sprouting!

This little leafy bag was an improvisation: unswatched for, made up on the fly. It was a way of playing around with some techniques and patterns that I'd had in mind for a while.


The yarns are two heavy worsted yarns that are left over from past projects. The green is a rustic wool from some long-ago farmers' market. The brown is a handspun camel-hair yarn that I used for the Woodland Collar. I knit them on, I don't know, size 8s perhaps?

The leaf motif was a play on a pattern from Solveig Hisdal's Poetry in Stitches. The book is a masterpiece of Norwegian stranded colorwork sweaters, with patterns inspired by vintage textiles. I like to flip through it from time to time when I feel like a taste of inspiration and awe. Since its sweaters are far finer and more detailed than the things I typically like to knit, though, it was with great pleasure that I worked one of its motifs into this wee bag.


So, let's see, I started from the bottom, knit a circle from the center outwards with the green yarn, then added in the camel yarn and started the leaf pattern. At the top, I did a turning row in purl stitches, and then a hem, which I stitched down. I finished it off with an I-cord strap.

It's a very small bag -- just 3.5" wide and 6" high -- but it's just right for carrying the essentials when I take Isis out for our morning walks.

In other sprouting news, I've planted three new dyeplant seeds: madder, bedstraw, and woad. I already have coreopsis, marigold, and indigo started.


I'm hoping to get a good dye garden growing this spring and summer!

Dogwood & Shamrock Pattern

The pattern for Dogwood & Shamrock has been finished! It includes instructions for the felted dogwood, felted four-leaf clover, three-leaf clover with stem, and individual hearts.





Have a peek at its Ravelry page or send me an email at evergreenknits@gmail.com if you're interested in buying the pattern.

And now the for the free pattern contest results ... (drum roll) ... the winners are: SharonRose, Erin, PhatLady, Sarah, Meredith, and JC! I drew one name from every 5 entries. I'll be tracking you down the best I can; please send me an email if you don't hear from me this afternoon.

Dogwood & Clover contest

This weekend, it was all dogwood, all the time. After Amey commented that that my dogwood pattern would make a splendid shamrock, I set off on a quest for the perfect emerald yarn. I ended up dyeing some of the white Eco-Wool with 'Berry Blue' and 'Lemon Lime' Kool-Aid ....


which was then knit up into a great big four-leaf clover. Since I was born on St. Patrick's Day, I have a special place in my heart for these.


I also knit up a flower in Hollyhock Malabrigo, which felted like a dream. These flowers are pretty substantial -- nearly 5" across -- and this will be quite a bold blossom to wear.


Not all the flowers were so successful, though. One was in fact quite hideous. I'd wanted to make a pink dogwood, which, in real life, comes in a shocking salmon-pink. I thought that 'Pink Lemonade' kool-aid might give me the right color. But it's so hideous that I'm not going to sully my blog with a close-up

And that's the end of my dogwood/clover knitting for a spell. As for the pattern, I'm currently writing it up and will have it in my Ravelry pattern shop by the end of the week.

Would you like to win a copy of the pattern first? Just leave me a comment! At the end of the week (Saturday, February 14) I'll draw several names for free patterns.

dogwood

Only February, and the mercury has hit 80. And my body is rebelling. I almost fainted in yoga class yesterday, only to come home, revive, and find myself awake until 3 am. At least I put those insomniac hours to good use: I knit a dogwood flower.


I don't know what came over me, except that the desert heat must have had me craving the blossoms of a cool, damp, woodland spring.

Shalom

Late winter in Arizona is glorious. Mountain Man and I drank it in this weekend with a climbing trip to "Magma Gardens," east of the Superstition Mountains. The manzanita were awash in blossoms and buzzing with bees.


On the drive there, I finished sewing on the buttons to my Shalom cardigan. And I'm smitten! The yarn is probably the most marvelous yarn I've ever had the pleasure of knitting. It's a handspun yarn in fawn alpaca and tussah silk from Smooth as Silk Alpaca Ranch, and it beautifully combines all my favorite yarn qualities: soft, lustrous, artisinal, earthy, luxurious.


It's a very dense yarn, and I expect it to stretch in length as I wear it. So, I knit it straight instead of adding waist shaping. But since this leaves me without any waist definition, I used the last half ball of yarn to knit a slender sash to tie around my middle.


