Smatterings

  • Sargasso Sea

     

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    ..with its circles of warm water, that portion of the cold,
    quiet, immovable ocean called the Sargasso Sea, a
    perfect lake in the open Atlantic:  it takes no less than
    three years for the great current to pass round it. Such was the region the
    Nautilus was now visiting, a perfect meadow, a close carpet of seaweed, .. so
    thick and so compact that the stem of a vessel could hardly tear its way
    through it. And Captain Nemo, not wishing to entangle his screw in this
    herbaceous mass, kept some yards beneath the surface of the waves.

     
    Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

    – by Jules Verne

                                                                                      

    In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where two
    powerful currents come together like partners joining hands to dance
    and whirl round and around, there is a place shrouded in mystery. It is a sea within a sea. This place of calm, clear water and floating seaweed islands has been said to becalm ships forever and to harbor mermaids. It is the Sargasso  Sea.

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    My friend Cindy, of Cindyknits, used the Sargasso Sea colorway and the image of seaweed floats adrift in the ocean currents, as her inspiration for a new sock pattern. Ball and Skein will be
    offering this as the Sargasso Sea Sock Kit, available April 1st. Included are the pattern, with written and
    charted instructions, a skein of our machine washable sock yarn in the Sargasso
    Sea colorway, and a little seashell stitch marker. 

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    The Diamond Fantasy Shawl is done!  The weather was so beautiful, that I took the time to do outdoors things.  So many things to fit into two days, like putting the rugs out on the deck to air, doing load after load of laundry and actually hanging (a very small portion, not much) of it outdoors.  Saturday, there was a monthly spin in with friends I’ve missed.  I walked.  I played with my spindle… it was a good weekend!

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    7 responses to “Sargasso Sea”

    1. Carole

      The sock is beautiful and the shells make me yearn for summer.

    2. cyndy

      What a great looking pattern for a great colorway! Very inspirational and lovely!

    3. Ronni

      What a pretty sock. Between that and the article in our paper about vacationing in Hawaii I’m getting a bit antsy for some beach weather.

    4. Laurie

      Tomorrow will be spring. The colors of Sargasso match that.

    5. Manise

      Oh, the thoughts of Summer and collecting sea shells. Nice sock and pattern.

    6. Anne

      Yummy colors! They look so warm and inviting. 🙂 Something I think we could all use right about now.

    7. Cheryl

      I love the color! So pretty!

  • lace

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    I can’t resist, Beth.   I know that you are right when you tell me that everyone else is tired of winter pictures, of anything having to do with winter.  I know people want to see flowers and pictures of green grass.  Even in the Kingdom, there are signs of the changing seasons.  You have to look closer, spring starts slowly.  The temps drop into the single digits (and below) at night, but the days are heated by the growing strength of the sun.  The ground underneath the snow isn’t frozen.  Four feet of snow is a good insulator, and now, the melt has begun from below.  I can hear it.  The streams are racing under their winter blanket.  This is the best time of year for walking in the woods.   I wear my smallest snow shoes, the layer cake of winter supports my weight.  I stay on top, my point of view changed, like a child  riding high on his parent’s shoulders, watching the parade of the season passing by.  I am a winter person.  This is my time.  The woods are pristine, bare bones.  I can see through the trees to skylines that will soon enough disappear. 

    There is lace.

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    the other lace..
    This post would have been pictures of the Diamond Fantasy herself, blocking.  However,  I ran out of my first skein as I was doing the I-cord bind of.  There are 37 more stitches to go.  I’ve set up a new skein on the swift.  When I finish this post, I will begin to join the yarn together, using my favorite sewn Russian join.  Then, working with the yarn still on the swift, I will finish.  She is beautiful.   

    11 responses to “lace”

    1. Manise

      Can’t wait to see your shawl! Ran out with just 37 stitches to go? Grr! Will you show us how you do your Russian join with photos?
      Love your ice-lace photos btw.

