News from Abroad

The other member of our Global Knit-along has sent a picture of her Clapotis. I love the yarn choice and the color - much more versatile and elegant than mine.
If you take a close look at the edge, you will see that Elke has changed the pattern a little and has slipped the first stitch, creating a more finished edge. Lovely shawl, Elke !
I like the color so much that I may start a copycat Clapotis - seems to me there's some oatmeal handspun in the stash somewhere.

Clapotis

It's almost finished ! I 've loved knitting this scarf and can't wait to wear it. Last night the temperature was barely above freezing - surely a record for this time of year. It's almost June , after all. I'm hoping this strange cold snap may give me a chance to wear my soft and cozy wrap in the evenings for a few days at least.

And now let's hear from our knit-alongers - how is your Clapotis doing ?

It's official !

The Clapotis Knit-along has gone Global !

A warm welcome is extended to Elke, the European representative. Elke is a knitter and spinner extraordinaire and I can't wait to see what she will come up with to make her Clapotis .

My own Clapotis was started last night and knit while watching an old black and white British movie. I'm really happy with my yarn choice - the fabric is soft and drapey and will feel really good to snuggle into when I start to shiver in one of those super- air-conditioned places this summer.

Clapotis anyone ?

I'm starting to attack my Sheep & Wool stash - first up, SOLO from Brooks Farm Yarn, a lovely, soft singles yarn made of Fine Wool according to the label, perfect for a Clapotis.
Are last week's knitting buddies still interested in a knit-along ? We probably carry the distinction of being the last three human beings to knit this popular pattern. Makes me feel slightly outdated, sort of like a dinosaur.



I love the way the swatch for it turned out. This is going to be a fun knit !



The only thing I'm not crazy about are the little bumps on the side. They are made by the increases in the last stitch on each side. I tried reknitting these increases in different ways to achieve a prettier, smoother border, but couldn't really figure out another way. Any ideas, fellow knit-alongers ?

Congratulations

Our " Little Brown " salutes the fabulous Big Brown on his outstanding Preakness win !

Clearly, watching that race has exhausted Little Brown and some serious refueling is going on here.

What's Cooking ?

It's a great big pot of green cotton ! One whole pound , to be exact.

I spun it on my favorite Akha spindle, plied it and now it is simmering to deepen the color. When it is dry, it will turn into this.

As to all these rocks I have been digging up the last few days, I had two aha ! moments while digging. The first was when I realized I was excavating the site of a former stone wall. There's a reason this farm is called Stonewall Farm !

The second was when I said bitterly to myself " I could build a house with all these rocks." Second Aha ! moment : I think I'll build the base for my clay breadbaking oven out of them. I always wanted to try building with field stone the way Scott and Helen Nearing did.

And the moral is : When life gives you lemons - uhm, I mean rocks, - - - make walls.

You've got to be kidding me...

Today I tried to plant the small apple tree you see in the background. Its trunk has the diameter of my index finger and the root ball is not very large either. It needed a modest hole and I couldn't believe it when I started digging - check out the mountain of rocks that came out of that small hole ! Somebody ought to invent a rock radar - like the radar on a boat that shows what's under the water - so you know where not to dig.

Other than that it was a beautiful day here in the country .

A Memorable Weekend

This weekend we all converged on NYC by every means of transportation known to man : car, train, taxi,

some of of us even arrived by boat !

We had come together to celebrate an important occasion and the fabulous Ms. NYC had carefully researched a restaurant ( 3 Michelin stars !!! ) for this memorable event. The food was incredible - 8? 9? courses, each one more complex and wonderful than the last and , of course, the wines to go with it all were equally amazing.
After three hours, we left with a little gift bag containing a lemon pound cake, just in case we felt peckish on the way home.

Next stop was Duane Park , a tiny park in Tribeca, all that is left over from the original farm that was here 200 years ago when this area was still outside of the city.

There we spied Brother Stomach, totally undone and oblivious to a mysterious Brunette seated tantalizingly close to him.

Meanwhile, Ms. RFD betrayed her country roots by gazing up and admiring the amazing skyscraper cityscape all around .

We concluded the day by a wonderful little Mother's Day celebration at chez NYC. Here you see Ms. RFD, updated and urbanized by her fabulous new sunglasses.

What a day ! Great occasion, wonderful company, incredible venue and lots of good talk and laughter - truly a memorable weekend.

The Haul from the Sheep and Wool Festival

I'm coming clean - here it is - my guilty pleasure : fiber gluttony !

From left to right - brown, white and green cotton roving, buttery soft pink yarns for a sweater, blue/purple silk/merino blend for a summer shawl, a raspberry red/brown, etc. mix yarn for a Clapotis shawl, lots of superwash merino roving for socks and in front a bag of mohair/wool roving for a vest for Mr. RFD. Oh yea, and in the back are 3 skeins of sock yarn.

Weekend Update

It was the first Saturday in May and that means the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival !

There were lots of fiber enthusiasts everywhere - knitting, spinning, looking at all the yarns and fleeces,
and getting inspiration for the next project

There were men in kilts ( surprisingly sexy )

and some men who were surprising, but definitely not sexy,
but I digress.
There were mountains of irresistible yarns -

and did I mention there were lots of sheep ?
And at the end of the day the baby was displaced from the carriage by all the wonderful purchases and everyone was totally exhausted , but happy.

Sadly, the Deep-Fried Twinkies people were not there this year - possibly in the hospital with a coronary ?

What did I get ? I am working up my courage to display my haul - it's embarrassingly large....