Z is for ...

... Zosted.

When I was a little girl, age six or so, I drew a picture of my mother. In it she was reclining in a chair. My caption: "Mommy is zosted." I used to wonder why she would have been zosted, and then I'd remember that if I was six, then my sister was five, and my little brother was three. Our older siblings were nine and twelve. So? Zosted.

Me? I am zosted, too. The end of the year finds me weary, not feeling my best. I have been working too hard and not getting enough rest, and all that blue blueness didn't help, either. But now ~ now that I've begun my weekend off, and now that the New Year is about to unfold ~ now I can relax and rest and welcome it. I won't be zosted for long.

~:~

So that's it? We've reached the end of the alphabet already? And you say it took the whole year? Wow. Thank you, thank you Anne, for having this wonderful idea. I've stretched and created and pondered my way from A to Z, and I decided that since I began with a picture of Miss Annabelle, I'd end with one, too.

Ready for the New Year

After sunset, Long Beach, Sag Harbor
December 29, 2006

I want to knit in these colors.

I have one more day of work before a two-day break. I am so full of plans for my weekend/New Year! I love to spend the holiday quietly ~ I try to go to the ocean to welcome the year, and I always clean something up in my house (a symbolic gesture, to be sure).

I want to cast on some new knitting, too. Will it be socks? The newest Petals Collection yarn, Lenten Rose, is looking pretty and soft. Or will it be Grumperina's Shifting Sands scarf? I ordered Sundara's beautiful Somewhat Solid Sport Merino in "Navy over Marine" just for this project. Or maybe I'll just finish spinning the Corriedale batt that's on the bobbin...

I'll be back with my ABC-Along Z. I've had it planned for quite a while!

The turning

As usual, Christmas arrives whether I am ready or not. Whether I am able to handle it or not. Whether I am in control of my feelings or not. And as usual, I'm okay. Thank you for your kind and funny and thoughtful comments.

I don't have unreasonably high expectations for Christmas, as many people do, or a desire to make everything happy or perfect or just the way I remember. I don't retreat to the attic to weep over my "ruined" holiday, as my mother did one year. I am good at letting things unfold, at embracing the bitter that comes with the sweet. But I am not so good at fending off the faded reminders of things that make me sad, at least not at Christmas. I tend to feel like I am standing knee-deep in some strong undertow, and it takes a lot of work and energy to stay upright.

But here I am, back on shore. My feet still hurt from those final few days at work, and I could use a week off. But I had a wonderful day with Judy and her family, laughing and relaxing and giving and receiving.


See the lovely (but blurry, sorry) picture of the hearth in Judy's living room? All the stockings hung with care? Wait a minute, what's that bag? Why, that's my Christmas stocking, the stand-in for the lovely hand-knit one that I left back at home. I remembered everything else, but not my own stocking. Humbug (for a minute, until I couldn't help but laugh).

T. loved her Feather and Fan scarf. When I can, I'll post pictures of the other scarves I've been working on. One got away, but L. will surely let me take a picture of it one of these days. I made her a simple white lace scarf with a strand of Elann Baby Cashmere and a strand of Crystal Palace Kid Merino. It's really pretty, and it looks wonderful on her. I've just finished a farrow rib scarf in Patons SWS, and I'm working on the final scarf of the gift quartet, another farrow rib in Blue Moon Pink Granite (one of the sock club yarns) and Kid Merino.

My next knitting job is to put the finishing touches on a bag for my mom. I'm hoping to get down to see her in a week or so, and she'll get her Christmas present then.

After that, I can turn back to my own meandering knitting path. I have a few plans, nothing set in stone. I have a Red Scarf to finish (or re-do, really), and there are a few pairs of socks that are almost done. A scarf or two, a long-neglected lace shawl, nothing pressing. I've decided that there are a few unfinished projects that will be sent to the frog pond in a bit -- I've lost interest in those Hippy Crunchy Blue Moon socks, for one thing. If I'm not attached or too invested in something, I'd rather free up the yarn for a project that I really care about.

Some of my plans for next year will just make me happy, and others will stretch my skills. At the top of the list: I would like to become One with the Reeves wheel. That will take some time, but I've got it. The days are growing longer, winter means more quiet time, and I can't wait to settle down with my wheel and some of the lovely fibers I've been collecting.

All in good time. Right now I need to recuperate from everyone else's shopping frenzy, and get my little home back in order. There will be plenty of time for knitting and spinning before long.

It's coming on Christmas

I adore Feather and Fan. It made this lovely (yet strangely Rastafarian) yarn look ever-so-much better than it did when I was knitting the scarf in Farrow Rib. Here's a close-up:

Delicious.