    2. AnnaMarie

      Nice pictures! I look forward to a New England Spring.
      Idaho spring is hard to see because the wind generally keeps me from opening my eyes very wide in fear of getting a tumbleweed in there!

    3. Cindy D

      Great Ice Lace, Judy. Hope to see your shawl today!

    4. jenny

      who needs to see knitting when you paint such wonderful pictures with words!

    5. cyndy

      Is it spring arriving?
      Or winter….leaving….?
      Either way, your photographs capture it beautifully.
      37 stitches? A squeeker! You must have nerves of steel!

    6. Diane

      I’m with you about being a winter person,or cool weather anyway. Today was beautiful, windy, fresh air, blue sky, distant views. Part goes to staying toasty with the woolens.

    7. Roxie

      I have never seen anything like that self-supporting ice lace. What a wonder! I’m so glad you enjoy winter and write about it so well, because then I can enjoy it vicariously without having to be cold and frightened.

    8. Cheryl

      I love these pictures. The ice above the branches is so fascinating and beautiful. Thanks for sharing them. 🙂

    9. claudia

      Lovely pictures. Pretty winter, I like. Ugly winter (grey skies, brown grass, small piles of dirt/snow) not so much.

    10. Beth S.

      The ice appears to be floating above the wood. Very nifty effect! The last photo reminds me of a caterpillar or other long insect sunning himself on a branch. 🙂

    11. Fiberjoy

      Lovely winter pictures. We sometimes get so bundled against the cold we forget to see the changing, fleeting beauty all around.

  • the saturday sky with diamonds

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    Finally, the storm has passed, leaving behind the wind and the promise of a glorious new day!  The temperatures remain cold enough that the ice on the trees won’t be melting anytime soon, filling the woods with glittering diamonds.

    Indoors, I have been working on my own diamonds.

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    15 responses to “the saturday sky with diamonds”

    1. Carole

      DFS is looking great – isn’t it fun to knit? As for the snow, you can KEEP that.

    2. Teresa C

      Your diamonds are looking great!

    3. Wanda

      Holy smokes, you are cruisin’ on DFS! It looks great in that yarn, so shimmery and pretty.

    4. Leigh

      Lovely!

    5. Laurie

      There is a great deal of homology in the colors, too.

    6. Linda

      Love the shawl. Wish I was in Vermont with you. I don’t care how much snow is there. It is one of our favorite places.

    7. Manise

      So you never made it out of the Kingdom? DFS is looking wonderful and mimics your outdoor view.

    8. Roxie

      It looks like God’s eyes (Ojo de Dios?) so that should be a shawl for extraordinary visions. Soooo lovely!

    9. cyndy

      Lots of texture in this one! Keeps the eyes moving…nice work, as always!

    10. lynne s of oz

      Wow, shawl is coming up nicely!
      And your weather is a complete contrast to ours – I am starting to get lonely for a cloud!
      Thanks for the link to the crocheted coral reef. It is fantastic 🙂

    11. jessie

      Heading south to see Norma cracks me up. She’s two hours north of me!
      You are really doing a good job accepting the weather. I have succumbed to the whining even though I said I wouldn’t. Here, the snow has receded, leaving gray and brown and the daffodils still aren’t up.
      The snow is beautiful, I’ll give you that. But spring? When?

    12. Pat K

      Beautiful sky picture.

    13. Linda

      Great job on the DFS. I am knitting that right now, also. I am working the scarf size because I have one skein of Sea Silk. I love that pattern and the yarn. Ejoy yours. Linda

    14. Beth S.

      It’s almost April–I am ready for daffodils, tulips, and cherry blossoms. No more ice please!
      But your DFS is simply gorgeous. I think it may be my very favorite one so far! The color is absolutely perfect somehow.

    15. Rosanne

      That’s a very pretty pattern and color.

“Our lives are dyed the colors of our imagination.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

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