fall is really moving in, though the weather remains in denial (sunny, 70s, and dry here in NE ohio). but look what drifted down into my colander while i was picking tomatoes today—isn’t that beautiful? a little nudge from mother nature warning me to enjoy the last of the produce with relish. usually the oak leaves that fall are already dried up and brown, but this one is so richly colored. where did it come from, i wonder?
and then the mail carrier brought these
david’s latest installment of fall bulbs. he has a thing for them, which i appreciate more and more each spring. now there’s a guy that thinks ahead.
thank you for all your enthusiasm about cluaranach . . . i know this is one that i will keep and wear a LOT. i’m sort of setting my sites on having mine done for rhinebeck, but i dunno; that might be a stretch.
meanwhile though, lis at one planet yarns and fibers, has set up a pre-ordering page for the kit. since she has to order the yarn well-ahead, and it tends to sell out quickly, she has set up an item in their store where you can order now. kits are due to be shipped the fourth week of october, and will include enough yarn to knit the stole, plus the pattern. there is a kit for petite size and one for tall size.
the pattern will also be available in my own shop as a standalone item.
i managed to sweet-talk david into modeling the cardigan sock, too (it wasn’t too hard, hee-hee!).
it looks SO much better on someone that fits into it (i tried to model it and take pictures on myself the other night, snort; hehe you won’t be seeing those). pattern will be available VERY soon, along with the rest of the photos.
in the meantime though, i started the girl-sized version in kim’s gorgeous roasting chestnuts lambswool blend yarn.
it’s the only photo that didn’t come out blurry . . . i couldn’t get the camera to take its lips off the sock, and it kept snapping too-close shots. i’ll get more tomorrow.
but it’s working . . . my theory was that if i knit this sock exactly the same as the red one, and just switched to a thinner yarn, it would be a different (correct for a girl) size. and it IS—yay. not only that, but i’m also using the exact same needles with this thinner yarn and the fabric is as dense as i like it to be.
i won’t conjecture on why that is, or even how that can be . . it just is, and that’s good enough for me.
the world of yarn and needles is full of mysteries . . some of them ought to be plundered and some of them lend mystique. don’t you think?
and while i was on a swatching roll, i tried out some new yarn that judy is dyeing up to add to her line of lovely stuff over at ball and skein.
this is tashi, a merino/bamboo/silk blend. i do not have extensive experience knitting with bamboo—in fact, i think this might be my first go with it. i have admired it in projects i’ve seen, but not knit anything with it.
this one is interesting though . . it is soft like all the other bamboo i’ve felt up, but one thing i like very much about this one is the non-shiny finish. i’m not a huge fan of gleaming yarns, though i do indulge once in a while.
anyway, this one is not shiny at all. i tried it out in stockinette, then a knit/purl pattern, then in an openwork pattern. it has great stitch definition and it’s soft alright. i think like it best in the large knit/purl combination. the openwork looks fine, but the holes are a little larger than i’m used to seeing. that’s not a bad thing; it’s just different.
i soaked the swatch and the fabric flattened, but the patterns did not lose their crisp edges, which is nice. the fiber bloomed a little bit but not drastically. it’s a nice blend, and i’m sure judy is going to do it justice with her colorways.
well, david has fixed us some good eats, so i’m going to go take part. see you later.
22 thoughts on “i’m falling”
Ack, I got so far behind! And there’s so much I want to gush about. I’ll try to be brief. Love the leaf in the tomatoes. It’s gorgeous. Love love love the cluaranach and the roasting chestnuts yarn and the cardigan sock in it. I’m glad you had such a lovely dinner out of your mushroom. I’d have been tempted to leave it in place because it looked so cool and ruffley. Congrats on the almost finished library! I know your pain. Only haven’t got a library for my hubby to work on even so I’ve decided we’re gonna have to have a library we eat in instead of a dining room. Bummer about the printer. I hope they get it fixed soon. I hope I’m caught up now too because this is already too long.
The leaf is such a great colour! as is the bamboo merino yarn. It is sumputuous, I’d like some. Cardigan socks are looking fabulous and bulbs. I love bulbs! I am wishing for a garden so I can have vegetables and bulbs. Will check out the kit pre-ordering for cluaranach.
Love that oak leaf. I don’t think I have ever seen one that colorful.
