Annie Knits

Summer Pictures

What a beautiful summer we've had here.  Low to mid 80's all the time -- I bet I'm the only person in St. Louis who wishes it'd warm up!

Oh, all right.  I guess it's been warm enough!

I gotta say, I love my pool.

There have been lots of knitting classes, too.  We've re-worked the back room at the shop to include a dedicated class room.  Yay, Knitorious!  And, as the saying goes, "If you build it, they will come."  Classes are many and full -- all the time.  So fun!

Hubster and I have been trying out new restaurants.  This goofy picture, which I love, is at a new local place, the Purple Martin.   Good drinks, growing menu, local.

I wrote a fun pattern for the Summer's Last Blast St. Louis area yarn crawl.  It's arch-themed... ; )  It's called Parabolic Hat on Ravelry.  PM me if you want the coupon code to get it for free.  You have to make it yourself, though.

I'm growing basil and mint and lots of other things in a new little garden plot.  I use the herbs this way, mostly.

 

The fall knit along starts in a month.  I better get cracking!

 

Forget the Last Post, Will You?

That merino/firestar is still sitting exactly where I photographed it.  I can't face deciding what it should be.

See?  It's on the new table right between the new chairs for Hubster's man cave that arrived last week.  He's happy.

As an aside, if you want nice chairs and custom upholstery, I recommend Bassett Furniture.  It's where I got my living room furniture too.  Wears well, made well, tons of choices, comfortable, reasonable prices.  On the other hand, if you want good customer service and intelligent sales people, avoid Bassett Furniture.  That tube behind the chairs is fabric that the sales person swore I needed for arm covers because none of their furniture ever comes with them.  All of my furniture has come with them.  Whatever.  I argued with her for awhile and then got the fabric.  I wanted arm covers and I figured that between my crafty friends I could find someone who could fashion them.  See the arm covers?  The ones that came with the chairs?  Now I'm going to have to fight with Bassett to take back the superfluous fabric.  You would think that if you sold the chairs, you would make it your business to know what comes with them.  Well, I would make it my business, anyway.

Last time, my order and my service were so crazy I got a 10 percent discount/refund on the whole thing from their central office... I was satisfied with that and the comfort and quality had me back through their doors, but you gotta be smart and detail oriented to shop there... Just sayin'.  Would I go back?  Absolutely.  Just with a notebook and well caffeinated.  

These singles, Heirloom colorway, Hello Yarn, knew exactly what they wanted to be.  Looks like an heirloom tomato colored amoeba right now, but it will be a lovely Citron shawl some time soon... I'm on the 544 stitch ruching row right now and I want to throw it across the room, but soon...  Actually?  it looks wonky to me because the singles, at least early on, were so active that they slant this way and that.  Blocked up, they might calm down.  Also, the roving looked randomly colored as it came out of the bag, but as you can see, there was a pattern dyed in.  Adrian's genius or serendipity.  Genius I think.  

Distraction time.  Here is what the sun is doing to a tree outside my kitchen window right now.

Gorgeous.  So I ran outside in my jammies (what the heck, I've already driven kids to school in them) and flip flops and took this picture.

Rachel... seriously.  These colors.  Yarn or roving, I don't care which, but like 2 pounds of it please...  (yes, ok, when you're finished with the roving I have you working on today... I can be patient and as flexible as the next guy).

And then I talked to three neighbors who walked by with their dogs.  And then I took this picture.

I love my skeleton flamingos and the mums I found this year are killer.  

What was I talking about?

You Know it's Summer When...

• You vacuum the family room rug and your eyes swell shut.  Big dog is blowing her coat at the moment, due I'm sure to the heat.   I Furminate (ha, verbed a noun) her twice a week out on the driveway and the next day, you'd swear that I'd done it in the kitchen, there's so much hair on the floor.  Or the hallway.  Or the family room rug.  Add that to the two of them running in and out thru the mud as we water the yard you get one big hairy, muddy mess.

