Release

Please release me; let me go.
For I don't love you anymore.
To waste our lives would be a sin;
Release me and let me love again.

- Stevenson - Miller (by way of Elvis)

Zinnia release delayed until Thursday, September 4th.
Thank you for your patience.

I Tried

"There ain't no rules around here, we're trying to accomplish something."

-Thomas Edison

There used to be this commercial for Lay's potato chips.

"No one can eat just one."

In my brief but fruitful career as a designer, I have discovered the truth of this advertising maxim.

"No one can knit just one."

I knit multiples at the same time. Doesn't everybody?

My knitting basket is a little like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. And to carry the chocolate analogy a bit further (and who doesn't want MORE chocolate?) it often resembles a picked over box of candy, with one bite taken out of lots of different projects and few completely consumed. (Coconut - YUMM! Nougat - GROSS!)

Many fans of Sherwood and Drizzle have contacted me recently, fearing for the health and welfare of these long-neglected children. Fear not, they are in the hopper for the fall. I am knitting as fast as I can.

I am an intuitive knitter. I allow my muse to lead, determining my path. Sometimes the path is smooth. Sometimes it is bumpy. Sometimes it leads to places I never expected.

That is what happened with Zinnia.

She was a simple little knit with one central petal motif, repeated over and over in ever widening circles until the edge, whereupon the final petals would be added and cast off individual.ly. She was a one-trick pony. And a one skein project.

Now I tried to keep her simple. I really did. Honest. I tried to reign her in and confine her to one skein.

But this simple petal motif:






turned into this small leaf motif.






Then four of them merged into this large center leaf:






And surrounded themselves with other leaves...






Which needed some filler in between them, to finish things off.









And before you knew it...

Zinnia was a three or four trick pony. And a two skein project.

Sigh...

Here's another metaphor from one of Baby Boy's favorite childhood reads, for those of you with little ones around:

If you give a mouse a cookie...

A mouse muse can be a terribly demanding mistress, a hard task master,



but she sure does know what she's doing...

She's Come Undone

"She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
It was too late"
-the Guess Who

Well...

I wore Zinnia to Stitches West.

I thought I was done...

And then I came undone.

One of the reasons I use test knitters is for pattern feedback. In other words, I am not only interested in whether they can knit the pattern as written; I am also concerned with their level of enjoyment.

This is where Zinnia came undone.

We had a rebellion in the ranks. Jeannie emailed me Friday night asking if I was sure I really wanted to complete each outer point of the pattern separately, with the attendant breaking and joining of yarn and weaving in of multiple ends.

She politely suggested I warn potential buyers of this deadly disaster slight inconvenience in advance.

Now, knowing I am not perfect (HA!) I listen to people. And I pay attention to what I hear.

And this was the result...

This is the first time I have redesigned a piece AFTER it was blocked, finished, and worn.

Because nothing is too good for my knitters. Happy knitting isn't the only thing; it's EVERY-thing!

So I cut off all the ladybugs and separate points, pulled back two pattern repeats, and reworked the edge design.

Stay tuned...

*****

What else came undone this weekend?

Well, anyone who has been reading my blog for a while knows my computer has been stretched to its limit in the past year. I want a new one, but budget constraints dictate otherwise.

Until now.

DH dropped my laptop. It is now held together by a wing and a prayer...

And a vise clamp.

New laptop is on order. Happy birthday to me (next month.)

Zinnia is well into her cosmetic makeover and on schedule for her Saturday release.

Because what comes undone can always be redone.

Hey, it worked for Humpty Dumpty...

Or not...

"All the king's horses and all the king's men..."

Well now. There is their first mistake.

They should have drafted a determined knitter. We would have gotten it done...

When Good Needles Go Bad...

Get the picture?

I think this beading needle has outlived its usefulness. Time to go to that great needle graveyard in the sky...

(Otherwise known as the circular file)



So what am I up to this morning?

After blocking yesterday, I am adding ladybugs to the edge of Zinnia, the August installment of the Garden Variety Collection, which is due for release sometime next week.

Now usually I am a process knitter, rather than a progress one (although I have learned to apply a judicious amount of discipline - yeah right - in order to meet self-imposed deadlines.)

But I am applying ladybugs with a fervor not often seen out here on the sunflower farm.

Why?

Because I am determined to wear Zinnia to Stitches Midwest.

Tomorrow...

This will be the first time I have visited this annual bacchanalia event as a vendor, rather than a consumer. No, I don't have a booth (something to aspire to in the future.)

But I DID ( with some help from my DH) create a nifty one page flier featuring my currently available patterns...

Which I will be handing out along with my card to various retail outlets.

Hey, A girl's gotta eat pay her baby boy's college tuition.

So, if you see a fat statuesque, old mature redhead wearing a yellow dress and a Zinnia scarf with red ladybugs hanging off of it,

(And how many of those can there be?)

Stop me and say, "Hi."

Trust me. It'll make my day!

Now, if I just didn't have all these ends to weave in...


Sigh...

ALL PATTERN ORDERS PLACED FRIDAY, AUGUST 22ND WILL BE EMAILED OUT ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 23RD.

Silly Love Songs

You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs.

But I look around me and I see it isn't so.
Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs.
And whats wrong with that?
Id like to know, cause here I go again...

I love you, I love you,

I love you, I love you.
-Paul McCartney

The Hydrangea Stole (which went on sale today - over there on the right - in the sidebar) was a true labor of love.

Now love may take on many forms.

It appears in the giddy faces of young couples, but, more profoundly perhaps, it echoes in the rheumy eyes of grandparents who have grown comfortable, reverent, and deeply thankful in each other's presence.

My Siamese cat Pippin often acts silly. He thinks he is still a kitten (don't we all?) But his true love shines through the way he snuggles down into my lap and bares his neck, when he is deeply content and profoundly at peace. (Don't you think God made a mistake not giving humans the ability to purr?)

Love can lead us to make fools of ourselves. But there is something deeply endearing about any emotion that prompts us to lower our defenses and our boundaries, allowing others to enter into the gap.



When I knit something for someone else, I try very hard to knit mindfully and with clear intention. I pray for the recipient with every stitch, whether that prayer is for a lifetime of happiness together, the long and fruitful life of a new baby, or the healing balm provided by loving hands in times of illness or other trouble.

Please let me know what you are planning for this design. I hope it will spark many journeys of love, all undertaken in the same way...

One stitch, one day, at a time.

Tina Turner once famously asked in song,

"What's love got to do with it?"

Answer?

Everything. And that's not silly at all.

Northern Lights

In the light of the golden moon
In the light of the silvery eyes of the night
I wandered through fire through ice...
To the valley of the shadow of death
...Northern lights...
...Northern lights...
While you were asleep I was awake to be part of the dark
While you were asleep I was awake to find the truth I had sought for
...through all my life...
Aurora Borealis -
A part of me still in the sky

-Songwriter unknown

The Aurora Borealis has intrigued people from ancient times, and still does today. The Eskimos and Indians of North America have many stories to explain these northern lights.

One story is reported by the explorer Ernest W. Hawkes in his book, The Labrador Eskimo:

The ends of the land and sea are bounded by an immense abyss, over which a narrow and dangerous pathway leads to the heavenly regions. The sky is a great dome of hard material arched over the Earth.

There is a hole in it through which the spirits pass to the true heavens. Only the spirits of those who have died a voluntary or violent death, and the Raven, have been over this pathway.

The spirits who live there light torches to guide the feet of new arrivals. This is the light of the aurora. They can be seen there feasting and playing football with a walrus skull.

The whistling crackling noise which sometimes accompanies the aurora is the voices of these spirits trying to communicate with the people of the Earth. They should always be answered in a whispering voice. Youths dance to the aurora. The heavenly spirits are called selamiut, "sky-dwellers," those who live in the sky.

*****

When we were in Alaska some years ago, we were not lucky enough to see the northern lights. It was summertime, and the price we paid for the long days of sunshine and temperate weather was the relative brevity of the nighttime and lack of true darkness. All we got was dim twilight from about 1:00 - 4:00 a.m.

Needless to say, this was NOT optimum viewing conditions.

We have, however, seen the northern lights on several occasions, up at the lake: along with the Milky Way and Perseid meteor showers. The lack of big city lights on the peninsula makes for prime viewing of all things celestial.

All we must do to be reminded of "how great Thou art" and how small we art...

Is look up.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
-Psalm 19

*****

It is with these memories in mind, that I have designed Northern Lights, the next full size stole pattern coming down the pipeline after Drizzle, direct from the sunflower farm to you.

The stole begins with the pine forests so common to the northern reaches of our world and segues into a strong diagonal zig zag pattern.

This section will feature bright turquoise beading to highlight the stitch pattern, which is remarkably evocative of the swirling patterns of the Aurora Borealis.

After a number of repeats, (to be determined as I go along) the lights give way to a clear starry sky - the firmament of heaven.

The yarn is Fleece Artist Suri Blue in Aurora, a lighter weight than the sea silk, and thus easier to bead (yay!) The yarn more closely approximates Woolen Rabbit's laceweight, which I used for MD/AN and Magic Carpet Ride.

I wanted something a little more wintry for this one, and the depth of color in the yarn is amazing. So vibrant it leaps out at you. The pictures don't do it justice.

Ah, but I saved the best for last (don't I always?)

The ends of the stole (up front, where they will set off your front view, as opposed to over your rear view, which, if you're built anything like me, is definitely NOT the body part you want to highlight) will have these lovely little stars and moons dangling from the points of its scalloped border.

Ooooh...shiny...









Now I would be remiss to tease you with something that is many months away without giving you a little immediate gratification.



Zinnia is halfway bound off and bound for the blocking boards later today. Just in time for me to wear her to Stitches Midweston Friday. Nothing like a little wearable advertising, eh mates?

Release date: August 30th.

And the Hydrangea stole (otherwise known as the wedding veil) comes out tomorrow.

I was hoping to have a picture of the bride to share, but I understand from speaking with Michael that electronic rights to the pictures are prohibitively expensive, so we shall see...

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to quick-knit Zinnia. It is wonderful to have so many friendly (to say nothing of helpful) knitters out there!

Calling All Speed Demons!

Maria, the wonder knitter, is busy with another project she has taken on for the Ravelympics, so I find myself temporarily without a test knitter for Zinnia

I would like to get the pattern out by the end of the month, so I need a quick knitter. The knitting on this one is much easier than the other Garden Variety scarves - repetitive pattern.

If you can knit; purl; yarn over; knit 2 together; slip, slip, knit; and slip one, knit two together, pass slipped stitch over, you can knit this one.

Oh, you also need to be able to read a chart. Pattern takes one skein of seasilk and the beading is optional. In the interest of time, test knitter may choose to omit them.

Here's a recent progress pic. Can send first two charts today and last one on Monday.
Hope someone can help me out in my hour of need. Otherwise, I'll have to ask the knitmaker's elves. And you know what a hassle elves can be. They used to work overnight, back in the shoemaker's era, but now that Santa got them all unionized...

Well, now they want hourly breaks and time and a half. To say nothing of health insurance and retirement benefits. Yeesh...

Eye Candy Friday

"Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a yellow spot into the sun."

- Pablo Picasso

How could I NOT post this picture from Leland's own Keith Burnham? This patch of sunflowers is just south of town on the road to Lake Leelanau. And aren't they grand?

OK...But What Did You Do Last Week?

"Always do one thing less than you think you can do."
- Bernard Baruch

HYDRANGEA STOLE

Size: 72" by 22"

MATERIALS:

900 yards Lace weight yarn

5500 size 8/0 pearl beads

Size 4 (US) needles, stitch markers

Size 14 or 16 crochet hook (for beading)

Tapestry needle

Stitch holder

GAUGE: 5 stitches = 1 inch

(In ladder stitch – blocked)

This shawl is an ethereal confection; light and lacy; the perfect wrap for a summer wedding. It would also make a lovely christening shawl for a very special baby.

Or you may choose another color and wrap yourself or a loved one in all the beauty of a handmade and heartfelt work of art.

Skills needed include: basic lace experience, crochet hook beading (optional), and chart reading.

It might seem to readers of yesterday's post, that not much knitting went on last week down here on the Sunflower Farm.

Au contraire, mon amis!



















I knit wedding...



















I knit baby...




























I knit happy out the wazoo...

Of course, I did have a little helper...



















