And I have taken a skein of homespun
(From Robyn Love) and made it into a cake for knitting up--
It is a beautiful skein—Baby
Icelandic wool and baby alpaca—fine, soft and warm—and
interesting. It start out a soft solid silver color, and evolves
into a darker silver grey tweed. I love the evolution!
The plan (there is always a plan—even
if for no other reason than to deviate from the plan!) is to start at
the back, and work a medallion in the back—with silver—and then
at some point, bind off some stitches, work some stitches (onto a
holder) bind off more, and finally work the last quarter—turning
the center squarish medallion into a rectangle.
At some later point, I will stop and
work the stitches on the holder, making the starting medallion center
back. I have done book markers, knit from number 3 pearl cotton this
way—but never a shawl. So it will be a first—but its a good
compromise—I love lace worked in the round, and I love rectangular
shawls.. so this way I get both.
I've done other stuff besides knitting,
too. Some of it a case of “if you say A”—
It started when a light bulb failed. So I planned to change
it. Finding the right bulb involved clearing and cleaning a shelf in
the utility closet. Changing it meant I had to move some furniture.
While the furnature was out of place, I cleaned the baseboard and
floor. There were some cobwebs in the light fixture, too, so more
cleaning. The table cloth (on the end table that was moved) came
off, and got put in the wash, and got washed—there is always
laundry to do!
While I was at it, a beautiful
photograph I had received as birthday present—last year, not this
one—That I had finally gotten around to framing (earlier this year)
- needed to be hung up. So more stuff got moved, so I could hang it
up. As I did, I couldn't help but notice how dusting the windows and
window ledges looks..So out came the glass cleaner, and while
cleaning the glass, it made sense to add the sun filter film—which
should have been put up a month ago—but hadn't been.
So a single light bulb evolved into a
day or two of chores! Worse, there is nothing like cleaning up one
corner of a room to make you notice how dusting and cluttered the
other corners are.. and A leads to B, and B to C, and soon, there is
a whole alphabet of work done--or to be done. No, I didn't get any knitting done..
but there was a whole lot of work going on! Nothing big or special,
just a light bulb to changed, that led to a mountain of things
getting done!
Meanwhile, along with all the other
stuff, I did get to my sneakers. I started by adding a lightly
drawn design, and to sort through my skeins and skeins of floss to
make a selection for my sneaker bouquets.
The bouquets will be daisy loops, and
satin centers, clusters of french knots, and bullion stitch rose
buds. There will be satin stitch and herringbone stitch leaves, and
stems of, (what else?) . Stem stitch. —lots of colors, and lots of
flowers, in lots of different stitches. There are still holes to
punch and metal eyelets to add, for the ribbons.
This design is a lot more planned and
organized than the last pair I did (back in 2006,) Who knows what the
next pair will look like a decade from now.. (and thinking about it,
I have embroidered sneakers about once a decade since my teens--) I
love the look, and they last a few years, (and I forget what a pain
they are to do..)
Embroider is something that comes and
goes in my life—another childhood craft that I still practice.
I suspect i will do more of it the next few years--I embroidered details on my clothes, and on my daughters clothes, and likely will do the same for my granddaughters!
Finally, I got to the main branch of the library, yesterday, and filed for my NYC ID card..It won't be here for a few weeks, but at least it is now on the way!
So--I have been busy--and I will get back to my knitting.. but not today.
