Spring flowers

Spring is fully upon us.  Every time I walk anywhere in the city, I try to take the time to enjoy the beautiful flowers in bloom.  I recently got the to spend some time in the garden that surrounds the American Museum of Natural History. 

The sun was shining.

The flowers were beautiful.

I couldn't ask for a better place to knit.

(Madtosh lace in Fig held double.)

Happy Spring,
Joyce

A few of my favorite things

As I'm sure you know by now, I love knitting.  However, you may not be familiar with my love of skating.  As with knitting, I had to try it multiple times before I was able to get the hang of it. 

However, I got the hang of skating (I was in my 20s) much earlier than knitting (my 30s, I'm nothing if not a late bloomer). 

It doesn't hurt that I met Hubbie while skating around the campus of the university we were both attending.  He was skating too (he was a roller hockey player).

This weekend I got the oppurtunity to go skating with Hubbie in Flushing Meadows Park (we are having seriously unseasonably warm weather).  There he is, the tall guy in the hoodie in front of the globe.

It was sunny and the park has lots of fresh new sidewalk, a boon for skaters.

I came home happy with the world (gotta love those endorphins).  Oh, and Pogona kept me nice and toasty all throughout. 

The shape is really interesting and it stays on your shoulders. 

Plus the color is fantastic.  Mad Tosh sure does amazing colors.

Now if only I could knit while I skate,
Joyce

Idyle thoughts on Wylde tomatoes

When I finished Tempest, I thought I was done with fingering weight sweaters forever.  But within a few days I started to get the sweater jones again.  The fingering weight sweater jones. 

There are several reasons why I'm not sure why I continue to get such sweater cravings.  First, I'm a shawl knitter.  You may have noticed that I like to knit them, and design them, and when weather permits wear them.  Second, the sweaters I make never fit me.  That's my fault really.  I tend to make them a size too small.  (Eventually I will be honest with myself about my bust size... Today may not be the day.)

At first I thought I was going to be thwarted by a lack of yarn.  I know that sounds ridiculous given the amount of yarn in the stash, but, as I may have mentioned, I'm a shawl knitter so while I have plenty of fingering weight yarn, it's all in shawl amounts (600 yds or less).  But then I remembered.  I have nearly 1600 yds of Madeline Tosh fingering weight in, you guessed it, Tomato!  So I immediately cast on another fingering weight sweater.  This time it's Idlyewylde by Melissa Werle.  The pattern is very well written and easy to follow.  Plus, this time I made it in my bust size (or nearly so, I think).

I've finished the body and am nearly done with the sleeves. I decided to change the sleeves up a little.  I'm knitting them flat. Plus, I am making them full length (or not depending on whether I run out of  yarn) and I added a lace motif around the cuff. 

Hopefully I will get this one done faster than Tempest,
Joyce

I love Tomatoes!

Did I mention how much I adore the MadTosh colorway Tomato?  It's orange with yellow undertones and red overtones.  I adore this colorway so much that even my 16 year old nephew knows about it.

Imagine my surprise and joy when, walking in the park, I came across a plant that had flowers the same color as my obsession... um, I mean... no really, it's an obsession.

I wasn't 100% convinced at first so I pulled out the skein that I had on me. (I know, it's shocking that's I just happened to be carrying a skein on me that day. Ok, so no it's not.)  And Voila!  There it was, solid proof of both the color match and my obsession.

Nothing like Tomatoes to lift the spirits,
Joyce

Troy's Folly

By now most of us have heard the mythological tale of Helen and Paris and the events that started the Trojan war.  If not, Wikipedia has a rather thorough article about it.  Go, check it out, I'll wait...

(Ah, you're back.  I missed you.) 

Such a tragic story.  One of love, intrigue, and men with swords.  However, despite it's seemingly romantic nature (which I've been told is the perfect way to name a shawl) the story of Helen and Paris is not the origin of the name of this shawl.

It turns out that also filled with love, intrigue, but sadly no men with swords, is the naming of a shawl.  Often I find one that I love and fits the pattern perfectly only to go on Ravelry and discover that, alas, it is taken.  So I'm cast about on a sea of shawl namelessness (I'm pretty sure that's a real word) and forced to turn to those closest to me to help me find a suitable name.  And sometimes, I ask Hubbie....

