Progress on the Hobbit Shawl

It has been very hot here for about a week--upper 90s to 100s. Even though we have air-conditioning and the house is usually comfortably cool, I just haven't felt like working on larger projects. However, yesterday and today I made myself crochet for a while on my Hobbit Shawl for the One Shawl to Rule Them All KAL/CAL on Ravelry. My motivation came from finishing my reading of The Fellowship of the Ring and then re-watching the film. It follows the spirit of the story well, and I wanted to hear some of the more difficult names from the book pronounced aloud. I like the film very much, but the book is wonderful! There is such a difference between the two mediums. I understand why Peter Jackson condensed some of the action and changed some of the story to fit the screen better, but I missed the poetry and the songs from the book. I think they are some of my favorite parts of the book.

I continue to enjoy this shawl pattern and I like the yarn too. It has a crisp rather than a soft hand, but very comfortable to work with. I think it will be very comfortable to wear as well. I wish the yarn was not discontinued. I found some for trade or sell on Ravelry, but I am trying to stay committed to stash burning, so have resisted the temptation. Being cotton, I don't know how it will block, but I am pretty well satisfied with it the way it is now. If it doesn't open up much, I will not be disappointed.

Is Life Just a Bowl of Cherries?

In reality it rarely is, but it was for me yesterday. We've been gorging, I mean indulging, in fresh strawberries for over a month in our household, but when I went to get some more this week from my local market they were nowhere to be found. When I spied these beautiful California Bing cherries, however, I felt more than compensated. I love the sweet, but crisp and juicy flavor of cherries and it doesn't make me feel guilty when I pop them in my mouth one after the other. Their health benefits are well-documented here and they are versatile as a cooking or baking ingredient.

In fact, I found a wonderful recipe for a Mesclun and Cherry Salad with Warm Goat Cheese online at Epicurious. I followed the recipe exactly, with the exception of using the fennel bulb--no fennel available in my market that day. We had it for dinner with grilled turkey tenderloin and some brown and wild rice. Delicious!

Knitting and Poetry

No photos of FOs or WIPs today. I have been working on most of my projects on a daily basis, alternating from one to the other, but it is slow going when you have 5 in progress! However, today I have a Japanese haiku to share that pretty much sums up my recent knitting habits.

One more stitch...

One more row...

Ah..? It's dawn.

This and other knitting-themed Japanese haiku poems can be found on this site. I linked to it from another larger collection of knitting-themed poems, quotes, and legends that can be found here.

And here is a picture that I can definitely relate to. Who's been peeping in my craft room late at night?

I found it on this site which has many more knitting images. The prevalence of knitting on the internet, in all its aspects--tutorials, online yarn shops, blogs devoted to knitting, online knitting communities--is indeed wonderful. We are out there and the world is taking notice.

One Shawl To Rule Them All

Back in April, I found a new group that had just started on Ravelry called intriguingly, One Shawl To Rule Them All. According to the administrators of the group, it was "started as a joke, but erupted into an exciting queue of must knit (or crochet) shawls. We’re doing a KAL/CAL for shawls voted on by the group that were inspired by the races of Middle Earth."

I promptly joined the group because of my interest in The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. I had seen all of the movies, but had never read the books. I don't remember now what I was doing when all my friends were reading about hobbits, and elves, and Gondor, and Mordor, and Gandalf, and Sauron, but I missed out on the whole thing until the movies came along.

Now, I am reading all about the Third Age of Middle-Earth as I begin working my way through the four shawls I've chosen to crochet and knit for this group. Thus far, I've finished reading The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring and have started The Two Towers. In addition, I've started my first shawl for the KAL/CAL. It is from a pattern by milobo that she calls Eva's Shawl. I'm calling it my Hobbit Shawl. The pattern and lovely pictures can be found here.

I am using a yarn I've had in my stash for almost two years: Elann Endless Summer Connemara in the colorway #112. It is much more a light golden brown than my photo above shows. The yarn is a worsted weight mercerized cotton which is unfortunately discontinued. I really like the way it is working up and the fiber should be good here in the desert. This is a crochet pattern and I am using a size J (6mm) hook. The yarn is heavier than the designer used and in consequence so is the hook, but I am very pleased with the look of it. I have made quite a few shawls, but never one for myself until now. I'm looking forward to wearing it on cool evenings.

