat them as fast as I can, dripping with butter ….lol
    I love to see your patterns…they are so unique!!! More coming, I’m sure…WTG Ellen in Texas

  11. I had a hard lesson in testing a pattern for tension and size…. knitted a whole jumper(sweater) back and had to unpick. The kids learned a few more swear words that day!
    That shawl looks amazing…

  12. You saw Robins? I am SO jealous! What a nice treat thought to come home to after a tiring drive.

    The socks….beautiful!

  13. Glad you made it home okay. The weather in your neck of the woods and points east looked pretty stormy last week. The shawl is beautiful. I think I might have to knit Tesserae – I would like to put some of those in my sock drawer.

  14. It’s all so pretty I don’t know what to want first. I’m glad you got back ok. Thank goodness you caught the car thing when you did. I love those Harmony needles too. But I’m with you, some solid colors or at least paler colors might be nice. On the other hand, i’m a total magpie so the colors they are please me. They just blend too well with my yarn choices sometimes. I love those yarns you’re using. They look so scrumptious.

  15. Very glad you got that thermostat problem fixed before driving home! The projects are wonderful. I love how the trees in your forest are different sizes. 🙂

  16. Welcome back ! 🙂
    It always feels SO good to come home again !
    Birds are also busy over here, spring isn’t that far away anymore.

  17. The yarn that you’re using for the violets socks is heartbreakingly gorgeous!

    We’re in that period where it’s warm enough to go out in a sweater one day and need a full length coat the next, and the birds that just came back last week must be mightily confused. This time of year is frustrating but never dull!

    Glad you made it home alright. 🙂

  18. glad you’re back! the car problem on friday was a GOOD thing…we drove east and it was miserable.

    the snow shawl is gorgeous!!

  19. Anne- It’s nice to get away, and it’s nice to get home.
    Definitely small signs of Spring, it gives us hope.
    The shawl will be perfect for next winter, a nice big project to get away from the cold.

  20. LOVE the snow shawl…and I laughed out loud when I saw your wish for lightcolored Harmonys! I’ve already put in my request (several times) and am hoping against hope KP hears us!

    (I’m in love with the interchangeables, too, so you might want to try them?)

    Glad you made it home safe and sound…
    (((Hugs)))

  21. Wow, the snow shawl already seems huge, and it’s not even blocked yet! It’s nice to see it coming together, it really looks great!

  22. Is it wrong to imagine that lovely big square shawl as a triangle? 🙂 The way it’s folded up here, it’s easy to imagine what it would be like at half the size…

    I love the Knitpicks DPNs too. I’m a little disenchanted with the way the convertible needle tips keep unscrewing themselves, but the DPNs are just right.

  23. Hey Anne, you know what I love about this post? Well it’s your honest pictures. That car photo gave me a major comfort dose. Haha, I can’t live without driving with my ipod either. Sorry about the car trouble though.

    BTW, I’m completely riveted about those violet socks. I looked back through the posts and could not find a reference to the yarn you’re using. It looks so good! When I finish Dave’s So Square socks I’ll try more, but oh I won’t be making the violet socks for HIM of course. Ooo just finished my first heel (drinks another swig of beverage of choice)…

  24. I have the whole Harmony double point sock set – got it for Christmas- and I love,love,love them!! The colors don’t bother me at all like I thought they would.
    Beautiful shawl by the way!!! Keep up the good work, can’t wait to see more.

  25. I’ve got my yarn for the snow shawl, it’s even prettier in person! Looking forward to seeing the finish and being able to start on it. It’s just lovely.

  26. My check engine light came on last week at night on the way home from my knitting group. I pulled off the freeway to a side road, pulled out the manual, and it assured me that as long as it wasn’t blinking, it was safe to drive it to where it might be repaired, rather than calling for a tow. Thank goodness. The distributor coil was fried and a few other things.

    Love those socks. LOVE that shawl. It’s a wonderful antidote for snow deprivation.

  27. How I love seeing the “story” of your shawl unfolding. The snow falling on the trees…. Ah, it warms my little northern heart. I will definitely order this pattern as soon as its available.

    The yarn for your violets socks is to die for. And I agree about the knitpicks needles. I too just got a set and they’re fabulous. I was also thinking how great it would be for them to be available in natural wood colours.

  28. Welcome home! The shawl is looking amazing (I’m working on my reading assignment!), I can’t wait to see it finished. And I’m knitting my second violets rising, too — also on my new knitpicks harmony needles. Aren’t they lovely? They’re almost enough to make me give up my Celtic Swans, but not quite. But they are perfect for travel, as they’re lighter, and I think they’re less likely to raise security hackles (or so I hope).

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