TODAY
by Mary Oliver
Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word.
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.
The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.
But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.
Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.
Okay, seriously…not everyone in my house is happy it is Friday. I should probably be more sedate in my enthusiasm for the week’s end since Steve was selected to serve on jury today of all days. Now, if you live in Pittsburgh you already know what the problem is, for those that don’t its Light Up Night here. Which is apparently utter chaos if you work (or serve on a jury) downtown.
However, I am so freaking glad it is Friday especially that while my to-do list still has things on it, most of the big things are not!
First up, as I previously shared, I went to the Pittsburgh Indie Knit and Spin last weekend. While there were so many lovely vendors, most of the things offered were all “the same” (as in the same fiber, just dyed slightly differently) however, I did find one vendor who is doing some really amazing fiber blends. I would have fallen hard off my fiber diet, but I had the voice of reason with me. He is really good at saying no to things. LOL But, I wanted to share Hipstrings with you all today. Even if you are not a spinner, she has an amazing mill spun yarn that is really incredible. The dark brown fiber is Coal, which is a blend of Finn, Shetland, Black Welsh, and Tussah Silk. The feel of this fiber is just incredible, and I can’t wait to spin it! The other fiber is Wild Geese, a Shetland, BFL, Manx Loaghtan, and Flax. I know! Crazy! Anyways, a little bird told me that she has open studio hours monthly, so I see a trip to visit in my future!
AND!!! I finished Rusty yesterday while catching up with Outlander. All it needs are the final ends woven in and a nice soak and blocking. FYI, Steve thinks the sleeves are too short, and he may be right, but I will see what a bit of blocking does. But, even unblocked – I seriously love this sweater! And here are my mods: I knit the sweater as written until I got to the colorwork. I then added 3 stitches to make the colorwork pattern work out evenly. I did crochet steeks and then picked up stitches and knit on button bands rather than the crochet ones the pattern called for. I knit 6 repeats of the ribbing pattern and then bound off. After a conversation with Mary, I did YO K2tog button holes (I did 10 of them which worked best for me). Now all I need to do is find some buttons, but I think I am going to use my Nana’s button collection. I might be able to find 10 matching buttons, but if not, I know there are for sure 10 white buttons. Full beauty shots next week!
Oh, and the links this week were plentiful and sooo good!
This hat…but really, if you have never knit with Elsa’s yarn, this is the project you must do! Really!! I promise it is so divine and your head will thank you!
Svetlana has been busy again… this time a hat and a scarf!
Or perhaps the Ricochet mitts and hat are more your style!
Brooklyn Tweed’s Holiday Collection! OOOOO!
Peace Knitting… yes, please.
This collection, especially this. (And, this little peek into photography with Gale is not bad either!)
Did you see that Amy King has some lovely shawl pins and these mugs?
And, finally, Beth Smith has some very interesting things brewing and then this too!
That is all I have for this week! Have an awesome Friday and I will see you back here tomorrow!
It seems like there is a lot of hectic going around lately! Must be the season, amirtie?
Thing 1:
Peeling 12 lbs of apples is a heck of a task, just sayin’. Oh, and there were 6, but we had one for dinner. It was delicious.
Thing 2:
This one is for Bonny! The easy button band is almost done, I think 2 more rows and then the bind off and I am about to start my third wheel.
Thing 3:
I can’t wait. And, bonus points for adding in my favorite non-colors!
Sometimes, simplicity wins.
Want to see what things everyone is talking about today? Head on over to Carole’s to see!
Hello Unravelers!
I am sorry this post is so late today, but I have been working on a new project which has been consuming lots of my “brain time” as well as available hours in the day time. Now, this is not at all a bad thing and I feel very blessed and so excited to be working on this new venture. But, I found myself entirely exhausted and my post today is a bit of a reflection of that.