Yarn: Fleece Artist Peter Rabbit (70% Angora, 20% Nylon, 10% Wool) in a color whose name I can't recall.

Needles: 5mm/US9 Addis.

Specs: The scarf is 6" wide by 60" long, and I used almost the entire 273 yard skein.

Time to knit: less than a week of evenings.

I think this will be a Christmas present for my co-worker T., who, when she saw it in progress, gasped and asked if she could buy it from me. No way. It'll make a fine surprise.

I've been inspired (or else I'm just crazy) to make three more little scarves for the other women who work at the store. I'm fortunate -- two of them are away until next week, so I'll have extra time to get theirs done.

Time is something I'm really short on these days. I haven't been able to appreciate the season yet. I've yet to put up my little tree, but I did manage to haul it out of the closet. A wreath is on the door, the envelopes and packages have been sent to my family, and I've gotten as far as creating an image for my holiday card.

I got to do a little more shopping today, my last chance before Christmas to drive to far-flung stores. I'll be working every day through Christmas Eve, so anything else I need will have to be gotten locally. Our village has some really nice little shops, and I know I'll be able to do all the last-minute things on Main Street.

I'm in my usual mood this year. It's not a bad mood, exactly. I'm not terribly depressed. My heart aches a little, though. I miss my family, miss being near all the people I share traditions with. I miss my tribe, the sisters and brothers with whom I stood on the stairs or in the hallway, in a line from youngest to oldest, while our parents made sure Santa had put everything in the right place. I miss that music box recording that meant we could finally come in the room. I miss my grandmother's sweet rolls, and my father's plaid woolen bathrobe. I miss the Christmas village, with the skater with the broken foot. I wish I could be little again, just at Christmas, in the middle of my big, crazy, funny old family.

As I was driving home from Sag Harbor this afternoon, the melancholy lifted a little. I acknowledged the effect this place always has on me: I chose to come here, and I don't regret it, and I get to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I have another family to be with on the holiday, and they love me.

I don't want the old days back, because of course they weren't all shiny and bright. I have plenty of new, sweet memories that I've accumulated in my thirteen years here. And yet...

Y is for ...

... what else?

The Big Event

It was a wedding!

The lovely bride M. and the handsome groom F. were married at the front of the bookstore on Wednesday afternoon (between the magazines and the calendars).

Why marry in the bookstore, you ask? Because this is where they met several years ago, when M. joined F. and the rest of us on the staff. This is where they became friends, and where they became more than friends. It's fitting, and very sweet, that they asked if they could hold their wedding here. Thanks to the generosity of our employers, the store was closed for the day, and we put on a wedding.

This is what the bookstore looked like on Tuesday afternoon. The usual, only with brand-new, brighter (and hard to take photos in, because it's really not this intense) lighting:

This is what the bookstore looked like on Wednesday morning before the arrival of about sixty guests. Emptied of books, lots of flowers, white cloths on the display tables, and chairs all around:

The counter was cleared of books and replaced by these:


Where more books had been, there were roses and hydrangeas and poinsettias:


The most amazing wedding cake was baked by L., who is another member of the staff family. It was absolutely delicious:

I don't have any pictures of the aftermath. You wouldn't want to see us replacing the books on Thursday morning, trying to find a place for everything. If it came off the table, doesn't it make sense that it should fit back on? You'd think so, but you'd be wrong. We finished, sort of, on Friday, in time for me to unpack the shipments from Wednesday and Thursday (more books!). My hands hurt. My feet hurt. The store is back to normal, though. The customers, for the most part, were enchanted when they learned why they could not shop on Wednesday.

And M. and F. are married, and it was a happy afternoon, and I'm so honored to have been a part of their special day.

~:~
So that was Wednesday. The other Big Event, and it's really big: The Wonderful R's celebrated their thirteenth birthdays yesterday! Happy Birthday, you two! Our Second Annual Girls' Christmas Shopping Day happens today, so I'd better get going.

By the way, I do still knit, though not much until my hands recover.

Monday morning drive-by

Let's see if I can get this written and published before I have to get ready for the day...

Presenting:

Jane's 2006 Knitter's Review Retreat New Beginnings Tilting Block Shawl!

The pose.

The close-up.

Specifics:
Yarn: Spirit Trail Fiberworks 100% Bluefaced Leicester (five 200-yard skeins)
Pattern: "Tilting Block" from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury, page 263
Dimensions: Approx. 22 by 80 inches, blocked
Needles: Addi Turbo 5mm/US 8
Time to Knit: Did time really pass? 11/12/06 to 11/30/06 (unless you count blocking, which had to wait till 12/3/06)

The blocking.

