violetismycolor

Obsessiveness

As I have said in an earlier post, I am a bit of an obsessive personality. This actually helps me to get things done, IF, in fact, I am obsessive about the particular task. I can say that this applies (currently) to genealogy and knitting. Apparently, I am not an obsessive about blogging. I have been a terrible blogger. 

My other issue is that I am a bit...scattered. Maybe a bit ADD. My attention is easily pulled away. Say I am investigating the Vermilyea family (my husband's side). Someone sends me an email via FamilySearch.org and I jump into action to investigate whatever ancestor that person asks me about and, voila, I am on to checking into the van Eeden's or whoever. Focus, Diane, focus!

I will try to change that, a bit. 

So, what is new with me? It's a gray July morning in Portland. I am at my usual coffee shop, spending a hour doing some genealogy. The place is full of people trying to grab some great coffee and maybe a delicious pastry or two. There are never enough seats and it is a little loud, but that doesn't seem to bother me. I block out all the noise around me.

I am trying to focus a little bit more on my genealogy tasks. I am working up my family tree and adding a Life Story for each of my direct (and sometimes indirect) ancestors up my family line. Well, and up John's family line, too. I attach these on FamilySearch, the collaborative family tree that is sponsored by the Mormon Church. It is a free website and a good way to try to find distant cousins who may be working on the same people I am. I also attach those Life Stories to these same ancestors on my Ancestry.com site. That way if someone on FamilySearch deletes the story, I still have it. Oh, yeah, people do delete things...like attached records...without a lot of thought.

Next up is my (obsessive) knitting. I am working on a cardigan that is a variation of the Sock Arms Sweater...same pattern, I am just making it into a cardigan instead of a pullover. I am using a wonderful gold merino by Swans Island Yarns. It is a fingering weight sweater (read: the yarn is very thin and you need a lot of stitches to knit my size). It will be wonderfully drapey and light for the fall and spring. I intend to make a DK or Worsted weight gold sweater for cold winter days.

The garden is amazing this summer. I put this down to the fact that my son-in-law-to-be, Zerek, spread two yards of compost over it for me this past spring...and the fact that we had a rainy spring and early summer that gave it lots of good water.  The weeds cannot do much to get up beyond the mulch and the spectacular growth of the perennials. I am doing far less weeding than I did last summer. 

The thing that is the most abundant this year are the blueberries. They have produced more than they ever have...and they KEEP producing. We can't keep up with them, to the delight of Bonnie and Ross, who are happily accepting "gifts" of blueberries whenever they come by.

We are having lunch with Dominic from Switzerland, who was an exchange student the same year as our own Katharina. He is visiting with his girlfriend. I am going to make a charcuterie board spread with good bread, spreadable cheeses, nuts, salami, olives, etc. with cherries and blueberries on the side. It's not too hard to do and it's delicious. We are planning to eat outside but I am not sure the weather is going to allow it...how is that possible in July?

Last year, the summer here was unusually hot (lots of temps in the 90's and 100's) and/or too smoky from the wildfires in both southern Oregon and British Columbia to spend time outside. This summer has decided to be cool and overcast more than warm and sunny. I have decided not to complain (too much) about this summer's weather because last summer was unbearable.

Anyway, that's a brief look at what's on with me lately. I will try to be better about blogging.

 

Knitting, addiction

 

I have started knitting again, as I said in an earlier blog post. As with most things I do, I am a bit obsessive about it. I have three WIP's, as they say in the knitting world...Works In Process. One of those is the off-white Bailey cardigan (see photo at left) that I mentioned in an earlier post. I chose an off-white, organic, washable wool because I wanted something that I could wear with just about everything. I also wanted it to be soft and comfy.   

The second project I have is a hat, which I have just started. I am hacking about 3 different patterns to make something unique and am using the yarns on the right, the black Zara DK yarn and the red Grinasco Top Print. These yarns have been in my stash for longer than you might think. Many, many years ago, I owned a yarn shop here in Portland. It was called Spindleshanks Yarnworks, Ltd. (a mouthful, right?) and was filled with gorgeous yarns. When I closed the store in 1996, I took home some lovely things. The yarns that I am using for my hat were from my store. I am part of a Ravelry group called the Stranded Podcast Group. They are having a KAL (which I have learned means a Knit A Long) using commercially dyed yarns. This is why I put this project on the needles.

