Searching for the Rainbow Connection

I bought a rainbow sampler pack from Lancaster Yarns last year.  I was originally going to make hexi's out of them, but after making Tessellating Diamonds Mitts and having leftover Dream in Color  Starry, I started thinking about a rainbow shawl.  With beads, because you know, beads. Then after a couple months, I almost found a pattern, which was close enough because I never really follow a pattern (or a recipe) to the letter anyway...

I've finished the  side to side bottom up portion, and am starting on the vertical short rows.  The camera on my phone did not pick up the sparkling of the yarn and beads so use your imagination.

Clue 1 is tomorrow!

The colors came out awful.  The top right is a bit purplier (without being purple) The bottom right is a deep dark blackberry purple.  The center bottom is more of a golden/camel tan, the top center is a dark chocolate.  The bottom is more of a darker sage, and the top left is a much lighter shade of the same green.  Hopefully as the project progresses I will get some daytime pictures.  I still need to make sure I have the right needles (don't know why I didn't check that before... aw geez, may have to hit an LYS... geez...)  

This is another she-knits KAL  for Kimmy, a slip stitch color work messenger shaped bag.  I love Sharon Dreiffus's bags ( I usually don't do mystery KAL because it can turn out to be a lot of work for a disappointing finished object.  But Sharon hasn't let me down yet!)  It is supposed to be all bulky weight yarn, which will be felted when done.  I didn't want to spend the $65 on Sharon's kit this time ( all the dorm shopping has made a dent in my wallet) so I went with knit picks instead.  I couldn't get the light green or purple I want in their bulky, but I have in previous felted projects, mixed 2 strands of their worsted with their bulky and it felted to an even fabric, so I went that route.

She has another simultaneous KAL going on for Sammy, a bag with I think it sounds like organizer pockets.  I bought both patterns together (cheaper that way)  but, haven't bought yarn for Sammy yet.  I want a variegated dark blue yarn.  It uses 3 skeins variegated/heathered/nonsolid bulky yarn, 2 of a solid mathcing bulky and 1 of another solid.  I want a REALLY deep blue bag.  I am leaning toward Aruncania, but that seems like a waste to felt! I MAY  do a swatch with some leftover Aruncania and some leftover knit picks bulky. and felt it.  If it felts together well, I may get 3 skeins of A from Webs, and the other 3 from Knit picks.

Until tomorrow - Happy Knitting! 

Before and After

Beautiful fall day here in northwest NJ, cool breezy, a bit cloudy but sunny. Have you ever noticed how on a sunny fall day the light is grayer then in the winter it is bluish? I love that light. Fall is my second favorite season (winter is my favorite)

Unfortunately, the recent cold nights and rain played havoc on my front garden. The weeds grew and flowers died.


Curt and I went shopping this morning, then set to work. First we pulled most of the weeds ( the recent rain made this a bit easier) and dead flowers. Then we planted 75 spring bulbs. Pink Tulips - double late Angeliques ( any one who knows Angelique would find this hysterically appropriate) White Daffodils - double cheerfulness. An assortment of crocus bulbs, and blue irises - not the bearded kind the long skinny petaled kind. Since the crocuses should bloom first, then the daffs, then the irises and finally the late tulips, it should put some color in the garden all spring long!

I then panted some gold mums in the hanging basket formerly inhabited by geraniums. ( hanging baskets of mums were $14 - this cost me 5 and a small shovel of potting soil)



We bought a Montauk daisy, a late fall bloomer that should come back next year, we just need to remember to cut it back in the spring for maximum blooms next fall. Daisies are my favorite flower. They look so happy!



We also got some red and white mums (Tony drives red, white&black; the devils are red & white, niners are red, white and gold) and put them between the hostas.


I looked at our rose bush/tree and that retarded thing has rose buds going - so I guess we'll have another batch of roses. When it blooms, I'll pop a picture on here.

vjac.etsy

I don't often hawk stuff, but you must check out this dyer. Back story - I make afghans for Victory Junction Gang Camp. Since the NASCAR community and many drivers personally have been hugely supportive of the endeavor, a group of knitters on Ravelry have an afghan making competition based on driver. My driver is Tony Stewart if you couldn't guess.
To defray the delivery costs of the afghans in the fall, an etsy shop has been created. Some really creative people have contributed to the shop.