Putting Down Roots

One of the most marked changes in my life since moving to the Southwest concerns my passion for surrounding myself with beautiful plants and trees. My husband and I worked very hard to develop lovely gardens around our home in Virginia as can be seen in the following photos.

Kousa dogwood in front yard

Japanese maple in back yard

Peony and clematis

Besides my family and friends, the thing I miss most since moving is relaxing on one of our porches and looking out at the gardens. We don't have porches here, but we have begun landscaping around our new home. It will take time for the structure to develop and the plantings to mature, just as it did in Virginia, but I am learning to appreciate the beauties of the desert. Here are some of the most recent blooms in our back yard.

Chaste tree in bloom

The lovely purple color attracts butterflies

Arizona Rosewood

Such a delicate blossom

Change has never been easy for me. I do best with a regular routine. Even though this move had been planned and eagerly anticipated for some time, I have often felt disoriented and uprooted this last year. Now, with a garden to work in, I finally feel at home.

An FO for Project Linus

I finished the above baby afghan this weekend and will be donating it to the Tucson Chapter of Project Linus as soon as I finish this one below.

The completed afghan is from one of the patterns the national organization has on its website. It is called Sideways Shell Baby Afghan. I made it with Caron One Pound yarn in the Soft Sage colorway, using a size H (5mm) crochet hook. It worked up quickly and I would definitely make another some time.

The just started blanket is called Garter Stitch Ruffles Baby Blanket and can be found here on the Knitting on the Net website. I am making it with the same yarn as the previous one using size 13 (9mm) and size 3 (3.25mm) circular needles. I will have enough of this yarn in my stash to make one more blanket. I am happy to be using up the yarn and to have the opportunity to donate to such a worthwhile organization.

Roving, Roving, Who's Got the Roving?

Me! That's who. I posted a wish list in the Random Acts of Kindness group on Ravelry and asked for a small amount of roving to practice spinning with my drop spindle. Two phenomenally generous Ravelers sent me all this:

Big thank yous to franspun and songdeva. People like them are a large part of what makes Ravelry a true community. Now I have no excuse for not getting started on making some yarn with my drop spindle.

A Ball of Yarn, Some Needles, and My iPod

That's all I need to achieve a state of complete bliss. Knitting or crocheting alone induces a feeling of serenity in me, but with the addition of some music or a podcast, I truly experience Nirvana. The other day I was able to sustain this experience for almost two hours of continuous knitting. In that time I was able to finish the toe of the first sock below, cast on for the second sock, finish the cuff, and proceed to the leg. Pretty amazing considering these are only the second pair of socks I will have knit.


These are the Magic Stripes Socks from Ann Budd's book Getting Started Knitting Socks. I started out knitting them for me, but soon realized they were going to be too big. I knitted a gauge swatch which came out just right for my size, but somehow they fit my husband's size 13 feet perfectly. Go figure! He's happy and so therefore am I.

I started out listening to Santana, then Acoustic Alchemy, and finished with Loreena McKennitt. I have very eclectic musical tastes and this combination really did it for me that day. Click on the links to hear some of what I was listening to. I will see if it works again another time or maybe tune in to one of my favorite podcasts. I'm willing to experiment, if it helps the process along.

Mind Games and New Projects

One of my mental activities in retirement is the solving of cryptograms. My local Sunday paper has one every week, but I craved more. I found this online source of weekly cryptograms--usually about 10 a week. I'm really addicted to these.

I mentioned starting a new freeform project last week. I am embellishing some house slippers for me. I am adapting some patterns I found in Margaret Hubert's pamphlet published by Annie's Attic, Fun with Free-Form Crochet. It is a good way to use up some of my yarns from The Think Pink Challenge and The Pink Project. I work on it at odd moments. It is both relaxing and fun.

Another new project has actually been on the back burner for some time. I promised my daughter I would make her a new afghan to replace one that had been too damaged to repair. I've had the yarn for a year or more. I finally have finished enough of my WIPs to feel ready to proceed with a larger project, so started last night. I am using Lion Brand Homespun and one of their free patterns for a Log Cabin Afghan--size K (6.5mm)hook. I like the pattern and it is very easy, but the yarn is a bit finicky to work with as it catches on the loops I'm trying to pull through. Hopefully, as I get more used to working the pattern, I will improve my technique.