I am posting one of our most-played tunes, with the wildlife theme, because living in the woods on the mountain we see lots of foxes. Anyway, we felt this lively tune deserves a lively title, something with a driving pace to it. Imagery comes to mind of fox hunts in British period films, with tall slender steeds and riders well-dressed, and hoards of baying hounds on the chase ! Or, maybe just our dogs Emma and (John’s dog) Badger in rapturous pursuit of anything that rustles in the leaves ~~~~ but the sly fox always gets away !!! It is a hopeful melody, of out-running those who oppress us, perhaps, or just a fun run through the beautiful woods. We seriously enjoy playing this one , although in the recording there are a lot of rough edges…
Monthly Archives: April 2013
Dizzy
I am dizzy… dizzied… committed to a state of dizziness.
I am whirling with yarn vertigo, bewildered, confused about the real world, heedless of responsibility, an obsessive and foolish knitter. Why I want to knit & write a pattern for this pin-stripey tee escapes me. What… why… would anybody want to wander into this maze of madness ? ( A pattern??? Well, we’ll see if I live to write one ! ) Those friends who may wonder through what crack I have fallen, in what woods I may be lost and disoriented, I have not forgotten you. I am hopelessly tangled up in endless labyrinth of tiny stripes since early last December. I hope to find my way out, and be back in the world by this time next week ~~~ a goal ! From inside of my knitterly fishbowl, I wave.
Leeks & Scallions !
This is not really a knitting post, nay. In order to cheer myself and this space here up a little, I’ve decided to begin sharing my garden a bit. Especially as this weekend , and last, and the one before that, I’ve worked like an ox in the garden. My hands are riddled with cuts, thorn punctures, slivers, scrapes, and my nails are very dirty. And I am sore, sore, sore…. and tired, tired, tired… but I am so fired up !
So here are two jars of the first of this year’s harvest from the garden ~ one of leeks, and one of scallions. There is a bounty of these now, as I planted them from seeds at the very end of last summer, then proceeded to ignore them all Autumn & Winter, and they just grew and bunched and multiplied somehow. I am hoping to master the garden’s best friend ~ the alliums !
My Leeky Tub . . .
April Walking
Emma and I have been doing some spectacular knitting-walking amongst the wildflowers recently. It’s been a bit windy lately . . .
but thoroughly lovely this April !
Thought you might like to take a walk with us . . .
(click first image to go to slideshow)
A (mitt) Fiesta !
Corazenia’s Pin-Striped Mitts
Corazenia’s Pin-Striped Mitts
Socksformum’s Tartan & Tweed Fair Isle Mitts
Debbiedas’ Tartan & Tweed Fair Isle Mitts
SnohomishCarol’s Tartan & Tweed Fair Isle Mitts
GDoran’s Tartan & Tweed Fair Isle Mitts
SnohomishCarol’s Mitt Fiesta !
Enquery’s Tartan & Tweed Fair Isle Mitts
SnohomishCarol’s Pin-Striped Mitts
SnohomishCarol’s Pin-Stiped TuTu Mitts
SnohomishCarol’s Color-Stranded & Pin-Striped Mitts
Snohomish Carol’s Pin-Striped Mitts
SnohomishCarol’s Pin-Striped Mitts
Enquery’s Pin-Striped Mitts
Brookfarm’s Pin-Striped Mitts
Brookfarm’s Pin-Striped Mitts
Enquery’s Pin-Striped Mitts
Kaystirs’ Tartan & Tweed Mitts http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kaystir/tartan–tweed-fair-isle-fingerless-mitts
Kaystir’s Pin-Striped Mitts
Jenjay’s Mini Pin-Striped Mitts
Jenjay’s Tartan & Tweed Fair Isle Mitts
Jenjay’s Pin-Striped Mitts
Jenjay’s prototype 1 mitts
Jenjay’s prototype 2 mitts
Jenjay’s Mens Pin-Striped Mitts
Jenjay’s Pin-Striped Mit Mania
Jenjay’s Mitts for Lizzi
Jenjay’s Mitts for Give-away
Jenjay’s Stranded-Color & Pin-Striped Mitts
Bizzi Lizzi knitting in the wild with her mitts from Jen
Thank you everybody for your test-knitting contributions, I couldn’t have done it without you !
Your mitts are just all so lovely!!!
Lupinus Albifrons
Lupinus Albifrons. Known as just ‘ lupine ‘, it is one of the more populated native wildflowers of Northern California, and in April fills the mountain meadows, between grape vines in the rows, and trail-sides with deep blue & purple variegation. A small woody shrub when mature, however, where grass is mowed annually (as in the vineyard rows here on the mountain) and where seed is planted from the wind, you’ll see it popping up everywhere as young single stemmed flowers . . .
I luckily had just the perfect yarn handy when I became inspired from my walk of last week. I had a bunch of green which I over-dyed from grey wool which perfectly illustrates the ‘silvery’ grey-green leaves of the plant. The rich deep blue and purple played illusive games however with the camera, which wasn’t able to distinguish the two, and both came out as blue tones in most of the photos. But here it is , un chullo, for my brother’s birthday tomorrow!
I absolutely go wild photographing still-life knitteds ~~ its just one of the things I love doing, in every light possible , which enables me to make an assemblage of photos that catches different tones and characteristics of the yarns and knitted shapes . . .
The detail with which I experimented for the first time on this chullo hat, was to add a running crocheted chain just inside the typically chullo-esque double-crocheted edge, to neaten up the edge.
I love to make my chullo hats a bit of a hybrid with gnome hats by decreasing into a point, then finishing with a braid extending off of the top . . .
They blossom into a hat with a lot of character and playful whimsy . . .
The crocheted edges tame the curling tendency of the stockinette stitch. . .
Braid finishes being made on both ear flaps . . .
(the purple really pops in this photo below !)
Un chullo, inspired from the lupine flowers in the fields of Northern California. To be given to my brother tomorrow, and there could be nobody more appreciative than he, who wears them everyday , and who is also a botanical wizard !
NOTE : I have taken notes as I knit this one, so if anybody is interested, I could assemble a pattern of sorts from it.
Details on Ravelry HERE
Well, I’m off to walk the mountain with Emma, but I will leave you with a little slide show of the early morning walk of last weekend, from which this chullo’s lupine photos were taken . . .
