Tinking

Son and I have been struggling with the start of school.

For the last few years, we've been "unschooling" in a heavy way--not following workbooks or parent-made plans. That does not mean he doesn't do and learn a great deal, or that I have nothing to do with what he studies and how he learns things. Unschooling means constantly putting books in his path and opportunities in his way.

For years, Son has been exploring math concepts in a fairly advanced way--but often he is stopped by his inability to do basic math facts with ease. He's never really learned his multiplication tables or even memorized those pesky addition facts. Because he has to think them out each time, it makes doing complex problems difficult. Even when he gets the complex idea down right away, he often can't get the answer right without it taking forever.

This year, we've decided that we want to use a math workbook and even rote drill in order to help him brush up on those underpinnings.

Needless to say, given a very intense child with perfectionist issues, he's often frustrated.

So am I.

This morning, Son had a meltdown over what I thought would be a very easy math exercise. After he erupted in tears (and before I lost my temper at his over-reaction), David and I asked him to do something that would help him regroup--hug his stuffed animal upstairs, do yoga, get a drink, or whatever.

He went to his bedroom.

I picked up my knitting, a Diamond Fantasy lace shawl (designed by Sivia Harding) knit with silk laceweight yarn. The pattern requires just enough concentration that it helps me really refocus and relax. If it were any easier, I would continue to stew in my own misery while making the stitches. (In fact, the first Diamond Fantasy I knit helped me through clinical depression.)

Somehow, rather than knitting new stitches, I took to heart my son's need to backtrack and set things anew. I found myself TINKing (KNITing spelled backwards to indicate one is undoing stitches one by one). I undid about 30 stitches before I realized it. When I saw what I was doing, I immediately smiled and was (mostly) back to a place of patience. The magic of knitting.



Son is currently sitting with David going over the same kinds of math problems. Neither of them is in tears yet...

Day Out

After spending entirely too much time indoors reading the copy edits of my book, Son and I decided to spend Friday exploring downtown Silver Spring. We hopped on the bus and headed the hilly mile to this revitalized area. Although the neighborhood is now dotted with the same chains you see everywhere else, there is also a strong showing from independent businesses. It is also frequented by a much more diverse crowd than you find in many areas that look like Silver Spring is beginning to look.

First stop: Borders bookstore. We loaded up our arms with books to read in the cafe then headed in for some milk (organic!) for my son and coffee for me. In a big display at the front, the cafe is advertising that they are giving away used coffee grounds for customers to use in their gardens. While I knew you could request used grounds from any cafe and be likely to go home with some, I'm thrilled to see this effort at increasing the level of composting going on in the area.

Next: lunch at one of our favorite places to get Pho. After loading my soup with lime, bean sprouts, chili paste, and that green herb (not the basil but the other one?), I happily indulged my serious craving for spicy food.

As he usually does, Son commented on the number of young amputees in the area. Walter Reed is right near by and many wounded soldiers--those with brain injuries and those with amputations, etc.-- recovering there come to downtown Silver Spring for entertainment as well as therapy. The costs of this war always seem so high and so immediate when watching these young men and women try to adjust to their new bodies and minds. I wonder if the rest of the country were to have such an intense view of the suffering how we could do anything but riot in the streets until this has stopped. But then I realize that I am one of those incredibly privileged people who lives divorced from reality to some extent in my little ivory tower. I have not had a child or a parent or a spouse go to Iraq. I have not even had a neighbor or friend go....

After lunch, we walked over to our local library and loaded up our bags with books of all sorts. Lots of reviews coming soon.

* * *

In the evening, we convinced David to go with us to Franklin's for dinner. The relatively new knitting store A Tangled Skein is right across the street. I was thinking the store was not going to be on our destination list for the evening. Although it is open until 7pm on Friday evenings, it was about 6:45 when we arrived in the area--and we were all starving.

After our meal, we played around in Franklin's general store until Son glanced through the window and noted that the lights were still on at the yarn store, and that people were moving around in there. "Maybe doing an inventory?" I thought--but realized after a second that tax day has nothing to do with doing inventory.

So we popped over--and they were hosting a Friday the 13th knit-in! Tables were spread with wine, cheese and crackers, and desserts. Chairs were full of knitters from the area, many of whom were old friends (with and without blogs) but also some new funny talented acquaintances.

Luckily, all three of us had brought knitting for the restaurant--but since we were't expecting the knit-in, we barely had enough for a couple of hours of knitting. I had Seraphim (scroll down for the picture) with me--and ended the evening with less than a row's worth of yarn left.

But running out of yarn in a yarn shop is not the worst thing in the world--especially when there is a 20% discount in effect for the evening. I came away with a gorgeous skein of Claudia's Hand Painted laceweight silk in the very subtle and full of depth colorway "Ink." My cowriter had asked me the day before what I was going to wear when we were crowned co-queens for writing our book. I stalled: what WOULD I wear? (Notice that I did not question the fact that we would be queens.) Well, an Ink-colored lace shawl sounds just perfect--maybe another Diamond Fantasy or perhaps a Hanging Garden stole. Can you tell I am a bit enamored with Sivia Harding at the moment?