   

• There are more socks scattered over the house than usual.  And t-shirts.  And towels.  And soda cans.  And food wrappers.  Teenagers slough mess like skin cells.

 

• I have a pedicure.  I don't bother in the winter, but in summer?  I rarely wear shoes that cover all of my feet.  Too hot.  I should go and get a real one, but the whole shaving the skin off thing really doesn't appeal to me at all.  

 

• There are no leftovers in the fridge.  We grill most meals in the summertime and for some reason we don't have leftovers when we grill.  This week?  Bison burgers, Bar b Que chicken, grilled summer squash and garlic scapes with orzo and feta and Vivianne dressing (ok, that was killer... we ate 'til we were sick), grilled Tri Tip beef from Trader Joe's with a Bar b Que U. rub (it's a grilling book... get it), grilled beets, onions, mushrooms ... The only thing I didn't grill this week were the blueberries.  

 

• The house is crypt quiet from 6 a.m. to noon or so.  I mean you can hear a pin drop in here.  After noon though, it's on.  W.o.W., Witches of Waverly Place, Glee, the microwave, pop music thumping upstairs, AirSoft bb's rolling over the kitchen floor -- sometimes all at the same time.  Sprinkled in might be, "I'm hungry," or "Can we go to Six Flags?" or "Can (insert name) come over/sleep over/ eat over?" or "I'm bored".  

 

• It's harder to connect with friends -- our routines are off.  One is camping, one is traveling, one's kids are home, one has to work odd days so she can leave over the weekend.  We have to work harder to stay connected even while things seem more laid back.

This week, I hope to drum card my fleece with one friend, meet for coffee with several others, knit before the kids wake up with some -- Wanna play?

 

I'm Not Taking Any Bets

But ... pssst ... it looks like spring may actually arrive in St. Louis some time soon.

 

I mean, it's still pretty dreary here and the temperature is hovering in the 40s, but ....

 

some of the plants in one of the clumps of daffodils in my garden tipped their heads over night.

 

I don't want to jinx anything, but ...

It's a sure sign that spring's around the bend, don't you think?

The New Interweave or Point, Counterpoint

About half the posts I've read on Ravelry have panned the new Interweave magazine.  The other half sing its praises.  Half call for Eunny Jang's head on a knitted platter, the other half like the magazine's new look and themed layouts. 

I was inclined to post in several groups who were panning the magazine, especially the LimenViolet group (where where after Eunny came and asked people to be specific about their concerns, the tone got a lot nicer)  but I decided to wait and actually peruse the magazine rather than going off half cocked.   Because, generally, I like reading my Interweave knits.  And I almost always find something in it I'd add to my queue.

Here's what I think after digesting the issue for several days and comparing it to some of the old issues I have edited by Pam Allen.

I kind of really like it.   I enjoyed Franklin Habit's article about School House Press.  There wasn't a lot in the article that I wasn't at least vaguely aware of, but it is nicely written and makes me want to go to knitting camp.

While the wrap on the left isn't super innovative, I like the colors and the pattern and the idea of doing color work that doesn't have to fit someone.  And the piece on the right is a great layering piece.  I love the square neck.  I have a biggish head and a lot of hair and a square neck balances that for me.  Also, it's good on us biggish girls. 

These patterns are written for two yarns I've been wanting to try -- Blue Sky dyed cotton and Mission Falls cotton.  I'm not much of a summer yarn knitter, but these two may get my nod.  And as to the color complaints?  I'd love the Delft top (the one on the left) in a pink/green/orange combo, wouldn't you? It would like visually vibrate, man (grin).   And Mission Falls comes in great greens and is pretty reasonable. 

This top is done in Berroco Seduce, another yarn we've gotten in that I'd like to try.  A little spendy, but fun.   What I like about this top is its simplicity -- kind of like summer reading.  And if you don't like it in these pictures on a twig of a model?  Go check out the Interweave galleries.  They show the top on real people (and give their measurements... yikes.)