Frankly, I'm not sure if it does me any favors waist-wise, but it does add a little panache!


And now for a few project details. The original pattern, as I mentioned, is the Shalom Cardigan (rav link) by Meghan McFarlane. Meghan's version was a yoked vest with a single button at the top. I added 3/4-length sleeves, buttons every 10 rows, ribbing at the hips, and that sash. I also made all kinds of tiny modifications for my gauge and size.


Love how it matches the rhyolite.

texture collecting

Mountain Man and I went for a ramble in the Western Mcdowells this weekend. I had a good time collecting textures in nature.

Dog nose

Dried grasses

Wizened, silvered wood

Lichen

I worked on my Shalom cardigan for the drive; I could knit for the first hour heading northeast out of Phoenix, although I couldn't concentrate for the long drive in on the rutted dirt road. I did manage to finish the yoke on the drive up there, and I think it's looking good.

I know the photo's not that exciting, though. A dog nose is a hard act to follow

progress

Friday afternoon. I sit at my desk in the heavy afternoon sunshine, making slow but steady progress on my Shalom cardigan, savoring every stitch of this gorgeous alpaca and tussah silk.


Also on my desk is my first little foray into stranded knitting, which was one of my fiber-arts resolutions this year. Even in its unblocked, unfinished state, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to see what I've made.


That's what I'm doing at my desk this Friday afternoon, on one level. On a deeper level, what I'm really doing is procrastinating on my dissertation proposal. deep, sad sigh.

This is interesting to me: In knitting, I happily take on new challenges (fair isle) and progress through the tedious parts of larger projects (yoke of a sweater) with nary a flicker of self-doubt or anxiety. In 'real' life, even just thinking about working on my proposal sends me through hours of paralyzing, painful self-criticism and angst. How can a person be so functional and competent in knitting and so dysfunctional in the rest of life? Something to meditate on.

And, yes, in case you're wondering, this post falls under the category of procrastination ...

2008 Knitting Review

I relish the process of sifting through my last year's accomplishments. Time for introspection and a pat on the back :)

I've been thinking of a theme that captures this year's knitting. In 2006, I challenged myself to learn new skills like lace, socks, and seamless sweaters. In 2007, I focused on volume -- a dozen hats and a dozen baby gifts, along with a sweater and a handful of scarves -- and began experimenting with my own designs. The past year, 2008, was largely about developing my own patterns and then trying them again and again. That, and playing around with all kinds of small-scale projects.

My readers will know all about my obsession with my Storm Cloud Shawlettes. I knit six: (1) gray handspun mohair, (2) olive wool/mohair, (3) chocolate alpaca, (4) blue wool, (5)silver kidsilk, and (6) purple mohair/wool. Of all of these, I am most in love with the alpaca, with its super soft hand, and my mother's lustrous purple mohair/wool one.


I knit four Woodland Collars in (1) camel, (2) blue Seacolors wool, (3) hollyhock Malabrigo, and (4) Noro Kureyon, along with an earlier prototype in Colinette Shimmer


Just for fun, I knit up two Quacks...


I whipped up three basic tops in Purelife organic cotton, rosemary-dyed Avril silk, and green Shine cotton


And labored my way through three pair of socks, all toe-up with short row heels: Vinnlands, garter-rib Jitterbug, and slip stitch SeaWool


I knit only three hats: one in Noro Kureyon to match the collar and a pair in Green Mountain Spinnery wool/mohair. Hats used to be my great love, but they have limited utility now that I live in Arizona.


To round out this repitition, I tried all kinds of smaller one-offs: (1) cochineal-dyed baby bonnet & booties, (2) lavender heart, (3) camera case, (4) felted, naturally-dyed bangles, (5) February baby sweater, (6) felted dumpling bag, (7) lace shrug, (8) legwarmers, (9) gloves, (10) kerchief, (11) cell phone pouch, (12) another kerchief, (13) crocheted Christmas stars, and (14) an organic cotton ipod cozy


Now for the confession. I actually knit numerous other projects that couldn't make an appearance on this blog. There were a few hats, several scarves and shawls, a baby blanket, another pair of socks, another kooky stuffed toy. All of these were nature-inspired projects in eco-friendly yarns. I do hope it won't be too long before I figure out what to do with them -- hopefully, publish them in some way -- so that I can share them with you.

