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Dear Ellen,

I thought our spam was getting a bit tame, so thought I’d try out the above title for this post.  Actually, it’s quite accurate…three quick bits for you and our readers.

First, why didn’t I think of it before??  I started using a 000 circular needle for my lifeline on Fichu, Gesundheit and it is fantastic!  So easy to slide in and easy to pick up the stitches if I have to use it.  Don’t ask why I know this.

Second, while I’m making good progress on moving preparations, it sure is lonely with Dale gone.  In case you didn’t recall, he left earlier this week to meet friends Alan and Kathleen in Bermuda to help them sail their boat Crackerjack to Newport, RI.  Crackerjack came in 5th in class and 12th overall on the run to Bermuda (Newport-Bermuda Race 2009) and the race crew is enjoying the beaches.  After a day of re-stowing everything and drying out sails after some hairy weather, Dale, Alan, Kathleen and another guy got back underway earlier today.  Here’s exactly where he is as I make this post.

Finally, I cast on my Sargasso Sea Shell the night before Dale left for his sailing adventure in the Atlantic.  He won’t be anywhere near the Sargasso Seas, but it’s also an expression for being in the doldrums…no air. And you need air for sailing. I want him home quickly and safely, so knitting this while he’s gone is a bit of a good luck charm.  Also, Vanessa often recommends breathing deeply as air is good for us too.  Big needles, big yarn (the silk, cotton, rayon from Estes Park!) and lots more progress since this was taken.  I’ll be done before he arrives home for sure.

Love, Jan

Dear Jan,

You and Dale have been climbing your own peaks lately (Dale - a marathon on Pike’s Peak, really?  And when do you get that second star?).  My personal peak has been more subtle; I’m grateful I didn’t pass over it without stopping to notice the summit.

I’m talking about Summer Solstice or Midsummer or Litha, whatever you prefer. I marked the holiday by sleeping out in the backyard, and woke to a beautiful planet in the first dawn of summer. I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of melancholy, for the days will now shorten, in tiny bits that aren’t noticeable at first, but by late August the angle of light will be telling.   Just last weekend I picked our first alpine strawberries and already I have to face that winter is coming.

I suppose I could despair, but instead I will hold this as a reminder to relish the warm, bright days ahead.  The  garden is reaching that lovely state of anticipation as we start picking a few things, radishes, herbs, greens, and can see that tomatoes and eggplants are setting fruit and it will be a bumper crop of cherries.  I am so enjoying the wedding flowers, so glad we went this route and that I get to be reminded of a loving event every time I walk out my door.

The red winged blackbirds must be fledging their young now.  Groups of juveniles are appearing at our feeder, sticking together for safety and landing with the charming awkwardness and eagerness that teenagers of other species share.  Then they poop on the deck, which in its own way reminds me of teenagers of other species, but I’m still happy to have had them all.

I don’t have much notable knitting to share - the onesy progresses but doesn’t look much different than last photo (though I knit on it quite awhile in the dark last night, which was so peaceful).  I’m about to the scyes on the shell and the fabric remains enchanting to me.  Here is a shot of the wrong side, though it is so pretty I hate to call it that.

I hope your rush of the last few days of your Colorado assignment doesn’t keep you from enjoying this beautiful summer.

Love,

Ellen

Hi, Jan,

Sorry I’ve been out of touch a bit.  I traveled to Guelph (about an hour west of Toronto) for work last week, and between that and several special initiatives with June deadlines and the fact that it is performance appraisal time (I write and deliver 10, and I take it seriously), I have found scant blogging leisure.

I did find some knitterati, though.  Susan, a friend via my work network and I dashed into the city to meet her stepdaughter, J, for dinner.  We also made sure to see some yarn.   Susan had a couple of suggestions, one being the Naked Sheep.  I was delighted to see that my buddy Annie was  teaching that night!  I knew she was on an extended teaching tour but hadn’t put together that we’d be in the same city at the same time.   Toronto traffic did us wrong and I only had time to run in and hug her quick before we had to go meet J, but it was so fun to see Annie’s look of surprise and, I think, delight.

Dinner with J was delightful and we lingered over Tibetan momos.  It left us barely enough time to stop by Lettuce Knit for a chance to knit with some of the luminaries of our knitting era.  Somewhere in this blur you might be able to spot S P-M’s curly hair and back in the corner, but out of sight, I think, is SW of Knitting Daily.  I was a bit of a nervous dolt, and I probably seemed ridiculous, simultaneously trying to be nonchalant yet obviously being so danged chalant it was freakish.  Still, the shop staff was totally welcoming and charming.  I need to cure myself of being a knitting groupie - it isn’t self-respect building, really. And it probably intrudes on people’s private space.  I should stick with those I know and love, like Annie, and all the rest of my hometown knitting gang.

During all of this, I have managed to make a little progress on the onesie I started about 2 weeks ago.  It is going quickly enough, showing signs of what it will be when it is all grown, though not rapid-fire. It is neither a long term project nor a quickie.

Tomatoes are my long term garden projects this summer, and I have a few radishes that are coming right along and should be ready in a week or so.  But for mid-range, I grow  jalapeños - you can see what they are going to be very early, and you don’t have to wait forever for them to ripen. A lot like the onesie, I think this one could be ready in just a few more weeks.

Love,

Ellen

Dear Ellen,

You knew from the title that this post would contain some very bad judgment.  It does.

For some reason I decided that working on Fichu, Gesundheit — the next Vanessa project — would be  a great way to fill time while I was nursing a bad shoulder spasm that started last Thursday.  Yes, I was taking flexeril(tm) and trying to keep my left arm immobilized, but that didn’t stop me.  As the photo shows, I did finally make some progress, but it was only after roughly 8 hours or knitting, tinking, frogging and more knitting.  When I finally realized I was misinterpreting a chart symbol it went a lot better.  MAYBE this could have worked had I already done a few repeats of the pattern, but I had only done the garter stitch neckband and hadn’t even studied the chart.  Oh, wait…studying the chart.  I suppose that might have helped too.  I can report that today the shoulder is much better and when I finish here, I plan on doing another repeat…with a clear head.  I hope the foregoing builds your sense of confidence in our senior military leaders.

A very sensible person would have picked one of the other projects already underway.  For instance, I’ve only gotten about 4 inches into the skirt part of A Stitch Away From Genius — hours to go before I’d have to think of anything other than remembering to slip the first stitch of each row.  And the Robin’s Egg Vest is at point where I can do it pretty much without thinking.  Cinnamon Tee takes some counting to keep track of when to decrease for the fitting, but other than that it’s stockinette…so with so many better options, what the heck was I thinking?  I guess I just needed a challenge…and I had not a bit of sense in between my ears at the time.

And evidently, I’m not done with the startitis.  I’ve got this lovely Alpaca from gentle Narcissus of Table Rock Llamas — she’s not pictured on their web site as she’s not for sale.  With it I intend to make Not So Naive with the “Ingenue” pattern in Custom Knits.  It is a great boatneck sweater with a quasi-standup “portrait” collar.  And I’ve committed to make one of two pair of booties for one of the young Lieutenants who has done so much for women in the Navy (including getting the senior Navy women organized on Facebook!) and is now expecting twins.  I’m calling them Hopeful Booties as her first name is Hope. I’m using the Baby Life Ring Booties Pattern from Cat Bordhi’s Magical Knitting site.

Perhaps the muscle relaxers are still affecting me…I do have to be ready to move in less than a month and I’m going to start more projects?!

With that thought in mind, I think I’ll go knit.

Love, Jan

P.S. I was very busy the last two weeks of silence…several trips and mandatory fun.  No need to bore you with it!

Hi, Jan,

While you are out there galavantin’ around the country, I stayed safe at home and had my knitting group over for a lovely June evening.  We laughed loud and long, but I don’t think the neighbors reported us.

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Of note, Karen’s tremendous progress on her Sideways Spencer Redux…

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and Eryka’s self designed shawl in moss stitch with crochet edging.  You are correct, that is not Eryka modeling.  It is Peggy, and we were a bit worried blood would flow as she certainly showed no signs of willingness to return it.

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I made a little progress on Rhythm and Blues.  It is very entertaining to watch what these colors do next to each other.

Safe travels to you,

Love,

Ellen