madrid, new mexico

One of the prettiest drives in New Mexico is the Turquoise Trail connecting the East Mountains of Albuquerque with Santa Fe. Along the trail you'll see small mining towns, whimsical hills dotted with pinons, and the funky arts town of Madrid (pronounced MAD-rid).




Some outdoor art in Madrid.




Entering town from the south.



Some of the little shops.



Some fiber related outdoor art.



If you stroll down the alley next to the Mineshaft Tavern, you'll find the Tapestry Gallery which sells some hand-dyed roving and yarns along with handwoven items.

Thoughts on the Cat Basket and Motherhood

Thank you for the nice feedback on S.'s sweater. The best of knitting it, was actually to see the glorious smile on S's faces as she saw it, and tried it on.



I started knitting on the cat basket last night, and as you can see, chevrons I said there would be, and chevrons there are. I decided to knit the bed in the round (no seams! which after my previous project will be a very enjoyable thing), and all in garter stitch as the thicker fabric will give the bed some added firmness.
I am working with 2 strands of lamb's pride worsted, held together, on a size 13 circular needle. I am so used to working with small needles that the switch to the large needles was odd, but my hands are now comfortable and knitting away.

What I like best about chevrons, apart from the fact that they look really great is that they allow you to do just that, knit away. Chevrons are an almost thoughtless pattern, and they make the knitting interesting. The stripes add a little fun, and I always find myself wanting to get to the next color.

I am about half way done with the sides... It's amazing how fast this kind of knitting goes. That means it will soon be time to think about my next project, or maybe I could just give the final push to the socks.
The pair of socks that I blogged about recently have become my subway project, so they have been growing, but since I have been staying at home a little more, their progress has been less impressive than I would like.

I am also busy working on this week's new colorways. This week's SockPixie colorways will be dedicated to the mothers of the world. Mothers are universal. Their love for their children, their care, and their hopes for them transcend all geographical, and political borders. Each colorway will be named with the word mother but in different languages. The colors that will accompany each name will be an interpretation of the colors that come to my mind when I think of each region.
I can hardly wait for Sunday to show them to you...

Mission Accomplished

S.'s Sweater is FINISHED! I stayed up way too late last night adding the edging, and weaving in all ends. To motivate myself I put a classic on, Hithcock's Psycho. Let me tell you, you are not about to fall asleep watching this movie, you are actually so alert that you do not even make mistakes. I was so alert that I started listening with anxiety to every noise in our old victorian house, and when my husband called me to bed, I just about fainted I was so scared!



Let's talk about the sweater. I eventually decided on a crocheted edge, and here are my reasons. Speed was one of them, the fact that I could not put my hands on a long enough circular needle, the fact that I really like picot crochet edges, and that after trying a few things, I thought it really flattered the classic/romantic look of the sweater. I crocheted the edge in the same color as the body of the sweater as I thought it would complement the general simplicity of the sweater. The sleeves are also crocheted in the same stitch. I know that a lot of my friends are nervous about adding crochet to their work, but I really recommend it. Crochet being a little stiffer, it can add a nice firmness to the edge of a sweater, it is also really easy. Here is what I did: slip stitch 1, chain 3, slip stitch 1 in same space, slip stitch again but not into next hole, rather in following hole, and voila!
As the final touch I picked a little "Vichy" ribbon, and seamed it on.




I really recommend this sweater (Ella Rae, book 4, Sophia), as I said in my previous post the pattern is very nice, and with the added edging it takes on a classic look which I love for little girls.



So now that the sweater is done, it's on to another project. This time I am going to design something new. My oldest daughter has 2 cats who just love to lounge wherever she is. So the kitties will be the recipients of the new projects. My plan is to design a felted cat basket. I am very fond of chevrons and will be included them in the pattern. I picked the color, and of course having been on a binge of yellow and blue for my design studio, I chose colors in these very ranges.
I think they should create a lovely chevron.

The third news of the day, is that I have just agreed to work a few hours a week at my favorite local yarn store Windsor Button in downtown Boston. Considering how busy I have been with everything else this is kind of crazy, but I really could not resist. See I used to own a yarn store in California before we moved to Boston, and I miss it. I miss talking with people, and helping them with their projects, so when Susan ( the owner of the store) asked me if I was interested, I said yes. I even smiled all the way home I was so happy! Windsor Button is a huge store, with lots of great yarns in all possible gauges, and materials, as well as knitting accessories. They have a fabulous collection of sock yarns too! They also carry ribbons, beading supplies, sewing supplies, needlepoint and embroidery supplies. Considering that I like all these arts, I will be in heaven.