Even as much as I love tomatoes, I would almost leave them in the bowl, and eat the leaf!! It’s so crisp, cool, brilliant–FALL-ISH!! I can’t wait for the Cluaranach to be ready. Maybe, I’ll be able to spell the word without looking, by the time the kit is ready! I simply cannot keep up with you! I want it all!!
I love the heel of your new sock! Wonderful, so pleasing!
I agree……I really really like the heel on the cardigan sock!! The oakleaf is a stunning color…hmmm!
Beautiful stuff! I looked out my back window today and was thrilled to see leaves falling everywhere! Now, we have some much needed rain.
Love the socks. Just brings that wonderful Fall feeling even more.
I’m falling, too — just preordered Cluaranach!
Now that’s a gorgeous sock! It will be equally so in the roasting chestnuts color(what a neat name!), I’m glad that your theory is working out for you so well with the thinner yarn. Sometimes things just fall into place, it feels so wonderful when that happens 😉 The bamboo yarn looks pretty all swatched up as well, and btw I’m with you on the shine factor when it comes to yarn. Sometimes it’s okay.
The smell of tomatoes always bring back memories of when i used to pick them in greenhouses when i was young ( for a little money ) but that’s a looooong time ago 🙂 The leaves are turning brown here too, the chestnut in our garden is one of the first.
Cluaranach, that sounds good, much better than “distel” in Dutch. Thanks for the tip about pre-ordering, i’ll go and take a look, just a look i promise !
Beautiful sock in the two yarns! yes, I can see the lady one too,,, the heel, so nice and kim’s yarn, oh my god! But did I understand correctly and you knit the thinner yarn with the same needles as the red?!? hmmmm,,,, Oh and I think the leaf is trying to tell you something, he wants you to knit him! (yes he, Hebrew you know :))
I’m expecting my annual shipment from Breck’s any day now. The photo of the tomatoes and leaf is lovely.
Very nice socks! And now all of us can enjoy more beautiful spring flower pics from your garden too!
The roasting chestnuts colorway is gorgeous!!
I’ve pre-ordered the kit in the large – will the download have info on the smaller version as well? I’m thinking I might like something in between, and leftover yarn might make some small mitts! Whee!!!
🙂
that is one big box of bulbs! your place must burst with color in the spring!
fall is funny here to this year – mid 80’s today. wearing shorts and a tank and seeing the colored leaves always makes for confusion.
love the non-shiny bamboo. that is one of the reasons i’ve never knit with it – not a fan of the bling.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I really enjoy reading your blog!
Your knitting, the photos, the amazing garden, the little glimpses of your life, your writing an sense of humor… everytime I read i feel such a lfit rom your energy and the joy in life that you give off.
Thank you.
Now… I have to go order Cluaranach and make a note about getting Cardigan socks as soon as it’s ready…
Okay, I should have spellchecked that comment a little better. Sorry… I’m a baaaaad typist.
You crack me up the way you write. “i couldn’t get the camera to take its lips off the sock” indeed. 🙂 Looking forward to the Cluaranach pattern. This may be the first actual kit I buy. oooooo. I’m turning into a real addict of all things “KnitSpot”
We are starting to get a little color here in CA, however, fall isn’t all that much out here. Soon the rains will start and then all the brown grass will turn green for the winter and my Midwest-raised brain will once again get all confused.
Love the Cardigan sock! Glad it can be made to fit a woman’s foot too.
you could feel free to send some of that balmy weather out here- we’ve already had night time temps in the 40’s! yikes.
Love the socks. both yarns look wonderful in that pattern.
And bamboo blends? well – let me just say that I love them. The drape improves with every single wash and wear – and they just flow. I have found that pure bamboo is a bit heavy in weight, so I’ll be interested to see what you think of this blend.
Loving the socks! It’s good to see them on an actual foot – the patterns weren’t visible at all in the other pictures. I do like the pattern in the red and I bet it’ll be great in the other colorway as well.
The bamboo blend is interesting. I have a skein of a wool/bamboo/nylon blend sock yarn laying around somewhere, I think it’s not shiny either. I think the proportion of wool to bamboo is high enough to take the shininess away, which is how I prefer it.
the cardigan socks turned out great. I’m glad the pattern is working in girl-sized pair too.
I don’t always care for the shiny yarn either and this blend looks really good. I like how it looks in the openwork pattern too.
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