Love slip stitch patterns, good layering piece again.    It's done in silk, but you could sub Ella Rae Silkience with a little fudging and get a gorgeous piece for a fraction of the price.

I have several summer tops in this silhouette and it's very flattering for my shall we say fluffy body type.  And here, I think I've found an error in the magazine.  The pattern calls for Tilli Thomas Fil de la Mer which is like 16 st. to the inch.   But in looking around on the net, I've found a Tilli Thomas yarn called Voile de la Mer which matches the yarn description in the pattern :  70% silk, 30% sea cell.  We'll go with that.  So fingering weight summer yarn with great drape?  I'll have to think about that and get back to you.  Because at $18 bucks a pop for 12 skeins to make my size?  Ain't gonna happen.  (Maybe Nashua June, or Rowan Glace?)

And I LOVE THIS.  It's Rowan Cash Cotton, and you'd have the pattern memorized in like two repeats.  I think it's a great layering piece.  Not really for summer in St. Louis, I guess, but definitely all of the other seasons.

So, overall?  Thumbs up.  The patterns are classy and interesting and mostly something you'd actually knit. 

Unlike this...

What a difference 6 months makes!  (scroll down)

This is my favorite plant right now -- Variegated Solomon's Seal.  (Don't you love my mulch croc?)  The first view is from above, the second from the front so you can see it's row of bell-shaped flowers under the leaves.  It will lie flatter later in the season, but now it's reaching for the sun.  Cheerful, don't you think?  And variegated.  I like my plants like I like my yarns.

Speaking of yarn.  Just finished plying this.  It's the Totally Tubular in this entry.  Another scroll-down.  It's the one on the right.  This yarn is worsted weight (mostly) so I got about 290 yards out of that tube.  I didn't spin it according to the directions though -- they wanted me to split up each colored bit and spin two roughly similar singles and then ply.  I didn't have a place to put the two pieces to keep them in order so I didn't do that.  But now I have an empty tube, so I'll try their method for the second tube.   

This yarn is  smooshy and wooly.  It will have to wait until the fall.

What's Blooming in My Garden? or Look, I Got a New Camera!

I'm in love.  Cannon SD750 Elph.  Just enough for little old me.  Here you go.

This is my favorite Daffodil... or Jonquil.  Anyone know the difference off hand?

And dogwood trees.

And more daffodils.  They're a happy plant, don't you think?

And this one I think will be my new Ravatar.

And a Good Spring(ish) Morning to You, Too!

This morning, it is a beautiful, clear 44 degrees.  Cold, yes, but the birds are singing and and the jonquils have begun to bloom and it'll warm up enough to open windows today I think. 

We had a lovely Easter.  Kids in Easter togs hunting eggs in a snow squall...  Oh, it was like 35 degrees so nothing stuck, but it snowed to beat the band several times during the day.

We all attended the Easter Vigil at our church this year.  I go every year as I sing, but this year both kiddos served the mass and husband read one of the many readings.  It was an absolutely gorgeous service.  Seven readings, progressing through the Bible, proclaimed in complete darkness.   Dear Son was afraid he'd fall asleep during this part (he'd been told horror stories by his loving sister) but he was chosen by Father John to be the one to bring him the book between each reading -- Father says something after each piece -- so there was little chance of snoozing.  Son did count the other server (not his sister!) picking his nose 4 times.  Lovely.  Glad it was dark. 

The only criticism I have of the service really is a new addition.  We baptized the new members of the church as we always do at this service.   This year, someone got a kind of pool, you know, black plastic like in yard Koi ponds?  And surrounded it with cement bricks and flowers and filled it with water and  had the new members actually get in and Father poured water over them.  All well and good.  But then they had to go change clothes.  Like for 20 minutes.  Which I totally get -- I mean we've been blessing these folks and building this up so much that of course they wanted to look nice for the rest of the evening.  Which takes awhile, what with hair and maybe makeup and all... So we had an intermission.  Lost all momentum for me.  I believe this is kind of a movement in the Catholic Church, though -- the immersion during baptism.  I've been in several newer churches that have large pools with steps built into them for exactly this purpose.  And I guess it's pretty biblical, if you really think about it.    I think I'm just old school.  And it was 11:30 p.m.

