Knitting in the Shadows

As is for....

A is for Accumulation

These photos show that I have (with my family's help) accumulated too much stuff.

I confess, there has been a major improvement in this garage space since those photos were taken.  But the accumulation was not limited to the garage.  Stuff has accumulated all over the house.  (That is not to say that unwanted stuff has accumulated in the yarn closet.  That's not "stuff" that's STASH!  There's a difference.)

However, I've decided that I'm unwilling to allow this unfettered accumulation to turn my house into a land fill.  I've been plinking away at it quietly but diligently for about a month, and am making some minor headway.  I've sent more stuff that I care to admit to the real landfill, but am trying to donate, list on FreeCycle and/or Recycle where I can.

I've donated clothes.  I've given away old computer equipment that was taking up space.  I've filled several bags with paper that was out of date.  But still, there was a lot that is, quite frankly, trash.   I"m quite sure there is more trash lurking about. 

But none of it is in my pantry. Today, I went through the pantry and threw away all the expired stuff.  It wasn't nearly as bad as the round we hand with the refrigerator door two weeks ago, but still.  Sigh.

I'm trying to gain control of the accumulation.  It's hard work, but liberating all the same.

It does, however, interfere severely with my knitting time.  I only managed to get 1/2 a gusset knit on Mermaid today. tsk.

Oh, and yes, I am participating the the 2008 ABC-Along.  Though it's extremely unlikely that I'll get even one space to B is for Bare, perhaps I'll be able to get to C is for Clear in a smallish area... more likely it will take until  N is for Neat or even O is for Organized (and though S is for Spartan is unlikely to be in the realm of possibility , U is for Uncluttered is reachable).

But not for the Stash -- which shall continue to thrive in its joyous accumulation:

Speaking of Stash, the ABC Along listing gives us Aziza (by Just Our Yarn)

In theory, I'm going to make a Clapotis out of this. But I could be persuaded to sell it, in the interests of reducing the accumulation.

V is for...

V is for VERANDA

Ve-ran-da or ve-ran-dah  n [Hindi varanda] (1711) a usu. roofed open gallery or portico attached to the exterior of a building;  a covered porch.

There is nothing quite so pleasant as sitting out on the veranda with the breezes blowing, gently, whilst knitting peacefully on some lovely lace nothing and sipping iced tea.  Even though the breezes aren't blowing gently these days, its still nice to think about.  And I love looking at all the old houses with their lovely verandas, and thinking about the many afternoons that folks have spent enjoying them.  Here are some from around town:

One of the oldest, I'm sure:

I keep wanting to buy and refurbish this house that sits right across from the library.

But I sure wouldn't mind living in this one either...
You've got to love porch swings...

These folks manage to evoke snow and summer all at once, what with the white wicker chairs and the garlands and holiday lights...

I love the season-less-ness of the wooden furniture.  Makes me want to plop right down with Icarus and knit a spell.

These next two are two views of the veranda on a house I actually looked at.  It's on the corner of two streets full of gorgeous homes, one of which is a one way circle with a park in the center.  I've coveted it for a while.  If I had one fewer children and LOTS more money to refurbish it, I'd likely have bought it, and been playing Money Pit for years.  I don't though, so I just get too look at the veranda and contemplate what summer would have been like

Of course, the BEST veranda, is your OWN veranda.... 

 As it turns out, I don't have a decent picture of mine! And now that I need one, the weather has turned evil, (30 and sleet right now).  I love you all, but not quite enough to go out back and stand in the cold wet grass getting rain/sleet on my camera just for a picture of the back veranda...  It's lovely though... really it is...  You can get a hint of it here, behind the tall grass and the standing swing ....

U is for ....

U is for Ubiquitous....

Did you ever notice that there are some things in your life that seem to be ... ubiquitous? Camry's on the road?  Paper?  Ads for drugs you don't need?

Well, around my house there are a few other things that are ubiquitous.  As you probably suspect, if you've been reading this blog long, books are ubiquitous.  You find them in every room.  Heck, there are bookshelves in almost every room.  We have a whole room devoted to bookshelves and there are still bookshelves in every room but the kitchen (in which there is a shelf of cookbooks), the dining room and the bathrooms.    But the books... they stray... they are in every room in our house.

Another thing that seems to be ubiquitous around here is yarn.  But unlike books, the yarn seems to gravitate to unexpected places in its ubiquity:

In the house of an avid knitter, you'd likely expect to find yarn in the living room, but not necessarily here:

or here:

or even here, in the ubiquitous bookshelf

I could likely live with these unexpected surprises, but its hard when the kids want to hang up their coats and they find this:

And I don't know about you, but yarn in the dining room is still a bit unexpected for me, even though I seem to live with it:

(well, at least it's consistent, nestling in with the wine and the wine glasses).

But you know the ubiquity has gone too far when the yarn usurps the spaces in the kitchen!
How do you bake when the oven looks like this?

or reheat lunch when this is in the microwave?

Okay, I've given up on the concept of hot food, and decide to have a smoothie instead (that's healthy)  ... but.... open the fridge ...

Argh! it really is ubiquitous!  See, there, betwen me and the milk?

was it blocking the yogurt for my smoothie? or just protecting the bottle of wine?
and what about this... defense of blueberries perhaps?

Surely there's none left lurking in the kitchen?

