women of a certain age are like sunflowers; they know how to turn their faces to the sun.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Knittin' o' the Green


I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.



And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.


I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
-William Butler Yeats

In honor of St. Paddy's day, we are featuring green knitting here on the sunflower farm.

That's 400-some yards of verdant Handmaiden Sea Silk in Forest with bronze beads.

I spent most of today putting final touches on the pattern for the Magic Carpet scarf, but in between times, when my eyes tired of the computer strain, I managed a lovely little beaded cast-on, for a scarf I am tentatively naming Sherwood.

What happened to Crocus Pocus? She is temporarily on hold. It seems I do not know my own strength. Over the weekend I broke, not one, but two crochet hooks placing the beads.

Must be all those heavy duty thumb calisthenics...

In other news, McGregor's Garden socks are currently being test knit by Donna Lee and Heatherly. Go take a peek if you like. More green goodness...

And blocked pictures of Magic Carpet will be up on the blog tomorrow. Kim is rejuvenated by her weekend off, up to date on all the MD/AN orders, and winding wool for the scarf kits as I write this...

While we wait, let's take another look at that beaded cast on:

I am sure someone else has done it before, but I figured it out all by myself, so I'm still allowed to be proud of it.

Besides, it is always cause for celebration, whenever I have tangible proof that the old grey matter is still what she used to be...

Sure and begorrah!

11 comments:

teabird said...

That is one of my favorite poems - thank you for posting it today! The beaded caston is lovely -

Unknown said...

I agree with teabird about the poem and I love the photo of all the trillium! One of my favorite flowers of the early spring.

The yarn with those beads looks fantastic and should make up into something awesome.

Kristina B said...

Please stop with the Handmaiden/beads pron...!!! kidding. The foliage looks fabulous.

Anonymous said...

The Handmaiden and the beads is gorgeous!

Lisa said...

Mmm that combination of yarn and beads is lovely. I can't wait until we see actual green outside.

Bea said...

So pretty. I can't wait to see the scarf!

Anonymous said...

Makes me want to watch The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara.

Lucia said...

I feel all green and soothed, which at work is no small feat.

Just because someone else has done it before doesn't mean you're not brilliant.

Ann said...

The beaded cast on looks great & it's a fabulous idea. I used to do a lot of beading until I started knitting - maybe I should combine the 2 - thanks for the inspiration.

Ronni said...

That cast on is beautiful. I look forward to seeing what you're coming up with now. The yarn and beads are gorgeous together.

Agata said...

Beaded cast on!!! Pretty!!! And if you've never seen a similar technique, you can definitely claim it as your own invention ;)