ain’t nothin’ like the real thing

Posted on Posted in food and garden, Uncategorized


(flower of the day, rose of sharon; just opened its petals this morning)

i had promised myself that i’d spend ALL DAY yesterday knitting, and i got a good start of a few hours-worth first thing in the morning. then i came into the office to check email around 11:30, and never left the desk til 8 pm, because rachel got me to work on fixing up the blog.
and that was really good. we got all the chores done and out of the way (for a bit at least), so that left my schedule clear to knit today.

but before i talk about my knitting, i MUST send you over to another rachael’s blog—this rachael is another Wonder Knitter and has finished her first half of the rectangle bee, which she is test knitting. and seriously you must go look. i’ll wait . . . . .

OMG—i cried when i saw that (it’s the blocking shots—they always get me). i don’t know what i ever did right to deserve to work with such great knitters. she did not tell me beforehand how nervous she was about attempting this project. but she forged ahead and she did great—i love that spirit.

and i’ve been working on my own rectangle bee. i’m almost done with my first half too.
i took some pictures at sunset to show off the yarn, which i love SO much . . .

the richness of the golden buckwheat honey color has such depth. i’ve enjoyed this yarn immensely for its wonderful stitch definition

all the motifs really pop, even after stretching and blocking—even in photos . . . even in the printed pattern photos, which is pretty difficult to obtain considering my home printing setup.

and my finished triangle shawl, which has been passed around quite a bit by now (you know what a strumpet that one is), has kept its shape SO beautifully; it is as crisp and shapely as when i unpinned it, and the surface has not relaxed back at all, which is common with soft yarns.

beckie and karen (both blogless) came over this afternoon and stayed for several hours. we sat on the long, cool screened porch knitting and spinning. i had originally planned to spin, but i was caught up with my bee knitting. i get a little crazy once i get a decent amount of fabric on the needles. i start to be anxious to see the whole picture.

beckie spun and we got karen on the wheel successfully today for the first time. she had tried just once before but it was an ill-fated evening, so this was her first real chance to focus on it. she did great. she went home with a bobbin of VERY nice singles and i’m pretty sure she’s hooked now (hehehe, maybe i can unload some more of my fiber stash on her—and hands off beckie, i got her first).

i just wish i had taken some snaps. darn me.

i brought in a bundle from the garden this morning too

you don’t even need to tamper with a photo like this—just resize . . . its inner beauty speaks for itself. and of course, we want to gobble it up, so i sent some home with beckie and then turned the rest of that

into THIS

mmmm. is it time to eat yet??

37 thoughts on “ain’t nothin’ like the real thing

  1. Sigh… I don’t know which I like better, your lace porn or your vegetable porn. Maybe the lace, because I don’t have the kind of disciplined mind that could ever knit it myself… or maybe the vegetables, because I finally own some land and have ambitions of my own.

    Which is better? The realizable or the unrealizable?

  2. I don’t know what that last picture is, but it looks absolutely delicious! Love the veggie picture, too.

    The shawl, of course, is gorgeous. I love the color of the yarn!

  3. I’ve GOT to agree with you about the Buckwheat Honey – it’s totally sensational, in every single way!
    oh – and the veggies? I’m jealous – living in an apartment in the middle of Manhattan keeps me from picking any fresh vegetables – they are probably beyond delish!

  4. I am so excited about the stole option for the Bee Fields as I am not a triangle lover…no need to point out the butt if you know what I mean…Now what color…

  5. Your photos would make great desktop screensavers or whatever they’re called, particularly the uncut veggies. And the knitting’s neat too, Colour is funny and I would never think of that for buckwheat because mine in the jar is so much darker. But I really like seeing someone else’s idea of it.

  6. Anne, I just sat in awe of Rachael’s first half of the rectangle Bee. It’s just wonderously beautiful. I can see why it brought tears to your eyes, your pattern just sings! I am going to have to add this one to my queue, I know sometime in the future I’ll just have to knit it because it speaks to me. Your colorway is stunning as well, and the stitch definition screams reach out and touch me right over the computer screen even!

    Your veggies look both beautiful, and then yummy 🙂

  7. Bee Fields — row 2 written directions, inside the brackets, shouldn’t that be
    YO,K2TOG,YO,K1,SSK,YO

    That is what I see on the chart —

    Kath

  8. Yum! Those veggies look so good! We had a pretty boring meal of leftovers tonight because I threw my back out earlier in the day, but tomorrow we have some yummy stuff planned!

    Can’t wait for the rectangular version of the shawl! I am so in love with the triangle, but they just don’t look as great on me, so I think I’ll wait for it:)

  9. I got word that my kit will be in the mail on MONDAY – oh how I can NOT wait – so impatient am I. I finished my current shawl today! So am ALL ready to start – since I am ALSO waiting for yarn for the MS3 … whichever gets here first wins!

    The stole pattern looks scrumptious too!