I give up.  I'm going upstairs to wash my face and change clothes...

whoops... no towels???  I'm getting a headache.... lemme grab an ibuprophen before I go change...

or not...
sigh... time for a clean shirt (what with no towels, my face has been dripping on this one)

Okay if you read the adventures of the Yarn Harlot, this likely wasn't that unexpected.  At this point, I'm guessing this next will come as no surprise either...

Whatever.
but yarn is craftier than you know.  Even I didn't expect it to get past the locked door of my Grandmother's curio cabinet:

and while I agree that this yarn is unsurpassed it can't stay there:

Is no place safe??
uh oh.  there it is again... sidling up the metronome, plotting to unseat it from its the spot on the piano:

T is for ...

T is for TEAMS

My girls are part of the A.B.C. along team here at Shadowland.  Though I don't always follow their advice, our group discussions about what would be good for the next A.B.C. Along post always stimulate me into thinking of something that works (assuming of course, that you enjoy these posts).

More on teams later...  meanwhile, T is mainly for TREES

Trees are seemingly everlasting, and yet so many of them change so much.  They come in all sorts of shapes and colors, and do so much good for the land upon which they stand. They convert carbon dioxide to oxygen.  Their roots help hold the earth in place. They offer home and shelter to the birds, and even to some small animals.  They help to keep homes cooler in the summer by casting their shade, and yet in winter, when their leaves have fallen, they let the sun past to warm our windows.  They are lovely in all seasons.

In spring, they don flowers to attract the bees and butterflies and hummingbirds (and me!)

And then they don their leaves, in many shades of green

In the fall, they change in series, slowly shifting from the greens of summer to the bare-branched drama of winter. Some change their colors slowly, creating odd juxtapositions of green and russet:

Others shed their leaves early, leaving their intricate branches bare

Some, of course, never shed their leaves at all (well, needles, but who's counting?)

And others shed their leaves while clinging to the beautiful berries that will feed the birds through the winter months:

Some hold their golden leaves a bit longer, before leaving the berries ...

And in winter, they hold the snow, temporary covers for their branches, lovely in contrast.

Trees, ever changing, ever constant... ever present reminder of the cycles of life.

S is for....

And now...

What you've waited for so long you've given up waiting and decided I'd never post...

The letter S!

S is for many things... many of them found in SCENERY

For example, we have SKIES

Both bright....

and darkening....

Skies are eternal yet ever changing.  Infinitely fascinating...but since I'm dead certain someone else has covered SKY thoroughly, I'll move on...

To SHRUBBERY.

Yes, that's right.  Not only am I going to bring you A Shrubbery, oh Knights who no longer say Nee,*  I'm going to bring you several!  After all.... our lovely landscaped neighborhoods would look bare without them (and any number of critters would go homeless as well).  Shrubbery is hardly eternal, but some of them change quite a bit over the course of the year.  Lets look around MY neighborhood, shall we:

This shrub looks pretty much like many others in the spring and summer, but come fall, it turns a brilliant red

These shrubs are just pretty colors all the time.... until they drop their leaves...

These, traditional and well groomed, offer consistent color through out the year

These evergreens flirt with fuzzy ground cover

You may notice something about that last picture.  It shows not only Shrubbery, but Stones...
as does this one:

Which brings us to the sometimes smaller elements of Scenery.  STONE provides visual interest, building materials, obstacles... Like the skies, stones seem eternal: but unlike the skies, they never seem to change. Even those not deemed "precious" or even "semiprecious" can be wonderful

But though stones and skies and even shrubbery offer consistent pieces to scenery... sometimes, the things which make scenery most beautiful are the most ephemeral

Spiderwebs.... (which would lead ordinary fiber lunatics straight to spinning wheels and spindles but I'm resisting that temptation, right a long with Sweaters and Socks... you'll have to look at your OWN).

* If that's too obscure a reference, it's from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, See Scene 25 and Scenes 30 and 31.

R is for Random

Well, I warned you. R refused to cooperate,
and I'm percoalting with ideas for S...
so

R is for Random!

I love it when the sky does stuff like this.  Particularly those nifty RAYS of sunlight shining from the lower clouds.

There are REASONS not to take your pre-teen girls into the phone store with you -- even if you do need to do business there.

Somehow, they think they're going to get cell phones of their own within the next several years.  Tell me... what does a NINE YEAR OLD need with a cell phone???

Some creatures RELAX better than others.  This is our piano teacher's dog.  Does she look comfortable or what?

A ROOF ought not look this way.

Ours no longer does, but around here, spring storms tend to fling shingles around for fun.  I tend not to find it amusing.  We're hoping the roofers got them TRULY tacked down this time.

Once upon a time, I used to go to Renaissance Faires.  I'm not sure I ever went to one not fully "garbed".  Here's me, some 20 odd years ago, in my Raiment for the Faire.  Some day, I might fit into that dress again (assuming, of course, that I could find it).

I'm now Retiring from the field of R.
This post won't win any prizes-- but I can't very well skip R just because I'm too lame to come up with a good post, now can I?  Perhaps, I'll come back later and Refine it.

Q is for ??

Q is for Question....or Query perhaps..

As in "What am I going to use for Q???" she asks with a quizzical look upon her face, and a querulous note in her voice.

No use in quarreling about it. Q is a quixotic letter that poses quite the challenge.  Not many Q nouns out there...and least not many with examples close to hand to photograph.

Perhaps I can round up a lump of quartz?
Or find someone near by with a quarter horse?

