no place like home

Posted on Posted in designing, food and garden, lace/shawls, projects

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i know it doesn’t look like much, but it’s home to me. haha, actually, it almost looks like i live in a nursing home, doesn’t it? oh well, i still miss it when i’m gone for a while.

sorry for the extra time between posts, it’s always a little rush-rush when i get back form a trip because i have to get my bearings and catch up a bit. plus we had a blanket club chapter to publish this week, which i hope everyone is enjoying.

when i prepared to go to new mexico, i packed the last of my two sweater projects in the hope that i would complete three remaining sleeves in the five days that i was to be away. HAHAHAHA.

but one can dream can’t one?
and it’s good to be prepared (remember, i got stuck in hurricane sandy and i was really REALLY happy to have extra knitting that week, though it probably damaged my sense of proportion for life.)

anyway, i didn’t get much done at all on my sleeves over last weekend. i don’t know why; they are the best travel knitting. but somehow i got distracted by my crescent shawl project (which has no deadline) and i couldn’t stop knitting on it.

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when i left my house i wasn’t quite done with the hem. i pulled it out in the airport lounge while waiting to board the first flight and that’s when it became my weekend knitting of choice.

by the time i got through my first day of classes, i was ready to begin the short row shaping section, so i got that set up in the quiet of my room that night. i did knit on my first sleeve a little bit, but not as much as i thought i would. ok, i got the cast on and two rows of ribbing done; that’s it.

you saw the progress i made on the crescent shawl throughout the weekend—i was all about knitting garter stitch in short rows, alright. plus stopping to admire the fabric—it’s SO darn squishy and soft. and pretty.

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when i boarded the plane to go home at holy-cow-o’clock on monday morning, i had just about ten rows to go—the longest ones, of course. but i was binding off as we landed in denver a short time later; all done, yay.

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it was a little bit of a relief actually. kind of like when you finish off that bag of delicious chocolates you can’t keep your hands off of—much as you enjoyed them, you’re sorta glad they are gone so they won’t tempt you any more. in fact, you may have even eaten the last ones in a bit of a rush to get there, without actually savoring them as you should.

or maybe you just enjoy the good stuff without overthinking everything the way i do, haha. that’s the smart way to live life . . .

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so anyway, once i had the shawl off my needles i got my first orange sleeve out and got down to business. i’ve got a deadline and i don’t miss deadlines, dammit.

my renewed energy for it stood me well because by the time i got off the plane in canton at mid-afternoon, i was all the way to the armhole bind off. since i was basically getting off the plane and continuing on to teach another class, i just kind of kept going and by supper time, i was done with that first sleeve. i’m enjoying the yarn no end—it’s briar rose joyful and i’m not sure what chris will name this colorway, but i will always think of it as orange you glad.

for the next couple of days my time was tied up with a range of projects—putting the chapter layout together and writing up some designer notes (we’d done all the video and photo work earlier in the month), completing edits on sweater pattern files and checking in with test knitters, blocking a couple of shawls (including the one i’d just finished—more on that in a minute), and in between all that, knitting on my sleeves. i had two left for the deadline cardigans and half a sleeve for the pullover. and here at week’s end, everything is shaping up nicely for a successful finish.

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the pullover sleeve is in a holding pattern just until i get the other ones completed. i know i can finish that in a matter of hours and on my own time. my second orange sleeve is well on its way to being done.

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i’m a few rows shy of the armhole bind off and from there, the sleeve cap is all downhill sailing. now that makes it sound as if the orange sweater is really far ahead of the blue one, which i have only to about the elbow.

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my last sleeve piece (spirit trail tayet in colorway midnight rendezvous) is woefully behind the orange one BUT—and it’s a big but—once it’s done, the sweater is fini; there isn’t much finishing work beyond stitching up seams. the orange cardigan however, will need seaming AND button bands and you know they always take longer than we think they will.

still, with no other deadlines in sight at the moment, i feel good about being done with all of it by the end of the weekend. i will finish at least one of these sleeves tonight, probably the orange one and there’s little enough there that if i do, i can block the sweater pieces as well. and when i sit down to watch TV later on, i can seam the shoulders and begin the button/neckbands.

that’s actually an excellent plan for this evening; let’s go with that.

tomorrow we have a wedding to attend in the afternoon but i bet we’ll be home early enough for me to finish the blue sleeve. i’m pretty anxious to block those sweater pieces and see what i’ve got; i’m just dying to see how that lapel/collar works out. the blocked fabric is so different from the knitted fabric, which has a little bit of a wiry feel. once its washed however, it gets much, much silkier.

i’ve allowed for that in what seems like a fair amount of extra fabric, but i don’t want it to look skimpy once it drapes properly. fingers crossed.