I purchased some great stitch markers that say (heart) Tony (2 of these) and one that says (heart) smoke. Sara makes them to say whatever you want. As she really despises Tony, I'm very impressed they came out so great! I don't have a picture as they are in use in my bag in the car.

Jenn makes these really adorable pins called WIP (work in progress for non knitters) The truly sad part is I purchased this pin for a gift.



Now brook, is a hugely talented dyer who doesn't follow NASCAR at all (Min has totally dropped the ball here) but she created a line of NASCAR inspired yarn. This yarn is 99 based on the AFLAC color scheme of Carl Edwards. I got it for a swap and now that I physically have the yarn it may kill me to mail it out,



Finally, she made a yarn based on Tony's #14 car. It is 50% organic cotton - have to find out what the other 50 % is.
But it is gorgeous.



If the NASCAR inspired colors don't move you you can check out her shop
http://www.twistedfiberyarn.com/shop
She has gorgeous yarns and rovings and needles etc. etc.

Flowers

Ok, garden season is here. Deck updates later next week. Here's some pic's from outside the front door.


I think the buds may be prettier than the blooms!


This bud is like 7 feet in the air!



My red, white and blue hanging basket.

4 races in - crochet update

So, the end of last week, I suddenly realized that we were already three races into the NASCAR season, and I had no plan for my next VJGC competition afghan. Aaaacck! I had realized, while working on my off-season ghan, that a granny square mixed with black really "pops" the color out. So I had the giant 835 yd skein of RH Super Saver. I picked up Vanna's Baby in duckie, cherry, sweet pea and little boy blue. I am making 3 12x12 squares in each color w/ black. That way a 3 x 4 square ghan will be about 37 x 49. On Sunday I made 1. Sad I know, but when there were only 9 cars on the lead lap I sort of passed out for a bit. On Friday I had met for coffee with a really good friend and made 1. Monday night at an extremely drama filled, highly annoying booster club meeting I made 3 1/2 more. This afternoon I finished the 1/2 and started another. So here's what I have so far:

Inspiration

Yesterday I ran into a former co-worker and stopped to chat for awhile. As someone who knew me almost 20 years ago, she knew me not as a knitter (I have only been knitting for 5 years) but as a watercolor painter and ceramic/glass mosaic creator. ( I had made for her housewarming a large abstract watercolor and a co-ordinating mosaic top cast aluminum side table, which she apparently still uses as I saw them in the background of the pictures on her i-pod of her daughter's bridal shower) She was wearing a GORGEOUS beaded necklace/earring set. It turns out she turned the beads herself and then created the necklace and earrings. ( I knew her as an amazing embroidery/needlepoint/cross stitch artist) She will be coming for dinner in 3 weeks and I can't wait. In the midst of our conversation the topic of colors came up. And how she decides on the colors of glass she blends for her beads. What inspires the choices. She always wondered about my color choices especially with my mosaics. Most of her inspiration comes from the world outside her windows. She retired to a cabin on a lake in Colorado. (seriously jealous) she takes slide pictures of sunsets over the lake, the trees and mountains, deer in meadows etc etc. As you can imagine she is in no short supply of amazing photo-ops. She then pics things from the pictures. Clear blue glass for the lake, an opaque brown for the tree trunks, sparkling green for dew on the leaves a spot or 2 of red for birds or flowers etc. Sometimes she projects the pictures blurry on purpose so all you get is the colors.

When I was in high school and college I was a serious space geek. really. I had the walls of my bedroom painted an almost midnight blue, the trim in chrome. vinyl floors that looked like diamond plate metal. I had all kinds of space shots and posters framed in the same chrome painted around the trim ( my portholes) Yes serious space geek. A lot of the pictures from Astronomy, and Sky and Telescope, as well as the prints and posters I had served for my color blends and inspirations.

When I got home, I was telling Curt about seeing B. and our conversation and I realized that many of my current color choices and mixes as well as the handpaint/handdyed yarn I just have to have , are in the same color blends that inspired me almost 2 decades ago. Here are 4 of my favorite nebulae courtesy of various NASA telescopes/sites.



The Eagle Nebula



The Pillars of Creation ( a serious hotbed nursery where new stars are being born)



The Orion Nebula ( my personal favorite, as on a clear winter night away from city lights you can see it with the naked eye)



The Horsehead