Moth Heaven

When is a Knitting Blog Not a Knitting Blog?

Answer:
In June, when the knitting is stalled.  I have been crazy busy.  There's been plenty of opportunity for me to get out of the garden, mind you.  For example,  I wanted to go to two different spin-ins last Saturday.  Imagine that!  Two in one day! I tell you, the wheel is on the rise.  Tomorrow, we get a network special. 

Two spin-ins to choose from, but The Mister and I were serving dinner for 12 strangers that night as part of a benefit for the local YWCA.  Somehow, even though I had all the napkins pressed, the table set, and the garden weeded (first course was Bollinger and canapes among the roses), my conscience just wouldn't let me leave my husband, who really did do most of the cooking, alone with the prep.  So I polished the forks and ran errands for him as he realized we didn't have enough onions.  Or milk.  And picked up the king salmon at 4 when the fish guy said it would be ready.  So you can see how a spin-in might have to take a back seat to a thing like that.

It seems there are a lot of days like that these days.  I pride myself on being able to slip in a row here and there, to make progress over the course of a week on even such a thing as a honking huge angora blend sweater, but lately, not so much.

I have been beading a little (necklace based on --but not nearly as nice as -- one in Juju's wonderful book)

and spinning a little (Foxfire batt, more on this later)

and gardening, but I already told you about that.

Oh yeah, and this.  A little renovating.

This is something I'll have more to say about soon, but for now, you can see that we are in need of a lot of decisions.  Cabinets, for example.  Colour, for another.  And a floor?  Oh yeah, you gotta have a floor.  But see that air conditioner back in the corner?  You want to know how many hours we spent discussing the strategic positioning of that air conditioner, only to change our minds?  The hole can be patched, but the trauma will live on.

Now go send Kellee your best wishes for a prompt and safe labour.  Her due date was a few days ago, and I want to meet that baby!

Save the Date

This is where I've been.  Gardening, which right now is a simple  wrestle with weeds and water.  I've got the scratches and the sore muscles of a, well, of a June gardener.  I've installed a few shrubs and some new roses, but this one, a climbing Iceberg, has been flopping over this bed for a few years now.  It was supposed to climb, but it seems to have maxed out at 6 feet, so flop will have to do.  Roses can be like that.

The knitting has to wait because it is the season of rose glory.  I'm spending a lot of time taking in their beauty.  Here some of my other favorites currently in bloom in the garden:

Sally Holmes

Autumn Sunset, in progress

Rose de Rescht and Gertrude Jekyll

   

Which is all to say, hey!

I have a surprise for you.  Alpaca Kathy, Cheryl, and I -- along with our blogless spinning pal Kathleen -- have been planning together for about a year now for something that will happen up here in Newbury on the 18th of August, and if you're around, you're invited.

It will be a day for fiber, complete with workshops, demonstrations, shopping, animals, and of course, an all day spin-in.

We're calling it Fiber Revival.  As Alpaca Kathy says, think old-time summer religious revivals under a tent, except the "religion" in this instance consists of a reverence for FIBER. There will be a tent, and maybe (given the way these things often go) some conversions.  So mark the date on your calendar and hope for mild temperatures and scattered clouds.  Cheryl and I will let you know the details and contact information as they become available. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get the grit out from under my fingernails.

Scarf Spam?

I received a very strange email.  Does anyone know of a designer or aspiring designer named Zari(how it was signed) or Kalika (from whose email address it came)?  I found this in my email today, and I think it smacks of spam.

Hello, (no salutation but that: suspicious, no?)

I just thought I would drop you a line again and ask if you'd ever gotten around to choosing patterns for your book. I never heard one way or the other from you on whether or not you would like the . . .  I designed . . .  for your book. Please let me know if I have missed a message from you in the past with your decision - I know that's a problem we had been having. Thanks again for your time,

Zari Zamen

If this is a real person, I want to explain to her that she must have me confused with another blogger, since I have never even considered such a thing as a book, and I would like to let her know she is mistaken in sending me this email.  If this is spam, then I'll ignore it.  So help me out, please.  Anyone know this knitter?

And for those of you wondering where I am, I am in the garden and juggling the end-of-school-year social schedules for a 14 year old and her 5 year old brother.  I'll be back soon.

Hey You: Wanna Buy Some Yarn?

Facing down the reality of limited time and changing affections, I'm parting with some of the fantasies I've been hoarding for a number of years.  Look at the list and email me if you want anything.  All prices include shipping to the continental US; Canadians will have to pay the shipping up charge (sorry guys, I wish Nafta actually applied to the postal service too). All yarn is guaranteed 100% fume and moth free, and will be sent upon arrival of personal cheque or a cleared Paypal order. Questions about yardage and content can be answered by clicking on the Yarndex link included in the listing.

8 skeins and a friend made up of two half+ skeins, more or less, of Rowan All Season's Cotton,  # 177 (no longer available).  I used 11 to make a Scoop du Jour last summer.  One of you normal sized girls should be able to get a decent sweater out of this. $40, S&H included.

10 balls of Berocco Pleasure  # 8618 (leather).  $36.

10 skeins of Rowan Summer Tweed, # 527 (spring green).  $65.

3 balls of Cascade Fixation in colour 9939, variegated mushrooms, sage, and taupes with a hint of lavender, prone to interpretation.  $12.

3 skeins of Cascade Fixation # 9385, variegated apple and lime green. $12.

20 skeins of the discontinued Filatura di Crosa Elena in colour 11 (cranberry), 99 yards per skein, 100% cotton.  Please note colour chart, rather than the picture, but know that even there, the colour looks a little dull.  Very pretty in person. Like cranberries, as I said.  $80

20 skeins of the discontinued Filatura di Crosa Elena in colour 9 (royal purple), 99 yards per skein, 100% cotton, great cabled texture -  $80

7 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in colour 18, (chocolate), a very manly chocolate in fact.  I made The Mister's Irish Moss out of this, so the little balls in the picture will be staying here for standby. $28.

12 skeins of Sirdar Snuggly DK purchased for a baby blanket that never happened.  4 skeins white (#251),  4 skeins sage ((378), 2 skeins curry (376), and 2 skeins robin's egg (377). $40 for the lot.

4 skeins discontinued Rowanspun Chunky in colour 982 (green waters, but I think it looks more like a greenish robin's egg blue) and one skein in colour 983 (cardamom).  $35 for the lot, or separate colour lots of $28 for the blue, $10 for the single skein of green (remember: shipping is included).

More to come, so keep an eye on that RSS feed.