So I am feeling pretty scatter-brained at the moment. This is my first afternoon off, just by myself to do whatever I want in I don't know how long! Almost always when I have a day off I'm a) outside the house doing things with other people or b) traveling. It seems like such a luxury, but I earned it by working extra hours last week. I have lots of projects I have been dabbling at for a while.
A friend had a big celebration (after the fact) for her 50th birthday. She invited a group of us to her farmhouse out in the countryside. Where we celebrated, crafted, and generally had a blast together.
The photo at the top of this post is a view of A's gorgeous stretch of mountain meadowland.
And the next photo shows a friend knitting our collective Great Mother Stole project. This bright red Stole is intended as a gift to A to mark this new phase of her life and to give her strength and warmth from the group. Half a dozen of us donated yarn in not only red, but a few other colors. At the weekend event in the mountains, four of us have variously knitted parts of this pattern based upon one in a juicy book called, The Knitting Goddess by Deborah Bergman.
So in addition to the Stole and a memory book about our country weekend that I'm putting together for A, there are a few other knitting projects in various stages of creation.
A big "Hello" to some crafty ladies gathered at the Society of American Archivists' conference in Washington, D.C. last week. Just to sit, knit, and chat with you was a welcome respite from the total concentration of listening to presentations at the conference. Due to the conference, I am getting rather farther along on my Monterey Bay Sea Lettuce Scarf which you see a picture of here on the right. This Lucy Neatby pattern was a perfect one to take along in my tote bag and grab between sessions.
My great news is that last Sunday, I finally knit my first modular pattern: a simple entrelac design (looks like basket weave). Thanks to Sue at Lovelyarns in Hampden, Baltimore for an excellent class. Here's my first swatch attempt to show you what it looks like.
Don't you love how the dark yarn contrasts with the vibrant red and purple variegated yarn? I think I'm going to get a lot of mileage out of this technique.Finally, I have dabbled a bit with mixed media projects, my collage-covered boxes. The Spanish Box posted in June is getting additional features and elements added to it. Stay tuned for another post when it's further along and other theme boxes are in progress.
