Last week,
I think it was Wednesday when it had been raining hard during the whole night,
we- DH, dogs and I - went for a walk in
the nearby forests. We were on a schedule, I had to be in town by one, so we
were in a hurry. We did our usual path
the opposite way we usually do it, so we decided to do the climb in the beginning
and then sort of walk quickly down.
I was almost at the top, I was out of breath
and slowed down and looked at the ground. And to my horror, there were
fresh bear tracks on
the ground, the beast was following the same path as us but he was ahead of us,
although I suspect he was a she, since my friend saw a cub few weeks ago. I
started to talk loudly to warn him and I never stopped talking until we were
back at the car... You know this nervous blabbering. I usually enjoy the birds
and the sound of the wind in the trees, but this time I wanted none of that,
just to be out of the bear's way as soon as I could. I had camera with me, but
I never thought for one second to take any pictures. I showed the tracks to DH
and he glanced at me and just remarked that they for sure were funny looking
trekking shoe prints. Neither of us said out loud anything else about him until
we were at home.
We did not
say anything and I am sure the old behavior took hold of us then and there.
Bear is the king of the forest, he was(is) mythical, sacred creature and out of
this belief and respect, people in the old times avoided calling his name and
we did the same.
I have not
been on that path since. I am sure I will be walking there many times in
future, but not just yet.
---
Boredom is
not all bad as when one gets bored, one starts to look around and search for alternatives and something interesting. Wool socks are a must up here - I have written
this so many times, that I am like a broken record. Anyway, long time ago I wrote "wear thy
knitting", meaning that one should knit for use, not for the closets. I
very often knit items to warm the shelves but socks are not among them. They
get worn and so I am in constant need of them.
One sock
usually gets done quickly but the second sock always takes some persuasion to
get done. I think I have come up with a solution and thus under "wear thy knitting" -theme is a
subtheme now.
I like ribbed
socks because they keep their shape and size well but ribbed socks are
probably most tedious to knit, they are boring and also slow compared to
stockinette. I started - as so many times
before - with k4p4 pattern, as this is so easy to hide decreases in. I usually
shape my socks a bit. The first sock with all the excitement of a new yarn got
done quite quickly, but ah! the second sock!! I know this might not sound
as a big light bulb moment, but it was to me, and this, I think, will save my
sock knitting: Always knit two socks but never two alike!! I say never alike,
and with this I mean just minor changes, but big enough to have little pull
towards the second sock.
Two pairs
done, both definitely a pair, but not exactly the same.
The edging
on the second sock it little different, just a color change there. (I have
already worn these.)
For the
second pair I added purl rows to the basic k4p4 pattern and added some white to
the second cuff plus a little patch to call it my own. (Both pairs out of basic
but good sock yarn, 2mm needles.
(It is difficult to take good pictures of socks without a sock model.)I hope this new theme will carry me for a while. I do need few new pairs.
Wool with
you,
Lene
PS. The
lake temperature at its warmest this summer was 25C/77F, very good for
swimming. Lately the lake has been wrapped by the mist in the early mornings.
The summer was so warm and so lovely, that I really
thought it would go on forever... Cool, windy days and dark nights came almost
like a shock and I was not prepared to them at all. Last night I looked out of
the window at ten and could not believe that it was so dark so early... But
really there is no denying, it feels like fall, the colors are changing and the
light has already turned into soft tones of fall. And the dear lake keeps
bringing up these cold blues from its hidden wells.
It is cool and I have started hankering for wool, as
in wool yarn, patterns for using this wool yarn and wool clothing. I have
already used wool gloves once, they were necessary one morning when I went for a
walk. I have dug wool socks from their drawers, the floors feel so cold already
and my old Shetland shawl keeps following me around the house. I have shopped
my stash several times and have been searching for inspiration from Knitty,
Twist Collective and several other new on-line sources. I have been through my
stitch dictionaries and have started and ripped out at least a dozen projects. It
is the beginning of the wool season (9 months long season!) and I am going to
make the most of it. I will surround myself with all the good wools
things this season brings!
I don't know where to start: mittens? sock? gloves?
scarves? shawls? long johns? hats? sweaters? I want all!!
I will start off by making something small, something
cheerful and happy... New mittens is probably the right way to go. I really would not
be writing this if I had not already started... I am visiting my own old
pattern. This feels like a good starting point.
I know most of you are not yet so far into the fall. In
case you need comforting in the transition, now that I have already crossed the
line and am in the fall, I can assure you that it does not look too bad in here. The
new summer is already on its way, we just need to do some serious knitting
first. And, my friends, it is not a bad thing.
(And those of you who are approaching summer at the
moment, you lucky ones, enjoy your warm days!)
Wool with you,
Lene
Thank you all
for your thoughtful comments and recommendations for fragrances (I am going to
try them and the thought of using Lavender essential oil with a carrier oil, as
Jody suggested sounds interesting, I will have to
try that, too.) And thank you for posting this little bit of history of flowers,
their scents and elderly women, Tikabelle!
