Some happiness, with yarn

I have one last Project Spectrum April photo for you. These are birthday tulips from the gang at the bookstore. Oh, aren't they beautiful! I'm excited about the possibilities for Project Spectrum's May color -- green -- because it's not a color I knit with very often, but I'm drawn to all its variations and endless possibilities.

I found a nice, simple stitch for that Brooks Farm Mohair. "Lace Rib" from Barbara Walker's First Treasury fits my requirements: easy to memorize four-row repeat, an open look that will show the yarn's lovely texture, and enough firmness to keep its wild nature under control. I'm knitting it on 4.5mm Brittany birch needles (one of my birthday presents to myself). As I was getting into the groove of this nice stitch, it began to feel very familiar. Had I used it before? What did I make? Why was I so drawn to it? Why was it so easy for me to remember the steps? The answers became clear:

Of course I know this stitch. It's the same one I used for the scarf I made in 2002 with the same Brooks Farm Primero in that lovely soft blue and lavender colorway! The yarn that was the cause of my renewed obsession with knitting! The only yarn I purchased at Rhinebeck that year! For that first scarf I used smaller needles -- probably 3.75mm -- because the fabric is denser. I'd know for sure if I'd kept any sort of records, but that would have meant I was admitting I was obsessed. Not me, no, not at all.

The truth is that the trip to Rhinebeck in 2002, and the purchase of that yarn and the little bit of fiber that came home too (it finally became this scarf in 2005) was the best thing that had happened to me in a long, long time.

So I suppose it's fine that I'm knitting the same stitch in the same yarn. It's just one more step in my journey out from the center.

~:~

This is the yarn I gave myself for my birthday. It's 520 yards of Frog Tree Alpaca Handpaints in Cactus Rose (I tried to find a good link to post, but no luck). Judy and I took a drive to Port Jefferson and a shop called The Knitting Cove. Did I take any pictures, though? That would have made sense, so no, I didn't. It was a beautiful day, we had a ton of fun, and I came home with these two lovely skeins. I'm picturing a small triangular shawl, simple lace pattern...

After a delicious birthday dinner, a cake with yellow flowers on it, the tulips, more tulips, presents galore, friends, and more laughter than I thought possible (wait, that's not true, those screams and hoots are normal for us!) my birthday week is over. It was sweet and fun, and I think I'll do it again next year!

I had one more special birthday treat. My mom left a message for me yesterday, sounding a little upset. It wasn't the case, though. She wanted to wish me a happy birthday. This is momentous on several levels: 1) she remembered; 2) she managed to make the call; and 3) it turns out that she'd orchestrated a complicated flower delivery (more lovely tulips) that apparently involved my nephew B because my sister S wasn't at home at the time (at least I think that's what happened). No matter. I'm touched, and so grateful for my little mother.

Gone, baby, gone

It just had to be done. That Brooks Farm Primero did not like being turned into a garter stitch scarf, even though it would have sported some lovely dropped-stitch do-dads. It scrinched itself up into an accordion-like mess mass, and I knew I'd end up blocking and pinning and stretching and coaxing...not exactly what I had in mind. So, I released the yarn back into its natural state, for the time being. Since I can't share any knitting progress, I'll offer a diversion:

I consoled myself with a visit to my own front yard, where the tulip magnolia has just begun to bloom. You can tell that things are just beginning to green up around here. The oak trees are making me miserable, so it must be spring. But these buds are just glorious, aren't they?

I received a nifty new knitting bag from our Random House rep. She grabbed it at a sales conference, just for me. See the cute yarn logo? I love it -- it stands up, has a zippered pocket inside, and two big pockets on the outside. Guess I can retire the other ratty-looking Random House Freebie bag I've been using lately. Someone cannot get enough of it, it seems. She's given it a going-over more than a few times, and in the middle of the night she snuffles and scratches at it. What's that all about? Does she have a thing for fresh nylon or something?

Thank you for the birthday wishes! I'm trying to stay in a festive and celebratory mood, but it's not easy in a busy work week. I'm taking a vacation day on Friday, though, so I might get in a bit of yarn shopping (Treats for me! Treats for me!). Judy and the R's and the rest of their family are making my b'day dinner, the sweeties. I think I'd like yellow flowers on the cake, girls.

H is for ...

H was so much harder than I thought it would be! H is for...my hands.

My hands are my mother's, my own, my knitting, loving, useful hands. They keep me sane, express my imagination, type these words, accept my benign neglect. If I were ever going to get a tattoo, it would be a tiny one to honor the creating my hands have done -- a spiral or a spider, at the base of my left thumb (not happening any time soon, though).

H is for...hope. As in I hope this reincarnated clapotis works. I got all the way to the decrease section, and I didn't like it. Too wide, too short, not right. I found the outside end of the ball of yarn, cast on from there, and worked until it met the first attempt. I hated that one (too narrow) so I ripped it out and started again. Will it work? I know, I know, it's the process. I like the process. But. How long before I tire of this? How long before I balk at the deadline I've created? My sister's birthday is in just over three weeks. Three busy weeks. There's always hope.

H is also for...hoping. This is a picture of my mother in late summer, 1954. It's one of her favorites. It was taken in our big back yard on the farm, next to the well where it was always shady and cool. She might or might not have known, at the time this was taken, that she was pregnant with me.

This is my birthday week, and I like to think, when I look at this beautiful, smiling woman who will be my mother, that she's hoping she'll have a child who'll turn out to be just like me!

Playing with yarn

I'm using some stash yarn for a Rabbit-Proof Scarf from Morehouse Farm Merino Knits. It's Brooks Farm Primero in a color I call Pansies, and this is about the fourth thing I've tried to knit with it. I was unhappy with all those previous attempts, and I'm keeping an open mind about this one. So far so good. I'm having fun, which is what it's all about, isn't it? Casual Knitting continues!

And yarn to play with -- good old Sugar 'n Cream. I feel a Mason-Dixon Warshrag or two coming on. Or maybe a Soapy the Soap Turtle.

I played at the end of my street for a little while, too. It's very warm today, unless you're by the water.

The wisteria buds were barely visible this morning; now they look like they're going to explode. There's a big vine that covers the railing at the top of my stairs. Before long it will be growing all over my doorway, the flowers will be plump and fragrant, and then I'll be enclosed by a little leafy room for the rest of the summer.

Thank you all for the many shortcake and sock compliments! My recipe for shortcake came in parts, from The Best of Craig Claiborne, The New York Times Cookbook, The Woman's Home Companion Cookbook, and many years of happy memories. There's a recipe in most basic cookbooks (mine uses sour cream...which accounts for most of the yumminess). Indeed, it makes a fantastic birthday cake!