Category Archives: Notions

a different kind of stitch

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i cannot be

the only one who sometimes

does not start for fear of it not coming out well.

right?

i’m not much of a ‘practicer’, more of the ‘want to be good’ type

and it can temporarily paralize me.

that sort of explains

why i have two big books,

multiple colors of floss, and even an interesting blank bag,

but have not yet stitched a single stitch…IMG_3142-

then jordan started her sewing site

and the accompanying blog and newsletter.

i find her point of view refreshing and down to earth.

her photo tutorials are so clear,

she makes me want to just dive in.

but, i still didn’t know quite what to attempt to stitch

until i read this little bit of her poetry:

thoughts

grow high

in quiet

wild spaces.

yes, that’s exactly right.

the rest will come together once i start.

i’m quite sure of that now.

thanks, jordan!

tomorrow’s goal: pick a color & thread the needle.

i can so do this.

‘different’ taken from 12:6 of 1st corinthians.

really? yup.

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meg of a wool story

posted a pic of green onions

that she’d regrown in water in just a few days.

i decided to challenge my science minded son to try it.

he was, to say the least, doubtful.

‘too good to be true’

was basically his sentiment.

so, we bought a little handful of scallions at the grocery

to give it a go.

IMG_2935+

it’s so very simple.

just cut the green tops off of the stalks

(leaving the roots in tact),

then plop

them in water, set in the sun and see what happens.

here’s the complete play by play of what we did.

(‘read’ the pics counter clockwise from the upper left corner):

go collage

sine we were being ‘scientific’

we measured before and after the chopping,

then after 3 days in the sun,

we measured again.

now, i knew they’d grow, but the rate of growth amazed me.

all the darker green at the tops is new growth.

IMG_2984+

in 3 days the stalk that grew the least grew a full inch

while the ‘winner’ grew more than 3″.

that’s crazy good.

my son,

for the record,

can’t get over the fact that they’re growing at all

without dirt.

despite all the clippings i’ve rooted in jars of water

that reality is hitting him for the very

first time in these shoots.

i think i love watching his understanding

of what’s possible grow more than

having our supply of fresh scallions

constantly replacing

itself.

‘understanding’ taken from 2:11 of proverbs.

mondays with mrs. crosby: ten

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when i get this close to the end of a design

it’s like when the wind changes just before it rains.

things begin to look different.

instead of focusing on individual stitches

i start to see them as a collective whole.

and i can almost smell the excitement

that i feel

or maybe i’m just smelling the sweat

from getting this close to the end of the project and

this close to the end of the skein at the very same time.

IMG_2929whatever the exact reason for the feeling

(and whatever the smell actually is)

mostly it’s just a buzzing of excitment

as i wait to block, seam,

and see exactly what it’s become.

‘changes’ taken from 8:1 of ecclesiastes.

‘mondays with mrs. crosby’ is an ongoing series of posts

(to be posted on mondays, of course),

detailing a current collaboration between mrs. crosby yarns

and me. stay tuned.

mondays with mrs. crosby: nine

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it is sunny

and light, but it is quite cold…

so my mind has wandered off to paris in the springtime.IMG_2823 sqperhaps someday i will get there to see it.

‘springtime’ taken from 10:1 of zechariah.

‘mondays with mrs. crosby’ is an ongoing series of posts

(to be posted on mondays, of course),

detailing a current collaboration between mrs. crosby yarns

and me. stay tuned.

mondays with mrs. crosby: eight

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friday.

already?

the truth is, that

i realized fleetingly that it was wednesday

when my mum called to check if we needed anything at the store.

that’s bad, right?

and then in the blink of an eye it’s actually dinnertime on friday night.

still mostly feels like mostly monday morning to me.

in my

defense,

it’s school vacation week.

as long as we all got dressed, brushed our teeth,

and ate three square meals a day, that’s really been enough this week.

my mamahood life…

all this to say that i posted my

‘mondays with mrs. crosby’ photo to facebook,

instagram, twitter, and then completely

(and immediately) forgot to post to the blog.

so, i’m claiming

‘school vacation brain’

and moving quickly on, okay?

it’s been a week for clinging a bit to all things calming.

 we’ve had bitter cold, rain, snow, 50 mile an hour winds,

and then today it’s sunny and nearly 55 degrees.

that adds up to kids who are climbing

up the walls

and me knitting stockinette stitch with a deeply contented look on my face.

don’t get me wrong, we’ve made marshmallow men,

hand drawn cards for papa’s birthday,

strung fruit loops onto yarn scraps,

built newly improved telescopes and planes from legos,

used toothpicks and gummy bears to create really sweet jewelry,vacay week collageand the kids did their own face painting.

that was just one day of the five days this week.

i have navigated focusing their enthusiasm

in positive directions as both referee and cheerleader.

i’m guessing you can begin to see why

i might be longing for more stockinette stitch speed right about now.

mrs. crosby’s hat box in new leaf was ever so happy to oblige.IMG_2770

add the patterning details of leilani arts indigo fabric

and indian lake artisan’s hexagonal needles into the mix?

now i’m happy as a pig in mud

which is just what

my kids will look like playing in the yard tomorrow

if the weather doesn’t chill up a bit.

oh well, more rhythm of the stockinette for me.

all good.