~:~

This will be a busy week -- there's a Big Event happening at the bookstore on Wednesday, one that's only marginally book-related. We're busy with the preparations, but trying to remember that we have to sell books at the same time. I'll have all the news, which is good news for a change, after it's over. There will be pictures and a story, too.

Whew! I made it! There's still time for another sip of coffee before I have to get going. I don't know how Bess does it...

X is for...

and

Hugs and Kisses. Kisses and Hugs.

XOXO,
Jane

Tilt

I'm hoplessly, happily caught in a tilting tangle of Blue Faced Leicester.

I breathe, dream, live for this knitting. It is with me in spirit all through the day, even as I enter orders, or rearrange books, or help customers. If I'm smiling, it's likely that I'm thinking of my Tilting Block Shawl.

It whispers to me, I know it does. It has a seductive voice, soft and low. I must knit in the morning, two rows before work. I never knit in the morning before work.

I must knit all evening, no matter what else needs to be done. One night last week (it was Tuesday, I think) I could not knit at all because I was too tired to do anything but sit.

I missed it, though, so I sat with the shawl in my lap.

~:~

Thanksgiving was lovely. Judy and I achieved Turkey Perfection. And Potato, and Stuffing, and Vegetable, and Dessert Perfection.

And we had fun, too. I'm so blessed to be a part of J's family, to share not just the holidays but the daily life, too. When I can't be in the middle of my own tribe, it's nice to be able to be in the middle of hers.

Having to go to work the next day, and begin the holiday shopping season, wasn't easy, but the weekend went well. The staff survived, we had almost all the right books, and the customers seemed happy. This next month will be awfully busy at the bookstore, but I should be used to it after all these years, shouldn't I?

I have two wishes for everyone reading this:
First, that you had the best Thanksgiving ever; and
Second, that you, too, are in love with what's on your knitting needles.

W is for ...

... Wonder.


When I knit something this pleasing, as I have been this week, I can't help but appreciate the wonder that is a simple knitted stitch. Slip, slip, knit. Yarn over. Knit. My hands move rhythmically, my heart beats along. I'm comfortable, and at home. Knit, yarn over, knit two together. How is it that these small movements, like a dance of my fingers, create such a lively fabric?

The Tilting Block shawl grows, though slowly, because I decided to start over. It was too wide, and would not have been as long as I'd like. I eliminated one repeat and I'm happy now. Every moment I can give to its knitting is a moment of happiness and calm and ... wonder.

Knitter's Review Retreat!

Sigh...do I have to have a regular job? Can't I just knit, the way I did all weekend at the Knitter's Review Retreat? Just because my hands are sore from all that knittin' doesn't mean I can't dream about more of it.

This is Saturday's sunrise at Jeronimo's. It was the second beautiful, crisp morning of our time there. This was taken from the balcony outside our room. The morning before, I'd run into Bess at the crack of dawn. She was here-kittying the resident black cat.

Here's the building where we spent about half our time at the Retreat. Knitters can make a room rock, that's for sure. Friday night's Show and Tell was spectacular, and raucous, and inspiring beyond belief. The rest of our time was spent in the dimly-lit but comfortable rooms in the main building. Knitting. We knitted. Oh, and we ate, too. The food was delicious and every meal was a party.

On Saturday afternoon, after the morning workshops and another fabulous meal, we shopped. I went there knowing just what I wanted, and here it is -- Spirit Trail Camel/Tussah roving, Spirit Trail Blue Faced Leicester yarn for my New Beginnings project, Lela Nargi's latest book Knitting Memories (signed by Lela, Ms. Clara Parkes Herself, and Teva Durham), and a few papery things from the KR Boutique. I'm not sure how that skein of Fleece Artist Peter Rabbit from Katonah Yarn made it into my bag, but there it is. I seem to recall asking everyone I encountered to tell me if I needed it or not. Stupid question.

~:~

What else did I do at the Retreat? I had fun. I visited with old friends, met many, many new friends, learned the best way to wrap and turn (Thanks, Bess!), and sat next to Martha as she tried out her new wheel.

I almost finished a Mobius scarf begun in Cat Bordhi's workshop, I laughed, I slept well, and I spun just half a bobbin of my Corriedale batt (but who cares?). I learned how to do a cable cast-on. I'm not ashamed that it took me this long, not one bit.

I knitted six inches on my diagonal rib scarf, ripped back six inches because I made a mistake in the dim light of the bar on Thursday night, re-knitted the same six inches on Friday night, and called it a day. I made progress on a sock, but not enough to write home about.

