Progress on the Swifts has slowed a bit. Sanding takes care and is noisy and messy, thus not suited to doing with the baby around. I currently have more than 70 individual pieces to sand. It's like knitting a ginormous wool baby blanket: one stitch at a time.
Speaking of those, work on the Estonian Lace baby blanket is also slow. This pattern is pretty, but boring, and lacking the enchantment of a more complex project. It should take less than two skeins of the Cascade Ecological. I plan on putting in as many lace repeats as my yardage will allow and finished the first ball today at knitting group. Knowing this would happen, I brought the second skein with me and wound it into a ball at the coffee shop. It was huge.
However, when I went to (russian) join the new yarn, I found my bag curiously absent of darning needles. Or wire, or paperclips, or really any decent substitute. Now, I could have just given my shoulders a shrug and started knitting with the new strand, would it not be for a fierce and substantial loathing of Weaving in Ends. So, instead I enjoyed the rest of my coffee and was social.
I love being social like my cat loves baths. He freaks at the prospect, but has a blast after getting in.
This past weekend, we drove out to the Columbia River Gorge to visit Jess' grandparents. Several other family members came down as well, to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's birthdays. I remember the drive there like a dream. The day was bright and clear and a willfully determined wind drew back and forth across the highway, tearing the car from side to side. It was a struggle to stay on the road and through our windows we observed the cheery side of nature's fury. To our left, the depths of the Columbia raged, teased by the wind into a constant spray. Intense rainbows of color stood like a halo above the white-capped crests while the slate colored waves churned, reminding of their depth. An old childhood fear of the water swelled within me as it passed.
The stark winter branches of moss-ridden birch lined the right side of our path, breaking loose in large chunks to provide more ammo for the relentless gusts. As our course changed and we headed into the gusts, I felt them move us and imagined that we were flying. The car bounced up and down as the wind blew harder, intent to claim us.
We rounded another curve in the road and suddenly the hillside loomed, sprinkled with trees, crags, and greenery. It was another hour before we arrived to our destination, and we ended up stopping in Hood River to rest and give our little wailer a snack and break from his car seat. Later on our way, I recognized the crisp white head of an eagle perched regally by the side of the road. He seemed to meet my gaze as we drove by, following us with his eyes before breaking contact.
He was a gorgeous big guy (4-5 ft wingspan?), but not nearly as big as the eagles we saw frequently during our sojourn in So. OR. (Say it with me now.. SO-OR... No, I'm just kidding.)
Jesse's uncle who works for Laika was there, and we had a small discussion about the box that Amy Singer received as part of a promotion for Coraline. Unfortunately, he didn't know too much about it, dissuaded as he was by his insider status.
I happened to have had a new haircut the day before, and he mentioned that I was effectively channeling Veronica Lake. I was confused at first, because I thought he meant Ricki Lake. Ouch.
I decided to commemorate the Inauguration by doing a few new things. I made three spindles from two sets of chopsticks, a large stone pendant, a wooden toy wheel, canes of fimo clay, copper wire, and O rings.
After making said spindles, I tried them out by spinning a tiny sample of navy blue Merino top that came with my Rambouillet top. That went fast and I was very pleased with myself, despite being annoyed with the force required to pull apart the Merino fibers.
I found the Rambouillet much easier to draft (can I say that it feels odd to use terms that I have only- up until now- read about?) and it ended up turning out pretty even and thin with... no slubs!
And the peasants rejoice.
Yaaaay.
Well, mostly no slubs.
After I spin a decent amount of yarn, I'm going to experiment dyeing it with Jacquard acid dyes. I cannot wait!! I haven't yet decided when to add the acid (I'm using vinegar for the first go. It's what I have on hand.) I've heard of spritzing it on after painting the dye on the yarn, adding it to the dye before painting, etc. Any suggestions? Detail is appreciated!
Well, I'm not writing a book. Off to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment