I made something, part two

I've decided to make this a three part series. Because this is my blog, and I'll divide if I want to.

Remember the thing I made?

It has buttons. These are not just any buttons, these are old buttons. These buttons are probably at least 40-50 years old, and came from my grandmother's large button collection. She had a stainless steel canister with a lid, probably meant to be a cookie jar in the 1950s, and she kept all her buttons in it from her sewing and knitting projects.

As a girl, I loved to sort through it, asking if my grandma recalled where each button came from. (She could tell me things like, "That came off of a coat your grandfather wore," or, "That came on a dress I bought at XYZ department store, and didn't like, so I cut them off and changed the buttons.")

People don't keep button bins anymore. But they should.

Because, who knows?  Someday your granddaughter could own a yarn business and would want to knit your great-granddaughter something that will require buttons.

And who knows? Something from your cast-off dress could end up on your descendant's clothing.

Your descendants would likely think that was very cool.

I think I'll start a button bin.

More on this something I knit tomorrow.

In the meantime, can I just say? I really like the colorway Alice when it's all knit up. Alice is even better in the garment than she is in the skein:

 (Alice is the blue, pink, yellow, white, and black section in the middle of this shot.)

Hasta lapasta!

New colorway!

And it makes me happy. It makes me happy to look at it, it makes me happy to dye it, it makes me happy to pack it up and ship it off to its new parents in Florida, happy enough to keep a skein on my desk and a skein on my packing table just because I like to see it.

This is called Gulf of Mexico, and it's made to mimic the serene, tropical waters found in what is sometimes known as the American Mediterranean.

Gulf of Mexico is kettle dyed in clear turquoises and greens, with small accents of watery blue-grey. Kettle dyeing means that the color variation is randomly distributed throughout the skein, minimizing the chances of color pooling. And because this is a low-contrast colorway, you can safely use this for complicated stitch patterns, cables, or lace. But it's also interesting enough to stand on its own in a plain stockinette stitch.

I broke out my new Signature Circulars to knit a small swatch of this gorgeous colorway. Gulf is the perfect antidote to an ailing mood or a flagging spirit -- it's calm but cheerful, and wearable by absolutely anyone.

Gulf of Mexico is available exclusively at one of our lovely retailers: A Good Yarn Sarasota. Susan at A Good Yarn is very lovely and very happy to take orders for this colorway. I know she has it instock on the following yarns:

• Adorn Sock
• Springvale DK
• Springvale Worsted
• Springvale Bulky
• Wexford Merino Silk
• Galenas Merino

You can reach A Good Yarn via email at: info@agoodyarnsarasota.com

via telephone at: (941) 487-7914

via the web at: www.AGoodYarnSarasota.com

and in person at:  

7668 S Tamiami Trail

Sarasota, FL 34231

I'm planning a trip to A Good Yarn in November -- I can't wait to visit the shop in person! In the meantime, place your orders for Gulf of Mexico, and enjoy a little piece of paradise.

P.S. A Good Yarn also has a bunch of our new spring rainbow colorways on Adorn Sock -- you could add those to your package while you're at it!

Update on Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 4:59PM by Yarnista

A Good Yarn and Three Irish Girls have partnered to donate a percentage of the proceeds of this yarn to help with wildlife cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexio. Please call A Good Yarn at 941.487.7914 or email them at info @ a good yarn sarasota . com to order Gulf of Mexico.

I made something.

I made something out of yarn.

I made something out of yarn that I dyed.

I made something out of yarn that I dyed for one of the children that I grew.

I made something out of yarn that I dyed for one of the children that I grew and she's very happy with it.

I made something out of yarn that I dyed for one of the children that I grew, and she's so happy with it that she wore it to school today.

And that made me happy.

Raise your hand if you've made something for one of your children that they refused to wear.

Isn't that just the best? Isn't it just wonderful when your beloved refuses to wear what you spent hours and hours and hours making?

But this is a happy post. Back to what I made:

There it is. The bowl that I knit in the sink that I crocheted.

Will the bowl hold water? Let's wait and see.

It does help to enlist the water-testing services of people that you grew.

I like to tell them this often: "I grew you."

"Eat your dinner. I grew you, and you're eating it."

"Look me in the eyes. Right here. LOOK AT ME. Those eyes that you're looking at me with? I grew them. OK? STOP MESSING WITH YOUR SISTER. I grew you."

Try it sometime, they love it. LOVE IT.

Into this tepid(ish) warm(ish) water I put some wool wash. Like a teaspoon or two. Just eyeball it. With the eyes that your mother grew for you.

I'll wait while you call and thank her for growing you a set of eyes.

Then, into this mixture, I put the thing that I made.

I like to lay my wool garments on top of the water and watch how long it takes for them to get soaked enough to sink below the surface.  I should time it sometime -- with Lindon, the yarn I knit this thing with, it took quite a while. Lindon Merino is a minimally processed yarn, and it retains a lot of the natural lanolin, so it's naturally water repellent.

Yarn Under Water: The Exhibit. Perhaps a  local gallery will sponsor an art show.

Here's what it looks like when you get distracted cooking dinner for the people that you grew and you come back three hours later:

Soon, I'll show you how I block my knitting. I lubs the blocking! It makes everything look at least 50% better.

Hasta Lapasta!

Things we like to say around here

You know how when you spend a lot of time around someone, you get to know all of their little idiosyncracies?

Well, when you work in close proximity in a yarn studio with someone for 8 hours a day, you really get to know their idiosyncracies.

I won't name any names, but here are a few things I hear at least 693 times a day:

• "Okely-dokely"
• "10-4, Chief,"
• "That's slicker than snot on a doorknob!"
• "Is it possible for you to not invade my space right now?"
• "Sure thing, little buddy"
• "How old ARE you?"
• "Hasta Lapasta" (instead of hasta luego)
• "Later, gator"
• "This is my side, you stay on your side. My side. Your side. My side. Your side."
• "Will do, fo sho"
• "Is there something wrong with you that you want to tell us about?"
• "I don't know, you better ask Sharon." (This is usually whispered. I have teacher ears, I can hear whispering really well. I just like to pretend I can't hear whispering.)
• "Girls do not like it when..." (Fill in the blank. Girls do not like it when boys never call back. Girls do not like it when boys refuse to bathe. Girls do not like it when movies are full of car chases and bathroom humor. Girls do not like it when the music you're playing sounds like someone screaming into a microphone for six minutes.)
• "Well, boys do not like it when..." (Fill in the blank. Boys do not like it when girls call them and cry and act all clingy after one date. Boys do not like it when movies are all talk and no action. Boys do not like songs called Today Was a Fairy Tale.)

It's a good thing I have NO idiosyncracies. What a relief.

I'm sure everyone who works here goes home and says, "Boy, my boss Sharon, she is just so... NORMAL. She does not have any.idiosyncracies.whatsoever. What a breath of fresh air!"

And that is why this post is not about me, because I am idiosyncracy-free.

I do not do any of the following things:

• Sing along loudly in an operatic falsetto to any and all songs.
• Switch into a myriad of strange accents during the day, including Minnesotan, which is the funniest of all.
• Yell, "I AM NOT EATING ANY OF THESE COOKIES OVER HERE ON THE SNACK BAR!" every time I eat a cookie.
• Insist that the yarn be S-twisted and not Z-twisted, and that it be S-twisted to a certain firmness that can only be learned through touch, and that the labels be placed firmly (but not tightly) beginning 2/3 of the way up the front of the skein.

So there. Me = perfectly normal. No quirks. Quirk free. Zero percent quirks.

Whew.

Springtime inspiration

Some photos of things I'm loving:

A beautiful stained glass window in my parents' 1920s-era home:

Particularly this little bit:

The weather-beaten texture of these exposed Arborvitae roots:

This has a magical forest fairy quality to it.

The soft minty blue-green of lichen:

And the craggy red rocks eroded by a rushing river:

What's inspiring you lately?