Saturday, October 21, 2006

Frost Flowers and Leaves

The temperature is about -10 C and has been further down during the night. The world has turned into soft pastels. There is beauty all around.
When Tina came in after spending the night in her little house that has been furnished with fresh and clean hay for the winter she brought with her the scent of summer - she always points out that her perfume is called "Timotei" (Timothy-grass in English??). She is really the most good-scenting dog I have ever had or met. The first winter morning was spiced with a bit of summer. Let's hope the winter stays, although if it gets warmer and all this beauty is gone, it just means that I get to live it again, since the winter always comes up here.

The lake is frozen. There are frost leaves and flowers.

I know there is a shawl called Frost Flowers & Leaves designed by Eugen Beugler in "A gathering of Lace". I have some pastel blue in lace weight in my belongings. The red sweater is getting closer and closer to the finishing line (the knitting part only) and really it is time to start thinking about the next knit. That shawl would be perfect for a day like this. But the blue I have is very light, and the world is getting darker and darker and I'm a bit worried that light pastel blue would not feel appropriate when November comes. Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl has a lot of knitting to do and I know my color preferences follow the circle of nature and these few days with this light might not be enough to finish the shawl and somehow knitting that shawl in darker color would not feel right to me. (This does make sense to me...) I'm so glad the red sweater is soon done, because that intense red is getting disturbing.

PS. Thank you Ellen for giving advice to Joyce. I sincerely hope it helps. I wish I had more knowledge of this computer world. I know it is fascinating and one that can be as big a passion as knitting is. Sometimes, only in brief moments when knitting something big and tiring (like Katariina at times) I wonder, that when I get old, will I look back into my days and wonder why did I spend all my life with these tiny loops. But really I can't help it. I will have to follow my calling... the question this morning is, whether it be one lacy shawl or not. And one pastel blue.

31 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:56

    Your pictures state clearly the reason why I love winter: it's so beautiful! But not yet here, in the Middle of Finland, though something that can be described as white came down from the sky the day before yesterday.

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  2. Absolutely beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing them.

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  3. Anonymous14:05

    Beautiful! We have 18° in France, still warm! The lace shawl would look beautiful in pastel blue...

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  4. Heaveny photographs. I'm a true northerner and love cold, crisp air, and your photographs are redolent of it.

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  5. Anonymous15:06

    A light blue shawl in that pattern would be really pretty. Some day I will knit it, too.

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  6. winter will surely come, although, reading global blogs this summer, it was evident that global warming is real.
    the colors and shapes of your photos are stunning! I am more of a summer/fall person myself, but fully appreciate this wondrous winter glory!
    "...lacy shawl or not. And one pastel blue..."
    I say yes to the shawl but maybe in a different color?

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  7. I've never seen frosty spikes like those before. Are they coming out of the lake? It must have gotten very cold, very swiftly.

    Here in Canada it is getting cold, and we had a brief snow a week ago, but it still feels like fall here and I don't expect winter for another month or so.

    I have knit the Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl last winter and it was a very enjoyable experience. Now that the season is turning, I'm dreaming of doing it again. Only better. But I don't think I will. I have other shawls I also want to knit.

    Perhaps you could dye your pale blue laceweight to make the color more seasonal and yet still appropriate for the shawl. I knit mine in a pale sage green.

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  8. Is this what we call a Hoar frost? The cold air just sweeps in and freezes everything where it stands? Lovely. On Lake Geneva in Wisconsin, the water freezes in laps at the beach and in chops further out. It's frozen in time, literally. Beautiful. Thanks so much for the pictures.

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  9. Thank you for showing me the frost flowers. I have never seen them before. I have seen the 'frosted' trees and the frozen lake makes a perfect mirror. I can understand what you mean about the colour of the shawl. I know you will make a good decision. I am anxiously awaiting the embroidery work on your beautiful 'red' sweater.

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  10. Anonymous17:39

    How absolutely beautiful. I so miss winter here in Southern California. I'd move out in a heartbeat just to experience seasons again. Thanks for the beautiful pictures.

