Bright Colors and Plastic Bits: My Marriage

A's craft is model airplanes, WWII-era fine-scale military aircraft. He gets the same feeling of happiness and quivering anticipation from this




that I get from this



A, with his stacks of unmade plane kits, respects my shockingly comprehensive yarn stash. With his drawer of tiny little bottles of paints, my box of needles and hooks. I even began to peruse "Finescale Modeling" and take an interest in faux weathering tecniques, and A admired the sock heel-turning process. I think an entire marriage can be built on co-dependent crafting! That, and music.

The finest product of our mutual obsessions is E. She knits AND models--her first little knit purse this past summer, and just last week, with Alex, a snap-tite model of a Blue Angel. She'd seen them flying in formation over her preschool roof garden during last spring's Fleet Week, and especially asked to make one. That's one crafty girl.

Back to Brooklyn

We arrived torn and frayed at midnight, toting a bag full o' barbecue and a great big psychological hangover. Family visits can be taxing. But Texas is pretty darn fun.

I missed my ripple afghan so much that I actually began another one in San Antonio--but the guilt of the Rowan Ripple weighing heavy, I had to go on the cheap. We went to Hobby Lobby, where I purchased many skeins of Sugar n' Cream yarn. Granted, it's cotton. But in a moment of confusion, addled by the Texas sun, I decided to use only variegated yarns of all different color combinations. I have very mixed feelings about this new ripple...okay, I'm being polite to him. I just don't like him. I really don't. And now I'm committed to this bad relationship. Here he is, the boorish new boyfriend:



Eew.

Waiting for me when I arrived, though, to soothe my compromised crafting, was a package of sale Rowan:





The photo doesn't quite capture the cheery colors, but I have high hopes for their incorporation into Good Ripple.


Here are some of my favorite things in Texas...

Loveliness in the Texas heat:



Old Guy resting on his log at the San Antonio Zoo:



Ahh, Sonic, you give us the gift of the unnaturally-hued Cherry Limeade:



Delightful.

Didn't I See You Down in San Antone on a Hot and Dusty Night?

Tomorrow we leave chilly Brooklyn for Texas:



Last night, worrying over the lists in my head that I always run when we're about to travel, I picked up some of my silk and tried out an invention, a little ripple purse:



I'm not sure what I think about it, but I do like the middle button. I crocheted a tube of three stitches, coiled it, and stitched it together. I'm going to try some more when I return from San Antonio.

Thank goodness, Jet Blue allows knitting needles and blunt-point sewing scissors! I can work on my scarf for the International Scarf Exchange. Of course, I'll be covered with matzoh crumbs and magic marker smudges from E...no, she's a good little traveler. The crumbs and smudges will only be of my own making...

The Ripple of Old

I've just remembered a ripple I made for E when she was a baby. I took it out of its storage bag--it smelled so sweet!

we put dr. friz on the ripple and he ran all over [writes E]. Here's Dr. Frizzle, taking in the sights a little blearily:




Yesterday I double-parked on Sullivan Street and ran into Purl to quite literally grab the last few skeins needed for my new Ripple:



And here's Ripple, maybe 2/3 of the way:

A Different Ripple

Cast aside in a corner, ignored for its prettier cousin, Ripple, is the Lizard Ridge afghan-in-progress:



Made of Noro Kureyon (which my Japanese pal tells me is pronounced "crayon"), a pattern from Knitty, it consists of many many wrap-and-turns, which results in a peculiar bubbling. This disappears when blocked, but is actually kind of a neat effect:



I like Kureyon for its sometimes spectacular color runs; it's a little rough, a little homespun, but reminds me for some reason of the Bread and Puppet Circus in Vermont, where we used to go some summers. Not really my bag anymore, but homely and wonderful at the time. Kureyon is definitely still my bag, for reasons nostalgic first and aesthetic only second.

Silk, Cashmere, and Lace

It's an embarrassment of riches over here on State Street. Today the owls brought lace patterns and skeins of purple cashmere and red and olive silk. I spent a good hour in the playground while E played with her pals, alternately staring and staring at my goods, and forcing my friend to feel the sumptuousity of the cashmere. "Go ahead! touch it! It's 100%!" Now I'm in the throes of indecision over which threads and pattern to use for my International Scarf Exchanger. It really goes against all sense and reason how peculiar I become over nice yarn. And to make things even sillier, I already had a secret cache of silks. Now I remove their shroud:



I "invested" in these slowly over the last two years, and have not for the life of me been able to figure out what to do with them. Little sachets? Nah. I did use a few yards of the pearl and lavender to make a tiny tooth bag for E--her first tooth fell out this past week, and rather than relinquishing the precious to the tooth fairy, she wants to keep it safe for herself. I now have a crazy fantasy of a silk ripple afghan. It would only cost, oh, say 1500 dollars in materials...

Every Last Bit

I'm always worried about how much of everything I waste--food, paper, consumer electronics, you name it, my garbage is shameful! That's one of the reasons my ripple/granny project appeals so much to me. I think people used to horde their yarn as precious. Waste was not only immoral, but just plain impractical. I read in one of my vintage pattern repro books that even cabling was sparing in wartime patterns--it used up too much yarn--and was only used for embellishment. The ripple afghan is a way for you to use up your stash for something useful. And even more wonderful, the little bits left over from the color runs can be used for the grannie squares!



I have found that, with some planning, this is all I am left with from a skein of yarn after it yields several ripples and pieces of a granny or two:



Now what on earth can be done with these scraps? It doesn't really make a difference in the world, I guess, but at least it's mindful...

When I think about my yarn exercise, I remember that we're in wartime right now, but who could tell? It's so easy to forget the soldiers and their families, I'm so removed from it--there's no rationing, little news, I'm not uncomfortable or worried (well, any more than usual). This is probably the time to send something overseas through a program like My Soldier. My friend told me about this lovely kit. I wonder if a soldier would like a pair of handknitted socks...probably too impractical...but it's certainly alluring!

Just Before the Green

It's true that spring has come to Brooklyn, but in its earliest, most hesitant form...the trees have little knobs all over, the windows are open at least a few hours to the fresh day, and Passover is nearly here! One of my favorite parts of our holiday cycle. The seder always feels like taking a deep breath after a long winter.

I am still rippling:



and thinking about a spring cleaning. All the dust on surfaces. The little piles of things. Oy. I'd much rather knit.

Dad

Two years gone now. My dad, Alexander:



One summer a long time ago, dad, inspired I think by this little Japanese owl




made this:



from a stone he found at our lake house. And then made more and more of these, now scattered from house to house in New York City and the Adirondacks. As are so many reminders of our Al, our dad.

Waiting

I waited and waited for spring, and it has arrived. Now I nervously await more colors for my Ripple and Grannies from Purl Soho, my most favoritest knitting store. Why nervously? I'm not sure. Why was I nervous about spring's arrival? It would come no matter what, and come it did. My joy can now only be increased by a box of Rowan cotton glace.



I also expect soon a pattern and yarn for my scarf pal's scarf--it will be lace, knit up in pure cashmere, in a color called Hydrangea, also from Purl:



Yarn! It's practically all I can think about. I'm escaping into a world of fancy yarn...