KNITTING

Since I came back from Canada I've been knitting up a storm. It's been too hot to do much else, frankly. So long as the projects are small, knitting is a good thing to work on indoors when it's too hot to breathe outdoors.

I have to show you the yarns I brought back from Canada. I knew I would find yummy stuff, and I was not disappointed. The first shop we went to in Edmonton was Ewe Asked for it.

I was completely overwhelmed when I walked in the shop and I realized that I hadn't the foggiest idea what I wanted to buy and that if I wasn't careful I would just grab one of everything and come home with nothing useful. So I settled on yarn to make a pair of socks. I hadn't made socks in a long time, but all the bloggers and podcasts talk about making socks, so I decided that would make a good small project. Also I love wool socks in the winter, and they're impossible to find here except the kind that

will fit into hunting boots. That's where I bought the Tofutsies, which, as you can see, is making a lovely sock. It's only part wool; the rest is acrylic made from soybeans, a little bit of cotton, and chitin from shrimp and crab shells to give it antibacterial qualities. It's the fiber combination that intrigued me, as well as the fun and funky colors it comes in. And I've successfully navigated my way past one heel turn, so now it's just straight on to the toe.

Yarn shops were a new experience for Mary Jane. She just walked around in a kind of daze patting things and saying "Oooh." Even Randy got into the act, I think just taking in this environment where things exist that he had no knowledge of.

The other store in Edmonton we went to was River City Yarns. They had more of the lace weight yarns that I was hoping to bring home for shawls. The green in the center is the silk yarn that Bart and I played with yesterday; as you can see I've already wound it (twice) and started knitting a simple shawl from it. The yarn is nubbly, and the shawl/scarf drapes beautifully. It was hand painted in Nova Scotia, so it's truly a Canadian souvenir.

In the back is some Sock It To Me, another wool yarn that will make my feet happy come January. And on the left is some merino wool lace weight that will make a shawl for somebody special.
My big knitting accomplishment for the week was to block and put ties on 6 baby sweaters This brings to 15 the total for the year so far, with plenty of year left to make my goal of 20. In fact there is one in the finishing basket right now waiting for blocking and ties, so I only need to make 4 more to have those done. They are a great travel project because the directions are very simple, and there's not a lot of counting and thinking that has to go on. Plus, I really like the n0-seams part. I'm anxious to try the Elizabeth Zimmermann baby sweater, but that does have sewing, so I think this will still be my favorite for charity sweaters.

So right now I have 3 projects on the needles: the socks made from the Tofutsies, the shawl from the hand-painted silk, and the EZ square blanket. I finished the first skein on that this morning and now realize I don't have enough to make the whole blanket in the white Wool-Ease, so will have to decide how I want to introduce the second color. That will be the challenge for this coming week.

KEEPING SABBATH

Monday is my Sabbath, and I try to make it a day of renewal and not just a day off. I didn't do anything special today, but it was still a good day.

Yesterday I wound the silk yarn I bought in Alberta and started knitting a shawl from it. During the night my #1 yarn thief, pictured left, got hold of the ball and completely unwound it all around the living room. I was strongly tempted to commit mayhem upon him, but instead I just quietly rewound the yarn while he did his best to be invisible sitting on a white dining room chair. There's one section that will have to be discarded, but most of it came through unscathed except for dust and cat hair. I'm not sure which Bart enjoyed more, the unwinding of the ball or watching me crawling around under all the chair legs to rewind it. And the little snot had the audacity to snuggle up in the bed with me after doing his dastardly deed.

As much as I try not to do housework (or any other kind of work) on my Sabbath, some things are just necessary. I started the morning by dumping grits all over the kitched floor when the box slipped out of my hands while I was reaching for the measuring cup. Then the grits boiled out of their bowl in the microwave, so there was another mess to clean up. Since I was already in cleaning mode, I did a few things toward getting my bedroom back to the tidy space I like it to be. And there were dishes to wash and litterboxes to tend. I also moved some side tables around to move one that has closed storage into the den from the music room. It seems hiding balls of yarn in my knitting basket is no longer adequate protection from the Yarn Thief. The silk was pretty sturdy and took his abuse pretty well. I'd hate to think what he would have accomplished if it had been the merino wool he'd stolen.

In the early afternoon the mailman brought a delivery from Amazon.com which included two of the Elizabeth Zimmermann knitting books I ordered last week, and the 10th season DVD's of The Simpsons. I was waiting for the EZ books because one of the groups I belong to has been talking a lot lately about both pi shawls and her square baby blanket. I browsed through both books for a while, then got out some white Wool-Ease I'd been saving for something special and started a blanket. I had to learn how to do provisional casting on, which was another thing I've been hearing about but had never actually done.

Part of Sabbath for me is to cook meals that are special in some way, so for supper I cooked some fish I found in the freezer and put it with some Tater Tots and green beans. The fish was some seasoned tilapia, and was actually quite good. I felt good that I had put a balanced plate together. After supper I sat with the Simpsons and knitted on the blanket for a while. And I ended the day by starting the new Diane Mott Davidson novel I had bought for my trip to Canada then decided not to pack.

It was a good Sabbath. There were new treats to enjoy, and good food. Except for rewinding Bart's mess, I did nothing that was stressful or that could be in any way construed as work. It wasn't a particularly spiritual day, but it was still a good Sabbath.