  10. Beautiful rectangular bee shawls!!! WOW!!

    The vegies are so pretty. All the colors together. We are just getting things from our garden. We only planted a few things since this was our first year here. We wanted to see if where we put it was a good place and it seems to be. Our first pick of green beans yeilded 10 pints. So I think we did pretty good, at least with the beans. We have at least 7 dozen ears of corn coming on too. So hopefully they will do something.

  11. Good for you for spending an enjoyable afternoon with friends! In my opinion, the lack of pictures isn’t a bad thing: it simply shows that you were having a great time… too good a time, actually, to even think of taking the camera out!

  12. oh my, so beautiful and I love this colour! I am so glad I chose it in the other Anne’s kit for my own Bee!
    Your veggies look so good and the dish too, you forgot to name it for us.
    Those tomatoes just want to be a nice Israeli salad, do you have the small cucumbers in your garden, I think they call them persian around here, if not, I must bring you seeds next time I go to Israel, they will be a perfect match to those beautiful tomatoes,hmmmm,,, I can taste them, do you have radishes? hehehhe,,, I am in a cooking mood today!

  13. The Bee also looks absolutely stunning in the rectangular version ! Same patterns, but still so different in appearance, I like them both so much !
    Oh my, now I will probably have to knit them both 😉
    You could start a second blog you know, with the recipes on it you are making. Isn’t that a good idea ? 🙂
    Mmmmmm, this looks good !

  14. I don’t know what is more beautiful;the bee, the flower or the vegies/food. I thought the triangular shawl was exquisite but the bee stole has the extra something for me. Well done. Glad you got to sit on the porch and do fibery things even if it wasn’t spinning.

  15. I just got teary at the idea that you’ll be selling the stole version of this pattern! I loved it so much, but don’t like shawls…but I lovvvveeee stoles. This has made my day!!

  16. The rectangular bee is bee – utiful!! And the veggies….

    We ate at S. Market Bistro last week and I had linguini with pesto and vegetables. Grape tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, yellow beans, leeks, mushrooms, baby yellow squash and baby zucchini. It was AWESOME. I’ve been dreaming about it and am going to try my hand at duplicating it this week.

  17. It’s true! I did have a good time spinning yesterday. And I see in your notes that a friend of yours has been to my favorite restaurant– I was there Thursday and what she had was the special– I wonder if we were there the same night?

  18. Wow, I didn’t think things could get better than the triangular bee shawl, and now there is a rectangular?!!! I’m glad I waited, because I think the rectangular is definitely for me, and the honey yarn too! It’s amazing!

  19. Oh no, another option?! I ordered the Bee Fields kit from Wooly Wonka Fibers, in Buckwheat Honey, but I haven’t received it yet. (The color looks gorgeous, I can’t wait to see it in person.) I guess I’ll have to decide now if I should make the triangle shawl or wait for the rectangle pattern. I guess I could always make both:)

    BTW, the veggies look yummy!

  20. Oh man, that honey color for the Rectangular Bee is just gorgeous. You’re gonna give that shawl a complex with such flattering shots 🙂

    And can I come over for leftovers?

  21. I LOVE the rectangular bee. I mean, I loved the triangular one, too — but I really LOVE the rectangle version!

    And, can I come over for dinner? You’re making me hungry…

  22. Wow – Love the bee rectangle. The triangle bee is lovely, but it didn’t really speak to me personally, but the rectangle….Yum! and such kudos to rachel – what a way to overcome your fear of lace! Simply Awesome!

  23. i’ve been trying to teach one of my friends how to wheel spin. i definitely have ulterior motives. you see, this way she can *buy* a wheel from me (at a much discounted price) and i can gift her with some of my out of control fiber stash.

    the bee shawl is gorgeous in her rectangular shape. 🙂

  24. Oh yeah! I was admiring and wishing the bee was a rectangle, and now you’ve made my dreams come true.

    Your so good 🙂

    Now I’m off to chow down because once again this knitting blog has made me hungry.

  25. The stole looks gorgeous, like the yarn has an inner glow. I’m not really a lace knitter, but I like knitting vicariously through your glorious work.

    Is the stew the ciambotta you mentioned a few days ago? As a summer vegetable lover, your mention of that stew inspired me to look it up online. I’m going to try out a recipe I found tonight, so thanks for the suggestion!

  26. Just a suggestion, and I’m sure you’ve got tons of ideas floating around in that genius-knitter’s brain of yours, but have you ever considered designing a Dragonfly shawl? Something to keep the Bee company? You know, all sorts of iridescent blues and greens, nothing too obvious, just like the bee?

    (Since I have no hope of ever designing a beautiful shawl, I am forced to whine at designers about what I want, lol!)

  27. wow. that bee shawl is amazing! love yours in that golden, rich honey color – it truly is honey!!!!

    I managed to save my tomato plant when we got back from vacation – a bit of water and it’s now flowering! what a beautiful picture from the garden bounty. that soup with some crusty bread…mmmm…

Comments are closed.