I think I'll put some Queen on the stereo, (for which, alas, I have no quadriphonic system) and quaff a draft and ponder this.

I really ought to have bought some Qiviut at the market, if only so I could post about it now.  The distress over failing to do that almost makes me wish you could still get ahold of Quaaludes.  See, now you'll have no pictures of me sitting on the Quad quoting Don Quixote while knitting quiviut, resting a growing shawl on my quadriceps.

Of course, with no needles in hand, I could round up a quartet to dance a quadrille, and hope someone would snap a picture for you.  Unlikely though.

What a quagmire I'm in!

I did down some quahogs whilst in Maine, but it didn't occur to me to photograph them first.... so they're out.  And I was in such a quaint setting too. Almost makes me quake in my boots to consider my lapse in forethought.

I'm beginning to question whether I'm qualified to be blogging this today... really.
And I've more than a few qualms about posting this entry.  And yet, 'tis a quandary.  Is it worse to post a quantity of phrases toying with Q's or to skip the letter altogether?  And how do you quantify which is more important? the quality of the post? or the act of posting at all?

I've been queasy all day considering this quest for the quiddity of q'ness....
there's no quick fix to this quandary, and I'm sinking as in quicksand with this effort.

Perhaps I've used up my quota of quirky phrases, and ought to quit?

P is for Pond

P is for Pond... because I have one!

Here's one of my favorite pictures of the pond

Of course, one of the best parts about having the pond (besides the sound of the water in its waterfall), is the residents.  In the spring we have frogs.  In late spring we have

Tadpoles. Everywhere.

But usually we just have fish:



and of course, lily pads (which have taken over the main body of the pond now)

P is also for Piano

I grew up with a baby grand, but this one fits so much more comfortably in our house that I almost don't miss the other.  The girls don't really love it yet, but I sure do love hearing them play and learn.  I'm hopeful that the new piano teacher I've found will change their minds --- she seems to understand that kids need to learn with music they LIKE...

Someday, when work and mom-hood slacks up a bit, I'll get more time at these keys myself.

P is also for pooped... which I am this week.

also Perplexed ... what WILL I do with Q???

O is for Opals

O is for Opals... they're my birthstone, since I was born in October.

Opals are hard to photograph... at least mine are.  Here are some attempts, before I resort to professional pictures:

This bracelet was my present to myself ... I bought it while shopping for my wedding band (which doesn't have any opals in it)

These are wonderful translucent opals that catch the light and play with it.  They're not milky or fiery -- but you can see the lights from those types in them anyway.

This is a necklace that my DH gave me for my anniversary last year:

It is probably the "milkiest" opal I own ... but it's still pretty fiery.  It came from my favorite jeweler of all time: Christopher Jupp  as did this one, which is the only one of this pendant to hold an opal (he usually puts faceted stones in it)

Okay .. this shot shows the fire in the opal but this next one shows the pendant better:

Anyway, I also have some unpolished opals in a pendant, that refuse to be photographed.  And I'm still hunting for a professional picture that is similar.  While looking however, I DID find a link to a kit for the Bolder Opal Jacket  see, even googling rocks will get you knitting!

But opals aren't just for jewelry.... see

Let's look closer at that ornament just above the quillian...

Yep ... that's an opal

closer still?

and there's another one on the other side too... it almost matches!

N is for .....

N is for Night...
A time when the world is a bit quieter..
a time of quiet singing , when we can hear the crickets and small frogs singing, and if we're lucky the soft hoot of an owl, or the sweet song of a howling wolf...
a time of brilliant skies, full of stars that are hidden by the harsh light of the sun,
and in the summer, blissfully cooler temperatures.

It is also a time when my camera takes wholly useless pictures in natural light.

N is also for Nebula ... which you can really only see in the night sky -- with a lot of help.  My camera can't take these pictures at all... so I refer you to the pros (again)

This is the Double Helix Nebula -- it is found in the Milky Way

(original picture from here )
How cool is that?  your DNA pattern in the stars!

A more commonly known nebula is the Orion Nebula
(The original of this was here)

There are dozens of pictures of this all over the web.  They don't all look the same to me, but what do I know?  not much, I just think nebulae are beautiful!

Here, taken from here is the Bug Nebula

It looks like a giant moth wing to me... or perhaps an angel's wing (fairy's wing?)  The luminescence, of course, makes it magical.

This is the Cat's Paw Nebula (which I found here)

NOW I totally get the cats paw lace pattern!

And far from finally, is the Witch Head Reflection Nebula (which I found here)

There are many many more nebulae out there  -- and enough pictures to fill a dozen blog posts.  Though I could spend hours at it, I'm guessing that not all of you find these pictures fascinating enough to spend hours looking at what I find ... those who do may be inspired to troll the web with me looking for more stunning pictures.   For the rest -- I'll try to get back to Vermont photos or knitting updates or something soon.

M is for Mountains

Long overdue, I bring you ... MOUNTAINS!

M is for Mountains
Alas, I'm using few of my own pictures, as I simply was not a competent mountain photographer this time (that and when I was, I was using non-digital means).

As we drove from Maine to Vermont last week, we went through the White Mountains

(go here for the full size pic).
These White Mountains are in New Hampshire where there is a lovely National Forest that I have loved driving through each year.