And to close, I offer my 2009 Knitting aspirations ...

I want to finish lingering projects, which means publishing my backlog of green patterns and completing unfinished projects (some of which date as far back as 1994!!)

I want to try my hand at fair isle and steeking

I want to finish something more substantial than what I made in the last year, perhaps an afghan or at least a sweater or two.

Happy New Year!

Christmas knitting!

For the winter holidays this year, I knitted for three special women in my family. I felt especially proud that all three garments were my own designs.

For my mother, I knit a Storm Cloud Shawlette in rich, wintry purples. Doesn't she wear it magnificently?


The yarn is Mountain Colors Mountain Goat, colorway 'mountain twilight.' It's a mohair and wool blend with a gorgeous luster. I think the deep purples lend a glamorous touch to the gloominess of midwinter.


For my sister, I knit a Woodland Collar in Malabrigo Worsted, color 'hollyhock.' This may well be my favorite yarn for this pattern. It's lusciously soft and shows cables beautifully. The collar is a bit smaller in Malabrigo than in some of the sturdier yarns that I've used, but I think it nestles so sweetly around the neck.


I was particularly pleased with the button, which is an amazing mother-of-pearl with pink and purple understones. I made a special trip to Windsor Button for it when I was in Cambridge before Christmas. It's really the icing on the cake! And I was so happy to make my sister so happy.


And for my mother-in-law, I knit a pair of delicate gloves in Hand Maiden Casbah, color 'peacock.' This was the first pair of gloves I'd ever knit. And though they came out very well indeed, I think it will be the last pair I'll ever knit!!

Gloves turn out to be quite fiddly things to make if you're trying to get an exact fit. For example, I spent five hours knitting and re-knitting the couple of inches from the thumb to the base of the fingers to get the proportions right.


It's a good thing that the yarn, which came to me via One Planet Yarn and Fiber, was such a delight to knit. It's a super lux wool and cashmere blend, with a touch of nylon for durability. The colors are a work of art.


And in the end, I was very proud to give these to Mountain Man's mother! It was worth all the difficulty to make a pair of gloves that could bring her such a smile.

winter wonder

Last week I hopped on jet plane heading east through the blue, blue sky

to return to a land of conifers and fresh snowfall,

a land of wintry beauty,

old Bean boots and Flexible Flyer sleds,


sledding mishaps



and snow angels



Ah, New England, how I love you.

Knitting post to come soon, but it's all hush-hush the week before Christmas!

The Saguaro Post

Last weekend, we headed east out of Phoenix for a day of climbing in the Superstition Mountains. I had two goals, outside of climbing: first, to take an iconic Saguaro cactus photograph ...

and second, to photograph my newly-knit, Saguaro-inspired, rock-climbing legwarmers.


I think I did passably well, but both tasks were more challenging than expected. The sheer immensity of the cacti is difficult to capture. And saguaros are really wild and irregular!! Some shoot straight up into the sky for 30 feet, all spindly and phallic and waving in wind.


Others are veritable octopi, with an explosion of branches and nubbins.


I found an amazing fan shaped saguaro as tall as a 3-story building.


And another that was eerily humanoid.


They can be entracingly beautiful and perfect, with smooth jade skin that turns to gold at sunset.


Or they can be intruigingly warped, sagging from the weight of the branches


and wizened and blackened by fire.


Although I began looking for the perfect saguaro, I found my eye increasingly drawn to their variety and strangeness.

All the while, my mind kept returning to thoughts about beauty and the body, as brought up in recent articles about the late Bettie Page. Manohla Dargis articulated how, in our modern, explicit-but-airbrushed world, we've become "less alive to the beauty, the poetry, and the mysteries of the naked body." This line really resonated with me. What draws me into Page's photos is a woman's body in all its natural contours and textures. I'm seriously fascinated by getting to see a stomach and ribs.

Anyways, I'm kind of getting off topic, but somehow my mind was making a connection between Bettie Page and these saguaros that has to do with the unexpected beauty, poetry, and mystery of imperfection.

Oh, I almost forgot about the legwarmers:


My ankles and calves can get chilled when I'm rock climbing, as the harness kind of hikes up one's pants and leave the lower legs exposed. I whipped these up out of superwash wool that's been hibernating in my stash for almost a decade. Super quick and greatly appreciated by my cold ankles.