I love spring!

Springtime has put me in the mind of spinning again. Springtime always makes me want to try again. Next step, getting into shape. . . but for now, it's spinning. Last week I finished another 200 yards. Only one tiny problem. My spinning has gotten much better since I started, so I now have two totally different gauges.


So I did a gauge swatch first from one ball then from the other. REALLY DIFFERENT!


The bottom of the swatch is the older handspun (about 15 st/4 in) while the top of the swatch from the most recent (20 st / 4 in). . . hmmm.

I was going to use the handspun for a cardigan, so I'll either use the chunkier stuff for the back or the sleeves. Can't decide.

Upstairs in my knitting oasis, springtime is developing nicely. The Iris's have started to bloom




















The strange wildflowers that came from nowhere are blooming


and the veggies are going nuts!

I'm still plugging along on the miles of stockinette of the Feather and Fan Cardigan, and the lace scarf, but I took a little detour to knock out a little one skein neck warmer for the shop. One of The Point's most popular yarns is Misti Alpaca. We introduced a one skein scarf a few months ago that was a huge hit, and now we have this cute little one skein neck warmer.

Here it is knit up in the handpainted chunky. SOOO soft




I also treated myself to three skeins of the amazing Alchemy Silk Purse. We just got it in last week and it's flying off the shelves. I'm going to make the Lotus Blossom Tank with these beauties

Life's ups and horrible downs

Life can be a crazy up and down affair. Sunday was one of my best day in ages, then Monday I got some devastatingly sad news about a friend, Tuesday I felt like crap all day, and today after some, shall we say, return of breakfast, I stayed home sick from work. After a nap and a shower I'm feeling a little better. Tomorrow is another day.

Getting back to Sunday. . . I finished my brother's freakishly large scarf (just in time for summer). This will keep him warm on the South Pole!



I also finished spinning up & plying my second skein of handspun. Here it is drying up on the deck


And posing in the sun amongst the plants on the roof deck.


On the other side of the skein you can see a few hugely fluffy, chunky bits. Ah well






























Speaking of the deck . . . two weeks ago we planted our veggies in our amazing Earth Boxes! Check out two weeks of growth:

Broccoli two weeks ago

Broccoli now!

Zucchini, Peppers & Herbs two weeks ago

and now (huge plant in the middle is the Zucchini)

The lilacs are blooming and the Iris' are coming in:
















Soon it was time to head over to Prospect Park for a little knitting outside with the Prospect Park Knitting Group. It was a perfect day. On the way I passed my favorite garden in spring time. There is a house whose yarn is filled end to end with tulips. Gorgeous!


My Feather & Fan Cardigan is to the miles of stockinette section . . . perfect for a knitting group. You can talk and not screw it up!

After a few dreamy hours knitting in the park I came home and decided to dust off the pasta maker. I haven't made pasta from scratch in over a year. I made a lovely basil fettucini and David came home and whipped up a fantastic spinach pesto. It was a perfect day.

I guess the perfect days wouldn't seem quite so perfect without the crappy days. I've had three kind of not so great days. I'm ready for my next good one.

Ode to Blocking

What takes a nicely knit piece and turns it into a PERFECT piece? Blocking. I was shocked recently when one of our regular customers (you know who you are) admitted to me that he never blocks his pieces. I just finished blocking the top of the Feather and Fan Cardigan. I used my two new toys - the blocking wires I bought with my niece Alana's gift certificate (THANK YOU) and my new blocking blocks that one of our teachers, Hannah, turned me onto.

They are called Knitter's Block. They are interlocking blocks that you can put together in a variety of configurations (more about that later) with an absorbent side.

The interesting thing is their blocking method. It comes with a large cloth. You pin your piece in place, and then (depending on the fiber and pattern), you either steam block it, or spray the whole piece with water. Here's the interesting part. You then take the cloth, get it good and wet and cover your piece. When the cloth is dry, your blocking is done!

Here's my sweater pinned in place in the lovely evening light:




My other new (I don't know how I ever lived without them) tool are my beloved blocking wires. I bought a full set that has straight wires in two different lengths, and flexible wires. These were PERFECT for this project. They helped me create a straight edge for the side of the cardigan and take out the large swag that happens with feather and fan. Here's a close up:


The only drawback to the Knitter's Blocks is they are not built to be put together in any configuration. As you can see from the shape of the upper bodice of the sweater, what I needed was a T shape, like this

The blocks however, only fit snuggle one way. I had to kind of force them, and it didn't really work perfectly

Never the less, the next morning, I removed the dry cover to reveal my perfectly blocked piece


So here it is, the finished upper bodice of my cardigan. Now I just have to knit the miles of stockinette . . . kill me now.