Most years, we drive all the way out, which means we also get to cross the Green Mountains
(original photo here)
(where there is, of course, another National Forest). One of the favorite peaks in the Green Mountains around Burlington is the Camel's Hump,
(original photo here)
(which I've climbed a few times, though not yet with the kids)

Driving across the country, I've also enjoyed trips through the Adirondacks in New York, which we see here looking across Lake Champlain

Over the years, I seem to repeatedly visit the same mountains time and again... in shifts.  Currently, while the kids are young and the grandparents are East... we seem to visit the mountains of the North Eastern US.   There was a time when I spent more time in or near the Rockies.  In particular, I recall the summer I spent in Boulder, loving the view of the Flatirons
(pic from here )

I loved seeing the Flatirons every morning.  And I loved driving up Canyon Road at the end of a mediocre ... or bad... day, and feeling refreshed simply by being up in the mountain, and sitting on a rock looking down over the town.

I'd visited several years before, when I got to  enjoy the incredible splendor of driving all the way through the Rocky mountains! (Boulder to San Francisco)

(image from here)
That's when I first knew awe.

I drove past Tahoe, and saw the lake from the road....

Later that summer, I took a train through the Grand Tetons.  They're also awesome.
(pic from here)

In fact, ten years flew by before I got to see the Rockies in the Winter!
I came to love skiing in them.

I learned at Keystone
And since then have skied Copper Mountain, Telluride, Vail, Aspen, Arapahoe Basin, Snowmass and Beaver Creek in Colorado, Big Sky in Montana and Salt Lake, Deer Valley, and Wolf Valley in Utah.    But there are only so many ski slope pictures you want to see -- especially if I've not managed to scan in the ones I took on "old style" 35 mm cameras yet...

But there are still MORE mountains in the US. (and we don't have to leave the Continental US to find them).

Many years ago, I spent three weeks at Deep Springs College in Deep Springs California.  There, looking one way, we saw California's White Mountains.  I remember very clearly, sleeping out by the reservoir (the only way to get me to go to sleep, since every night the sky was so full of incredible stars I couldn't bring myself to go inside to go to bed), and waking at dawn one morning, to see the sun clear the Sierra's Mountains behind me, and turn the White Mountains pink ...  this picture is actually from a sunset shot, so it doesn't quite match my memory, but it's close:

Looking west, we saw things like these mountains from the Ritter Range in the Sierra Nevadas
 

When I went, I had to drive through Yosemite National Park, and it's lovely mountains.  This image
looks like it must be Tuolumne Meadows....

And no, I'm not forgetting Mount Hood, or St. Helens... or those at the far western edge of the country... but I've only seen those from a distance.

What's the unifying theme here? for me?  I always feel good when I'm in the mountains... even being where they're in view lets me feel better about the universe.  Mountains are magical.

What AM I doing living so far away from any of them???

Lilies Redux, by request

I'm a bit behind.  Some folks are starting on N's already, and I've yet to create my "m" post.

However, I did get a request for a shot of some of the lilies I skipped in my last round. So, without further ado, L lingers on with still more lilies:

Yeah, I know, that hookie thing is still there.  Time to wade in and take it off.

L is for Lilies on Memeless Mondays

Well, here we are... its Monday, and I have no memes for you.

I do have answers to a recently posted question from a long ago post:
Mary asked me where I got the pattern for the pale pink baby sweater that I knit in sock yarn back in ... March was it?  Anyway, the sweater in question is Matt's Sideways Sockyarn Baby Sweater from Hyphen-Boy Designs.  There is a list of retailers on Matt's web page. 

I would have had a blogthings quiz on Tarot Cards for you.  But since it gives different answers depending on when I type in my name (the only question), I think it's too confused to be any fun.  For what it's worth (little), it's pegged me as The Wheel of Fortune and The Moon...

So, instead... I have a bonus edition for the A.B.C. Along.

L is also for Lilies!  Here are a few from my back yard:

The darkest of our pond's water lilies

A bunch of day lilies next to the pond, and a glimpse of our peach water lily's leaves.

More day lilies, and for the truly observant, the foliage from what will eventually be oriental lilies that will likely bloom in July

still MORE day-lilies...
and some close ups:

Meanwhile, a HUGE thank you goes out to Chery, who sent me her toe-up sock pattern that uses heel flaps.  Lucky me, they turned out to be the very heel flaps I was about to reverse engineer for my ownself!  I'm gusset increasing today, and may get to do another test-fitting on the intended victim recipient tomorrow, as I'll be in the building for other reasons anyway.

Lucky me twice, in fact... the library came through with a whole swack of TV shows on DVD for me to watch.  I'd hate that they all came in at once, but with all this knitting to do ... they're down right timely.  Last night, for example, I learned that I like Northern Exposure. I'd never seen it.  nope .. not one episode.  But now I have season one to watch while I knit.

Since I have all this TV to watch (without commercials!) I've reached the point where I'm decreasing for the raglan sleeves on Fug's right front... it's growing on me.  I no longer think it's hideous.  But, I'm still eager to finish it, and will not mind shipping it away. 

I can't imagine, for example, sending Willow off to someone else when she's done.

Despite the TV knitting, I have taken time to do some tinkering with Willow's pattern, and have realized that any changes to Willow won't come for a few more rows, so I'm actually getting some knitting done on that as well.  If I had more yarn, I know EXACTLY what I'd do.  But... I don't, so I have to work on making her shorter, while avoiding that pesky corner point.  I think I've got it figured, but need to print more knitter's graph paper to be sure.

Back to the needles for me!