Knitting continues to be the best balm of all every day (however, I confess I am a day or two behind on my daily stitching and my plan is to remedy that today!) But, as you can see – there was steeking last night! That’s right, at Knit Night at my local library, I shared how entirely not scary steeking is. I need to graft the underarms and then steam the fronts to prep them for button band pick up but, I am entirely THRILLED with this sweater! I was worried it was going to be way too small, but it fits beautifully!
The next sweater’s yarn is waiting in the wings, I have my swatching yarn out and ready to begin. It is the Autumn of Lopi for sure around here!
My reading has slowed a bit, which is also in direct correlation to my new project. However, I must finish up A Gentleman in Moscow today. It is due back tomorrow and I only have about 4 hours of listening time left so, thankfully, this in an entirely do-able task.
I put a Net Galley book aside when I got Ali Smith’s Autumn: A Novel from the library. This was not a difficult decision as I am not liking the Net Galley book at all and discussed with Bonny what to do when you could not did not want to finish a book. I have been debating this in my head and think that I will just “pound it out” on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon to get it done.
But, look at this stack of books that I have recently gotten from the library!! Oh.My.Gosh. So much goodness here.
What are you reading or making this week?
P.S. Are you a spinner? Do you want to weave? Go check out Beth’s Blog today because she is having a giveaway for her first Spin & Weave Along!
The mind moves in the direction of our current dominant thoughts. Earl Nightingale
Finishing: I am closing in on the finish of the body of my Rusty. My goal for today is to finish these last few rows and get my crochet steeks done so that I can cut it apart tonight at knitting, per request. Apparently, no one there has ever steeked before, so I will attempt to alleviate some of the fears about doing it!
Watching…very little recently. But, I do have some catch up to do from Sunday night’s PBS line up! So in order to assure that I get my finishing gets done, I will be queueing up Poldark and The Durrell’s shortly. I also have been watching The Collection which is a very interesting series from Amazon that my local PBS station is running.
Reflecting: I just spent seven days with Michelle GD immersed in gratitude – there were wonderful messages and much to think about. This year was especially wonderful with some new ways to consider gratitude in my life.
Drinking: Lots of Old Fashioned cocktails! My favorite was a pumpkin-spiced Old Fashioned and I was asked for the recipe, so here you go! This one is really thanks to Steve because he created the pumpkin spice ingredient for some beer he is brewing. He did not use all the liquid, and so a new Old Fashioned was born.
Pumpkin-Spiced Old Fashioned:
** Pumpkin Spiced “syrup”: 6 ounces neutral spirit (he used Skyy Vodka) and 2 Tbsp. Organic Pumpkin Pie Spice (we got this at Whole Paycheck Foods but it was the cheapest and organic) Do no refrigerate and shake daily for at least 7 days. You can strain if you want, but it was not necessary at all.
There you have what is dominating my thoughts these days. What about you?
Last week I “pulled the trigger” and started listening to Christmas music on the Sonos. I know, what was I thinking? Except, it was a super grey, super depressing week and I needed a pick me up and the best pick me up I know is Christmas music.
And, even though it is early, it was a much-needed balm for my week. I am not your typical Christmas music listener either. Give me choirs singing so I can pick my part (sometimes Alto, sometimes Tenor) and sing along for all I am worth! That’s right, I am one of those “sing along with every song” kind of people.
I also love just pure instrumental music, that way if the words I know are not the words that they are singing, I have no clash of the lyrics! These things are important, you know! Haha!
Today I am sharing some of my most loved “never too early to sing the blues away” music picks for pre-Thanksgiving Christmas listening:
First up, A Scottish Christmas with Bonnie Rideout. This is truly a beautiful album? CD? MP3? All instrumental and all incredibly beautiful. Bonus in that these are all old carols, which I just love.
Next in my Christmas queue is Welcome Yule! Which features Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols… I mean, if you like to sing, this is a must have!
Finally, The Chieftains, The Bells of Dublin which has an incredibly diverse group of musicians!
There is one dear friend who loves Christmas maybe even more than I do, and she is sharing her Christmas music favorites on her blog today! So, go stop by Beth’s to see what’s on her list! AND, the singing might be a little better in her house!
