gotta step it up

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

it continues to be cold, wet, and icy outside. it is also gray, brown, black, and white.
it feels as chilly as it looks, believe me; when i went out to shovel the walk for the mail carrier the last two days, it was more a matter of scooping thick, watery gruel.

but i felt lucky—not once did i fall on my butt, as i have been known to do in these conditions (most spectacularly in fact—just like in the cartoons—with long legs flying out from under me).

inside we have a much more cheerful story.

first, i’d like to say happy birthday to my friend jocelyn, who as you may know, has test-knit her way into my heart over the course of this year.
just kidding—i’m sure we’d be friends even if she didn’t know knit from crochet. but since she is so awesome, it would be ever so nice if you took a moment to go wish her a happy day (she loves her BD just as much as i do).

there’s cooking—we’ve done lots of that this week in order to warm up the house and get our taste buds out of the winter doldrums.

david went grocery shopping yesterday and now we are well stocked for weekend cooking. i have to share these tomatoes—he first brought them home for christmas eve dinner and i was skeptical. normally we do not buy tomatoes off season.

but the antipasto demands it so we tried these and they are scrumptious—they taste a lot like the ones we grow ourselves in season.
then we used the leftovers in the spinach pie and wow. the flavor improves even more for using them in a baked dish.

today i’m going to cook indian food and a pot of soup to go with another one of those yummy spinach pies (i never got around to that the other day, oops).

and there’s knitting; the snow shawl grows daily

the puddle of it spreading like the slush outside. please believe me that it is indeed growing, and that i am working on it as fast as i can. i know some of you are growing impatient, but it’s a square (which equals TWO triangle shawls) and by nature, knits up a bit more slowly than a smaller shawl, no matter what.

the rows are now something like 600 or more stitches, and i still have a lot of (increasingly longer) rows to go.

i take a zen approach to a project like this; i enjoy each row for what it holds and try to knit on the piece for as many hours as i can manage in a day. i find it nice that there is a large bulk of knitting to do here; it’s something i can settle in familiarly with and cozy up to.

telling it to hurry up! doesn’t make it go faster, nor i think is it the point. it’s better to look at it as an opportunity for lots of knitting and thinking time, rather than a product-oriented race.

that’s why i have some smaller projects on the needles to entertain us all with. like socks. in fact i have lots of socks news today.

i finished up the acorn socks which just needed a toe after my efforts in class.

sooo satisfying to have these completed.i love them very much but i think that if i keep them for myself i will consider them too precious to wear very often—i am far too practical and simple in my sock taste. i just need well-fitting, smooth, warm socks. my most well-worn ones are very plain, or have a knit/purl texture. so, i’m putting them away on the sock shelf for a possible gift.

every year about this time i take a good, long look at this shelf and realize once again that i have work to do. this shelf holds all the sock inventory that results from what i knit during the year. i stockpile the new ones here, and give them out as needed.

the left side is for ladies socks and the right side is for men’s socks (i keep the mitts stacked in the middle). you can see there is a disparity in the inventory right now. to be fair, i have a lot of men in my life that need/love handknit socks, and who wear them proudly in all weather. as for ladies, there is just me, and i’m very easy on my socks so they don’t need replacing as often. i might also give a single pair here or there to a girlfriend as a gift, but because i design a lot of lace socks, i have plenty to share.

the men need several pair each, and every year, too. i could knit a pair each week just for them and they’d get used. so that gaping hole there? that’s a bit scary. it is time to get cracking on the mansocks. er, well, the unisex socks i should say, because don’t we all love to wear their stuff constantly sometimes?

this past year i have concentrated on using yarns that have some nylon in the blend for the mansocks. i used to make them all from handspun, but i have noticed that the ones with nylon really do wear better, and from a design perspective, translate well into suggested yarns for patterns. using them gives me the opportunity to share some of the wonderful hand-dyed selections available.

however, david says that his favorites are the handspun ones, so this year i’m going to mix it up a little. i started this new pair in some handspun coopworth the other night

mmmm, cushy. the stitch pattern is a knit/purl geometric texture that he already loves (he’s so square!). the sock pattern will include several size variations so that a thinner yarn could be used with smaller needles. for instance, this yarn is more of a sport weight, and 60 stitches is plenty for even david’s wide feet. but if i was using a regular sock yarn, like this ranco, i could cast on the 70-stitch size and still achieve the right fit for him.