L is for...

L is for...

Libraries

This is the stately library I walk past every day on my way to work.

It was the library I went to all through high school, and where I began my own habit of bringing home scads of books on a regular basis.

This is the less stately library that is actually associated with the town in which I live.  It is the place where I'm re-enforcing in my daughters what I hope will be a life-long habit of bringing home lots of books.  We usually have about 65 books out at any given time between us all.  Sometimes more.  But we do leave things in the library for others ...   See the books in there? 

It may be ugly, but it still looks appropriate inside:

See, not that much different from the stately library on the inside.  That one looks like this:

The more striking difference between the two comes from the side/rear views.  The stately library enjoyed a huge addition (designed by a brilliant architect who managed to make it blend into the old building almost seamlessly).  That addition looks like this:

MY library is getting a new building.  They're building it in what used to be our parking lot.  It looks like this:

Libraries are a wonderful, priceless resource.  Because of libraries, I've been able to learn new music, find new authors, hobbies, habits, and generally improve my knowledge of the world and how it works.  I am also able to maintain a steady diet of recreational reading, listening and viewing (they've got a good movie collection too).

L is also for librarians.  Because I don't have the room to post all their pictures here, nor have I had the time to gain their permission to do so, you do not see all of my lovely librarians' photos here.  I admit to having favorites, but will not confess who they are.  All librarians are wonderful people.  I sometimes wish I'd made that my vocation...

Meanwhile, L is also for LACE (duh) (I AM a knit blogger -- and I AM participating in the Great Lace)

And LIPS

and Laughter

Without laughter, those of us who knit lace, would likely impale ourselves with our needles... or maybe garrote ourselves...

Now laughter is more than mere giggles:

But the problem with real live laughter -- is that it moves!

and so it's hard to get a good shot w/ a slow camera like mine.

Someday, I might even learn how to imbed sound files into my blog... lucky for you, I've not yet learned it, so you wont' hear recordings of laughter here. Just imagine it for yourself.  And laugh a bit every day.  It's better medicine than the famed Apple.

K is for Knitting --- duh

Now what ever would a knitting blogger select as her A.B.C. Along entry for K?
Gee... I dunno .. maybe...

KNITTING!

People have been depicting knitting in images for ages

Van Gogh thought knitting worthy of painting:

So did Manet:

As did Jules Breton

And Mose Bianchi

And  Caspar Netscher

And William Bouguereau in 1869

and Anthony Watkins

It's been going on and on... all these lovely pictures of these lovely women knitting.  If ever I have my portrait painted, I think I'll be knitting. (the years during which I thought a nude portrait might be fun are long past).

But K is also for Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscopes help us see simple things in new ways.  When we apply that to our knitting, we get wonderful new designs.  When we apply that to ideas.... most times the world gets to be a slightly better place (unless, of course, we're TV producers who apply it to "Reality" shows. The less said about THAT the better).

Here is my kaleidoscope:

And here are some images that my camera managed to get while looking through its viewfinder

Here's the way the world looks through one of those widgets that splits images up in slightly different ways than do kaleidoscope:

And finally, an image that someone with a real camera took of the view through a kaleidoscope

And... for those of you who, as I do, love critters...
K is for Kinkajou (also known as the Honey Bear)

when I was a kid, they had one in a pet store.  A cuddlier creature I've never met.  It hugged with paws around your neck, and paws around your middle, and that prehensile tail around your waist.  We probably would have bought it, except every time we went in, the wee beastie was at least 10% if not 20% more expensive than it had been the week before.

J is for .......

J is for ....

Jabberwocky
    by Lewis Carroll
        from
            Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, 1879

'Twas brillig and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogroves,
   And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
   The jaws that biet, the claws tha tcatch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
   The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
   Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
   And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
  The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
  And burbled as it came!

One two! One two! And through and through
  The vorpal blade went snicker-snack
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
  Come to my arms, my beamish bgoy!
O frabjous day! Callouh Callay!"
   He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogroves,
   And the mome raths outgrabe.

This has long been one of my favorite poems... one of the only ones I can still recite. In my youth, in the dorm, we played a variant of Secret Santa under which the Secret Santa sent instructions to his or her victim, which the victim had to follow, after which the victim would receive a modestly priced joke-gift.  This went on for three days, at the end of which we had a part, and the Secret Santas were revealed, and "real" gifts given.  I cruelly required my secret santa victim to dress in tights, stand upon a table in the dining hall, sword in hand, and recite Jabberwocky during dinner.  Luckily... he found this fun and funny .. and did a splendid job.

Some day, I'll find Al Baltis, formerly of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, again. I've much to thank him for (like passing calculus).

J is also for Juxtaposition.

Here, for example are two kinds of Jaguars:

(Here's the big cat whose picture I snapped in Belize)

(and here's the car they named after it)
 

 And here's an image of the sea (what I saw on my vacation)

and one of a sea of corn (what I see all summer)

And finally, the views from my windows in Belize.

And the view from my window in Chicago

I is for Iris

I know,
I know...

I already said that I is for Illusion.
But I is also for Iris.
I'd show you the iris plants that grow in my back yard -- but they've not shown themselves yet.  I'll have to try to find some out and about ...

But the Iris I'm really talking about is this one:

This is my daughter's iris.
Oddly enough, this is her other iris.

Pictures taken within moments of each other.  Ain't it weird what angles can do to colors?