There has been some knitting on the baby cardigan.  We have a front and we have a pocket.  So cute.

See how the cable splits for the pocket?  Love these details.

Construction wise, we've got more color on the walls and a new front door.  I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Monte matches the new color scheme.  I guess he can stay.

Flooding wise, thanks for all of your inquiries.  We are far, far away from any trouble.  There's a "Heights" in the name of my neighborhood for a reason -- we are up hill from nearly everything in St. Louis.  The folks who are suffering though?  They are suffering greatly.  Personally?  I wish cities wouldn't allow building in flood plains.  And this spring water has topped most of the 100 year flood plains anyway -- so.   Tough going all over. 

Finally, I do have a rant brewing.  It has to do with the Senator Obama race speech thing from last week.  It's along the lines of a previous rant wherein I wonder why it is that some of us can't be in the same room with folks with which we disagree.  This time, there's consternation over the Senator's continuing association with his  preacher.  Who said some pretty ugly things.  Well.  That's on him.  Gosh, if I had to be held to everything anyone's every said in my earshot... well, I guess I couldn't be President either.  Sheesh, people!  You know?  We can love people and disagree with them.   We can respect people and not take to heart every word they utter.  We can have opinions that don't necessarily jive with every opinion of everyone else in the room.  We can HEAR words and then take positions concerning them drawn from our own experiences, our own faith, and our own consciences!  Dangit!  If we don't do this, I'd put forth that therein lies the wrong doing!  If we surround ourselves with yes men and only those with whom we absolutely and totally agree?  WE END UP IN A WAR STARTED BECAUSE OF FALSEHOOD AND INNUENDO! 

Ahem.  Whew.  Well.  Rant over, I guess.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

So I took pictures of my morning outside with the dogs.  We raked up the leaves from the one of our 21 trees that is about finished dropping her leaves ...

Cue the shower scene music from Psycho... (I wish I could embed the soundtrack  'cause the shower kind of sounds like leaves rustling and the scream... well, it's what I had in my head when I took the picture.)

Oh, alright.  A little perspective.

This is a 90 lb. dog and a 12' by 24' tarp.  When I gathered the ends to drag it down to the street, I couldn't move it more than a few inches.  Even without the dog riding along.  I'll have to wait for the kids to get home to get it dumped in the gutter.  I just hope it doesn't rain before then... that'll at least double the weight of these leaves. 

Without something more constructive to do, I walked around and photographed our fall time yard. 

There are plenty of liriope and holly berries for the birds to eat this winter.  If we ever have one.

There was plenty of talk around town earlier this fall about the dry,  hot summer eliminating any fall color we might get ... Wrong again.  Sheesh.  There were even news features on TV and in the paper about the lack of fall color -- it seems as if they are assiduously avoiding talking about anything that has any gravitas or international importance lately.  Local murder rate and leaves... ggrreeaatt.

Here is the dogwood in my front yard.  Colorful enough for you?  (Well, I did do a color adjust, but on my monitor this is how this tree looks in the yard.  I'm all about full disclosure.)

To me, these Sugar Maples at the end of the driveway look a lot like the roving I'm spinning.  Both make me happy.

And this Maple (Sugar too?) across the street from my back door?  Absolutely singing!

I really do love fall leaves and their colors... the colors in this palette are often my colors of choice for knitting.  I just wish they'd stay on the trees.  Or that they'd blow into the neighbor's yarn...  ***Edited:  YARD!  I meant yard... Thanks Frida.  Yes, it's probably something subliminal.  Snork.