…and the winner,
of enough of julie asselin’s super bulky ‘yotta’ to knit up the neckwrap
‘water under the sky‘, is tinerw!
congratulations!
or as my cousins said at my graduation,
snoitalutargnoc (in true cousin style, they sang it in harmony)!
and for those who almost won,
julie has plenty of
amazing colors to check out. enjoy!
‘sang’ taken from 38:6-7 of job.
the summer i was fourteen years old,
i spent two weeks immersed at language camp.
this meant only french
spoken, all the time.
the thing is,
most of us campers
knew very little french.
we’d whisper
in english
in our bunks at night
or behind
the counselors’ backs
trying to stave off
the deep feelings of homesickness
that were only intensified by the language gap.
in an effort to connect 
(and to calm us down),
our cabin leader ingrid
would quietly sit
humming
while she brushed
our hair until it shined.
she would then
do different
braids each day.
french braids (of course),
dutch braids, pigtail braids and my favorite, fishtail braids.
four of us had long hair then and became known for our daily locks.
we loved our matching braids and we ate up the attention.
we were so far
from home and from
our own sweet mamas.
even now,
braids
make me feel hugged.
this piece
of my history
is the inspiration
for today’s
new pattern.
‘water under the sky’ feels to me like a warm hug around the neck
and the fishtail braids are like emotional comfort food.
don’t you dare let
the braids scare you.
there are clear
step by step directions.
if you want more,
is easy to find
on youtube,
and tomorrow you can
to enter to win
enough yarn to knit and braid, your own ’emotional comfort’.
see you then…
1st and 3rd pics: julie asselin’s ‘yotta’.
‘water under the sky’ taken from 1:9 in genesis.
2nd and 4th pics: camaj fiber arts ‘boheme sari ribbon yarn’.
as i was saying,
except for the internet, our journey might have ended
with sore feet and a tired steed having trekked here and there and back again
in search of the needed zipper.
one of the right shade and fierceness was found,
but it’s extent was too expansive (way, way, way too long).
then my mind, even in its current state,
hit upon the idea of the tag
(i am often lost in the obvious).
yea, the zipper in my possession had a tag
which by the light of a torch, still clearly read:
coats & clark, f45 – 22 – 7, closed bottom sport.
after deciphering the tricky code (color – length – heft),
i was able to procure the exact same hue in the 7″ height that i desired.
the quest for closure(s) was now complete.
until tomorrow, keep your wit sharp and your needles sharper still.
‘sharp’ taken from 27:17 of proverbs.
addendum:
my knight in shining armor, has fallen.
the result is both dented armor and a broken wrist.
tomorrow the storyline of the saga will continue,
but for today we rest
filling our weary, battle worn heads
with dreams of the progress soon to be gained.
until next time, don’t forget to
keep your castles in the sky and your feet on solid ground.
‘weary’ taken from 16:14 of 2nd samuel.
it was almost done.
just waiting for me to bind off
and for the zipper (more on that soon),
so i put it down for a day.
then, when i came back to it,
i wasn’t so sure.
this happens to me.
i can get so caught up in the forward motion
that i forget to step back, take a deep breath,
and give it a good hard look.
the color, the needle size and the ribbing i still love.
it’s the drama i think stepped into overkill.
big yarn, bright color, wide rib, big shape, heavy zipper…
you see what i mean.
so i ripped back to start again.
casting on a few less stitches and deciding
to work from the bottom up, instead of the from the top down.
if i’m gonna redo, i might as well redo in a big way.
here’s to new beginnings.
cast on for real
in the doctor’s waiting room
because i was alone, it was quiet, and i could.
also,
the intensity
of the colors
shows up
in this picture
very close
to true.
sweet vibrancy, no?
. . . ‘sweet’ taken from 19:10 in the psalms.the yarn is decided.
it’s the yummy ‘yotta’ from julie asselin.
stitch pattern of choice is in the works. i’ve been playing with ideas.
i know i want an overall rib, but which rib?
broken rib, mistake rib, 1×1 rib? twisted rib, 5×2 rib?
i am so very undecided,
but the swatching sure is fun.
next, i must choose something quirky (must because i really, really want to).
i want something that will make me want one of my own.
there are so many great patterns out there,
why do i want to spend my time on this one
(besides that it’s a great ‘excuse’
to play with the ‘yotta’)?
i was gathering up the ‘usual suspects’
(buttons, handmade pins, closures)
when i figured out what
i wanted.
a zipper.
(get a load of the silver sparkly one!)
not sure which zipper yet,
but i am sure about one being involved
in this newly forming pattern
whatever stitch it winds up being knit with.
but, i’m getting ahead of myself.
one piece at a time.
back to ribbing.
‘ahead’ taken from 14:7 of 1st samuel.
who needs ice cream when i can have this?
freshly arrived from julie asselin, let me introduce you to yotta.
the light is no good now to get the colors to look right, but it’s wowy wow wow!
(the colorway is called ‘fjord’ and the blues are intense in a really good way)
gorgeous. at least 4 people tried to walk away with it
yesterday during sit ‘n’ knit at in the loop
(i fought them off w/pointy sticks).
have waited, and now it’s time i can finally grab the needles and have at it.
more about what it wants to become soon.
i’ll tell you as soon as it tells me.
‘light’ taken from 28:11 of job.