This is Ama. She came along with Scott's brother Glen and his wife. She was a delightful houseguest (unless you ask the grumpy old Siamese cat, whose nose was seriously out of joint.)

She made herself at home.




























The shawl is a variation on my Hydrangea scarf.































































The yarn is Helen's Lace in Ivory with pearl bead embeliishment.

The baby knitting is not my design.

GASP!!!

I know, I know, but I figured I had better start with someone else's pattern, preferably someone who knew baby size issues.



















This is Perl Grey's Sea Baby kit. The yarn is Fleece Artist's Sea Wool in Angelfish and Spring, and yes, it really is that bright. I love it. The kit comes with enough yarn to make the kimono wrap sweater, the matching leggings and a hat.

The hat is no longer in my possession. I took it to the new parents over the weekend, in a feeble attempt to stall them on delivery of the whole ensemble.

(Hey! What do you expect when you come early?)



















I love the way the booties attach to the bottom of the leggings.

Will try to get a picture of Conner modeling, just as soon as he grows into it, which, judging by his appetite, won't be long now.

And now?

Back to Zinnia, which is racing towards completion.

One thing less than I think I can do?

Pshaw...what does Baruch know?

Extraordinary Times

"Winners are ordinary people with extraordinary heart"
-unknown

The Olympics are in full swing and , human rights issues aside, the televisions on the Sunflower farm are all tuned in to the competition and the stories of ordinary people performing extraordinary feats.

I have to believe that it is more transformative to the Chinese people and their society to witness first hand the ideals of the Olympic movement, than to be excluded. After all, Christ himself sat down with thieves and prostitutes.

But my purpose in this post is not to discuss international politics, but rather to place the events of the last week into some sort of comprehensive framework. I believe that our best nature, our highest potential, our greatest joy and contentment spring from wholeness.

All of creation is one. And the more we can live out of that wholeness, the better off we will be.

And so I find myself lost in contemplation of how a new baby, a wedding, an extended family visit, and the arrival of yet another Olympic games relate to each other.

When asked by sports commentators, how he managed to overtake the French anchor at the very last moment of the U.S. men's 4x100m free relay, Jason Lezak, who swam the greatest anchor leg in relay history, had this to say:

"People always step up and do things out of the ordinary at the Olympics."

I remember Mother Theresa's famous quote:

"We cannot do great things, but we can do small things, with great love."

And I wonder at the capacity for humankind to surpass our own expectations. To step up. To let great love:

• of family
• of friends
• of teammates
• of country
• of God
• of all mankind

transform the ordinary.

Whether it is the wonder in the eyes of my younger son and the catch in his voice as he talks about his new son, the joy in my brother-in-law's voice as he greets us all after ten long years without much contact, or the tears in the eyes of an athlete as she listens to the strains of her national anthem.

There is power in love to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Rarely has an ordinary week in my life been so extraordinarily full of love.

Baby Boy/Family Man (Don't you think he has earned a new blog name?) has taken Conner home from the hospital and is settling in to life as usual (granting that "usual" has changed in ways beyond his ken.) The new parents are exhausted, but happy, and Conner is a little miracle.

And I find myself beset with ideas for baby designs: Birds and bees. Little Boy Blue.

It's official; I'm infatuated.

Every so often, we are blessed to witness ordinary people do extraordinary things. The fabric of our lives disolves about us and reforms into a new garment within us. We are humbled and more than a little awed by our peek beyond the veil.

Magnificent, all-encompassing, manifest love.

Extraordinary...

Beautiful Boy

"Close your eyes;
Have no fear.
The monster's gone,
He's on the run, and your daddy's here.

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy

Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer.
Every day, in every way,
It's getting better and better.

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy

Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait
To see you come of age.
But I guess we'll both
Just have to be patient.
Yes, it's a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,
Take my hand.
Life is just what happens to you,
While you're busy making other plans.

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy"

-John Lennon

Conner Russell Pandorf
Born August 3rd, 2008
7 lb. 4 oz.
To Nicholas Pandorf and Katherine Brennan
Proud Grandma: me

Thanks be to God for our new little WIP!

Eye Candy Friday

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life... I wanted to live so sturdily and so Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life... to drive life into a corner… to know it by experience and be able to give an account of it in my next excursion."
- Henri David Thoreau