Short Story Long

Snows, like snowflakes: there are never two alike, and not all snows yield good snowflakes for photographing.   a January snow a November snow Any snow day is a good day for knitting.  Or reading.  Or looking at old photographs.  I was tempted to stay inside but I was in and out all day so I thought I might as well head down to the park and see what I could find.  No good snowflakes, but some lovely little ice globes on pine needles.  I'm knitting a Christmas present, and enjoying Lark Rise to Candleford .  It's time to break out the seasonal favorites .  If it is snowy tomorrow, I might get around to making some pizzelles.  Who knows!  What's your favorite snow-day craft??  

Grief, for a life that was lost, in a culmination of senseless turns.  But thankfulness for all the life around, SO many things, and knowing that God is worthy of praise, even on the bad days.  

Knitting, he thought, was a comfort to the soul.  It was regular.  It was repetitious.  And in the end, it amounted to something. -At Home in Mitford On the needles, I have a "swoncho" - a sweater-poncho hybrid, with some handspun yarns from a friend.  More on this later, assuming it turns out alright, or even maybe if it doesn't.  I finished the red sweater that I blogged about here and here .  It fits perfectly!  Next time, long sleeves.   In October, I finished reading Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac .  The casual, journaling voice, wise without being pushy, made for a great late summer / early autumn read.  I thoroughly enjoyed EZ's commentary on life, on her companion, the Old Man, and their car trips; she ties in new projects to the season beautifully, and then gives you the information to make your own, and make it your own.  I was sad when I finished it but I suppose I may read it again sometim...

I taught beginning knitting classes for more than five years, and advanced classes at least three.  One of the comments I hear most often from students is that they're afraid to block their project because they don't want to ruin it.   I decided to post about that so I can have a handy place to point people to when I'm asked.  And maybe you'll learn something new, too! First, yes, you can get your wool wet.  Think about it, the sheep stand outside all day, dunk their heads in troughs for a cool drink, and occasionally hit a puddle.  The same goes for qiviut (muskox), cashmere, camel, bison, alpaca, etc.  What you don't want to do is agitate your wool, and this is one of the reasons why we don't throw hand knit sweaters in a washing machine.  Another reason is because it's handmade .  Not all fibers and fabrics act the same in water - some shrink, some grow.  This is why swatching, and blocking your swatch, is so important. ...

Some background for the red yarn: in 2011, I used this yarn, Shibui sock yarn, to knit myself a Radian Yoke sweater, pictured below.  Although it fit well, the yoke didn't look as open and lacy as the sample in the magazine, and I never wore it, except for a few pictures.  Also, I'm not sure it would fit as nicely, now.  It does have lovely bust darts.   It sat on a table for years; time for a new purpose.  With about a skein and a half still in a bag, I'd have to take the sweater apart for enough yarn for a new project.  (Literally never seeing the light of day for eight years, there should be no problem with color fade.)  The yoke was the first part knit, so I started unraveling at the bottom.  As this sort of pattern (top down) requires one to put stitches on hold and add sleeves later, and venting on the bottom meant separating into front and back, there were some smaller yarn pieces.  Eventually, it was all apart, wound a...