Emma is Eleven

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Today is Emma’s eleventh birthday.

014We had a party for her with some friends, who brought her lots of doggie treats and presents!006 (2)
We had home-made tamales, chocolate cake & icecream, and we can bake Emma her own dog biscuits now because we have a biscuit form, doggie cookbook and biscuit mix too!

And …

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. . . there’s a new squeaking raccoon toy to torture! 

We went for our traditional walk after the party was over, but Emma and I were too tired to go far. I followed her out into the woods….

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Then she stopped a while,

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and we both decided to go back home and play with her new toys and take a long nap!

Sweater Descent

jenjoycedesign© sweater-descent-aran-tweed

Descent is a word which takes many directions in meaning, most typically it means to ‘move down’ or ‘lower’ as in a physical place of going, as ‘down from a high place’ as from the peak of a mountain. It has metaphorical meaning to me as well, which I absolutely groove on, like ‘making easier’ and ‘moving into a secure low-ground of the known’.  Of course there is the meaning of ‘lineage’ or ‘clan’, and far-off distant cultures or bloodlines one may have come from.  But for me, primarily  the relationship of the word refers to mountains, and walking, and in my case knitting while walking about the mountain on which I live.

Put it all together and I have myself a fun and meaningful project on hand to ~ finally ~ learn the knack of cardigan making, with focus on unique approaches and short-cuts, and designed for ease which one can actually knit-while-walking. My descent from a shaky high ground through the ‘scree field of mistakes’ into the known of a secure expanse of solid-ground of skill and know-how, to find place where the cardigan can be my ‘go to’ pattern when I want to throw something together and try a new kind of yarn.  (hint, hint… I’ve been wanting to try  Studio Donegal yarns from Donegal, Ireland… forever and a day, but more about that yarn and that place  is another subject for another post).  My favorite kind of clothing is a cardigan, so I am wondering why then is my wardrobe so cardigan-anorexic at this time in my life?

So as a picture tells a thousand words, I leave you fully introduced into my meaning & intent of Sweater Descent, and as there is now the first, that implies intention of a series.

Here forth the mystery will appear from the mist…

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Twists

jenjoycedesign© Twists Mitts

Yesterday and today I made myself one of my most recent designs,

a pair of   Twists Mitts  to match the colorway of my favorite walking shirt…

 

 

I thought the result was pretty successful, and I love the yarn (Berocco Ultra Alpaca).  The shirt is an old wool thrift shop find from a few years ago, and I have worn just about every day 7 months out of the year. Anyway, I have been knitting up these mitts recently, trying different yarns and colors. I’m very happy with this simple & very rustic design with cables that almost seem asymmetric and give affect of deep waves which create amazing warmth.

 

 

I hope you try knitting yourself a pair to see for yourself how fun these are to make and how amazingly warm they are!