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  11. Your photos are stunning! Thanks for sharing a piece of your world! I'll never see that where I live. I do know exactly what timothy hay smells like, I used to have guinea pigs & that's their main diet! Wish my dog smelled like that. I thought the exact thing as you about knitting & just the other day! Will I think I wasted time, spent too much money on all this? Then I see my knitting & think, Nahhh.

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  12. Anonymous17:55

    Your home is so lovely, Lene. No wonder your color sense flows with the seasons. Is the blue light enough to be thought of as "ice blue"? Or is it more the color blue that would match the tint on my skin if I were to stand by your lake and see these breathtaking views for myself?
    I'd knit the shawl, but wait until the right color called to me...that makes it magical.

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  13. Anonymous18:18

    Your pictures are lovely! It's not that cold here yet(I am in the northern USA)but your pictures reflect what I am looking forward to here.

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  14. Timothy hay does smell wonderful. I always wish I could nibble it too when I feed it to my guinea pigs.

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  15. Anonymous19:38

    A wonderful, beautiful post Lene; thank-you. I can't imagine regretting my knitting time. In many ways it charts my journey in life.

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  16. Anonymous19:41

    Beautiful pictures! Frost, flowers and leaves is on my "to knit" list, it's just cool enough here to require a sweater outside, but a shawl would be cozy as well.

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  17. Anonymous19:42

    Think of it as "ice blue" instead of pastel blue. :-)
    Keep warm! Today in my little corner I considered having a fire this morning, but thought that when it warms up to 30C the house might get a little hot. (That's fall in my little desert!)

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  18. Anonymous20:11

    Lene, beautifully stunning photos, just leaves me wondering what it would feel like to live with your climate, and there's a part of me that whispers.....yes, yes.
    Could the pastel blue perhaps be a frosty blue? I think that sounds lovely. I can picture it, but thinking it more of a medium blue with 'frosty' strands throughout.
    Thank you for everything.

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  19. Frost and pale blue seem to be one and the same to my eyes in the winter. The weather is fickle here these days. I'm headed outside for a walk and wondering if I should just put on a tshirt.

    Whatever color you choose for your shawl, I can't wait to see it.

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  20. Anonymous22:56

    Such beautiful photos! Thank you so much for sharing them with us. I have never lived in a place with a real winter, I guess, though it can get pretty cold here in Portugal. But nothing like what you get there. And it seems to me knitting is about liking oneself and doing what you love... go for the seasons colours, Lene!

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  21. Amazing pictures. Thank you for sharing them with us!

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  22. Thanks for sharing your winter as it comes to you first.

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  23. Anonymous11:40

    Wow! It looks like a fairy tale to us who get very bland weather.

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  24. Absolutly beautiful pictures!Thank you very much! But so cold brrr....! Here in my Hometown are over 20°+. I´m sitting in the garden and knit.The sun is shining and the heaven ist totaly blue, without clouds.
    So I send sunshine greetings to you,
    Maartje

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  25. Anonymous14:07

    I love light blue but I agree that you could dye it a different colour. As for the timothy, my two guineau pigs are crazy about it, and I love its sweet scent.
    Your frost pictures are lovely and remind me of a frost poem I learned as a child in school. Now I have to dig back in my memory and try to retrieve it.

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  26. Anonymous01:24

    My Mom used to teach children at a nature center in Massachusetts, and one of the things she talked about was what the horses ate, including mollases in their grain and timothy in the hay. I love the smell of both, as do horses.

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  27. You live in the most beautiful place, the view you have all year is wonderful, and now the cold is coming it is looking so beautiful.

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  28. What gorgeous pictures. It's hard to imagine: here it is warm (~82 F) and dry (Santa Anas, winds that blow hard off the desert). Thanks as usual for sharing your poetry of word and eye...

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  29. Simply stunning winter shots! I love the patterns that nature leaves behind!

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  30. Anonymous03:59

    I can understand that when it's winter and the outside world is in shades of blue and white, you might not want to work on a light blue shawl. I think you might long for colors with warmth.

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  31. Thought I'd let you know that I once met Eugene Buegler. He had the most amazing notebook full of tatted and knit lace samples. He does wonderful designs. Personally, I think you can't go wrong knitting a shawl.

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