Foster Yarn

Last fall (was it that long ago???), my dear friend Laura shared the sadness that is The Color of Disappointment.
That is to say - when good yarn clashes with your skin tone (how dreadful!)

As you can see in her post, she did not care to frog the yarn, but was happy to hand it over to me if I cared to make something of it.

A short 9 months later I present...
Summer Spring Forward Socks in progress!


Hello my pretties...



My mods include working them toe-up and two-at-a-time.
Together these these techniques make me a happy girl because
a) toe up means I can knit until the yarn runs out, instead of guessing at the length for the leg portion - it feels like I'm able to squeeze every bit of yarny goodness out of a good skein that way.
b) two-at-a-time avoids second sock syndrome, which I can see would be a dreadful handicap for me - I'd have to remove a foot, or take to wearing mismatched socks.

Won't you look good in a Mary Jane flat...

An iPod case and the socks I gave to Jeezus

First, the iPod case...

The Physicist introduced me to TED talks online and the first one we watched was Brian Greene. In March, we were lucky to attend, FOR FREE, a talk given by Dr. Greene at Oberlin. At dinner, the Physicist used a napkin to teach me about gravity. I am not very mathematical, but I love the notations, so I kept them.

After receiving the Touch, I wanted to make a case for it and realized the notated napkin was a similar size and decided to embroider the notes on old linen scrap... First I used the sewing machine to make the notebook lines, then I embroidered the notations by hand after copying them on the fabric.



The back and inside were made from a man's shirt I bought at Unique Thrift to make pants for the wee man Lance. I used the cuff to make a closure.



Now I always have gravity close at hand.


***
The socks I gave to Jeezus is another story all together.

I'm having difficulty uploading a large picture of them, but know this - somewhere between a garage sale in Shaker and a weekend in Lyndhurst they DISAPPEARED.

Gone.

Along with my Schrodinger Bag.
Addi needles.
Gingher sewing scissors.
Not to mention an almost completed pair of two-at-a-time toe-up striped knee socks.

Le sigh.

So I just decided after searching for a weekend to "Give 'em to Jeezus."

And so they are now the socks I gave to Jeezus.

I just started a new pair... let's hope they don't meet the same fate.

Non sequiturs

I ordered a wooden swift and it arrived today!
I went to the doctors for a script to stop the spread of the Poison Ivy I caught on Sat'y.
I got a Tetnus shot, too.
I caught it on a program to clear a trail for Nat'l Trail Day - I sawed many fallen trees by hand.
And peed in the woods.
No I did not get Poison Ivy down there.
I renewed my driver's license and I think it looks like a Japanese candy wrapper - or that it was designed by a 12 year old girl - or that it was designed by a 12 year old Japanese girl who was thinking of candy.
Seriously, it's pink.
With like 5 holograms: birds and flags and states.
I ate baby spinach from my garden.
Strawberries, too.
The Physicist took me to dinner for my birthday.
And gave me an iPod Touch.
Loaded with music and Apps.
But to add more or sync it to my computer, I think I have to erase what he put on.
That can wait.
For a while, anyway.
I can't bear to erase such a thoughtful act.

Birthday nightgown

I finished my nightgown today.
Perfect for lazing about on warm mornings, reading the Times and drinking iced tea...



The yarn is new, but the linen is an old sheet and the buttons are from my grandmother's jar of buttons collected over many, many years.


A single button at the bust...



I lined the inside of the knitting with light blue satin...

(note wee, delicious buttons at the back)





The final piece of this will be a pair of knit boy-shorts that uses the same lace scalloping at the legs.

Happy birthday, indeed.

Perpetual de-accessioning machine

The recent de-accessioning has taken on a life of its own!

I find that I get almost the same thrill finding a new home for my things as I did in their initial acquirement.

I composed a list of things that went out my door the last few evenings...

* locker
* piano stool
* stainless steel shelf unit
* ostrich egg
* steer pelvis
* Framed 19th century photographs of Cairo scenes
* A direct current medical quackery device I forgot I owned
* beaded purse from the 30s
* collection of late 19th/early 20th century items using Orientalism to market products
* Day of the Dead mask
* side table
* mirror
* bow (no arrows)
* random bits and pieces I can't recall

I tried to get my friend to take my rugs, but alas, he is limited by space - I suppose it's good - they could be laid about to make any dry bit of land a home. Draped over rope tied between two trees, it could make a lovely tent.

I hope to have another friend over soon to take more - we share a similar aesthetic and strong need for all things fossilized, magic carpets and a general appreciation of my Wunderkammer.

Someone asked me about this process - the why and wherefores, and I described it as an act of love to myself to release my bonds to so many of these things.

With each item removed, I feel I've sent a part of my old self out into the world and new piece regenerates in its place that is more reflective of who I am now. Each thing is like a mooring line and with each gifting, I come a little closer to freedom - I'm not sure what freedom means or holds, but it seems to be goal I'm actively working towards.

A bit of a grand statement, but quite true.

Last night I set out a mirror and a chalkboard - a woman got out of her car and asked if she could have them - each item she took urged me to bring down more - and she left with 2 mirrors, a table, a chair, a chalkboard and a box filled with this and that.

It's as if I'm giving the no-longer-necessary parts of me up for adoption, and am warmed when I feel they've found a loving home...

Early Summer Knits 2009

I've been decidedly not online - or even much in the house - lately.

A few weekends with my parents, my grandmother, biking and some playing in the community garden (I had fresh strawberries with lunch today!)

Actually lots of gardening - I learned to shape boxwood and privet hedge with my father, planted annuals and fought a good fight against their rhododendrons.

I also started a few summer knit projects - I can't begin to describe my love for the cotton cami I finished - I wear it almost every evening and want at least 20 more.

So... I stopped at French Creek Fiber Arts in Avon and picked up some delicious cotton yarn the color of French Lilac... only 3 skeins, but enough to make something delicate and lacy... so I flipped through my books and decided on a piece with a knitted bodice and sewn skirt. I chose white linen for the skirting, hoping it will rumple in a perfectly imperfect manner.

Unlike most knitted pieces, the pattern calls for interfacing on these to hold the shape and provide some modicum of modesty (and support, it seems). I still have to make the piece that these attach to, and then I get to play with the fabric.



For kicks, I decided to line them with pale blue satin.
Decadent, no?



Now that I've got a little something started for warm summer evenings, I needed a good sailing jumper... made of cheap acrylic (i.e. "of dinosaurs") from Stephanie Japel's basic raglan recipe - I actually swatched this and am making it to measure!