I'm calling these the Arctic Spring mittens because they are really quite lightweight. I used four colors of Elann's Peruvian Alpaca Fina which is a sportweight yarn but I used smaller needles than what was suggested to counteract alpaca's tendency toward stretching. I used size 2 dpns for the cuff and size 0 for the hand. They have a peasant thumb and a scalloped hem and the pattern is HERE.






I have one final idea for using alpaca for colorwork. It is going to be a chullo type hat for DH. I am also making some funky socks in gray, white, and burgundy from a very old issue of VK.

Progress

Progress! I am done knitting all the pieces for S.'s jacket. They have been pressed, and are waiting to be seamed together.
I really loved the pattern (Sophia, Ella Rae Book 4). It was easy, and mistake free. The pattern could have been a little more explicit with how to continue the pattern as the sleeves were getting wider. I recommend drawing a chart of the stitch pattern as the sleeves get wider.
I now have to decide on an edging, because as I expected the pieces roll quite a bit, in particular the front panels, and the neck line will look unfinished without a little je ne sais quoi. I am torn between a knitted edge, and a crocheted edge. The advantange of the crocheted edge would be the speed. The knitted edge would look finer. What do you think?
If all goes well, I will be done on time for S. to take the jacket with her to France.

On the garden front there was very little progress this week as the weather was really ugly. I focused instead on a project which turned out to be the best thing I ever did. I had, up till now, been working on my colorways, and pretty much everything else (except actually dyeing the yarn) from the table in the dining room. The temporary set up pretty much claimed the whole table, and credenza, and I was starting to resent it. So I decided it was time to create a space just for me, and my knitting related work. I claimed the underutilized library room. I moved a lovely Louis XIII desk in it, a smart Louis XVI chair to accompany it, a hutch with glass doors. I moved all my works in progress, and supplies in the hutch. I also picked some great fabrics. I painted the walls a soft greyish blue.



I picked fabrics with a blue and yellow theme with a touch of black for punch.The soft buttery yellow fabric is for the book shelves. I have decided to make panels to cover the lower sections of the bookcases. That will become a perfect spot for office and school supplies, for the printer, and other less visually pleasing items. The top of the shelves will be for art books, our favorite novels, school books, and zillions of children's books.
The panels are already sewn,and just awaiting the tension rods.



The plaid fabric will be used to make a cover for the chair. That should be fun and an adventure as I have never made a cover for a chair!
The bold floral fabric will be for the windows. I will make simple roman shades. I have fallen very much in love with this simple type of window treatment, and it is so easy to make.
The hutch will have to be repainted. It is now red, and will become a lime green to match the green accents in the floral fabric.
Today I started using the room, and worked on my shop update at my desk. I felt so happy, and relaxed. Being there made my work feel so easy! It is amazing how having this space has already changed things for the better for me.

The room still needs some work, and I think I will have a busy week!

It's Off to Trouville...

This Sunday, SockPixie is taking you to Trouville. All my colorways are the fruit of cherished memories of my vacations spent in this little French ocean town on the coast of Normandie. The colors are really different, they reflect the softness of the air, and most of all the incredible light that I love so much. I have been thinking a lot about Trouville, as I do every spring. My children will be going there soon to spend time with my family, and I hope will create magical memories of their own. My family has been vacationing in Trouville since the 1930's when the Front Populaire gave all French workers paid vacations. It was a town close enough to Paris, just a few hours away by train or car, and it became a favorite for many families. My parents met there, I fell in love for the first time there, I learned to swim there, I learned to knit on the beach sitting at my grandmother's feet, I was a teenager there always forgetting it was time to go home...
I hope you will enjoy this trip to Trouville!

Cat Fur Garments

I took some new photos of my cat fur spinning and knitting experiments from years ago. Above you see the cat fur spun on my spindle (I find it easier to use a spindle), plied, and knitted up in a scarf (top) and mittens.



These mittens are brown but actually the fur came from a black Persian cat I had named Pumpkin. Her fur was wonderful to spin - it could be up to 5 inches long on her tail and it had a crimp in it.



This scarf is a mixture of fur from Pumpkin and my Himalayan cat Bosco. Bosco's fur was almost as long as Pumpkin's but extremely straight and slippery. It was so slippery it was difficult to spin by itself so I mixed it with Pumpkin's fur for this stockinette scarf. The combo of furs always makes me laugh because they hated each other's guts in real life but now they're together for eternity.



I made some simple mittens with a folded cuff and peasant thumb with Pumpkin's fur. These have felted over the years but they are very soft and extremely warm.