‘climbing’ taken from 4:3 of nehemiah.

‘mondays with mrs. crosby’ is an ongoing series of posts

(to be posted on mondays, of course),

detailing a current collaboration between mrs. crosby yarns

and me. stay tuned.

mondays with mrs. crosby: seven

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it is cold

and it is still snowing.

as darkness falls my thoughts

are journeying on to plans for warmer places to go

and this knitting will be just the thing to wearIMG_2702sat

wherever there turns out to be.

perhaps a place with elephants and tigers.

oh my.

‘turns’ taken from 1: 6 of ecclesiastes.

‘mondays with mrs. crosby’ is an ongoing series of posts

(to be posted on mondays, of course),

detailing a current collaboration between mrs. crosby yarns

and me. stay tuned.

my first in five

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i am

not actually

sure quite how it happened

that i have designed 33 sweaters in the last 5 years and

have not managed to knit a sweater from someone else’s pattern

for myself at all.

bah (or should i say ‘baaaa’).

shearer aaron loux has just changed all that.

he sent a sweater’s worth of his naturally dark blend of wools this week.

such a rich undyed color that’s also locally raised.

this stuff is gorgeous and rustic and perfect,

in my opinion,

for a boxy v-neck cardigan.

i’m gonna make ‘criss cross’ by isabell kraemer.

so very cool.IMG_2693

i swatched, blocked, and find that i am close to her gauge.

think i will probably go up a size

just to be sure

as i have a few more stitches to the inch than she did,

but close.

and my row gauge is spot on.

just got the automated call from the town

that tomorrow’s squall

has been upgraded to blizzard.

i know i won’t have much of a head for new writing

with the house full of my kids

all amped up on a snow filled school free day,

but i bet i can cast on and

begin this sweater.

can’t wait.

‘free’ taken from 49:21 of genesis.

mondays with mrs. crosby: six

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if a thing

is going to fit right

at the end of being made,

then the work has to be put in at the beginning

to design it well, allowing for

key things like the range of final sizes

and the fact that knit fabric has some give,

gorgeous drape, and the tendency to become a bit like

the warm body wearing it.

you know that, right?

my favorite hat

(after being worn weekly for the past 2 winters)

now fits me even better than it did when my friend sharon

first made it for me.

knitting becomes us in so many different ways…

but i’m getting off track here. the point at hand

is that it is time to stop, for a moment,

playing with the hat box

at my fingertips,

and put my muscle

to paper and lead for a while

so that what this yarn is begging to become

is sussed out to be actually possible.

IMG_2321ready? here we go then.

‘begging’ taken from 41:3 of job.

‘mondays with mrs. crosby’ is an ongoing series of posts

(to be posted on mondays, of course),

detailing a current collaboration between mrs. crosby yarns

and me. stay tuned.

choosing colorways

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the time has come

to design mittens and fingerless gloves to

to with tohutohu, the hat from this past summer’sthth sqmystery kal with lys string theory yarn company!

playing with the colorwork stitch patterns

again is going to be so fun.

first, though,

comes choosing yarn.

i’m excited to be working with

local dyer dirty water dyeworks ‘clara petite’ for the mitts and fingerless.

stephanie’s colors are rich and lovely with just a the right touch of semi-solid in the mix.

i’ve such a soft spot for the depth that semi-solid colors add

to any project.

here’s the only catch:

i like all the petite clara colorways. every one.

my mind reels at all the possible color combos that

flash before my eyes when i begin to consider.

will you guys help me out here?

check out the choices

for ‘petite clara’.

they’re on this page right here

and, the two new colors not yet pictured

 are carbon (dark gray) and vermont (hunter green).

be sure to scroll down past the ‘clara’ colors to get to the ‘petite clara’ ones.

please do leave me comments with your favorite color combos, ok?

that would be so great.

thanks.

you get that the real problem here

is that i want them all, right? every single one. smile.

‘choose’ taken from 8:10 of proverbs.

photo snapped by 126 flash.

mondays with mrs. crosby: five

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the thing about yarn is that we get to tell it what to do

one stitch at a time.

that is not the way that most of life goes,

at least not my life,

and it feels very, very good when something allows me that much choice

and ultimate control.

along those lines,

this week was all about swatching.

last week i pictured hat box in ‘new leaf’ and this week i’m testing ideas

(mostly gauge related) with a bit in the colorway roasted chestnut,IMG_2536-1but, it’s the same lovely fiber mix of

merino, silk and cashmere

(can i get an excited ‘oooh’ and a happy ‘aahhh’?).

such drape and my fingers

are overjoyed at being ‘forced’ to touch

this lovely yarn over and over again.

‘fingers’ taken from 8:3 of the psalms.

‘mondays with mrs. crosby’ is an ongoing series of posts

(to be posted on mondays, of course),

detailing a current collaboration between mrs. crosby yarns

and me. stay tuned.