MaggieBKnits

It has just occurred to me that one of my sons has to return to college tomorrow afternoon. Since he (#2) is the single-color hat recipient, and I haven't done much in a day or so, I had better get cracking. So this will be short. I want to post pictures of a new book I opened yesterday.  We open our Christmas gifts gradually over time (often into January) but due to son #2 leaving on the first, we did a mass finish-up yesterday.  I got this: Which was on my Christmas list, due to Meg Swansen's  review  of it.  (Scroll down if you follow the link, it is in the Scandinavian section of her blog post). Now, whether or not you want to knit these adorable, creative, charming, entertaining mittens, the book is a delight and the charts are quite excellent.   Check out the owl.  As you see, the palm and the back of the mitten are different, just like an owl itself  😎 And the cow. This is where Meg became overcome by gig...

A very dear friend of mine has begged me to resume my blog. The fact that I have fallen Completely Behind on things like hashtags, twitter, instagram (and so on): this had left me feeling that even if I might have Something Useful To Say, I'm way too clueless on how to say it to a more au courant audience-- these things my dear friend dismissed ("pfft") and said, just write. So. I have had all four children home for Christmas-- which has been a joy. Of course, everything out of their mom's mouth needs pushback. I am not sure this will ever end 🙄. Yesterday we drove, en masse (yes, 6 grown-up sized people, and one dog, in one car) to Long Island to see grandparents. Technically, we live less than an hour and a half's drive from them (70 miles by road, and probably 40 by eagle or crow, if that were actually an option) ...but between standard Long Island/Manhattan congestion and the various choke points we go through (George Washington Bridge I am SO  ...

Let's not talk about how long it's been since I posted (or finished a knitting project). Let's just keep our fingers crossed that I can maintain a decent frequency on posting from here on out.   I redesigned my blog, and yes, I know there are a bazillion things I can still fix.  And I will.  But first I need to talk about knitting, spinning and my fiber life. A Trindle spindle, with some dyed-by-me Shetland fleece In my absence I have become a spinner.   Jensen Tina II, purchased in March 2010  I am going to save the "Why did you embrace spinning, and when did all this happen??" question for some other time... For now-- I love it. So- here is some fleece I got in the mail, just today: Into the Whirled, as part of their Luxe Fiber Club.  It is 80% Superwash Merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon. The colors are not rendering quite accurately-- it is various greens with, interestingly, a silver grey.  Makes me think of Lothlori...

I discovered this yesterday. Love it. Perfect for the (nearly) interminable soccer games I attend in the fall, and it can hold both my water and my coffee. I still await a chair designer forward-thinking enough to include an integrated knitting bag... Luckily my normal bag hangs off the arm (not the side with the coffee cup). Don't be horrified but there has been very little knitting. I was going great guns for a bit but teaching has swamped me this past week. Just trying to keep my head above the water. I did knit my daughter one and a half headbands today (the half is not yet finished) as she seems to have lost all the rest of them. I'll take a picture tomorrow, at least, that's the plan. Later.

This is Roskilde Cathedral, which is built where Harold Bluetooth originally built a church. His church was wood and is long since gone, of course-- and the cathedral was built in its place. The cathedral is quite impressive. It has served as the burial location for the Danish royal family, for centuries. Many separate crypts and sections have been added on through the years, for various family elements. In fact, this is Harold Bluetooth's pillar tomb. Obviously he was moved here when the cathedral was built, since it is Gothic in style and Harold died in 985AD, or thereabouts. In case I forgot to mention this, I found Roskilde to be utterly charming and delightful. Okay-- on to Copenhagen, a short train ride to the northeast of Roskilde. In keeping with the royal family theme, here is a photo of the palace in Copenhagen. Yes, that car that is approaching was gunning for me-- in fact there is a sign suggesting that photo takers not stand in the road as it is, indeed,...

Yesterday was a good day for knitting mail. First, my September issue of Woolgathering arrived. The design on the cover is an old, previously unpublished design concept (well, the yoke chart was the discovery) that Meg found in EZ's notes. She also has an old photo of her sister Lloie wearing a variant. What I find intriguing about this photo, and the design, is that when I look at the dark brown sweater I see downward pointing pairs of leaves, separated by narrow vertical lines. On the purple one I see upward pointing leaves on either side of that vertical line. Same chart to knit both. Is it my crazy eyes? And yes, I am tempted by the cardigan, though in my stashed dark browns (etc) of unspun Icelandic yarn. Resisting starting anything but keeping it in my mental queue. (Yes, OK, I'll get to listing it on Ravelry eventually. I have to say that my Ravelry interaction is pretty minimal. There are tons of WIPs I should enter, and queue items and so on... but I don't...

I did some work on the Hanne Flakenberg Plisse jacket on Sunday: This is the back, or part of it. The texture stitch and the intriguing method of construction keep this project interesting. All for now. But at least I got a bit of knitting done...