Masculine Knitting

Here is the beginning of my husband's first fancy hat-- in other words, the first one involving techniques more advanced than ribbing. There was some debate at the yarn store over whether or not he would wear it, or if it is too feminine. When I asked him the same, he said he thought a man whose masculinity is threatened by a few cables is a sorry man indeed. Onward, cables! (Hey, if cables are good enough for burly men in kilts, they are good enough for us.) It is called the Ascutney Mountain Hat and is knit in Green Mountain Spinnery's Mountain Mohair. I chose the yarn for three reasons: it's lovely, it's local (or close enough) and it was on sale! Actually, it's still on sale at the Woolery, but I did take the last two skeins in this color.

Blackberry Picking and a new Belle

Two bits of good news: the blackberries are ripe and wild (=free!) and my new LYS wants me to teach a class on beaded knitting with my Beaded Belle pattern. My kids are delighted by the berries and head out every few hours to pick from the bushes that encircle our yard. We have made a 2 pies so far, and jam is in the plans for next week...

I knit up a sample Beaded Belle for the yarn store to promote the class. It is knit in Tahki Cotton Classic, which seems to hold up so well for beading-- even though the beads hang and rub against the yarn throughout the knitting, this yarn doesn't pill or stretch. This time I used Czech beads instead of Japanese, and although they were half the price (nice) they had twice as many imperfect/too small holes (not so nice.) My perfectionist side delights in Miyuki and Matsuno beads, I have to confess!

Orange Flowers and Lace

Ah, I love the occasional bit of red-orange. I tend to favor cool colors-- greens, turquoise blues and pale lavender shades being my favorites. But every once in a while I need some brilliant red-orange, and when I spotted this yarn (Classic Elite Lush) I knew it was the perfect shade. This specific shade of orange is a bit tricky to find, and when I do, I try to snap it up. I knitted this sweater (Lush and Lacy Cardigan) throughout the winter, but by the time I was finally done, I couldn't bear to seam it up. Two things that do not go well together are hot weather and angora. This winter I'll put it on Ravelry when it's all done.

Zinnias. Need I say more?

And the cute little japanese-inspired calico floral with gold tints. Neither my daughter or I could resist when we spotted it on the red-tag shelf. Maybe some cute little zipper pouches for notions...

New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival

We had a marvelous time at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival. It was my favorite Mother's Day ever! The children found the animals entertaining, and I of course had no trouble finding enough yarn to keep me very happy. There were llamas, alpacas, angora goats, angora rabbits and sheep dogs. The sheep dog exhibitions were a highlight for my kids (and husband:)). I enjoyed trolling the yarn stands to find the perfect skein worth my $30 budget. I finally found a nice double-triple size skein of naturally dyed, solar-energy spun, sustainably-raised wool/mohair!!! Now if that didn't deserve my $30 then what does? I had a lovely time talking to the woman who raised the animals, processed the wool, and spun the yarn all on her own farm in northern New York. The name of the farm is Buckwheat Bridge Angoras.
As you can see, I couldn't wait to wind it into a ball before photographing. I am planning to begin a scarf or hat with it in the fall. For some unknown reason, this would only load sideways...

New blog! I have been working on consolidating my online identities into one: Threadblossom. It seemed like a good excuse to start a blog more exclusively related to knitting and fiber projects. So here we are... I think that for now, I will still continue on Buttercup Corner with posts related to my children and my Waldorf crafts, but I will slowly transition to Threadblossom everywhere else. In other words, I will move to www.threadblossom.etsy.com also. So much fun to design new logo and layout! Keep checking in-- like I said, it's gonna be sloooowww.