the beauty of the multi-size patterns is that they not only expand your choice in fit, but your choice of yarn as well—they are great stash-busters. the key is knowing how many stitches you normally cast on for a sock in one weight versus another.

wow, this post is getting long. i think i’ll save the rest of the sock news for next time.

because we have to get ready for a big day tomorrow . . . . the signs are all around:

cards from mom

mysterious boxes in the mail that can’t be opened yet

and just in case you didn’t see the message on the front, or was about to tear into the box without turning it over

there is another warning on the back.
there are boxes that CAN be opened from people who can’t wait

from kim—she beaded the handles and i LOVE them. we need some serving tools, too, so it is a doubly-good gift.
and naturally, there is chocolate

(kim promises that these are the best chocolates on earth, and lemme tell you she’s been everywhere and she knows her treats.)

somebody’s having a birthday . . . .

60 thoughts on “gotta step it up”

  2. So, if memory serves me correctly (and that would be a first) the birthday girl is YOU! Since it’s almost tomorrow over here, let me be the first to say “Auguri! Buon Compleanno!” as we say in this neck of the woods, and best wishes for many, many more. Wish I could send you some yummy snacks to celebrate, but after seeing those beautiful tomatoes and those boxes of chocolate, I’d say you’re all set. Hope it’s a wonderful day, and thank you for all that you do.

  4. Those acorn socks are gorgeous.
    I’ve got 4 more rows to go on the bigger-taller-and-wider than me afghan. I can’t tell you how tired I am of it. But once it’s finished…. I start on my first ever pair of socks!!! (Not many people in Australia knit socks.) I’ve got the most garishly colourful wool you’ve ever seen, so I’ll keep myself entertained. Can’t wait to cast on.

    Happy birthday!

  5. OH! A birthday! Yea!! Yours or David’s? Happy day!

    The shawl is a 600 stitches???? You say it’s growing????! Sometimes, I can’t manage six stitches!! It’s so pretty. It looks just like snow. Fresh snow!
    The Acorns are awesome! I haven’t made mine yet. I appreciate the little sock lesson about the different weights of yarn and size. I still have trouble with that. The serving pieces are so cool! Your posts are never too long!

  7. Chuckle. Hydroponic tomatoes from the 300 acres of 10 acre each greenhouses of Eurofresh! The closest post office is Willcox, but the greenhouses are actually in the next county, Graham County, AZ! Having lived in the Willcox area for almost 20 years before moving back East, I can assure you that, yes, they are good tomatoes! The same company, using a different name, has greenhouses in the Alliquipa, PA area.
    Happy Fibery Birthday!

  13. Ha! All this after mentioning casually at the beginning of the post how much you love your birthday! A very happy birthday to you, dear Anne! Make tomorrow a wonderful and special day for you! The card your mom sent is really beautiful. If I were you, I’d be eager to see what’s in the box!
    I, too, love my birthday, and I get excited about it at least a month in advance… as it is on Christmas Eve, I’ve got to make sure that no one forgets about it in the middle of the getting-ready-for-Christmas rush! 😉

  15. I miss tomatoes in the winter time. I’m one of those people that loves to eat plain, sliced tomatoes. 🙂

    Happy (almost) Birthday!

  16. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Anne! Hope you get to knit all day long, taking breaks only to eat something fabulous! (That’s what I did on my birthday last week-it was great!!)

  17. I’d sing happy birthday, but then you would be horrified because I am not known for my singing ability. Have a wonderful day, may the sun be shining, and may you be surrounded by those you love. Oh, and chocolate of course!

  18. Happy, happy birthday, Anne! May you enjoy many good things tomorrow — things to do, things to eat….

  19. Happy Birthday Ann!! And thanks for being so generous with your website. I’m there reading every new post. You still amaze me!!

  20. hmmmpppfff,,,, I didn’t know the timing of the opening of the present is our choice!!!

    “(he’s so square!)” – I love it! I don’t think I heard it used in English, not recently for sure, it is a very well used term in Hebrew!