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and when all of that is done, i can get back to finishing up the last bit of the sleeve for my luscious pullover which i am anxious to wear, even if it’s just for one chilly day.

sometimes when i spend a lot of time in my desk chair during the day, i want to do something at some point that does not require sitting, so on two different mornings this week, i put a shawl in to soak after coffee that i could block later in the afternoon.

one was the reversible crescent shawl i finished on my trip—i had decided i wanted to gift it to a special friend for an Important Birthday.

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whaddaya think? it’s  a wonderfully versatile length, long enough to do a keyhole pull

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or to wrap around twice to show both sides.

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i like it; i hope she does (i think she will). now i need to take those numbers and measurements i wrote down and turn them into a pattern.

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i actually want to make one with the same hem that is triangular—i know everyone loves the crescent style, but my preference is for triangle—what can i say? i march to a different drummer. while i have it all in my head, i think i’ll cast on and knit another for myself.

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i’ve had my eye on this mocha shade for a while; it’s enchanting me with its glints of gold and undercurrents of gray. such complex, rich tones; i must knit with it.

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we had a lot of chilly rain when i first got home and i saw right away that nothing much had happened in the garden. but with warmer temperatures the last couple of days and sun today, we are catching up. the buds on the maple tree just outside my desk window seem to be growing and popping before my eyes.

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even against a gray and rainy sky ( or maybe especially so . . .) they are gorgeous.

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david has been working on the vegetable garden to prepare it for planting in a few weeks—we could even set out onions and greens over the weekend. i’ll have to see if i can pick some up tomorrow.

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the big news really is in the flowers, which are finally blooming and plentifully at that (i was getting a little worried it wouldn’t happen, to tell you the truth).

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my beloved tulips suddenly have big leaves, big buds, and flowers, yay!

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and the jonquils are opening, issuing their delicate scent.

the ground is still rather cold however and around back, the perennials were just barely waking up when i took a walk around the yard this morning.

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hosts are putting out very tentative nubs, but i know from experience that once they get going, we could practically watch them get taller by the hour.

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and our funny friend, the may apple is nosing out as well, enough to be seen in just one or two places, almost hidden. but we know that they will be endlessly entertaining in no time.

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nearby, the fiddleheads are still tightly coiled but beginning to stir. it’ll be a while for them, i think.

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surprisingly though, the lily of the valley has sprung and is taller than i expected, especially the ones close to the house foundation.

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and most have their little buds already, too. funny because these are a hosta and the other hostas are still so small.

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oh i could go on and on—as you know our yard is a bottomless treasure trove of plant life. i think i’ll end with the hydrangea though, another surprise. i feel like it’s early this year, though maybe not.

it’s time for us to go grocery shopping so i’m going to close with a hint of something else—something super special—i blocked yesterday.

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ooooh, i hate keeping yarn secrets—i prefer to talk about it. i’ll tell all next time .  . .

18 thoughts on “no place like home

  1. The crescent shawl is so pretty! Guesstimates on the yarn amount? Maryland Sheep and Wool is coming up, and I’d love to get yarn for it while I’m there.

  2. Your little nest is similar to mine, but let’s drop the nursing home analogy, okay? The crescent shawl is wonderful–how many calories? You will make your deadlines because that’s who you are! You go, Anne!

  3. Love love love the crescent shawl! Perfect size. So cool to have seen you knitting it, and then blocked. Now I get it!

  4. I know what you’re blocking and it is oh Wow gorgeous. I am going to need some of that yarn!

    Love the crescent shawl. Will definitely be knitting that one. And I’m anxiously awaiting the sweater releases.

    Don’t you just love it when things bloom?

  5. Oh yes, she will love that crescent shawl! I can’t wait to knit this pattern.

    And omigoodness, what Kat said about the last photo.

  6. you have so many exciting knits going right now. the crescent shawl is beautiful and a -I need to knit as soon as it is released- design.

  7. Got a huge chuckle about hurricane sandy damaging your sense of proportion for life.

    Love the crescent shawl, can’t wait for the pattern.

    It really must be spring if the May apples are starting to grow-yay!

  8. You made me laugh out loud with the nursing home comment. It just looks wonderfully lived in to me. BTW – if your friend doesn’t like the shawl (as if), my birthday is in June.

  9. You are a rock star Anne! How do you do it? Love the crescent shawl…look forward to the triangle one as I too love them. Those sweaters are going to go straight to my queue when the patterns are published. As for the glimpse at the end…that one takes the prize. Gorgeous!

  10. Guess I’ll add to the pressure and say I too am really looking forward to both crescent and triangle shawl patterns. Such fabulous creativity!

  11. CleRly the garden was happy to have you home! I so love the progress pics of the sweaters in the works too….

  12. So many new things coming….exciting. Love the crescent shawl and that yarn is yummy.

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