Day of the Dead Stitch Markers

Little bone skulls and vintage glass beads.
Maybe I'll have some ready to sell soon in my as-yet-unstocked etsy shop.
For sure I'll have a few sets at RiverWools in Terre Haute.

Wordless Wednesday /Fireworks in Venice - Lucien Levy-Dhurmer

Poetry / Mark Doty

Yesterday I finished the book Dog Years by Mark Doty. Oh. my. It’s an elegant memoir about his dogs, Beau and Arden - the loving and the losing of them. Although it had me in tears often, they were the kind of tears evoked when you have your own emotions and experience mirrored in another’s story. Pain is evoked or renewed, but there is healing from it as well. 

Mark Doty is a poet and writes with a poet’s keen ability to observe and pierce through the superficial. And to use lovely turns of phrase. The book’s flow is unusual, it meanders and strays from the linear.  From some of the Amazon reviews, I can see that is problematical for some, as is the poetic sensibility Doty brings to this work. I loved it, though.

And I loved this poem, too - the way he captured what I like to think of as Dog Mind.

Golden Retrievals
By Mark Doty

Fetch? Balls and sticks capture my attention
seconds at a time. Catch? I don’t think so.
Bunny, tumbling leaf, a squirrel who’s—oh
joy—actually scared. Sniff the wind, then

                                ----read the complete poem here




That link takes you to the Poetry Foundation website.  Bookmark it!  It’s filled with treasure.

Bright blessings and namaste,
‘Zann

Mabon

Today is Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox, the day when we are balanced between dark and light, and moving toward the seasons of darkness.  I always think of this time as time for inner work and renewal and I am especially looking forward to that this year as I approach my sixtieth birthday.

A simple Mabon observance: think about all you've harvested this summer,  sweep your porch, tidy the entryway to your living space, eat an apple mindfully.

Picture from the blog of Beth Owl's Daughter. Read her wonderful Mabon post here.

Calypso Shrug

A finished object, of which the knitting has been finished for quite some time. It has been languishing while waiting for weaving-in-ends, steam-iron blocking, and the sewing of buttons, all of which I did in less than an hour this morning. The cry of The Procrastinator rings out - "Sheesh, that was easy-peasy, WHY did I wait so long?"

The pattern is Calypso Shrug from One-Skein Wonders:

I left off the beading called for in the pattern, and it was a very nice take-along knit, just a large rectangle with no shaping and a pattern that was easily memorized.  I used Fleece Artist's Sea Wool and am very happy I have another skein in a different colorway because it was lovely to work with.

And here's a close-up of one of the vintage buttons I used:

Can't wait for some cool fall weather - it will make a nice little warming layer.

Matchy Matchy

I bet this happens to a lot of knitters, you look down at your lap and suddenly realize you are amazingly color-coordinated, that you look as though you picked out your work-in-progress just to match the clothes you picked to wear that day. It makes sense that this would happen more often than not, since I assume most knitters like both to knit and  to wear their favorite colors.  And that most knitters have a lot of WIPs to choose from. Still, sometimes the match is so spot on that you just have to take a picture of your lap.

I'm working on Different Lines, a scarf/wrap pattern by Veera Valimaki, on Ravelry here.

I'm using Dream in Color Smooshy in Flamingo Pie (I LOVE this colorway) and Punky Fuschia.

I originally started this on the recommended needle size, 6, in two other colors of Smooshy, a green and brown and I kept telling myself it was all forest-y and earthy, but it what it was, was depressing. I have no idea why I kept on at it for as long as I did. But suddenly, in addition to having issues with the colors, I realized it seemed awfully small at the point I was, and didn't have the drape of a nice wrap.

Of course I didn't check gauge at the start.  When I did check gauge and realized how off I was, only then did I feel I had "permission" to frog... and frog I did.  I went back to the stash and picked out colors that cheered me right up and went up 3 needle sizes to a 9, and started all over again.

It's a perfect take-along knit, lots and lots of garter stitch, and it's very soft and nice and I can't wait to finish it!

Garage Sale Find - $2 for a bag of....

...nearly 100 year old artificial silk cord for embroidery and couching.

 Love The Google! I was able to search and find information on Collingbourne Mills, even the patents held by Albert B. Collingbourne of Elgin, Illinois.  You can actually download a copy of his 1927 patent for Artificial Silk Floss. 

I was actually trying to find out just what the artificial silk was made of, but the patent was no help. It was not for the composition of artificial silk, but for his special twisting process used to make embroidery floss.

Another interesting thing (to me, at least!) was that there was apparently a Silk Association of America objection to Congress (found in a book on merchandise misbranding bills)  about the many artificial silk products that were labeled in a misleading way, so as to make people think there was silk in the threads and flosses when there was not.

In any case, I found nothing definitive about my artificial silk's fiber content, but it's lovely and shiny, so I'm guessing it is rayon, maybe a rayon/cotton blend.

I have no idea what I'll use this for - it seems to be in great condition - but freeform work comes to mind, or using it as inlay inclusions in a Saori weaving.  Or maybe I'll give some to my daughter who is using recycled and found objects in jewelry she's making.

Hidden deep in the middle of the pile of cord in the bag was this little tool, an "art needle" for "French embroidery." It's dated 1922 and it's all there with it's various-sized needle punches and the original instructions, too.

This is a whole other Googling opportunity!  What a sweet find...