The iris controls the amount of light that gets into your eye.  It's a magical thing, using lots of tiny muscles to open and close the aperture that is the pupil of our eye.  Because we have irises, we can see in both bright light and dim light.... and everything in between.

And the color, texture, and patterns of each person's iris is unique .. just like fingerprints!

I've been trying for quite a while to persuade my camera to cough up a GOOD picture of someone's iris (I long ago gave up on getting one of my OWN iris).  Poor thing was never meant to do this kind of work, but it's been trying.  Of course, I'm sure that the camera that took THIS picture is much more expensive than mine:

As, no doubt, was the one that took this one:

But the one that took this one is likely to have cost more than my car:

Either way, I'm glad someone out there has taken such cool pictures of irises, and then slapped them up on the Internet for us all to find.   

So... the illusion of my last post is dispelled....

I is for Illousion

I is for Illusion.

Among my favorite images of Illusion is this one of M.C.Escher's

Indeed, there are many artists of illusion whose images I'd post willy nilly were they a) not my photos and b) copy-written for heaven's sake.

But I'm here to talk about the illusions we live with in daily life. Here in the Midwest, we've been enjoying a pretty nice illusion of spring. See, doesn't this look like spring to you?

I mean, the lilac bush I planted four years ago is finally giving it up and producing BLOOMS:

We both know that lilacs and hyacinths and bleeding hearts and crab apple trees bloom in the spring right?  As do weeping cherry trees:

So, it LOOKS a lot like spring around here.  That's an illusion.  I don't care if March 21st was a month ago.  Spring, if it sprang here, has fled.  The warm breezes have left us, and the winds howling around are bitter enough that despite 80 (that's eighty) degree temperatures last week, we've got frost warnings.  I'd laugh at all those people I saw buying bedding plants on Sunday, while I was lemming my way into becoming an orchid owner, if I hadn't succumbed just Monday night to the "need" to add more goldfish to the pond.  Poor wee suckers are freezing out there.

Spring indeed.  Hmmph.

My daughter played soccer last night.  I don't know how they did it, but they played just like always while I sat huddled in my "soccer chair" wearing a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, a fleece warm-up jacket, and my winter coat (both layers), wrapped in another fleece blanket, and freezing my tuchus.  Spring.  HAH.

Here's another illusion -- also spring based, but well, you can see:

You'd swear that tree was putting out two colors of flowers, wouldn't you?  Here's another shot:

And ya know... even when you see a broader view... it still looks like one tree making those two colors!

Another illusion I'm working with is that of any progress whatsoever on Ms. Potty.  Sure, we've turned the heel, and are in fact past the gusset.  But we've been exactly here for days, despite knitting somewhat diligently (okay, not during the above-mentioned soccer game, but c'mon ... it's too cold to keep your bare fingers exposed, and I can't wear gloves and knit on US 1's!), I have been knitting the same 4-6 rows for days now.

Of course, this whole post is Illusionary .. I'll have a real "I is for ..." post soon.

H is for Heels

H is for HEELS (and their flaps)

Those magical things that make socks seem so scary at first, and so special once you've done even one.  Those mystical magical moments that let you know that even if the instructions look insane, sometimes following them lets you perform miracles!

Here is Potty II, as I begin her heel flap.

Ah heel flaps!  The restful bit before the moment of truth...that mysterious short-row exercise that somehow yields a lovely rounded cup for the heel of your foot.  Tell me this isn't magic....

Now many folks let that heel flap be a boring bit of monotonous knitting.  This works well for self striping yarns, as they at least leave you with some visual interest.   
 

And it's certainly a pleasant break from a complicated pattern (or testy one). But even the all too familiar slip 1 knit 1 pattern can be dull after a sock or two. 

It doesn't have to be that way! 

Potty, for example, follows through with a lovely k1tbl, p1 rib (that leaves you purling through the back loop on the wrong side -- tedious maybe, but not monotonous.)  Even so, it leaves a lovely stretchy heel that snugs up against your ankle nicely:

For a more interesting, if still simple solution, there are graduated ribs, as I used for my Jaywalker socks:

These have just enough going on in the heel flap to keep them both visually and process-ly interesting, but not so much that they're just adding challenge for the sake of it.

Some designers go for it whole hog, and give you special details just for the heel (particularly nice for clog wearers).  Here, for example, is a well worn heel from  Lucy Neatby's Fiesta Feet

(and no, my ankle isn't deformed.  I took the picture with my fist in the heel of the sock instead of while wearing them because I didn't feel like doing contortions tonight.)

When you KNOW the sock will be worn with clogs, you can even do fun cable things with your heels.  This is from one of my favorite pairs of cotton socks:

I just winged it here, letting the cables grow out of the ribbing.  It suffers a bit from randomness, and could use a bit of plan ahead designing.  Anna Zilboorg did great things with heel flaps in Socks for Sandals and Clogs, which alas is oop... (on Amazon they're being offered for $100.00 for a used copy!!).

H is also for Harmony, for which I have no photos, and Health, for which, again, I have no photos.

G is for

G is for

Which I use almost daily for SOMETHING!  It certainly isn't the only search engine... it may not be the best, but it's one that works well for me, and has both saved and cost me countless hours over the past months and years.

G is also for Gabriel
He joined our family as a xix month old kitten, five years ago, about six months after my dearest, long loved cat, Shadow, died.  I found him at the same Humane Society, in the very same cage I'd found Shadow, 15 years after I found Shadow there. 