Speaking of kill me now. . . my brother agreed that the 11" wide scarf he wanted was insane. I ripped out the scarf and recast it on for a 9" width. Still REALLY wide, but not a baby blanket. I also changed to US 17 instead of 15 which made it more flexible and drapier. It will still be the world's warmest scarf




It looks like I'll have two whole skeins left over. I bought 4 back in the day when I thought I was making the insane 11" wide scarf. I have a crazy plan for it, but more about that later.

Springtime & Passover

It's that time of year when our thoughts turn to Matzo and mulching. I had two swell Seders with David & our pal Nell and two big gardening days.



Sunday we tried to play catch up in the garden, and I continued for four hours on Monday. Things are still pretty behind, and we had some casualties. The peach tree looks pretty damn dead.

We did manage to plant a bunch of veggies, we put in lettuce, broccoli, eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, yellow pepper, basil, sage, lavender. Today I got the Canna in and divided and planted all the Dahlia bulbs in starter pots.

(The lilac tree about to bloom)

(The Gerber Daisies)

(The Peonies a comin up!)


(Our AMAZING climbing roses . . . stay tuned for when these babies bloom)

(The Lilies, you'll have to wait until late July until these bloom)

(My favorite tree ever - the Japanese Maple)

(The first of the Strawberries coming in)

(The peppers, zucchini & herbs)

(The, now, sad looking lettuce . . . just wait)

(The basil & eggplant)

(Broccoli)

So, after two backbreaking days of gardening . . . I present, our April deck. Not much to look at now, but it will be:

Feather and Fan detour

After the most recent debacle with the Feather and Fan Cardigan, I was happy to set it aside for a bit for two knitting distractions. The first one was knitting cupcakes for the shop window. An addictive little pattern and a great way to get rid of scrap yarn. I'm up to five so far!


The second is a little larger . . . my brother's 11" x 8' scarf. What? That's right, my beloved brother wants an 11" x 8' scarf. I bought Cascade Magnum so I wouldn't be knitting for the rest of my adult life. Only one problem . . . it's so damn thick that his neck may be slightly strained under the weight of it. I'm doing a basket weave with it:


Monday I'll start the Feather and Fan again . . . and clean the apartment . . . and start exercising . . . and file my receipts . . . and catch up on e-mail.

Or maybe next week.

One step forward, two steps back

Everytime I make a little progress with this pattern I realize how much I've screwed it up and have to rip back to fix it. This pattern is feeling like a metaphor for my life lately. Ah well, if only it were as easy to frog your life and just go back a few rows/years.

I was almost to binding off the left sleeve and upper bodice of the Soft Linen Feather and Fan Cardigan when I realized I forgot to change to the LEFT bodice instructions and I had just repeated the right bodice again. Since I'm not a mutant. That ain't gonna work. Frog (again)


Saturday night I got home from work at my favorite time in my favorite season in my favorite place. It was twilight, springtime in Park Slope. I went straight up to the roof to check out the light and see our garden.

Here's the Park Slope springtime sky



As for the garden, the woefully untended garden, well, springtime is nature's do over. Gives me hope that I can keep reinventing myself and still be okay.

The tree we moved last fall . . . we didn't kill!


The tulips bulbs that we didn't move up in the bed after we dug up the Dahlia's . . . in bold defiance of our neglect, decided to bloom


and the Flowering Quince that we killed from a total lack of watering, decided to give us another chance


We'll try to do better this year.

Long lost friends, springtime and other contradictions

I've been missing my friends lately. It's my own fault. We say we're going to stay in touch but we never do. Life gets in the way. We are spread all over the place now. My pals Maggie, Tom & Rachel are in Chicago, Michele is in Ohio, Genevra is in Carbondale, 1 Francesca is in California, 1 Francesca (that's right I know two) is on tour and god only knows when she's coming home. Just as I was really missing my old friends I got a call from Michele to say she's visiting NY!!! Yeah, I needed a bit of home.

Time is moving so fast that spring totally snuck up on me. We've done NOTHING in the garden, yet spring comes whether you do anything about it or not. I went up to check things out and saw:







Nature doesn't really wait for you to catch up!

The Feather and Fan Cardigan is coming along, and I can safely report that Classic Elite Soft Linen takes being ripped out and frogged VERY well. I've screwed up this pattern more than I can say.

Here it is so far