Author Archives: Talitha

in this moment

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IMG_9022urbi’ve been doing a little 2 steps forward, 3 steps back

with this new cabled design.

fresh ideas are often like that for me, never a straight line

of forward motion from beginning to end.

it’s a good thing that

it’s the process of the knitting i love.

if i only had my sights on the reward of reaching the goal,

and wasn’t able to enjoy the tangental paths that take me there

i’d be miserable doing what i do.

helps immensely

to be surrounded by yarn and needles

that i really like working with.

in this case, it’s rowan’s cocoon and the new handcrafted

hexagonal needles from indian lake artisans.

now, tonight i’ll move a few more

steps forward, and see if they stick or not.

‘paths’ taken from 3:17 of proverbs.

of course, a train conductor

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this is the picture

that i wanted to take today:

‘kelp’ in the sun (it’s nice & knit worsted).IMG_8979crioa lovely box of this color arrived just this week and made me smile.

maybe spring isn’t coming soon, but this is spring-like.

next, below is the picture

that my 4yr old wanted me to take today.

he says that the conductor just trekked across ‘wastelands of snow’IMG_8982 again(see the ‘wastelands’ in the background),

then hiked up the yarn mountain to find spring.

see how he holds a piece of ‘spring’ above his head with his right hand

to show his mastery over winter?

and the sun shone all day.

how was i to know

that one little plastic man

(and my son’s avid imagination)

would be all it takes to lead us around the corner

into sunshine, receding snow, and spring?

someone give that little man a cookie quick,

before he moves on to

greener pastures.

hand one to his 4yr old friend, too.

‘green’ taken from 17:8 of jeremiah.

those in glass houses

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the urge is to tell my sweet man,

that he owns too many shovels.  i mean,

really, how many shovels does it take to move snow?

but when asked, he can explain the how and the why of each one.

‘different kinds of snow, require different kinds of shovels’, he’ll tell you if you ask.IMG_8976crop

only a portion of his ‘collection’ sits in front of the garage door.

he can launch into counterbalance

and grip,

explain the uses of metal vs plastic edges,

and expound on handle length as applied to leverage

in the wink of an eye…

now, part of me wants to snicker a little.

that he is so scientific about shovels

strikes me as funny.

then again,

who am i to talk?

i choose bamboo vs metal knitting needles

based on the yarns i’m going to use,

buy the same needles with different tip lengths

for different projects,

and certainly i could go on and on about

round vs square vs hexagonal needles and what they all do best.

truth is, he’s been doing the work of shoveling longer than i’ve been knitting,

so i should be happy he knows the tools so well.

that’s what i want him to feel about

my knitting needles and me,

afterall.

‘work’ taken from 15:7 of second corinthians.

light as a…

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i want spring,

but no degree of my wanting it

(and i want it pretty badly) will speed its arrival.IMG_8764cropso here’s a little cowl to pass the time more productivity

(since i find myself staring out into the whiteness

and daydreaming of green).

i used the fibre company’s knightsbrige

which is a soft and airy mix of llama, merino and silk.

it’s as luxurious as it sounds.

…maybe having a few last weeks of cold to wear it in

isn’t such a bad idea after all.

maybe.

‘sounds’ taken from 14:7 of first corinthians.

snug as a bug in a rug

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or as cozily warm (and excited)

as a catepillar about to burst forth and see

the world as a butterfly for the very first time.

it’s all white outside, but in the kitchen

a welcoming shade of grey

is growing.

always feels so good

to watch lovely yarn (like rowan’s cocoon)

becoming something.IMG_8961brnot too many details to share yet,

but this is the beginnings of a collaboration with jul designs

working its way from idea to reality.

watching the process on the sunny island in my kitchen is

a great way to end a long,

cold, snowy week.

‘burst’ taken from 55:12 of isaiah.

childhood

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one of the great things

about the nine year old boys i know,

is that if you shovel only one path from the back porch to the bus stopIMG_8958upand it’s a zig-zag,

then you tell them that they have to stay on the path

(even though the snow is only 2″ deep),

they will roll their eyes

at you,

and say ‘no way’.

then they will go ahead and do it, and

by the time they are halfway to the door,

they will be laughing from the bottom of their hearts

with unadulterated joy.

‘heart’ taken from 17:22 of proverbs.

curtain call

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it is only the shoveled paths

and the driveway, that the kids can play on now.

the actual snow is so deep that they mostly can’t move through it.

we’ve resorted to more and more inside activities this season.

the latest is acting out things

that the kids like or find interesting.

my 8 yr old picked ‘peep and the big wide world‘.

she assigned everyone parts and organized the ‘costumes’ (ie: papa’s bunny ears).

it was so much fun.  here’s our cast of characters:

teenage sister = quack, the cranky big blue duck who always wears a hatIMG_8912crop

4 yr old brother = chirp, the always looking on the bright side red baby birdIMG_8909crop

the 8 yr old ‘director’ herself = peep, the philosophical chickIMG_8913crop9 yr old brother = the overly enthusiastic racoonIMG_8917crop

papa (the good sport) = the bunny (who was instructed on exactly how to hop properly)IMG_8919crop

some laughs and eye rolling was had by all.

what are you doing to fill your days with all the

unrelenting weather outside?

 ‘paths’ taken from 38:19-20 of job.

 

not like the other

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two skeins of yarn.

both sport weight, both 75% yak, and

both from the same yarn company, but there the similarities end.

IMG_8634dar

the yak down takes to dying so well. look at what depth the colorways have.

the down is soft, too. so soft. huggable even.

for the himalayan trail, an added

25% of merino leads to lovely stitches

(this yarn shown above in orange #32, brianna).

on the other hand

bijou basin ranch added bamboo to the lhasa wilderness.

(shown above in ruby, #35).

this blend is still wonderfully soft

with the added benefit of bamboo’s anti-microbial effects.

check out how the fiber mix shimmers in the light.

gorgeous.

for me the next question always is, ‘what to knit?’

the gauge of the two yarns is close.

close enough to adjust

with a simple needle size change.

with that in mind, i’ve begun

a hat that will be one layer of each yarn.  teamwork.IMG_8640dar2first the himalayan trail, top down and in the round.

it’s even softer knit up than it felt skeined, which i am loving.

exactly what comes next for this hat is a bit vague to me still.

it will definitely be a layer of the silk/yak blend,

but lacy?  or textured?  or…

this is what i love about good yarns and knitting:

the options just stretch out ahead of you like an open stretch of road.

time to turn up the radio, take a deep breath,

and see what lies ahead.

the disclaimer: bijou basin ranch

gave me this yarn to play with, but you know me.  i am

way too stubborn to be influenced toward lies or embellishment by two free

skeins of yarn.  therefore, the opinions expressed here are honest, and truthfully mine.

‘question’ taken from 21:29 of job.