He's never tried to be Shadow -- he won't sleep on my neck, but always sleeps at my feet.  I actually get to sleep this way...

He's pesky in his own way -- bringing mice and baby rabbits and birds into the house to play with (often at 4 am), but he's gentle, and never hurts them.  Now that  all of the mice are gone, we've even forgiven him for bringing them in and releasing them in the kitchen.

He sits on my lap when I knit, and guards my knitting chair (and any yarn he finds therein) when I'm not there.  He's quietly affectionate, and beautiful (duh), and has won over my non-cat-lover husband completely.  Even my father (who actively dislikes cats) likes him.

I'm really glad I decided to go look at cats that day...

And lastly, G is for Giggles -- but I've no clue how to take a picture of that!
(We had lots of giggles here last night -- it was sleepover zone in our house.... the best giggles were always in the other room)

 

Meanwhile, I'm being a disloyal  list mom, and in addition to offering my stash on KnitSwap, I've taken to posting them at the Destash Blog.  I was a bit late to Flash My Stash... and when I poked my nose it to consider doing a procrastinator's flash event, I realized I've still got a bunch of stuff I won't ever knit...

 

F is for ....

F is for Friendship

But short of posting random pictures of people holding hands, I can't figure out what a Friendship image looks like....

So...
F is also for Flowers

As we embark on Spring, and all the new life sense that it evokes, I can't help but acknowledge that F is for Flowers.  They get used to symbolize so many things, like red roses for "love" (clearly thought of by the florist folks), and white roses for good luck on opening night. There was a time when people sent messages just by sending flowers -- each flower had a specific meaning (not just roses).    I even have a wee book called "The Language of Flowers".  Sometimes, I wish we still did that,

but most of all, flowers are a symbol of life to me.

Anyway, here in the central Midwest, there are very few flowers to be seen in the "wild."  In fact, these are the only ones I've seen since my return from Belize, and they're in my front yard:

Belize, however, seems to be playing along with Project Spectrum, and had many lovely pink and red flowers to show off in March.  Here are a few that we saw:

These were on the edge of the patio where we ate breakfast one morning in Belize City.  I love the juxtaposition of these two types of red flowers.

These are actually quite small, and grow on a tree, and I spotted them on the path to Altun Ha.  While I do have a picture that conveys their smallness, and shows the tree, I like this one better.

These were also at Altun Ha.  Even though they don't meet this month's Project Spectrum guidelines, being stark white instead of pink or red, they're much too pretty to exclude.  Personally, I'm rather proud of this picture.  I had to crawl under the plant to get it, as the blooms hang straight down.

This was in a yard we walked past in town.  Someone was actually hacking down a shrub just like this!   If only things like this could survive our winters..

 

There were lots of these shrubs at our hotel, right by the pool.

And this was on the path to the Main lobby of our hotel on Ambergris Caye.

And this bird of Paradise was in the border garden at our hotel in Belize City.

 

Since this is supposed to be a knitting blog...

F would also be for Fair Isle

if I had any decent pictures of my own to post.  While it is, once again,  on my list of things to do for real, I don't seem to have kept any of the fair isle knitting I've done.   I do have a partially knit fair isle nalgar (reverse raglan shaping) baby sweater whose sleeves are messed up, and of which I've got NO decent pictures... (and which offends me right now, so I don't want to take any pictures). Thus, to show you pictures of more than the swatches I did for my class with Anne Fietelson, I'd have to either link to them (thus usurping others' bandwidth) or swipe images from others, and since the only images I seem to like are those of other blogger's work, to post them here without permission would be...well,  wrong.... and I'm all eager to get this up before I'm woefully late in doing so.

Therefore, I'll just refer you to my favorite book on the subject of Fair Isle Knitting, The Art of Fair Isle Knitting by Anne Fietelson.  It has many amazing and wonderful pictures.  Anne, if you're out there, your book really IS my favorite... and that has very little to do with the fact that I personally like Anne a LOT, and miss her, and wish I still had real chances to visit with her and her family.  But I digress...

For now, is is for Fare Well...

See ya soon.... with a  real post next time.  Really...

E is for......

Since I can't do E is for Ennui (Norma has that covered), I'll have to try harder.
As Norma pointed out, this game is harder than I thought it would be!  Who knew??  I mean, c'mon how many ABC books are there out there??

I have one written by someone who shares my maiden name that I think is marvelous (it's one of those with an elaborate picture for each letter, chock full of things that start with that letter.... you're supposed to figure out the alliterative sentence that goes with it).  But short of scanning in that picture (a feat for which my scanner is not large enough), or taking a lame picture of the picture and then uploading it -- either of which would certainly violate some copyright somewhere, I can't really share that image.  Besides, THAT book is hiding from me right now.

Graeme Base shows E as being for "Eight Enormous Elephants Expertly Eating Easter Eggs".  The elephants names are Emily Ethel, Edward, Ernest, Eris, Esmeralda, Elizabeth and Egbert.  They're cavorting in front of an entry way.  I can't scan that picture either.

We are not going to discuss what Uncle Shelby Says about Ernest (the elf who lives in the ceiling and likes eggs).*

So, you're stuck with this...

E is for EYES

My eyes let me see the wonders of the world I live in, and allow me to revel in the myriad colors and color combinations that nature offers, as well as those that nature never intended (neon colors are just NOT natural). 
They let me watch my children grow, my kitten play, my fish swim,  the flowers bloom, and they let me see the love in my beloved's eyes. 
They also let me see the stitches I knit... to know when they're right, and when they need to be ....adjusted....

