Monday, August 28, 2017

Into the Fall We Go Again

One of these days my brain won't default to Stephen Sondheim when I'm trying to think of blog post titles. Obviously this isn't that day.

The Incredibly-Patient-Mother was up for a visit this weekend and then I got to meet the family of a long-standing internet friend. We had the usual conversation of "now, how do I know you again?" which seems more and more frequent in adult life. And he pointed out gleefully that I was knitting.


A current project you've not yet seen, a new triangle for the Philosopher. It's based on the Fibonacci sequence and I'm fairly close to finished. The yarn may look familiar, it's the 3rd time I've knit it up and so help me, the last time. It's Dizzy Blonde in one of her original colorways. First it was a hat, then a different scarf, now it's this one. 

I was feeling a little guilty recently that I've not been reading as much as I would like to or am used to. A lot of this is due to the constant consumption of text throughout the workday--although arguably much of that isn't reading. If I'm doing a literature search I'm processing words, titles, search strings etc I am seeing and accepting or rejecting text -- but ask me in three days and it's likely that the content will be entirely out of my head. It's usually not mine so it isn't important that I hold on to it. 

Then I started counting the new books I've listened to over the past few months and I began to feel a bit better. I've listened to 9 new books from Audible in the past 6 months, several more from the library, and I've read a few books in print or on my various devices. So I'm probably in the neighborhood of 15-20 new books so far this year, plus rereads/listens. It made me feel surprisingly better.  I've been feeling like a bad reader who was disengaged. And I don't hesitate to point out that an ability to shotgun Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries has been most useful (to the point that I'm out of backlogged Audible credits and seriously considering buying a few extra). 

It's not what I was reading when I lived in La Crosse, but the job and my reading has changed. What I have energy for of late has changed. And the audiobooks give me a little more time to clean, knit, or at least get from point A to point B.  Several times recently as I've been listening, I've sat down for a few minutes and tried to pick up a book to read simultaneously. It takes a minute for me to realize why I cannot listen to an audiobook and read another text.  All the better to grab my knitting, right? 

My Loopy Academy assignment comes on Friday, I've no idea what Sherry has planned for fall but when it comes out, that plus Christmas knitting is getting sorted *this weekend.* I am optimistic that I could perhaps get a lead on things. In theory. Perhaps. 

And now that I have to decide which murder mystery to consume on the way home, the e-print one I just checked out or the Audible one I'm most of the way through (but it's a re-read). Decisions, decisions. 



Tuesday, August 8, 2017

You Should Too...

Deciding the title for this post, I was rummaging around in my head for phrases and kept returning to "You come too."  It was a phrase from a poem, I knew that and fortunately, the internet tells me the source: Robert Frost's The Pasture.  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44270/the-pasture

I've never been a big fan of Frost, but long time readers will know I am a huge fan of Blue Moon Fiber Arts. So when this image scrolled by, I was immediately enchanted. Tina came up with "A Total Eclipse of the Sun" --a colorway for the forthcoming eclipse?

Me? Well, I'm apparently nothing more than a very susceptible lemming. It's coming in STR lightweight and I think I've already picked out a pattern for it.




















And for those who are more gradiently/miniskeined inclined, that's available too. I can think of two or three patterns that'd work nicely with too...


I don't know if Tina will mention this on her blog but I have giant hope that maybe my order will get here before the eclipse so I can be that horribly annoying knitter who is knitting her eclipse yarn during the eclipse.  


(Caveat: I am not paid by BMFA, just regularly impressed by Tina's color sense and the phenomenal products they put out. Some of the best customer service in the business.) 

(Also, yes, the other title option was "Turn around, bright eyes...")

Friday, August 4, 2017

A Bunny in Schaumburg

I drove out to Schaumburg last night for Stitches Midwest for the opening keynote: the ever charming Franklin Habit. I'd not realized one could sign up just to attend the keynotes and so haven't in the past. But this popped up and I was delighted to go.  I'm not going to the conference this weekend; the Philosopher and I have Plans for WI Sheep and Wool in September...


Franklin spoke about the creative life and the weird little twitch fiber artists/teachers/designers get when someone gushes about how lovely it is when someone says "but you get to play with yarn ALL DAY." I know that twitch--librarians have it too anytime someone tells me how lovely it is that I work in a quiet space where I just get to read.

As always, it was lovely to see him speak. He has wonderful dry humor and his talks are very well considered.

(Here he's asking how many of us have ever just wanted to STOP knitting for a while)


The travel sock went with me, it's the first major event for Sock 2...everything else I believe has just been work or commute knitting. I'm finally through the heel -- just a gusset and a foot and toe to go! That just a couple of years ago I was turning out at least a pair of month makes me despair.  


Apparently I looked too aloof; no one would sit next to me and my socks and cocktail, despite the packed room. Here you see witness of both in my pre-lecture bathroom selfie. 


I've also started a new shawl and finished two baby hats and finished another hat for AudioGirl. Hmm, I must needs catch up this weekend. 

More soonest... 









A Redo

 I started this pair of socks on New Years Eve just before 2020. I finished them in May 2020 , amidst a lot of optimism about what I'd a...