notes from the fringe

sorry for disappearing like that—it has been one busy week around here and almost none of it is anything to write home about. except for this gorgeous chinese fringe tree that bloomed while i was gone—how about that? it’s just covered with frilly flowers that shake in the slightest breeze.

and the scent—holy cow, it’s heavenly. this little lady will grow and spread out across the area in front of our office window, where it will shade us from the late afternoon sun, hopefully in just a few years.

it’s so nice to be home, even with all the post-trip catch up stuff to nag me. but most of that is done now and i’m heaving a sigh of having gotten through it pretty well. in fact, i’ve not only  squared away the pile of work on my desk, but i’ve also gotten two more big secret projects off the needles in the last couple of days—and that makes me pretty happy.

i still can’t tell you what they are for a while, but at least this means i can get back to knitting something i can talk about—like my holda sweater.

remember when i said i was taking it on my trip because it was one thing i could knit in public and since that was the case, i’d get lots done on it??

heh, yeah, it didn’t quite go that way. i did take it along (the whole thing, including sweater bag and all six cakes of yarn. did i think i was going to finish it?? sigh, i’m nothing if not ambitious . . .). but once i’d showed it to kim, i barely looked at it the rest of the trip. my head hangs in shame . . .

but not really—i wasn’t goofing off eating bon bons, cavorting on the beach, and chatting up the boys all week—i was knitting on my secret projects (which are one less person “secret” now, haha). seriously—they went everywhere i did; they came on every car trip, every visit with friends, and any time we had a minute to sit, out they came so i could add a few rows. so i’m not upset that i didn’t make progress on my sweater—only that there weren’t more hours in the days to give it some attention.

i’m knitting it with spirit trail holda—the lambswool/cashmere/angora blend, in case you haven’t checked it out yet—is simply To. Die. For. but don’t take my word for it—here’s the link; go have a look for yourself. jen dyes it in an amazing array of colors. the soft, velvety surface of the knitted fabric will make you swoon. what more can i say to entice you?

i haven’t shown you the buttons i’ve unearthed for this project yet . . . do you want to see them?

i’ve had them for some time, having purchased a whole baggie full from an etsy vendor. they are rather quirky in shape and size; i came across the lot while i was shopping for wood buttons for one of david’s christmas sweaters. i had no idea what i’d ever use them for, but i was so smitten that i bought them.

they are red cedar, just the kind of wood i love. aren’t they great, with that crazy purple stripe through the middle? there are only four out of a dozen or so that are this thickness—the rest  are much bulkier, but they’ll be awesome on a knit coat some day.

i’m thinking that even though the sweater is longish, four buttons of this size will be plenty. i’ll place them more or less to hit at my mid-section and leave the bottom eight to ten inches of the button band open, with tiny
i-cord loops to fasten them, like a duffel coat, sorta.

they will definitely be a standout feature. and if i end up not liking them, i’m sure i can find something else.

now that i’m down to just one secret project on the needles and this sweater, progress should be speedy; ii can get a lot done in a short time when i have the chance. like yesterday for instance, when i added a good six inches during knitting class. that’s what bigger needles and yarn will getcha.

i’m going to take it along this weekend when i travel to michigan to attend erica’s baby shower; i’ll probably get a bunch done while visiting (whoop, i get to finally meet erica’s mom, candy! she’s beside herself with excitement over the shower, haha)

for this week, i’m sticking with these two projects and not getting distracted by other knitting. i need to make some big progress on the secret one as well; i have a pattern due for that like, last month and i’ve barely begun.

plus, it’s time to plant the garden already, can you believe it?? look how beautiful our new addition to the vegetable plot looks. we even got started over the weekend by filling the new section with root vegetables (we follow the biodynamic calendar for our planting schedule).

today is a leaf day, so if i get all my work done on time, i’ll head out there toward evening and get all my greens planted and my chard starts transplanted (they re getting big quickly now). then, on the next fruit day, i’ll plant peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes; i don’t think that will happen before i leave on thursday.

with the may club shipment out the door now (yes, the packages went out a day early) and this month’s book chapter receiving the finishing touches today, i’m feeling almost ahead of the game. but i know it’s false to think that i’m anywhere near ahead of the game; if i relax too much now, i’ll pay for it next week, so i’m not going to dawdle here too long.

so, much as i’d like to go WAY off on  tangent and talk about the garden, i’m going to stop here and make another post about that for tomorrow. i’ll leave you with a beautiful photo though, just the kind of thing that makes spring and early summer so very wonderful.