Isn't this a beautiful nebula?? It's called the Eye of God.  Looks a lot like an eye doesn't it.  Nifty thought that... an eye, like our eyes, allowing Him/Her (them?) to see all of those wonderful things too... and countless more as well. 

I guess it's sort of spooky too.  Space, watching us...  I'll try not to think about that too hard.

 

 

 

 

 

E is also for EARS

Ears let me hear the music of the universe -- whether from the speakers -  in my living room, on my computer or in my car -  or from the instruments - in the concert hall or in my own hallway (where the piano sits),-  or my family's and friends' voices, or from the songs of the birds in the tree outside, or from the babbling brooks and soughing wind.  Of course, they also let me hear uglier sounds, but we'll ignore those for now.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

E is for ENERGY (for which there are no pictures), which allows us to light the darkness, get things done, dance, fly, love, laugh, live!

E is for ELOQUENCE, something so many bloggers seem to have, and for which I'll continue to strive.

E is for etc.!

* Uncle Shelby's ABZ book was written by Shel Silverstein for adults.  Allowing kids to have this book would be hazardous to the health and welfare of everyone nearbye.  "What else can you put in the hole?"  See the scissors....

D is for DANCE

D is for Dance

I personally believe that dancing is the best form of exercise. It's music escaping from our legs and arms and shoulders and hips....

I'm very fond of ballroom dancing (my favorite is the jitterbug/swing, but I enjoy a good polka or foxtrot as well).

Time was that I'd go dancing two or three nights a week.  I had a dance partner ... and we'd even practice before going out to the club to dance in public.

I was svelte, sleek, slim and limber then.  I had low body fat.  I had energy.  I miss all of that.

Of course, it wasn't all roses... there was a time when my dear dad dropped me during a polka.  Someday, I'll let him for get.

I also love to watch Irish step dancing,

and perpetually wish I'd taken it as a child.

While I'm thinking of it, it's time for me to drag the girls to Contra Dancing too.  I once enjoyed that, and certainly would again..and it would likely help with the last D.

D is also for Dan, my DH, without whom my life would be unrecognizable, and for DADs (I have two, and they're both wonderful men without whom my life would be immeasurably poorer)

and lastly, D is for Depression, which is trying to get it's claws back into me lately.  I'm fighting, but feel rather like I'm sliding further downhill.  I will fight back. 

Today, I fought back by making up a wee package of goodies for my Secret Pal.  It has a hand-made gift, some consumable treats, a store bought trinket, and a new Chibi (cause, well, gee, don't knitters always need another chibi?).

It feels good to do things for others.

And lastly...

D is for Daisy Mayhem!
Tonight, I took C to see Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem.  They were fantastic.  I had no clue what I was getting into, having bought the tickets in July, and having long since forgotten even what type of music they played.  But I went, and am SO glad I did.
One of the last songs they played was about getting ready for joy.  While I don't have the lyrics, the gist was ... I've been down in the dumps, but I'm getting ready for joy, so I'm filling my heart and soul with gladness.... getty ready for joy.  So what I needed to hear and internalize!  Let's hope it lasts.

C is for....

C is for Cables and Candles, and Chocolate, and Cats

C is for Candles
They light our dinner tables, our bathrooms, our windows.

They send our prayers of thanksgiving, and hope, and wishes for health and healing on their way. 

When scented, they can fill our spaces with wonderful aromas, or mask the clinging odor of a co-worker's stale cigarette smoke.

A single candle in the dark is a night light for a child, a guide to the bathroom for a guest, a beacon of hope.

A dozen candles together is a gentle light to fill a room without the harshness of electric lights.

They evoke moods, and soothe the spirit. 

Whether the light is symbolic or useful, scented or not, candles provide my favorite light....  Unless, of course, I'm trying to take a picture.

 

C is for Cables

Without which many a sweater or scarf or pulse warmer or hat would be deadly dull. (and without which we could not have Rogue!

 

C is also for Chocolate

I'm guessing I don't need to say a lot about this....

I prefer mine rich and dark. 

and, of course, you knew I'd go here, didn't you?

 

C is for Cats, without whom, my life would be ... well... different, in a way I'm not sure I'd like

Shadow was the first cat who lived with me after I moved from my mother's house.  He endured many moves, a summer job that meant he flew to Colorado for three months, countless room-mates' pets (other cats, dogs, etc), and the arrival of my children, whom he loved.  He was affectionate to a fault, and trained me to sleep with him purring in my ear.

He lived a long and happy life... and died peacefully in my arms in 2001.  I miss him still.
He died before we ever had a digital camera.

 

Gabriel came into our home about 6 months after Shadow left.  I found him at the same Humane Society  from which Shadow came.  He was in the same cage too. (yes, I still remembered).  It was fate....
And yet, Gabriel will not cuddle anywhere but in this chair.  He sleeps at my feet, not on my head.
He's pushy with his affection, but so differently : he brings me live trophies as gifts... birds, mice, rabbits, voles. He's so very generous.

And, he tolderates his fellow four footed housemates well.

 

Zara likes to think she's queen of the house.

She's cuddlier than Gabriel, but only sometimes as pushy as Shadow.

My father, who tenerally has no time for cats, actually likes this one.