    I think you should wear lacy socks tomorrow, just to make the day more special, maybe those acorns? but only if you promise not to step out with them on your feet.

    The snow lace looks to me like some mysterious sack holding some treasures!

  21. …. not that I would have changed anything,,, a birthday gift should be opened on the happy day,,, the Mazal Tov too, although soon the sun will go down in your place and then it is kosher, ask my mother, she will explain it to you 😉

  22. Happy Birthday! I love that expression ‘You’re so square’ and the song (‘….baby I don’t care’). The tomatoes look good, and I bet those chocolates are going to be great, too. Have an excellent day.

  23. Sending Happy Birthday Wishes to a woman who totally inspires me. I came across your site via the Harlot-I happen to be best friends with her publisher & read her faithfully. The day I happened upon your site was the day you posted the photo of your “bee” creamer & sugar bowl. I was so excited to see the photo-I have the same set given to me by my grandmother-and I’m 58years old!!! I read you faithfully and just recently purchased several of your patterns. Hypoteneuse just flows from the needles. I have been a knitter since I was in second grade and it is part of my soul. One of my greatest joys is that my daughter (age 28) is blessed with the joys of knitting & spinning & weaving. Thanks again for your inspiration!

  27. Wishing you all sorts of wonderful and delightful for your Birthday… hope you’ve started the celebrations early and just keep on going!

  28. Happy birthday! What lovely gifts you have from some wonderful friends. Hope that the groundhog was wrong and that spring hurries on its way to dry up all of the winter muck. I’m waiting with bated breath to see your snowflake shawl. How does one find a test knitter?

  29. Wow! Did your mom paint that card herself? Surely she did. I love the photo of the street. Take it down to the elements and it screams geometry, appreciation for grays, rectangles but rebellion too you know. Hey – wanna know something weird? My older sister’s name is Anne and her birthday is tomorrow too! Now yours will be very easy to remember.

    Happy Birthday, Anne.

  30. Well, happy, happy, happy birthday Anne!

    I will be thinking extra special birthday thoughts of you tomorrow!

    Enjoy your day!

  31. Happy Birthday! Isn’t it nice to have packages to look forward to opening?

    (I love those Campari tomatoes, too. They’re the only kind I’ll buy in the supermarket.)

  32. Man I wish I could get Camparis here. They vanished from the store here a month or more ago. They are quite tasty…

    Happy Almost Birthday, Anne! I hope you have a wonderful day.

  33. Happy Birthday to my favorite designer! Huh, those tomatoes are apparently grown (so says Nancy) about an hour from me, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen them in the stores around here. Must look harder.

  37. Sounds like a birthday is on the horizon! Happy Birthday anne! It’s been a pleasure reading you and getting to know a bit about you. Wishing you many, many more.

  38. LOL a shameless birthday plug LOL Is it rude to ask how old your going to be in just a few short hours *grin* ohhhhh I know, I know…..paybacks are a biatch ‘eh LOL

  41. Many happy returns for your birthday Anne and may the day be filled with lots of surprises and much fun. Sending warm thoughts your way. Knitty Love
    PS: Your acorn socks are fab.

  42. Your mom is adorable, with her package admonitions! You are so incredibly talented and I’m glad the world has you in it. Happy Birthday!

  43. HAPPY BIRTHDAY my friend !!!!
    May you have a fabulously blessed year ahead – filled with more joy than you ever possibly could conceive.

  44. Happy birthday, many more, health, abundance and happiness to you and your loved ones. Remember it’s not just the date we celebrate but the person.

    I’m glad to know you. Celebrate!

  45. Happy happy, Anne! I’m like you and think that birthdays are meant to be celebrated. I hope you get to be queen for the day!

  47. Hippo Birdy 2 ewes, hippo birdy 2 ewes, hippo birdy hippo birdy hippo birdy 2 ewes (just sing it)

    and in dutch: gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag, dat er nog veel mogen volgen

    Carolien

  49. That beaded card from your mom is gorgeous, Anne. Happy, happy birthday. A year of sunshine, peace and all the fresh tomatoes and knitting time your heart desires — that’s my wish for you.

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