it’s earth day; plan-et well

Posted on Posted in book reviews/events, lace/shawls, projects, Uncategorized

and though my hope is that we keep the health of the planet in mind every day, in all our actions, at least on this one day we would each do well to make plans to tread more lightly on our planet in the coming year.

the grand system that is earth is becoming ever more fragile under our care. it is our house and we are letting it—no causing it—to deteriorate. and, as they say, they are not making any more of it . . .

i am not by nature a doomsayer—i have plenty of optimism for the future (ok, that might make me a fool, and might make you turn me off now).
but neither do i think that there is a lot of time to waste.
it is likely that we can each think of a few small, healthy changes that probably won’t make much of a dent in our time, budgets, or desires. the most important areas to look at will be our usage of fuel, water, plastics, and household chemicals. you’ll know where you can pare down—just think about it, and do whatever you can.

and now for some knitting content.

i must tell you now that i need to work on a few “secret projects” in the coming weeks, but all will be revealed later . . . so if it seems as if i have little to show, be assured there is more going on in the background. i’ll try to keep it entertaining with a bevy of other diversions—probably some more small projects.

i have been working on swatches for several projects this weekend, trying to get the visions in my head realized with stitches that i’ve fallen in love with from my books—stitches i’ve had earmarked for something some day, and have finally found a nice for (or so i think . . .).

bzzzz—bee shawl. i shouldn’t jinx anything by saying this, but so far, so good. i had a little portfolio of stitches picked for this one since last summer and i think we are going to end up with something pretty. in the process of testing the stitches together, i’m trying out all the colors anne sent me. i can see i am going to have a tough time deciding; these are all wonderful interpretaions of my idea.

so far, S2a is looking good. it’s fresh, it’s yellow, but it’s green—and just look at the way it catches the light and then throws it back threefold. it is the essence of summer. later on, i’ll try S1a, and see what happens. i am also going to test that goldy-tan color; i have a feeling about that too.

i still have some work to do to pick an edging or two, but like i say, so far, so good on the stitches. hopefully, later this week we will be off to the races. (bee races—ha!)

once i decide on a color, i’ll need to wait a little bit for the yarn to come, so i’m going to start another project with some beautiful merino laceweight from deb at fearless fibers.

now, deb knows full-well that if she dangles a gorgeous gray colorway in front of me, i’m gonna go crazy. i’m using some of this same yarn for another project and omigosh—this stuff is incredibly soft; delicate, but still has something to grab onto when i knit with it. and did i mention it is soft??

in fact, deb just finished knitting eunny’s print-o-the-wave stole for her niece—if you like lace-and-yarn porn, you might want to go look.

oh, did you want to see socks?? cuz, they want to see YOU.

pink raggs are finally behaving and i am about halfway to the toe. if i can manage to finisht it correctly, this sock should be done real soon.

tree scum is all fixed up as well and right back where we left it last time we saw it, SO—(and i know this is a stupid faux pas) i did not take a new picture. i know—i’m a glutton for punishment. not only that, but i’ve totally turned my back on all those promises i made a few weeks ago to scummy. i’ll bring that one to class tomorrow and hopefully finish it off. i’ll show you then. sigh. and then i need to start sock number two of that pair.

and now, i have the new sock to show you, the one that i’m using my woolen rabbit yarn for. and can i just say? this is IT. this yarn knits up so beautifully and is so nice to work with—just look

this is the next manLace piece. you might not be able to see it clearly here, because i did not have a model available this morning (he needs his beauty sleep on weekends . . .), but this actually is a lace stitch. a small one—we don’t want to scare them . . . it’s closing up a bit here in the photo, but i promise we’ll get to see it on a leg soon. this is sort of a dress sock—thinner, smooth, and with a little air-conditioning, but not underfoot. man-approved.

and lastly, have you seen this?

it’s a wonderful book by teri shea all about Selbuvotter—norwegian mittens. it’s got history, tradition, technique, and patterns. i pre-ordered mine in march, as an addition to my library of world knitting traditions. i have several books on norwegian mittens; a few of them in norwegian, which i can’t read, but knitting is pretty universal . . . anyway, if you buy one through the website, it will be autographed.

off for a bike ride now—we are back on the road. be careful . . .

