Feral Knitter

Stumbling towards 2008

Christmas day--this pretty much never happens in Seattle!

I've finished my updated Comforting Scarf (free pattern in sidebar) in Kidsilk Haze:

Christmas brought some knitting-related gifts, including the kit for the Bohus Wild Apple:

Glorious colors, wonderful merino/angora yarn. From Solveig Gustafsson--the kit arrived from Sweden 5 days after placing the order, excellent customer service!

As I contemplate the year to come, I am reminded of a wonderful post I ran across a few months on the difference between process knitters, project knitters, and dream knitters. (I cannot for the life of me find that post again--I think the author was Swedish or Norwegian, and I found it through a link on someone's blog and I just KNEW I'd remember.... [here you go: it was Sara and her wonderful afghan]) At any rate, I think I am a dream knitter....

Pleasant dreams, all.

Waiting for Shadow to Talk

We've had a lovely day--window shopping in downtown Seattle, listening to carolers, eating Mexican food--and now I'm getting started on our traditional Christmas Eve dinner: Tomato Dill Soup (from The Kitchen Table Cookbook, published by Schoolhouse Press), Northwest Harvest Salad (candied pecans, blue cheese, apples, lettuce, and watercress), and a choice of Chicken Pot Pie or Vegan Pot Pie. Followed by Vegan Chocolate Mint Cupcakes.

Our holiday plans this year were disrupted at the last minute, but the good thing about simple traditions is that we can make our fun where we find ourselves.

Wishing the same for all of you!

P.S. Right now, all Shadow is saying is, "Feed me!" I expect that, come midnight, his story will not have changed.

It's All about Yarn

I know that this period leading up to the equinox (and we in the northern part of the US are eagerly awaiting this equinox  SOLSTICE [thank you, Tamar, for catching this--I kept thinking that equinox was wrong, but my brain matter is not firing very quickly], let me tell you!) was all about gettin' er done. And I have completed a number of projects. But somehow, my yarn acquisition has kept pace, and I begin to understand that my goal of clearing out my project baskets was in opposition to the desire of the universe to remain in balance. So be it.

Rowan Kidsilk Haze in 6 colors--Trance, Hurricane, Elegance, Anthracite, Trance again, Heavenly, and Blushes. For the updated Comforting Scarf....

And take a look at this lovely handspun my sister Tori gave me:

Some 1200 yards of sport-weight 3-ply sheep's gray Romney with subtle color changes throughout.

Bring it on, Universe! 

The Comforting Scarf

I knit this scarf some 29 years ago, when I first learned to knit. It began as an afghan for my father, who had been diagnosed with cancer. I felt helpless and reached for the only thing I could think of to make him more comfortable. Sadly, I had knit only a few inches on the afghan I planned for him when he died. It was a very difficult time in my life--I was 26 years old, going through a divorce, unclear about my future, with no job skills to speak of and drinking heavily. My father had been a constant source of uncritical support, and I knew that life would be colder without him. He died in early December, and I had thought that I would never forget it--yet time has done its trick and I can no longer remember which day exactly (the 9th, I think), nor which year unless I count back laboriously. I remember holding his hand as he died, and the love.

The afghan became the scarf you see here, an improvised welted pattern, which has held the cold at bay all these years. I still get compliments on it, although the fringe has been trimmed back a few times and is a bit tattered now. Now and then someone asks for the pattern. So, as my Christmas gift to you I've recreated it and posted it in the sidebar.

The knitting could not be easier. The yarn is broken off at the end of each row, leaving an 8-inch fringe that is knotted together in clumps of 6 or 8. The purl welts are actually knitted, but from the wrong side. And at a gauge of 3.5 to 4 stitches per inch.

It might be time to make another one. I'm thinking Rowan Kidsilk Haze this time around....  We never outgrow the need to be comforted from time to time.

Storms and Ports In the Same

Let's start with the calm center: playing with color, learning to trust oneself, and having fun with yarn. The second part of the class I taught at Churchmouse Yarns & Teas (Personalized Fair Isle) met on Sunday. Five people returned with their swatches and we had a very enjoyable time figuring out what worked, what was disappointing, and where to go from here. Here is the pile of swatches, sadly washed out in this photo:

And the group in action:

This little moment of calm, however, was rare in the Pacific Northwest this last week! We had snow on Saturday and enough snow and wind on Sunday that 3 of the 8 people in my class were unable to make it because of road closures. In fact, in the middle of the class the lights went out for about 5 minutes--a real challenge when talking about color, let me tell you!

But the worst was yet to come: record-setting rains and melting snow plus some very high winds lead to devastating flooding throughout the region (our North-South freeway is closed for a few days, in fact, and the authorities are not sure what the long-term damage to the road will be when the waters recede). I spent Tuesday setting out sandbags in a friend's back yard--check it out:

 

The water is usually about 3 feet lower than you see in these photos. Luckily the little bridge held, but the swimming pool is filled with muddy sewer water that flowed in from behind the sandbags--there was no winning with this one.

I'm sitting at home now, attempting to finish some knitting before the holidays. A sane and restful retreat.