As much as
I love wool, its scent leaves a lot to hope for, doesn't it?
Now that I
have shared with you my favorite fragrances, I will share with you Tina's
perfumes. During the summer and fall, when she roams the woods a lot, she
always comes home with a strong scent of wild rosemary and during
the winter, when she sleeps outside in her little house and she uses
Timothy-grass as her bedding, she wears this strong scent. On a
cold winter morning when she comes in to keep me company when I have my first
cup of coffee, she always brings in this scent of summer. I think it is quite
lovely, although it is very strong.
Ruusu has a
strong liking to all kinds of wool. Whenever I take yarn out and spread it on
the floor to see what to knit next, there is she, rolling in the yarn. She
never bites my yarn, never tries to steal any, but always rolls in it!!
You came
for the knitting and I have a beauty for you. I blocked her earlier this week
and here she is in all her glory. Yes, the design is Anne's Ice Fantasia.
I think she
has designed three delicate pieces that are faroese in shape and this is my
second. The third one (Lacewing) is on the needles. I have not done much work
on the last one, but it will get done. - I just checked Anne's site, there is
still one more, that is Maplewing.
I used
Wetterhoff Veera (100%wool) color number 421 with needles 3,5mm/US4 and I used
little more than one skein. One skein is about 900m/984y.
Once again
Anne's pattern was well written and easy to follow, a joy from the very first
stitch to the last.
Weekend
again! It is getting colder here, the temperature last night was chilly even
and that was a tiny reminder that the wool season is just around the corner up here...
Wool with
you,
Lene
I have been
knitting a new little baby cardi and while I have been doing it, I have truly
tried to fine tune all the little bits like doing increases, decreases so that
they would fit inside the pattern. I did not expect this but while attaching
the first sleeve to the cardi I realized how uneasy I felt when attaching the
sleeve. I just felt that the cardi was
leading me by the hand and that I was not in control of the process and although I have learnt
the hard way that my way is not the best way (not always, well... hardly ever
really!) in other areas of life, I want to control my process in hand work.
So I needed
really to slow down to see what was the matter, what was it that I did not
like. And as always, well, almost always, it is the lazy part in me, that wants
to make shortcuts, to see the stuff finally finished and so wanting really to
speed through the final bits. Having realized that, the rest really was not that difficult. I already knew
how the process was supposed to look and feel. Finally I have a stretchy sleeve
opening with a seam that should last. I
did it the way my Mom has taught me to do, except that she has told me to split
the yarn, or look for similar colour but lighter weight than in the actual knitted garment.
detail of the sleeve
This is
what I did, but if (and I am hoping that I will) I write the pattern, I will
explain it in detail there, but I had live stitches in the sleeve and I picked
up stitches from the sleeve opening of the cardi onto a small needle the way one
would make a matress stitch and then I did a three needle bind off. I think I like the result.
detail of the hem
Few words of roses...
I love
roses. For years I was sad that only a few grow up here. I have two kinds of
rose bushes, one that we call Midsummer rose (Rosa pimpinellifolia) and other that we call Kurtturuusu (Rosa
Rugosa) which are both very beautiful
and sturdy, as they survive the harsh winters.
Some years
ago I bought my first two yellow (pot)roses and those two bloomed beautifully
during the whole summer. When autumn came they kept going until the very late September
and even the first frost did not scare them. They were in such a good condition
in the fall that I just carried them into a room that is behind our garage. The
temperature there is kept just above freezing and the room gets lots of light
when there is light (remember that we have almost none in midwinter) early in the
spring. I took them there and almost forgot them. When I remembered I
watered them and they looked quite bad during the midwinter so it
truly was a surprise when I happened to go into that room early in the spring and
noticed that they had started to make new leaves. I am not a gardener and have
no skills - none! - in that field, but I was lucky and the roses survived their first
winter. Ever since I have done the same with my roses and they just seem to be
able to pull through the winter there. In the spring, early summer, they get
new soil and some nutrition in hopes of summer
blooms.
I have always loved roses and their scent but
once was told that roses are for elderly ladies - I am not sure why and if this is true at all, anyway that saying stuck. I am
not sure just how old one should be but now that I am over fifty, I think I am
old enough. I have been searching for the right kind of rose perfume (or edt)
for some time and I think I just found it in London. It is Jo Malone's Red
Roses; the scent is soft, it is not too strong and it is not hard in any
way. (Serge Lutens Sa Majesté La Rose is good too.) And talking
of age and what is suitable for this age... I think I have just about enough
years (and wool!) to start using lavender too, but so far have not found the
right perfume. I am looking for pure, tender, light, airy, clean and easy scent and
if you have any recommendations for me, please let me know.
This is all today. It is sunny and warm Monday, a good start for a week!
Wool with
you,
Lene
PS. There
are some clips of Portuguese Knitting in Youtube... I have not yet looked at any
closely, so cannot give recommendations at the moment.