Mouse wrote in the comments that she is often not crazy about color-variegated lace--and I very much agree. Diamond Fantasy seems to be one of those patterns that really takes well to the color differences. Any other shawl ideas for a lightly variegated yarn?

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

I'm just finished the seventh repeat of the Diamond Fantasy Shawl, knit on size 3s with Helen's Lace. I don't think I've ever enjoyed knitting something more than I have this project. Even when I daydream about a next project, it is simply this same shawl in this same yarn but another colorway.



I love how you knit the lace border as you go along:



I am loving the shawl so much that I convinced one of my knitting buddies, Jennifer, to start it too! Her yarn choice, Claudia's hand painted silk, might be just as addictive as Helen's Lace....

The diamond lace pattern is too complex to knit during knitting group, and for that I have the lovely but almost boringly simple Seraphim Shawl. For this shawl, I am using the luxurious Jade Sapphire Cashmere yarn. I was showing off the softness of the yarn to David's 97-year-old great aunt--and the stitches pulled off the needles right after the first set of eyelets. I got the stitches right eventually, but one hole continued to seem huge. After spending entirely too much time trying to fix it, I ripped out a few rows and tried again.

Seraphim also caught the idea of another one of my knitting pals, Martha. She's using a totally different yarn and it looks fantastic so far.

What fun it will be to model our different shawls together!

Another finished blocking project...

I loved every minute of knitting this intricate Diamond Fantasy shawl, made from Shaefer Andrea silk yarn in the Emily Dickinson colorway. It will look beautiful on its future owner, a delicately-built woman who will look lovely in this color. Can't wait to see her wearing it!

Knotty Problems

After my month-long craving for the simple knit stitch (and the resulting not-quite-finished Zimmermann garter sweaters, socks, etc.), I am finally OVER it.

I needed excitement, distraction, complication!



Sivia Harding's gorgeous Diamond Fantasy Shawl fit the bill to perfection.

As did she, I gilded the lily with a variegated yarn. My choice was Helen's Lace in the Buck's Bar colorway.

Somehow I managed to snarl the yarn into what I thought was a slip knot:



I pulled and tugged, untangled with my short fingernails, tried to unknot with a pair of sewing needles, etc. No doing.

Finally, in frustration, I threw it down and picked up Miriam Felton's Seraphim Shawl.



The yarn--what a treat to knit with!--is Mongolian Cashmere in the Deep Denim Colorway.

After about a row and a half, I came to this:



Another knot that wasn't in the yarn when I had it on the ball-winder. Good grief....

Diamond Fantasy Shawl

I love this shawl!

2007 Gallery

1. November Sweater:



Click on the above link for many additional pictures.


2. Tomten:




3. Baby Surprise:




4. Purple Swallowtail:




5. Hemp Forest Canopy:




6. Skeleton Scarf



Pattern: Skeleton Scarf from Arctic Lace
Yarn: Prime Alpaca in Silver Gray--one ball


7. Kiri Shawl



Pattern: Kiri Shawl (free online pattern)
Yarn: Kidsilk Haze in Liquor colorway--two balls plus enough to bind off with
Needle: 6


8. Diamond Fantasy Shawl



Pattern Designer: Sivia Harding
Yarn: Helen's Lace, less than one ball
Needle: 3


9. Seraphim Shawl



Pattern Designer: Miriam Felton
Yarn: Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere in the deep denim colorway, slightly more than two balls
Needle: 5


10. Adamas Shawl



Pattern: Miriam Felton via Knitpicks, with one extra repeat
Yarn: Claudia Handpaint Silk in the Ink colorway, less than one ball
Needle: 3


11. Shetland Triangle:



Pattern: Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style, with 11 pattern repeats
Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Silk in Ivory--one ball plus enough for the final bind off.


12. Michigan Scarf:




13. Montego Bay scarf (picture coming soon)


14. Multiple Socks which can be seen in the linked post.

Dreaming

I am officially doing holiday knitting.

And (oops) a small project that I need to put away until after the holidays...

And a small UFO that I now have yarn to complete...

But I'm not here to talk about what I should do today.

I'm thinking about tomorrow.

After way too many sleepless nights filled with panic about the now-finished book, I spent an hour last night between 3am and 4am dreaming about new projects. Perhaps because I no longer have the weight of an unfinished book on my lap, I have room for a serious-commitment kind of project. Actually, I'm thinking about a couple of big projects for the coming year.

Cast your votes--one per category:


A. FAIR ISLE SWEATER:

All of the choices in this category are designed by Alice Starmore.

1. Glen Albyn:



2. Rosalie, which is supposed to be good for a relatively new strander:



3. Henry VIII:




B. ARAN SWEATER:

1. Beth Brown-Reinsel's Celtic Dreams:



2. Alice Starmore's St. Brigid:





3. Alice Starmore's Inishmore:



4. Alice Starmore's Cromarty

Check out this picture of the adorable Rachael in her version!


C. LACE SHAWL:

1. Diamond Fantasy by Sivia Harding:





2. Mountain Peaks by Miriam Felton:




3. Paisley shawl from Fiddlesticks:




So? What do you think? Cast your votes!