My third (and so far, last) project is a Noro scarf. This is using two different colorways of Noro and alternating them every two rows. This gives a beautiful striped scarf. I will post a picture of that some other time. It is a fun project that requires very little thought; it's just pretty zen. I take that project along to my morning coffee group and I can knit it and talk at the same time. 

Anyway, my white sweater project requires real concentration right now since I am making the sleeve caps, and I am watching the Olympics and not really able to concentrate on knitting anything complicated. Soooo...the white sweater just has to wait for right now.

Better get back to knitting....

 

Blog, reinstated

I went to my book group this morning. I have been a part of this group for at least 15 years! Unbelievable! One of the things that being a part of this group does for me is that it stretches me, in terms of what I read and how I think. So many of the books that we have read would not even have been on my radar. The group is made up of such smart, interesting women. I get to share so much of their lives because, besides discussing the books (which we really do), we also share our stories.

This month's book was Michael Chabon's latest, Moonglow. The book is a cross between memoir and novel. Chabon's prose is always so rich and full of truly masterful metaphors. It is (ostensibly) the tale of his grandfather, a member of Operation Paperclip in WW2, husband of a mentally-ill European refugee, step-father to that woman's daugther, electrical engineer, rocket enthusiast, model builder, anger-management challenged ex-con, and more. The narrative is built by that grandfather telling stories of his life, not in a straight line but meanderingly, as he is dying and under the influence of serious pain-meds.

The way memories are kept and dispensed, the same way I try to eat Christmas treats, slowly and with true savor, was the key to this story. I read it in about 5 days and, when I put it down, I couldn't wait to dive back in. I haven't loved a Chabon book this much since Kavalier and Clay.

 

 

 

Other projects worked on this week include my A-line off-white cardigan, which I am knitting in Swan Island Yarn's Organic DK Washable Wool (color Natural). The yarn is a dream to work with. It is soft and has a lovely hand, and it knits up into a wonderful fabric. I have finished the fronts and the back and am currently knitting the two sleeves (at the same time, with 2 balls of yarn). This way the sleeves will match exactly, with the increases in the same places and the number of rows just the same. I hope to get down with that in the next week and then I will throw another project onto the needles. Stay tuned.

I am just starting a button-front, sleeveless shirt. I have sized the pattern to fit me and cut out the fabric. I will work on fitting adjustments this week and perfect the pattern. I intend to use this for a series of tops for the summer.

 

Ross turned 30 this week. We went out to Masu Sushi, which is owned by a friend of mine. It was our first time there, and all I can say is WOW! The food was amazing. Bonnie and Zerek, John and I, and Ross all just gorged on the delicious sushi and tempura. Ross celebrated with a drink called My Little Kitty, which was a berry puree based cocktail. Delicious! He let me try a sip and I agreed. Ross's favorite cake is Red Velvet, and though he is dieting, he made an exception for a Red Velvet birthday cupcake. We had loads of fun! Too bad Adam and Priya weren't with us!

We also went out to a Blazer game. Our bank treated us to great seats at the Moda Center. Bonnie and Zerek joined John and I and it was a blast. The Blazers were absolutely hot! The Chicago Bulls were terrible. The Bulls couldn't seem to land a basket of any sort in the first quarter and the Blazers couldn't miss one. They earned 50 points in the first quarter and it was a first for ANY franchise. We won, of course. A fun night out was had by all.

 

Knitting for Baby Girl H.

 

I have decided to start documenting my adventures in Knitting/Sewing/Designing, so here goes!

My Niece-in-Law, Adri, lived with us in the year before she married my nephew.  So, naturally, we are totally in love with her.   She married in January 2016 and is pregnant and due at the end of March 2017.  Of course, some very special gifts are in order for the precious girl that is going to enter our lives.  

I've always loved the look of Debbie Bliss's Ribbon-Edged Cardigan and that was my first choice.  Now...a new baby may or may not get much use out of a cardigan, so I decided to make the 6-9 month size.  Little Baby H should be headed into Fall when she ready to wear this and the sweater should get a lot more use.  May as well be practical, right?  I chose some Rowan Baby Silk Merino.  I love the slightly heather-purple shade.  It's washable (so not such a total pain to take care of) and it knits up beautifully.  

We have been stuck inside with Portland's 5th snowstorm of the past 2 months, unheard of here.  This particular storm dropped 13 inches on us and we may not get out till next Monday or Tuesday, so I have LOTS of time.  Here's where I am:  Back done, One Sleeve done, half of Second Sleeve done.  I plan on a matching outfit (sewn) to go with it.  Stay tuned.