Hubbie is a sweet man, but he cannot be trusted with the naming of a shawl.  He will most often come up with names that seems perfectly fine until after a moment  I realize that they are, in fact, quite crude. (Morning Wood is just one of the many that comes to mind.) 

If you haven't figured it out by now, Hubbie's real name is Troy. His mother chose to name him that instead of the serial killer inducing 'John Wayne.' (Thank you, Mom!)  So if you're wondering what Troy's Folly really is... It's trying to help me name shawls.

If only Troy would take me to Paris,
Joyce

PS The purple shawl is in Madeline Tosh Merino Light in Lolita.  The green one is in Knit Picks Stroll Tonal Sock in Canopy.

In progress

I tend to take shots of my projects while they are in progress.  But, given that I can't show most of them to you until they are finished, I forget to post pictures of the projects in progress.  So here are a few.

Helen's Grace:

The Magenta version of Troy's Folly.  Knit in Madeline Tosh Merino Light.  (I love love love this yarn!!!)

Omelet:

I hope you've enjoyed these amorphous blobs (I know I did!),
Joyce

Attack of the killer tomato!

I love my new MadTosh Tomato hat!  It's Crooked Paths by Melissa LaBarre.

Too bad winter is nearly over,
Joyce

Speaking of Tarts

I did mention that I can't resist the draw of beautiful yarn, right?

MadTosh Merino Light... you guessed it... in Tart.

I can now understand why the Queen of Hearts was so upset,
Joyce

Goodies

I’ve recently taken up biking.  For those who know me, please stop laughing.  Let’s just say that I don’t have the best history with bicycles.  So much so in fact, when I called GiGi and told her that I was biking she laughed and asked if I remember what I’m like on a bicycle.  Apparently my sister thinks that circus bears are better cyclists than I am.  I’m afraid she might be right.  But I have my trusty helmet, a bike shop nearby for repairs (to the bike), and a hospital about ten blocks away (for repairs on me), so I think I’m ready.

On the knitting front, I finished and blocked the green shawlette.  It's called Troy's Folly.  I hope to get the pictures of it taken this weekend.  Until then, a small teaser:

Of course, once the green one was finished, I immediately cast on a purple version for GiGi. 

It’s in MadelineTosh Merino Light Magenta.  Such a fabulous deep purple and incredibly soft.  Plus it’s got a great price for the yardage.

I heard a rumor  (ok, so I read it on Ravelry) that my favorite knitting store ever, Knitty City, got another MadTosh shipment in yesterday.  I wasn’t planning on going into the City today, but given that incentive, I may not be able to resist.  Must. Have. Delicious. Yarn.

My friends and family gave me some really great birthday presents. Both fibery and non-fibery.
The non-fibery...
Hubbie got me a Kindle!

It's amazing! Since I started back to school, I've been carrying what felt like a ton of paper (mostly journal articles about weevils. Yeah, I'm one of those crazy insect people) in my bag.  It was fighting with my travel knitting for space, and starting to win!  Happily, those papers are now condensed into a cool gadget that is only the size and weight of a small novel.  Woot! Awesome!

Elle gave me a pendant that appeals to my inner (but not so hidden) geek. 

She got it from JannellyBeads' Etsy shop. The quote is from a video game called Portal.  Hubbie plays it and I love it (but haven't played it because my brain doesn't work that way).  The game is really funny.  Thanks, Elle, for helping me fly my geek flag.

Let's talk about the fiber...
TK gave me some beautiful salmon lace weight in cotton/silk/cashmere from School Products Yarn. (Unfortunately, it's not available on their website.) 

She gave it to me on the condition that I make something for my self with it (a yarn gift with strings).  She's great that way!  (The condition probably had something to do with my comment that the color would look great on GiGi. :-D ) I can't wait to make something with it!

Athie finally yielded some of her lovely handspun (fingering weight, 450+ yards of Targhee wool) to me. 

I've been drooling over her stuff for months now.  Athie is an unabashed yarn snob, and it extends to her fiber for spinning.  So anything she spins in bound to be fabulous. (Plus she's really good at the whole spinning thing.) Sadly, for those of you that don't know her, she doesn't sell her hand spun. (Booyah, score one for me!) (I'm sorry, did I say that out loud? ;-D )

Lastly, I got myself (really, everyone should get themselves a little something for their birthday) some Manos del Uruguay Lace (Ravelry link) (alpaca, silk, cashmere). 

So beautiful, so soft, so calling me to knit with it!