26 thoughts on “it’s earth day; plan-et well

  1. I’ll just leave you a comment here to let you know that I love that stitch pattern you’re using and the ManLace socks look great; the color is so beautiful. But sadly that color was vetoed by the man here, but there’s nothing to say I can’t get it for myself.(hehe)

  2. Oooo – I can’t wait to see where you go with the stitches/color combination. Dancing up and down over here.

  3. Gotta have optimism on earth day Anne. I remember growing up in LA in the ’70s and having ‘smog days’ at school. No recess. Just had to lie down on your bed and try not to breathe cuz it hurt. My kids don’t have to deal with that now because of the change in gas refining here. So, things CAN improve!! Love that Woolen Rabbit stuff, and the springy bee shawl color is great. Can’t wait to see what comes out of it!!

  4. Hi Anne – it has been great getting in touch with you again. Just wanted to say hi on the blog! I’ll be watching your knitting adventures from now on…

  5. So much wonderful stuff going on in one post! The bees are buzzing, the yarn is spinning, the socks are getting knit up in style. I love the pattern on the manlace socks. Wow, you’re the sock diva! I’m also really liking what I’m seeing so far of color of the buzy bee shawl.

  6. Wonderful post! I have a skein of the Fearless Fibers merino sock yarn in Miracle. The colors are wonderful!

    The start of the bee shawl looks very intriguing.

  7. The bee shawl is calling to me………………ooooooo, groovy colours…….

  8. Hi Anne! I’m a debutante knitter and I’ve just found you recently and wanted to say hello. Your wraps are very inspiring! After seeing the beautiful work you do, I want to run to my needles to continue improving.

    Have a great week!

  9. so much wonderful things – the bee shawl is beautiful – that color is so truly spring! Glad you were able to beat the ragg socks into submission -they look like they are complying now. I’m off to go check out that book. Even just looking at the cover makes my jaw drop.

  10. I love that lace on the socks. It looks like new leaves in spring to me. Can’t wait to see what you do with the new mitten book too.

  11. Thank you for taking time to share your talents and thoughts. It takes away from your actual time to knit, but you’re still “thinking” about yarn and knitting, so that’s still creating. Oh, and can’t you just drop everything else and focus on the bee shawl?! I love it and can’t wait!

  12. bzzz-bee shawl is looking rather gorgeous in that limey spring yarn… yet I can’t take my eyes off of the man lace sock in Kim’s merino tencel. wow.
    must.get.me.some.

  13. Yes… we need to care better for our beautiful and precious planet Earth…

    Nature is so beautiful and inspires me tremendously. It ought to be treated with great respect and thanfulness. Always.

    You got so many projects going on… Are you on a roll or what…? I love it!

  14. What IS that mottled purple flower? Some kind of orchid? It’s gorgeous!

    The new sock is very promising–I wouldn’t know it was lace if you hadn’t mentioned it. I love the color, too–it’s manly, but interesting. 🙂

    Can’t wait to see how the other color(s?) will enter the bee shawl! Stripes, bobbles, intarsia of some kind?… But I know all will be revealed in good time. 🙂

  15. Oooooo…I love the ManLace socks! (I love the idea of ManLace even more.) I’m not usually a fancysocks kinda gal, because, well, you just don’t SEE socks when you’re wearing them, but that pattern could change my mind!

  16. That man-lace sock is wonderful. The color of the yarn is sublime. And speaking of colors, I am completely obsessed with the luminescent yellow-green yarn of the bee lace! You are one productive woman and well endowed with yarn! I can’t wait to see the secret project(s)!

  17. Lovely post. LOVE man-lace socks! And Bee Shawl. You are just percolating with ideas there. Phenomenal flower, and I can just see you knitting that vine.

  18. Beautiful knitting! I’m excited to see your bee shawl. I just started and started and started again my first lace project and I have a whole new respect for you..designing AND knitting a lace project, that takes talent! The man lace sock is so cool, very manly 😀

  19. Everything you’re working on looks just fabulous as always!

    The book looks really interesting as well. “Selbuvotter” — that’s a new one to me 🙂 One of these days, I’d like to see a photo of your entire knitting library. I’ll bet it would make me swoon!

  20. Hi, I really enjoy reading, and you have some beautiful works- those manlace socks looks great!
    If you run into trouble reading Norwegian, send me an e-mail, and I’ll try to help translating- but as you said:Knitting is universal.

  21. I love that book! And your photos make me want to drop the computer and run to my knitting (thank you, i needed that!)

  22. oh! Funny! I JUST bought the same exact colorway (Miracle) from Deb…and was dropping by to see whether I had enough to use on Wing o’ the Moth!
    I saw your photo and said, ummm that looks familiar!
    lolol!
    (((hugs)))

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