While You Weren't Watching...

I started and finished a little hat, Scandinavian style, stranded colors, in red and grayish blue, in the stars and ladders pattern. Stars and ladders is an old design used quite a bot in old Scandinavian knitwear, its alleged to refer to the necessary effort, like climbing a ladder, in order to reach a lofty goal, like the stars in the heavens. Who knew the Scandinavians were so spiritual?!

I'm working up a pattern for the hat and for a pair of complimentary fingerless mitts.

I'm using Dalegarn yarn, unusual for tis kind of work because it contains a generous amount of mohair. I like my stars and ladders fuzzy. It's a nice feeling yarn, a little short of sportweight. I knit this hat with #3 (american) needles. It is guaranteed to be a warmish hat, the stranding makes it jsut about double-thickness.

Gracie's Desire

My stepdaughter, Evona and her children, Elias and little Gracie were here from San José last weekend. It had been Christmastime when we saw them last, and weren't they a welcome sight!

Elias has turned 12, and is doing that summertime growth spurt, he's handsome too and quite tan this year from hanging around poolside. Gracie's as cute as a bug. It's true! how else can that cuteness be described? She's all smiles, until she's not, then she's like a little dark cloud. This visit though, the clouds were all gone. 

But boy, is she busy! Like a little butterfly, or maybe a hummingbird is more like it, she moves quickly from one thought/activity into another, endlessly. She saw a fancy stemmed glass, she wanted water from that. When she needed to wash her hands I handed her one of my handknit linen quest towels, which up 'till then hadn't been used, she did her business, dried her hands and brought the towel out into the living room whipping it around, wringing it and throwing it into the air. She found my stick, a five foot length of smooth eucalyptus, and wanted to know why I would keep a stick behind the front door, picked it up and started to move around our tiny apartment with it held horizontally, risking bumping into the new HI-DEF, or any number of my paintings. She had to find out what the rug-thing in the living room was made of. When I told her it was a cow hide, she denied it, but then became intrigued by its slippery feel and started to roll in it, taking the sheepskins with it and making herself a cocoon. She found a lost earring and a few buttons under the bed. At the playground she was a pro at climbing and wiggling. Ooftah! she was all over the place and into everything. After they all left, I was very glad to head to bed early. She wore me out!

A classmate from highschool lives here in Petaluma with his family. His daughter is the same age as Gracie. We saw him on the 4th of July, looking for the group who had her with them. I couldn't help but feel empathy for him. It was so much easier to chase down a kid when I was in my twenties and thirties, and here he is in his fifties hunting down his daughter. 

Gracie let me know she'd like mittens and a little hat knit just for her in pink and purple. If she can get only one color, she wants purple. Elias wants a hat and mitts too. With his I have to watch not to include a "gang" color in them, which in our neighborhood means red and blue. So I guess a little pattern writing for childrens' hats and mitts is in order next.

Here's a photo of Gracie and Honey taken over Christmastime; she's pouting because we won't take her to Toys R Us on Christmas Eve. You can see what I mean about the cloud.

Scoliosis in the family tree

Scoliosis was pretty easy to live with when it didn't hurt. Somehow, with all the twisting and bending of my spine, it didn't hurt until I got older and probably more inflexible. 

It hurts today. Between my shoulder blades on the right side of my spine it feels as though someone thrust a knife. Often it's like this, hurting right there, making me consider I might be a victim of betrayal. 

My mom has the same sort of curve, her's leans to the left, whereas mine leans to the right. Both present themselves at T4, and secondary waves roll up the neck and down the lower back. 

My great-grandfather on my mom's side of the family was a character I understand. And it seems like this flaw was handed down through his blood line. I never got to meet the man, but I heard stories about him and even read about him in an obscure Utah history book.

This much I know; He was the Sheriff of Juab County, Utah in the last part of the 19th century and into the 20th century. His name was Daniel Joseph Cronin. His wife, Sarah Ferguson and he had altogether 13 children. My maternal grandmother, Margaret Louise Lucas, was their oldest child. This great-grandfather rode his horse throughout the county for his business as the sheriff. Once he even rode all the way to Idaho, stalking a murderer who'd stabbed someone to death. While it's awe-inspiring to think about riding into another state in order to perform such a function, it's even more astounding to hear he did it all while wearing a metal brace he'd been given for the purpose of holding up his crooked spine. I firmly believe people were different back then, that kind of dedication and perseverance seems elusive in this age. Someone once told me I had an aura of capability and determination about me. Maybe I got this from Dan, but chances are not I think...those kinds of traits coming from personality rather than by blood lines. 

Tentacle Hat update

The "tentacle hat" is finished and it's a cutie. When I tried it on with the tentacles pointing up, it kinda looks like a crown, yet it also looks as though I have dreadlocks. A perfect hat to wear if you want to change your looks quickly. It also looks very elegant when worn around the neck with the tentacles pointing down and hanging around the neck like a fancy Egyptian necklace. 

I wrote out a pattern for it,  named it "Fringe" and have designed the page, though I'm waiting for someone attractive to fall into my path so that they can model it so I can take a shot of it and include the photo on the pattern.

I'm excited today about some of my paintings being shown at Indigo, a cute little shop on Kentucky Street in Petaluma. Michele, the owner is going to hang them above the dressing rooms.

