choral music, fo's, and a meme

This is how those of us who have no swift/ball winder make center pull balls of yarn.



Here's a close-up of that yarny goodness. Luscious, no? It's Lisa Souza, colorway "wild things." Darker and lusher in person. Ooooo, I love it.

CHORAL MUSIC

Check out this guy's face. My personal theory is that he reaaaally didn't like sopranos. Another plausible theory is that he was a deaf instrumentalist writing choral music. Whatever the reason, his Missa Solemnis is, and I feel quite strongly about this, NOT MEANT TO BE SUNG BY HUMANS. LOUD soft LOUD soft. HIGH low HIGH low. This is simply not rational human behavior.

This guy, on the other hand, makes me feel like a bird in flight, particularly in the two lovely lovely pieces we're preparing for my church choir: He that is down need fear no fall, and a setting of the 23rd psalm from Pilgrim's Progress. The only conclusion I can draw from comparing these two faces and their respective works' singability is.......... that it's not about the eyebrows.

I love this:

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: ( pet and current street name) Josie Walnut That is so awesome.

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your moms side, your favorite candy) Helen Marzipan (ahem)

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of last name, first three letters of your middle name) V. Eva Actually I don't really know what a fly girl is.

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Dog (zzzzzzzz)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Eva Hanover

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom’s maiden name and first 3 letters of the town you grew up in.) Valalhenor

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The”, your favorite color, favorite drink) The Blue Caipirinha That does not sound like a superhero, but it's fun to spell

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first name of both your grandfathers) Thomas Ernst I also like the one that uses their middle names: Easen Wilhelm

9. FUTURISTIC NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne and the name of your favorite shoes) Cinnamon Sandals (OK, I know NOTHING about perfumes and little more about shoe brands. Still, I kind of like Cinnamon Sandals)

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother/father’s middle name ) Louise None My Dad has no middle name, but what a witness protection name!!

Thanks to Lair of the Silkwyrm for this meme. Can't remember how I found her.

Finally, another pear dishcloth is born!

but lo!

I fixed it!

Most of it, anyway. I still don't know how to become a member of the mid-atlantic knitters ring. I'll save that for another day.

is it true?

Did I just erase my entire template trying to add my blog to the mid-atlantic knitters ring?

the ribbed scarf...

... was for my Dad's eightieth birthday. Here's a bit of knitterly joy: the night before his birthday he said to me, unprompted, "You know, someday I would love to have a scarf that you made. I love a real, woolen scarf." My poker face must have been effective, because he appeared utterly surprised the next morning when he opened the gift! I'm so pleased.

Recent reading:

Apart from an Agatha Christie spate, brought on by the MM's recent discovery of Miss Marple, I've been reading a lot of Anita Shreve. The answer (although you don't yet know the question) is: I like her historical fiction waaaay more than her contemporary stuff. Two that I loved:

Fortune's Rocks Turn of the 20th century, set in an unforgettable seaside house in coastal New Hampshire. A love story, and an agonizing portrait of social restrictions. Awesome characters.

Sea Glass Depression era, set in the SAME HOUSE (also the setting for The Pilot's Wife). Again a love story, against the background of a mill workers' strike. She really is gifted at place and time and character. A beautiful book.

Now rereading Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose for my so-called book club, and just finishing a recent Ruth Rendell, 13 Steps Down. I haven't quite figured this one out yet.

Finally, just for fun, here is a study I call "Sleeping Poodle with Dishcloth in Progress."

und endlich...

My final few FOs of the summer.



A simple 3 X 3 rib scarf from two balls of Rowan Tapestry. It's a surprise, so I can't tell you who or what it's for yet. Many thanks to Maeve at Knit Happens for the blocking advice! It turned out exactly the way I wanted it to.




Assorted dishcloths out of Sugar n Cream. Several other dishcloths got churned out over the last two months that have already been put to use or given away without so much as a ceremonial photo. More to come too (holidays approach!).

Now I'm off to take the poodle to the dog park, meself to Old Navy, and Penguin Boy to the allergist. That way everything should be squared away for tomorrow's departure for Vermont and a three-day visit with the parents extraordinaire.

Bis bald!

the FO showing continues

My knitting goal for the six weeks we spent in Berlin was a pair of socks for each member of my family (myself excluded). Here they are:



Stripey socks for Penguin Boy. Top-down, 3 X 1 rib, US 0 dpns. This is Regia that I bought in Vermont. I love these socks, and so does he. Note the prominent bruise. This is typical for PB, as I'm sure it is for many 10-year-olds. I remember vividly his 18-month checkup with the pediatrician, who caused some mild panic in this Mom when he started counting PB's bruises... and then said, "Seventeen. That's about right."



Garter Rib socks for my sweetie, from Sensational Knitted Socks. Lisa Souza's glorious hand-dyed, colorway "petroglyph." US 0 dpns. He's worn them several times and they're holding up great in the washer. These are being modeled on my feet, so if it looks like they're about 3 inches too long, that's probably right.



Ankle socks for the Movie Maven. Also Lisa Souza yarn, colorway "Delft," and US 0's. After asserting for many months that she is not interested in handknit socks, will not wear handknit socks, and generally thinks handknit socks are a very bad idea, she has worn these practically into the ground. I finally got to wash them yesterday. I lent the pattern (same one I used for the Stripey socks, only shortened) to a friend and I've forgotten what it's called. I'll get better at this, I promise.

back from hibernation

After a lovely (hot) summer in Berlin (not as hot as the summer in Alexandria, thank goodness), a lovely trip to Vermont, and having gotten a couple weeks of the school schedule under my belt, I think I'm ready to come back to the blog. My sweetie helped me figure out some of the things that I'd like to do (eg., put things in sidebars, make links, intersperse the photos throughout the text). And I've forgotten what he told me to do to put things in sidebars. sigh

Not to be deterred from my real mission of putting pictures of things I knit on the web for the whole dang world to see... here are a couple pictures of my first FO's of the summer. More anon.



Cozy for Penguin Boy's ipod shuffle. Sock yarn from stash, US1 dpns. Made up the pattern. Both the shuffle and the cozy were lost somewhere in Berlin.



Baby Jester Hat for Mika. Made up the pattern, but I have it written down if anyone wants it. Leftover Debbie Bliss cashmerino from an afghan made for a friend last year. US6 rosewood needles. I love this hat. I made it up for my friend Ann's twins a couple of years ago.