I watched knitters knit, too. I'm fascinated by all the knitting styles and methods, and by all the different work being done. The shawls! My goodness, the shawls! I want Shelia's workshop shawl, and that silvery-bluish-purple Charlotte's Web, and Rosi's Sea Silk scarf, just for starters.

I read the letter I wrote to myself at last year's Retreat, the one in which we were to write our goals or hopes for the coming year. Last year was such a hard one, and I was mighty emotional when I folded it up and put it in its envelope. I've come a long way in 2006, so when I opened the letter, so did the floodgates. It was a good cry, though.

And I took pictures of hands, just because I think our hands are so beautiful when they are creating.


I didn't take nearly enough pictures, of course. I missed many moments of laughter and joy and surprise and amazement. I didn't get a single shot of any of the beautiful knitting. I wish I had pictures of some of the wonderful knitters, too. Someone else, or many others, will have captured it well, and all together we'll have a complete picture of the wonderful weekend.

~:~


Back at home, I've made a bit of progress on my New Beginnings project. It's a shawl, I hope, in the Tilted Block pattern from Barbara Walker's First Treasury. Don't be surprised if it morphs into something else while it's in my hands. I won't. I have too many ideas floating before me, and I might grab one and make a New New Beginning.

V is for...

...Vignamaggio...

The Tuscan birthplace of the Mona Lisa...

A stop on the trip my sister and I took in September, 2004...

An inspiration, even now...

Someplace I would love to visit again...

And one of the places in this world that I carry in my heart.

Villa Vignamaggio, Greve in Chianti, Tuscany.

~:~

And now I'm off on another adventure -- The Knitter's Review Retreat. I am giddy.

Just beautiful

It's that time of year again, time for my little Christmas Cactus to get it all mixed up and give me this, here in the middle of Autumn:

It's just beautiful, isn't it?

I will re-pot it this year, since it has begun to outgrow its original one. I get to enjoy this pretty sight every day, thanks to one or both of the Generous R's. I think it was R, but it could have been R. I'll have to ask their mother.

I found a possibility for my Retreat New Beginnings project right in my stash. This is 800 yards of Blue Moon Seduction, which is Merino and Tencel. The color is "Red Oak." The photograph doesn't do justice to the reddish-greenish lustrous beauty of this yarn. Tencel is delightful stuff. I haven't knitted with it before, but I had a nice time playing with it this morning.

I might like to make a shawl. I swatched the "Tilting Block" pattern from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. Yes, I know it's the same stitch used for the Fleece Artist Sea Silk Storm Water Shawl and the Scarf Style Midwest Moonlight Scarf. I was a smarty and I figured it out, and I'm quite pleased with my clever self!

Anyway, I got this yarn at Rhinebeck in 2005, and I've been saving it. Goodness knows why...

I heard through the Chaotic grapevine that Chappysmom is having a meme or a contest to celebrate her birthday month. Here's my kitchen calendar for November:

It's Toulouse-Lautrec. This is the lightest and brightest month so far, too! Thanks for letting me play, Deb.

The Retreat To-Do List hasn't grown much, but it hasn't gotten any smaller, either. There's still time before Thursday morning. I'm feeling better after my looooonnng Saturday, the one that began just after 4:00 am. I could use a little nap, though. Hmmm... yawn... Annabelle's having one... What else are cozy Sundays for?

U is for...

...Up too early. This is a good U for me, because it happens every once in a while and I have learned to make it useful. I am a Morning Person (I get up at 5:30 almost every day), but that doesn't mean that I can't wake too early. In my version of insomnia, I wake in the wee hours and can't go back to sleep, so I give up, get up, and do things.

I've been up for an hour already. It feels like winter this morning (23 degrees!), and my mind is on what needs to be done at work today, and what I want to do with my day off tomorrow. Annabelle is just fine with having her morning milk before the crack of dawn.

Swirling and twining through every thought is the knowledge that in a few days I will be at the KR Retreat, among all my knitting friends, surrounded by fiberly love. I am planning the knitting, but not too carefully. I should be on to the next Indian Summer sock by then, and more than halfway down the length of the Acero scarf (I keep wondering what to call it -- "Acero scarf" doesn't cut it). These are knitting projects that will be good for knitting and talking and laughing. Not mindless, but half-witted?

I have no idea what I want to do for my New Beginnings Project. I can't ask for your vote on the possibilities like Purlewe has, because really, I have no ideas. I think I'll do what I did last year -- walk into the vendors' booths on Saturday and wait for a new yarn to speak to me. That's how this came about. I wore it the other day, and I'm still as happy as I was when I finished it.

