June 10, 2006

It's a Beautiful Thing!

Still in catching up mode, I have to share with you the beautiful new swift that I got a couple of weeks ago. It's handmade by Mike at Dragonfly Turnings, and it is exquisite! Mine is crafted of Brazilian Cherry, and has foldable arms for easy storage.

My DH gave me a beautiful wooden umbrella swift Christmas before last. We all know the one. It clamps to a table, and expands and collapses like an umbrella. Seemed like a good idea at the time, especially since I'm the one who specifically asked for it. However, when it arrived I quickly realized that nearly every table I use had an apron on it that prevented the swift from clamping properly, and even more than that, I found the operation of the swift to be a huge challenge for my dexterity.

In contrast, this new swift is so easy to use! It is easily and quickly assembled, and it works GREAT for me! Plus the adjustable pegs allow you to do hanks of just about any size. I love it! Plus, the handcrafted aspect and the beautiful wood make me feel good when I'm using it. It really is a beautiful thing.

Thanks, Mike!

June 9, 2006

An Amazing Gift!

Tonight I went to my mother's house for dinner with John and the kids and my stepfather's sister Nella joined us for dinner. She surprised me with this! Can you believe it? My favorite color is purple, and it will even fit me, too.

Nella learned to knit as a young girl in Italy, and she did this without a pattern and without taking any measurements of me. I am just amazed. She was wearing a similar one to my mother's Easter gathering, and I asked her where she got it. Hers was bright aqua with tan stripes and I fell in love with it. Now, Nella is a lot tinier than I am and I asked her if maybe someday she could make one for me. And she said, "Sure I can. But I don't know when." So imagine my surprise that it was done already, without any measuring or try-ons! How is it that some people just have "the eye" and can do this? I feel so lucky today!

June 8, 2006

Mega-Bloggy!

Ok, so it's been a looong while since you've heard from me. But you see, I've been in computer jail. Windows apparently decided to experience a critical corruption that caused me to have to redo my computer from nearly scratch. Thank goodness most of my files were recovered.

No, It's NOT a Postage Stamp!

DH has been teasing me about the tiny triangle at the left for a couple of weeks now. I'm attempting to make a Clapotis using KnitPicks Shimmer, which is a lace weight yarn. My goal is to have a summer weight shawl. Problem is that I've never knit with yarn this thin before, and it's tough getting used to. I think I've cast on at least 15 times by now, but I finally think I have the hang of it. It will be yummy when done but to make it wide enough for a shawl, each row will have hundreds of stitches. So, yeah, I guess I'm crazy!!

But This Yarn Has a Story...

But isn't it lovely? The colorway is called Happy Dance, and it's two shades of pink offset by a sunny yellow. Perfect colorway for a summery wrap. I took this picture using the macro photography setting on my camera... it's amazing how small a ball of fingering weight yarn can actually be!

I finally got to meet Lissa, who is on several e-mail groups that I'm on. We've been meaning to meet for months and I'm glad we finally got together, on May 20, at Whitehall Pool. We ate lunch and talked lots, and then she tried to show me how to do long tail cast on. It took me several tries to get it right. And then, of course the minute I tried it on my own, later that night, I couldn't get it right. Oh drat! I guess that means Lissa will just have to come back! :-) Then we wound that aforementioned Shimmer yarn into that teeny ball above. Actually, Lissa did the winding. And I held my arms up and was the "Human Swift". I had so much fun that day!

There's so much more to tell about my last month or so of knitting, but it's late and I gotta go to bed! More later...