Swan Lake and Other Mysteries

Dear Blog-

I swear, sometimes it is like being on Wild Kingdom and always getting to be the one who stays in the car and watches out the window. Last week after bringing DH home from work I was sitting on the couch reading my book and saw something moving outside, out of the corner of my eye. I just saw the hump of this big body going by with a ringed tail, and assumed it was one of the wild cats we have seen in the yard. Until he got into the pond with all four feet, and I thought, That's no cat. Then I saw this face peering out the other side of the big blue pot. I mean how cute is that darned thing, anyway? How often do you get to see a raccoon about three feet away from you? He was very curious about my husband with the camera, and seemed not at all frightened by us. At one point he was standing on his back legs looking in the front window at Graham, who was pretty excited as he has never seen a raccoon before. This photo doesn't do his size justice - he is big! About 3 foot tall standing on his hind legs. Uh, the raccoon, that is. Not my husband. My husband is taller than that.

And speaking of DHs, tomorrow is our anniversary, so after I go and play Knit Dr we will go out to lunch at our favorite (and only) Brit cafe in town, and then to the movies. I'm still trying to convince him that we ought to go to the Gem Show while it is in town this weekend, but on the other hand, I know that Lynda + Gem Show equals the purchase of gems, and right now it isn't in our budget. Oh, well. Just as we had to spend all of our birthday monies on repairs for a car that was totalled two weeks later, for our anniversary we will probably spend what little monies we get as gifts on something like food, or medicines. Which totally sucks, isn't very festive, but whatcha gonna do?

On the brighter side, I can assure you that while I was not posting here, I was knitting as often as possible. The results of which you will be seeing here over the next few days as I try to play catch-up.

Two weeks ago I finished the Mystery Stole 3. I wanted to finish each clue within the week following it being posted, and I did pretty well with that until Harry Potter came along, and you know I just had to stop and read Harry Potter. While that only took a couple of days, it completely put me out of the mood to work on big projects, and so I was one clue behind when the next one came out. Considering that I finished it only a week after I had hoped to, I figure I can't complain.

And I certainly have no complaints about the results...

I used Zephyr wool/silk blend in the color Charcoal. This is not the color I picture when I think of charcoal, yet I do really like it, and enjoyed the entire experience very much. The yarn is just so delicious, and the shimmer of the silk in the blend made me think of graphite powder. I will definitely be working with this yarn again. The other half of the experience - the mystery aspect - was a very different one for me. I have always fiercely disliked being given arbitrary orders, I like to know what I am going to be doing, the whole story, and all the reasons why. Sure, I take risks in life, but they are risks I choose. To just start knitting a project like this one - without having any idea what the result would be - was not only a very freeing jump off the high dive, but also a treat to work along and not know what it was supposed to look like. To have almost no responsibility for the outcome.

I know that YOU know that I think Melanie Gibbons, the designer of MS3, is a lace genius, so it wasn't that hard to jump in knowing that she was at the controls. All hail, Melanie!

Although it has gone on a short tour of potential admirers, Swan Lake is now packed away and waiting for cooler weather so that I might enjoy it. No, Sister, you aren't getting your mitts on this one...

Look at how the feather area blocked out-


You love it just as much as I do, don't you?

I do have several other projects to show you, including my finished Fair Isle felted bag, my Mitred Square felted bag, and the FI mitt design I am currently struggling with. I also started working on squares from Barbara Walker's Learn to Knit Afghan, to take along during grueling parental surgery patrol. They are perfect for that type of knitting - a small, portable project that doesn't take much thought at all once you have the repeat in your mind.

Less happy projects include several chemo caps for my beloved Aunt Audrey, who has lung cancer. She started her chemo on Tuesday of this week. Rumor has it that she has also worn through the soles of the pair of felted slippers I made for her b-day last November, so the yarn for another pair is on order. I get the feeling that they haven't been off her feet since she got them. This time they will have suede soles. If you could send up some prayers for her and for my cousins, especially her daughter Colleen, it would be much appreciated.

See you in a couple of days-

Lynda