The sky is lightening now, so I may as well get on with the day. There's still time to knit a couple of rows on that scarf before I have to go to work.

I fell back, but I'm up now

I don't mind the Daylight Savings Time switch, but it always makes me feel a little out of sorts, and a bit surprised by the slight shift in the day. So, what's up? Feels like ages since I wrote anything. I'm just busy. Work. It's time for the holiday books to start rolling in, and the calendars (oh, the calendars...), and you know, work. The other day a customer called me a "fixture" at the bookstore. Was that a compliment?

I have been a busy knitter, though. This scarf has been percolating ever since I found the yarn at Rhinebeck, and since I saw a lovely shawl that used something like this diagonal stitch. I envision a wide, soft scarf to wrap up in...


The yarn is sort of fingering/sort of sportweight, and I'm knitting with pretty small needles. For a scarf that is almost 15 inches wide and that will be at least 60 inches long, that means a lot of knitting. Progress is slow but steady (like Turtle!) and very satisfying. It's comforting, really. The yarn is a dream to work with. You can't tell from the photo, but I wet and blocked the first 6 or 8 inches just to see how the stitch and the yarn would relax. They did, and the fabric drapes just the way I hoped it would.

~:~

Yarn: Brooks Farm Acero, no-name color 51
Pattern: Diagonal rib based on K5 P3, cobbled together from several stitch dictionaries
Needles: 3.5mm, US 4 (I just switched to my new Knit Picks needles, and I love them!)

~:~

Whenever I pick up this project I'm in Knitting Heaven. Here, the yarn planets are aligned, the rhythm is soothing, and the progress is satisfying. Even if I let the stitches get off by one or two and I have to go back, I like what I am doing. I plan to stay up here for a while.

Back here on Earth, I'm still happily circling my Indian Summer Socktober socks. Progress is a bit slow (see above), but this, too, is a very satisfying knit. I love Fleece Artist sock yarn. I love this Twin Rib stitch because it's so simple and repetitive, but it packs a punch.

~:~

Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino in Indian Summer
Pattern: Twin Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks
Needles: 2.5 and 2.25 mm
~:~

All this knitting was temporarily interrupted this afternoon. When I found out that I won't need new tires for another 5,000 miles, I went right up the road and invested in my future knitting pleasure. I love to watch TV while I knit. Once I get this TiVo thing figured out, I'll never miss another episode of anything!

What's next? The Knitter's Review Retreat is just about a week away! There's a Cat Bordhi workshop on Friday, and then there's one with Teva Durham on Saturday, and the rest of the weekend will be spent visiting old friends (yippee!), meeting new ones, and knitting and spinning and laughing and well, just plain having fun. Rho and I are driving to Walker Valley together, which will be a hoot too. I have been waiting for this weekend ever since last year. Really, ever since I drove down off the mountain in Virginia, I've been marking time till now. It's almost here.

Until I pack the car on thursday morning, though, there's much to do. Work, for one. And choosing yarn and fiber and stuff to swap, and packing the Dulaan things and the clothes and the just-in-case needles and do-dads. There's house-cleaning, and kisses for Annie, and laundry (always laundry). It's easy to smile about it, isn't it?

I think I'll go see if I can record something, or two, or watch two things at once, or whatever it is that this contraption will do. At least I know that I can set it to record every time Clive Owen appears on television...

Home from Rhinebeck

I know you've probably seen this all over blogland, but I can't resist:

It's the Gaint Pumpkin! We laughed and laughed. One R even named her new bear "Gerhadt Gaint" in honor of the silliness.

We spent our Rhinebeck time on Sunday revisiting vendors, chatting with friends, and doing a little more shopping. We were visiting Spirit Trail and happened to be there when the Yarn Harlot stopped by. I grabbed Judy from down the way, because I knew she'd like to meet her -- we both would. She wanted to be able to tell Stephanie how participating in the Knitting Olympics inspired her, and to thank her. We did that. And we felt like goony junior high-schoolers. We hope Stephanie forgets the whole thing. Really, we are grown-ups. We have jobs and everything. Don't let the giggles fool you.

By early afternoon we were ready to go home, so we did. We had the best time ever. We couldn't -- and can't -- stop marveling about our lovely, inspiring, hysterical, delicious, exhausting weekend. After a short detour through the beautiful grounds of the Vanderbilt Mansion, we turned toward home.

Happy,

sleepy,

and already making plans for next year. So far: bring lunch, and our own pillows!

~:~

I began a scarf with my Brooks Farm Acero yarn today. Not lace this time around, but a diagonal rib. I'll take a picture as soon as there's something to show. I'm aiming for a soft, drapey, kind of wide, long scarf. So far so good.