SF Giants' Stitch-n-Pitch and the tentacle hat/neck warmer

Last weekend Knitterly and the Muench Yarn warehouse in Petaluma held their annual sale. Among other yarns I picked up three skeins of Berroco's "Celtic" in a colorway that has been discontinued. I'd made some nice hand-warmers from "Celtic" last winter for my son and brother for Christmas, and I was inspired to do it again, though I don't know who the recipient is to be yet. As I finished the second hand-warmer on Monday, the thought came to me of making a matching hat or headband. I'd used the hand-warmer pattern out of "Weekend Knitting" by Melanie Falick. (I love this pattern, so elegant, simple and versatile.) I would make this hat or headband to match, by knitting it up vertically in garter stitch using short rows if it was to be a hat. But as I cast on the first row, I was intrigued by the idea of casting on a few extra stitches and casting them off on the next row, forming "tentacles" at one end and knitting straight across all the rows instead of short-rowing, making a doubled up headband that could also be used as a neck-warmer. 

Last night was the SF Giants' Stitch-n-Pitch game against the D.C. Nationals (Gnats) which ended in a win for the Giants, breaking a painful seven game losing streak. Our seats were in the section with all the other knitters, but a small mistake on my part landed us in a less congested section. Other knitters were there too, adding a feeling of belonging. 

One knitter in front of us was knitting a blanket out of some multi-colored, fluffy yarn. The knitter she was sitting with was knitting something light green and silky looking in-the-round. I had to work hard at not giving her suggestions to make her knitting more pleasurable. She was struggling with the yarn, stabbing her needle into each stitch and knitting continental style but with the yarn wrapped around the tip of her left index finger, which she was having the stretch way out and wave around in order to hook the yarn with the needle. In addition to this problem, she was twisting each stitch as she knit, making all the stitches more dense and tight. It was difficult to watch. It was no wonder she'd stop knitting for long stretches of time while her friend knit along happily.

As the game went on, my headband/neck-warmer was growing. Usually when I tried to knit at the baseball game, I'd get so worried about getting hit by the ball, (our old seats were in the bleachers under the Coke bottle sculpture in left field.) but here up in the upper deck and behind the foul zone, it felt safe. I'll bet the Giants' staff thought awhile before they picked out the knitters' section. Honey and I had a good time, although we were very late getting home.

As I write this, it's almost halfway knit. I'll post a photo when the whole set is done, and I plan to write a pattern for this interesting. multi-purpose garment.

Anna 

Fur-nanda Llama

A few years back I made this little charmer, Fur-nanda Llama, by needle-felting some llama fleece and little bits of yarn together. I kept her at my desk at work for awhile, she was a real conversation starter there. I had to take her home however, when it seemed like she talked to much. Really, she's such a chat! I thought I'd share her with you today.

She's holding a skein of yarn, waiting for you to wind it onto the ball she has in her lap. I made her a simple muslin peasant dress and a red skirt. She has small button eyes. Her tiny rocking chair was made by Honey. She's always had a prominent place in our home, somewhere where she can make noise without disturbing us, like the kitchen.

SF MOMA show: Frida Kahlo

Seeing Frida Kahlo's paintings up close is worth a trip into The City.

I'd long had admiration for Frida's work. Her self-portraits are so moving and meaningful to me, and I feel she's very beautiful in spite of the everyday standards of beauty in the U.S.. Being a chronic pain patient, I can relate to her visions of suffering and yet find them pleasing to my eyes. 

We took the day on Monday, driving into San Francisco, parking, walking through Buena Vista Gardens and into the geometry of the Museum of Modern Art building. Up to the 4th floor we climbed, slowly making our way into the crowded exhibit, following the people ahead of us—the place is so crowded we can't see at first just which painting is coming up. Shuffling, we see her paintings slowly, we are close to them, more close than others who are rushing to say they saw the exhibit. 

Her method of applying paint is appealing, especially considering many of her paintings were done while she was lying in her bed, and confined in a brace or cast. Many of her works have tiny amounts of paint applied with what must be cat's whiskers. What else could lay down such little strokes?

The painting which moved me the most was "The Broken Column." The background is a ruptured Earth. Dry, dead grass covers most of the background, broken up by huge, dark rifts, like fault lines. The sky is blue, yet there is a foreboding grey cast to it, like Golgotha on Good Friday. In this portrait her hair is down and flowing, and she looks at the viewer, but not straight-on like in her other portraits, and there is no blood shed. She is naked under her brace, wearing a sort-of loincloth around her hips. Her torso is divided vertically, the rift slightly more dark than those of the Earth, and within the rift is a broken Ionic column, simulating her own fractured, crooked spine. Nails are driven into her loincloth, up her lower right side, crossing to her left side at the breast. Unlike her other portraits she is alone. No pets, no lover, no husband, no other Frida, making this one seem the most tragic of all. Her expression is that of being in pain, but being perhaps, too tired to cry. As I looked at the painting, I started to cry. I had to look away and choke back my grief so that I could get through the exhibit. 

After we had seen the exhibit, we walked back through the gardens and down Mission Street where we spotted Mels Drive-in. Hungry, we went in and took a seat at the counter. Mel's is unique. Juke boxes are scattered through the eatery which you can operate with a quarter. Chrome and red leather predominate the furnishings and black and white photo stills from the movie, "American Grafitti" are action captured on the walls. I ordered a Blue Plate special; Rotisserie Chicken with vegetables and mashed potatoes. Honey ordered a burger with fries and a cup of coffee. Honestly, the mashed potatoes were lacking seasoning, even a little milk or butter while they were being prepared would have saved them. The chicken and vegetables were excellent. Later, Honey ordered up some pie ala-mode, allowing me to taste, yum!

Anna