“Beware the ides of March.” William Shakespeare
The Ides of March are upon us and with each passing day, the grasp that winter has on us loosens. The Snowdrops outside my back door are bravely baring their blossoms to the hints of warmer weather that have coaxed them forth. They have a sense of urgency…
I saw this recipe on a blog recently and it peaked my interest. The only problem, the grapefruit’s at the market were A. not on sale and B. they did not look appealing at all. However, oranges were and they were bright and sunny and blemish free.
The wheels of my brain began turning; oranges and a bit of fresh basil might be just what the Dregs of Winter needed to foster the hope of more sunshine and warmer weather.
The recipe is surprisingly simple. It would work with a variety of fruit and herb combinations and really, why wouldn’t you want to make seasonal beverages to brighten your day?
It has almost been 5 months since my last blog post. Five very long months that included me traveling back to Michigan to see my kids, some more knitting for a friend, some personal knitting for myself, some Christmas knitting, and a little tiny bit of Beginning Spinning teaching at my LYS.
Many things to fill the days and none of them having much to do with writing or blogging, which feels very much like failure when I look at my blog. I like to think that the process of blogging activates my brain and encourages me to write creatively. Sad that I so easily let this fall by the wayside.
The New Year came with no list of resolutions for me, at least nothing specific or defined – a purposeful decision on my part. No resolution, no failure – a simple, yet very motivating factor. Rather, my goals this year are simple – Be Healthy, Be Happy, Read More, and Learn More.
I love wool and I really love people who share my obsession.
In my perfect world, Beth Smith would be my next-door neighbor, I would be able to have her over for tea, and we would spin together. She would share her vast knowledge of all things wool from her encyclopedic brain and I would become her best student – soaking up every bit of what she knows and using it to improve my spinning skills.
Such a dream could only be improved if Beth lived with me and was there to answer every question and show me how to do all things wool. Every. Minute. All. Day.
Sadly, I do not think that Beth’s family would like it if she moved in with me but imagine my good fortune when I discovered a way that I could have Beth in my house 24/7!
How, you ask?
Cla·do·nia noun kləˈdōnyə, -nēə : a genus (the type of the family Cladoniaceae) of lichens characterized by its crustose plant body and capitate fruiting bodies borne in simple or branched podetia
I am not sure if this is what Kirsten Kapur had in her mind’s eye when she designed Cladonia, but I would like to think so. As this shawl is built one band of color upon the previous – like a log, split in half and laid open for all to see with the Cladonia growing neatly from her surface. The lace work edging gives the shawl an ethereal covering on the bands of solid color – they compliment each other off wonderfully.
I am helping a friend with a wee bit of knitting – joyful knitting because all the patterns are from one of my very favorite designers. Add to this the yarns I am using are brand new yarns – and I am indeed filled with exuberance.
This was the second summer that I participated in Camp Loopy and it was as fun this year as it was last year. I completed three projects over the summer months, two of which checked off items on my “Gift Knitting” list.
Our project for August was to select a color that we love, I took the opportunity to do a bit of “selfish” knitting for myself, and I selected a pattern by Melanie Berg that had been in my Ravelry queue for some time now. My Beautiful Golden Green was just what was needed to finish out my summer camp. The pattern is very well written and a truly fun knit with enough to keep your interest while easy enough to make it almost be a mindless knitting project. I selected the yarn that Melanie knit hers out of – madelinetosh tosh light in the Filigree color way. The colors are spectacular, but the yarn itself was the antithesis of that. In the first few yards of knitting, I had over a dozen knots. This continued throughout both skeins, which led me to think this was not an anomaly. It was enough to put me off madelinetosh for any future projects. A very sad determination indeed, as her colorways are so lovely.
Or – Trying to Cook All the Things
I have been trying to take advantage of the bounty of the season of both my garden and the local farmers markets.
I am certainly not short of great ingredients! The trick is to become creative in your use of the season’s bounty, because the same thing day in and day out can get boring no matter how good it is!
I have canned tomato sauce as well as a zippy little version of Rotel-Style tomatoes that will serve us well over the winter months. I have frozen fresh sweet corn that I cut from the cob, and I will be blanching green and yellow beans to freeze as well. I have pickled radishes and cucumbers. I roasted and froze some amazing poblanos and some great jalepenos too!
Well, Gentle Readers, I have survived the second month of Camp Loopy and this month our project needed to remind us of a place we like to be. For me it was an easy pick – I love the shores of Lake Michigan and so I began my search. I found Tincan Knits Estuary quickly and it was even easier to invite Mrs. Crosby along for the trip.
I loved the pattern – again kudos to Tincan Knits. This is my second project I have done for Camp Loopy. Last year I knit the Low Tide Cardigan and loved it so picking another of their patterns was easy.
June has been a busy month with little time for blogging or much else besides knitting.
Why you ask?
Loopy Camp had me glamping away this month!
For some time now, The Loopy Ewe has fostered a fun summer long knit along and last year was my first time to participate. I absolutely loved it and I have them to thank for the increase in my finished objects over the summer. I am participating again this year and our first month is over and I completed my project with a few days to spare. We had to select a project that reminded us of a favorite book, movie, or television show and it needed to use at least 600 yds of yarn.
It was so much fun looking through Ravelry for a pattern that fit the requirements; it was a bit easier since I really wanted to knit another knitspot pattern so I focused on Anne’s designs. When I saw her Boxleaf Triangle I knew I was on track – it would work nicely for my Game of Thrones theme. I easily found some yarn on the Loopy website and I was off and running.
