Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Close Encounters Of The Ursine Kind



We found this when we stepped outside yesterday morning. The remarkable thing is not that a bear wandered through our yard and took a dump, but that our family beast slept through the whole thing. This is a dog that barks at her own shadow; I have no idea how she missed a black bear visit.




It's not all about the wildlife around here though; I also have some knitting show and tell. While at Article Pract in Oakland several weeks back, I was seduced by some Malabrigo Lace Yarn in "Tortuga."


It's mostly solid appearing in the skein, with wonderful greyish-purply/greeny variations that almost but not quite are done justice by this photo. I'm thinking scarf, though I haven't picked out a pattern yet.

I decided I had to jump on the Monkey Sock bandwagon about the time that I found this Koigu:



I'm hoping Hilary is going to jump with me so we can Monkey-Sock-Knit together in Virginia Beach next month.

No better time to segue into a shout-out to "anonymous" whose name I think is Wei-ming. (Am I even close?) We met on my last visit to Article Pract. I love bonding in yarn stores with fellow knitters. Thanks so much for coming to visit me here. How are your socks coming along?

And finally, time to show an in-progress photo of my Leaf and Trellis Stole, from Victorian Lace Today. This is 5 repeats in to what I think will be between 30 and 40 repeats total. Lots of time for progress shots, I know.



Ignore the funky pink provisional cast on. I'm using JaggerSpun Zephyr wool-silk. I know it looks sort of whitish here, but it's in a color called Mushroom. I'm using a much smaller needle than the pattern specifies, so I've added an extra 43 stitch repeat to make it wide enough. I'm using Addi Turbo Lace needles (3.25mm) for the first time and they are all they are reputed to be: Pointy enough, smooth join, not too slippery, lovely to work with!

6 comments:

Hilary said...

Oooh Kathy, the stole is stunning already! Wow, it's going to be fantastic.

For some reason the only pictures I can see are that and the bear poop (which is spectacular in its own right.) (Oh, and the Abby picture.) Lucy is like that too. If she's awake, she's hysterical; if she's in a deep sleep a burglar could probably walk right through the house. (Note to burglars: she has an unpredictable sleep schedule!)

And I'm gonna start the Monkey socks, I am!

Hilary said...

Now I can see all the pictures! The Malabrigo is gorgeous!!!

Anonymous said...

Impressive bear poop pile!
But I preferred the malabrigo laceweight photo , I keep thinking about tracking some down and making a shawl later this summer. Maybe in that color, it is gorgeous.

Mel said...

Sheesh, and I get guff for posting pics of fox poo. :-)

The stole is very lovely, and I may have to seek out some of the Malabrigo laceweight. I know my LYS carries their singles yarn.

Rebecca said...

the Malabrigo Lace Yarn is gorgeous, as is the koigu. i think i have that same colorway. and i've been dying to make monkey socks too.

Taoknitter said...

The stole is so lovely. I have hesitated getting the book, but I may just break down now.

Bear poop...not something I have to think about here! Is that scenery around your dog at your house? Gorgeous.