Monthly Archives: April 2007

This vision

And then it had a new thought…

Thank you to everybody for your ideas for the blanket. Just to set the record straight- it is not that I do not want to please the recipient – it is that I have a difficult time telling what is a muted/subtle color. (Right Erin? Remember the color angst I went through knitting socks?) My color sense is what some may call *ahem* unique. Know that over here we love unique and I must say that one this one my drum beats pretty loud. If I did not want to knit something that the family would like, then I would not. If I wanted to give something that *I* wanted to give, with zero thought to the recipient it would be something goofy like a paper shredder or a blender. (Not, but you get my point.)

I will knit a pinwheel blankie (Thanks Cece!)and I will do one like we did at camp, Carla (who is blog free-not blog-less. Carla, for the record I will continue to use center pull yarn cakes from the outside. Chin up in the face of ridicule, I say! <snort>). But not for this project, I think.

Yesterday I was in a complete color frenzy. After reading Cara’s method that she adapted from Ruth, I spent about a zillion hours mucking about in photoshop. This was the initial inspiration…

Color for me is such a turn on, so intoxicating. It makes me so happy. Truly there is not a color I do not like. That said, I may not like a color for a particular purpose (me wearing dusty rose- ACK!) and at the same time, I know that each color is beautiful and has a place. Some might need a wing-man for them to perk up and be gorgeous but the potential is there for all color. I seriously believe this. Fervently.

Saturated color just about puts me around the bend. Full strength color is an elixir to me. Tonal color ways may make me completely giddy. Primary colors? Sometimes and not together. Tertiary colors turn me into a puddle of goo.

Angus’ new teacher Miss Nicole (sic) is a knitter! Yay! (How often to you get to ask your child’s teacher if she knows the Harlot?) And almost any minute Miss Nicole (sic) is expecting a baby girl! Baby knitting! And baby girl knitting? That n-e-v-e-r happens around here. A very exciting opportunity. At first, I thought I would make baby socks, having just taken Cat’s class… that is what the class was about- socks! (Still my experience of Cat eclipsed what the class was about- though I will say I learned some AMAZING things that I had a hard time understanding and Cat let me noodle it out and now the knowledge is MINE and in my` little lizard hind-brain forever. Freaking love Cat. She is the Feynman of knitting.)

Now I am looking at my recent Camp Purchases and thinking that a blanket might be in order. A blanket out of STR Heavy Weight…

So in the Conga-Line of pick up (not hook-up which sounds way, way more provocative), I asked Miss Nicole if she knew the colors of her new daughter’s room. No, they have not picked yet. So I asked the next logical question: What colors do you like? Bright? Subtle? Primary? Not Primary?

This was my downfall. I should never have asked. Really, we all know that I am going to knit whatever the heck I want regardless of what she tells me. Her answer was Muted and not Primary. I stink at Muted. (But if you call it Tonal, I’m all in. Weird, I know.) One of my cousins is married to a wonderful gal who was born in the UK and they now live in Atlanta. We bought one of their daughters a dress that I thought was extremely Muted and to them it was Neon. Sigh. Cousin’s wife does genteel and I do WAAAAAAAAAA!!!! and yet I fool myself that I do genteel.

So what colors do I use? I am thinking of doing mitres or maybe a log cabin. I thought about the curlicue and realized I do not have the energy for it.

A healthy discussion is welcome. What do you do when you love brights and the recipient loves muted? HELP?

What a few weeks this has been. Moving out west again, new house, camp, two sets of houseguests, Duncan’s 4 year check up, Angus’ first Diabetes check up. When you are diabetic (at least a kid with type one), you get a check up quarterly. He did GREAT and everybody was really in praise of the job our family is doing managing his blood sugars. Honestly, I did not sleep at all the night before and finally I figured out why- I was afraid we were going to get another bombshell. (There are many things that Angus is now prone to, which are scary and awful and I am just going to ignore in the moment.)

In other Angus news- he did great on his “trial day” for the elementary program and is now in school as a rising first grader! In the fall he will be in the same class as an official first grader. In our old school he was a kindergartener and the oldest in his class (Montessori does mixed age class rooms). Now he is the one of the youngest and the change has been phenomenal and overnight. He is showing a maturity and poise that blows us away. They went to the library yesterday (on a field trip) and upon returning home, Angus grabbed his book and announced that he was off to do research. Research! Imagine!

Onto the knitting. Yes, really.

This color is a bear and a half to photograph. STR Heavyweight in Lover’s Leap. Did two at once sleeves and they are fini! Yay! Doing both fronts and the back at the same time. Making good progress, I’d say. The color in the middle (the back & the fronts) is probably the most true.

Dude. Sock Camp was seriously b-e-y-o-n-d. I’ve been Bordhi-ed. I’ve been Harlotted. And man, oh man, have I been Blue Mooned.

The classes were perfect. Color theory with Tina? It was all I could do to keep from weeping tears of joy. Grok the Sock with Stephanie? Holy crap. Plus she gave a brief tutorial on intarsia in the round- a problem I have been trying to solve for YEARS. My brain is a happier place for learning this. Cat’s class? Don’t even remember what is was called, and honestly it doesn’t matter- “Cat’s class” says it all. Freaking love Cat.

My fellow campers were perfect. There is really no way to describe something as experiential as our few days together on Orcas. This week will be in my heart for a long time. Here are just a few pictures (I took about 800. 839 to be precise).

More to come, I promise. Love y’all.

Look at this little moosh.

Today he is Four.

Duncan, we love you Bigger Than the Sky.

There are no words.

All my love-

Mama