It's Raining, It's Pouring

I took this photo of the sweet cherry tree in bloom at the east end of the house through the rain-streaked glass.

If I wait until the rainy weather stops, the petals will have fallen and it will be all green leaves. This gnarled-looking tree is nearly all that remains of a cherry orchard that must have been here for decades. Almost all of the other trees have died, and this one is not in great shape itself.

But every other year or so, it still throws off a crop of sweet dark cherries. That is, if we get any honey bees for pollination, and if the raccoons and birds don't eat them all up! (I should make a cherry net.)

Near the other end of the house is a sweet yellow cherry tree in even more precarious health. I've always heard that birds were supposed to leave yellow cherries alone, thinking they were still unripe.

Apparently the cedar waxwings and other fruit-eating birds of SW Michigan have not heard this piece of wisdom, because they regularly feast on almost every cherry this tree ripens.

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you've probably figured out that I'm not a weather-hater. I used to work with some people who thought only sun was good. If it rained, snowed, or even sprinkled, they were always moaning about the "terrible weather". I don't think of rain as "bad weather," since I know it is going to bring out the leaves on the trees so it will finally look like spring.

As the cliche phrase goes, there's no such thing as bad weather, there's only bad clothing. Personally, the only weather that I dislike with any intensity is really hot weather, prolonged for a really long time, when all this green dries up. Because while you can dress for rain and snow, once you're down to skin in hot weather, where do you go from there? (Into "the" lake, aka "the big lake," namely Lake Michigan, is my answer. And stay until the weather cools off.)

Fortunately for me, Michigan doesn't tend to get scorching weather. (But I say that very quietly, not wanting to tempt the capricious weather gods, who so hate to be predictable.)

Active Knitting Projects
Blue socks, naughty acrylic socks, ragg wool leg warmers that I hope to finish by next winter, Sampler CM, and Easter-egg dyed tussah silk scarf in brioche stitch.

I ought to take a picture of all my "dormant" knitting projects, all the things I haven't added a stitch to. That would be an entertaining picture. And probably a bigger pile.

Knitting Content

Patterns 1 through 5 from the Sampler CM, and sixteen inches of brioche scarf in Easter-egg-dyed tussah silk.

Although I forgot about the Great Lakes Lace Group's "Spring Fling," fortunately other people didn't. And thank goodness the West Michigan Lace Group has a trunk show coming up on the 14th of May, otherwise how would I get a thread binge in?

This is going to be a busy day, so I'll have to settle for a short, link-loaded post today.

Another day at home in the snow

Kept the kid and his cough home again today, but I dragged both him and his dad to the Christmas program set up by the music teacher. It was snowing like crazy! The auditorium (okay, we actually borrow the church across the road) was full, so we stood in the back of the auditorium. Kid: "I want to go HOME!" Parents: "When the singing is over."

After the singing was over, I drove into town for gas. Plenty snow coming down, white road, white snow. Handed driver's seat over to husband for trip home. We get behind one of those timid drivers, timid and he's drifting over to the left. Well, the semi truck that is passing us both does not like that maneuver at all!

We did find our driveway, whew.

I couldn't believe some of the songs those kids were supposed to sing. "In a Manger" for 5 through 8-year-olds. Okay, maybe if they are in a music-oriented school. But a tough song for adults to sing well, let alone a handful of kids.

That reminds me, time to break out the ocarinas and pennywhistle and the Christmas carol book! It doesn't feel like Christmas is coming unless I've played "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "The Holly and the Ivy".



Postscript, re the tussah silk scarf I knitted for the Shetland Lace workshop:

When the winners' list was posted, I wasn't on it. I was a little disappointed -- I wanted to try some of that Zephyr yarn. But I wrote to the list:

"You know, there have been contests where I felt really sore when I didn't win or place, but this was not one of them.

I have this great, tussah-silk lace scarf that seems like a prize in itself. I can hardly believe I made it. Sometimes when I finish a project, it's a big let-down, not just that I'm finished, but that it isn't quite how I envisioned it. My scarf, especially after blocking, is so much nicer than I envisioned it!

The other prize is the one (I hope) we all got:

The whole *world* of lace knitting is now open to me!"

And I got such sweet comments about that post. But it's true. I wore that scarf to one of the Armory parties, and I felt so dressed up. If I had gotten it in the mail *as* my prize, I would be walking on air. So what difference if I made my own prize? And talk about cool places to wear it, I have a Fiber Arts guild meeting next Wednesday where it will look right at home!

Tussah silk scarf is done!

[swoon] Very often when I am making something, whether I am knitting, tatting, weaving or whatever, I love it while I'm making it, and then there is a distinct letdown after it's done. It's still beautiful, but . . .

Not this time. I love how the tussah silk yarn feels when it is knitted. It's got this indescribable heavy, limp drape, it's soft, it has that silky shine. *sigh*

And I feel so smug, I'm knitting lace! Hah! Two years ago I could barely knit seven rows in a row without ripping it out in disgust. I had to look at the book to tell garter stitch from stockinette. Believe me, it is really hard to knit lace when you have to keep flipping back to the instructions for "k2tog"!

These days, I even know what knitters are talking about. I have Clover bamboo knitting needles. I've heard of Inox and Addi Turbos. Look out, world, I've made a gauge swatch -- and I know how to use it!

Busy Knitting!

I have been knitting frantically on the tussah silk lace scarf to finish in time!

Here it is being grafted in the middle: garter stitch edge, ribbed center. Naturally it was only after I got to the first purl rib that I realized there was no way to perfectly graft together the two purl stitches meeting head to head. But I did my darnedest [urk, pun!], and it will be invisible from the knit side at least.

I also worked on the purple (Red Heart Symphony) scarf, which is turning into "lace sampler time." I found a nice leaf pattern in Mary Thomas' Knitting Book -- bless Dover for keeping this in print! (The grafting diagrams were exactly what I needed to see today.) Anyway, now I am thinking about lace bookmarks in fine linen thread. I made some samples out of size 20 crochet cotton, on 4-0 needles. I think either of the leaf patterns in the lace chapter will make nice bookmarks.