Where I'm not today, with a shawl

According to the itinerary, today on the Craft Cruise we would be in Dublin, "the home of Guinness Beer, numerous literary greats, and the rock band U2; a fun city that is currently enjoying the status of being one of the hottest and most livable cities in Europe."  Instead, as for the last four months, I am home.

Upside of being home in the summer is the fruit arriving at the local farmstands, and I have had to ration myself on blueberries and peaches or I would eat little else.  Ditto corn, which is so sweet and fresh you can eat it raw!  I am already planning to freeze portions for the winter.  Tomatoes are not yet in enough but when the season hits, I'll be ready.

I get my CSA share about every other week, sharing it with three other people and we take turns.  Yesterday was one of my weeks, and to my disappointment I seem to always miss the weeks with fennel.  I did get parsley, celery, zucchini, eggplant, purple basil, green beans, chard, scallion, and garlic.  My share partner got the napa cabbage instead of chard because her stove is disconnected for kitchen remodeling so she could take only things that can be eaten raw.  She did get the two bigger zucchini as I got the eggplant.  Otherwise we split fairly evenly.  We're both going to farmstands for fruit this week.

Since I planned to start the Boneyard Shawl the day I should have left on the cruise, I had time to finish a hat and scarf for charity:

Scarf folded at left is about 66" long.

Other side of the hat.

These were made from leftovers of my grandmother's holiday vest from last winter.  Lion Brand "Ferris Wheel" in Buttercup.  Just a simple 1 sc 1 dc pattern, hat made up on the fly.

I also started a scarf in the Uzume pattern, using some Noro Silk Garden that had been waiting in my stash for something to happen:

She's right - it's pretty in a shaded yarn.

Shannon Okey, the designer, had mused on Cooperative Press' Facebook page about how it would look in a shaded yarn, and offered to send yarn to a knitter interested in making one.  Since I had yarn in my stash I figured I'd just go ahead, especially as I knew I'd put it aside midmonth.  More photos when it progresses.  The pattern is fairly easy, I've had just one blip when I didn't do the correct cable row in sequence and I decided to frog.

July Mini-Resolution Update

I did start the shawl on July 11th, the day we were to have set sail from Amsterdam: 

The yarn is from Hedgehog Fibres, their merino aran in "Ferrum".  Not one of Stephen West's yarns, although I bought it in his shop.  And ..... I just wasn't feeling it.  It's lovely yarn, quite silky-soft, and the colour glows, but somehow as a shawl it wasn't thrilling me.  I kept seeing me wearing it as a vest instead, even though I don't usually wear autumn colours.

So I went back to the yarn I'd purchased in his shop last year, which included a handful of miniskeins from an Amsterdam dyer called Undercover Otter:

I remember having plans to make mittens out of these but have decided the shawl will be a better use.  Handily, if I were traveling "for reals", it is a very compact item, even though it is growing quite nicely:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3 - Yes, I added a stripe of Colour 2.

Day 4 - Finished Colour 1.

Day 5 - On to Colour 3!  Currently 12" deep, 24" across top.

Clearly, this is Meant To Be.  Yes, if I were on the cruise I couldn't have done the switch, but if I were smart I would have begun and learned the issue before I left home.  Or made the other choice before I left.  Or purchased more yarn in his shop......

Happy 40th, Mom and Dad

My parents got married forty years ago today, the only day both of them plus the reverend, an old family friend, were available.  They invited some close friends and a few family to dinner, with a mystery stop on the way that turned out to be the chapel where they were married.  We don't have photographs because a cousin opened the only camera and ruined the film, but this one from a New York City trip some years ago seems appropriate:

Happy Ruby Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!

Not much to report here.  Work was very busy running up to the end of quarter, as people tried to get deals signed.  I had only a couple days when meals were granola bars and peanut butter, which I consider a win for EOQ.  Because I am home I could have at least one properly cooked meal each day, which is even more of a win.  I've enjoyed cooking local chicken, local eggs, local vegetables, and the herbs from my countertop kitchen garden, rounded out with local cheese and yoghurt and ice-cream or italian ice.

I am reading books again.  For a while, I couldn't.  Too much reading for work, keeping up with articles and reports online, and I just lost the ability to focus and enjoy the words.  A friend finished and launched a book, and I'd seem some early chapters, but it took him long to finish, and coincidentally the book comes out in an eerily similar time.  It's available free to download today, as it is the first of every month, and is a prequel to his earlier book, also free to download today.

Next I will try to finish some books I abandoned when I stopped traveling.  I had a couple that lived in my briefcase or travel bag, and when I cleaned those to put away for the longterm I found them.  They are waiting, but I have a feeling I'll dive back into them soon.

Status of June Mini-Resolutions

I did not finish two of the OTN items.  I did finish the sock, but not anything else that was in-progress.  The Center for Knit & Crochet suggested that World UFO Day tomorrow also apply to UnFinished Objects so I give myself through tomorrow night.  When I read that I was inspired to go to a bin where I have two quite old items.  One is a shawl I started during the nearly-year in Madison, and the other a shopping bag from before you received reusable bags from anywhere.  I am pretty sure I started it when I lived in Texas and the yarn shop from where I purchased the yarn is no longer in business - so it's been a while.  The pattern is fairly mindless so I've made quite good progress, and it might be done tomorrow if I figure out the top and strap.  The pattern is long gone.

I did finish the gift for my friend and the post office says it was delivered, so here are some photos:

I had just enough yarn for two bags - one crocheted, one knit.

  

I used the lace pattern from the Phyllotaxis Hat.

Kim received an elevation within her religion and I had a hank of hand-dyed sock yarn that reminded me of her.  I offered to make something out of it and she sent several ideas.  I decided to make these bags and I think they came out rather well.  Both patterns are my own design, other than following the lace pattern, and based upon measurements she sent.

Edited to add:  Kim posted that the bags are "perfect", she's thrilled.  Huzzah!

July Mini-Resolution

This is easy.  I was going to be on a Craft Cruise this month, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic and because no ships are sailing.  I'd planned to have at least one project in addition to the class projects:  Stephen West's Boneyard shawl, in yarn I purchased at his shop last year.  I plan to cast on July 11th, the day the cruise was scheduled to begin, and plan to have it finished by the time the cruise would end on July 25th.

Maybe I'll get some other UFOs finished, too.