A Junk Hurrah

The other day I answered the phone and got the call I thought I wanted: I've been hired at the hospital where I first worked as an RN, lo those many years ago. I applied way the hell back in March, but given the sucky economy and the resultant influx of "retired" nurses back into the workplace, they couldn't hire me right away, despite the favorable interview. But now for some reason they can. On the plus side, I'll be working in my favorite area, Cardiology. On the negative side, I'll be working. I've been doing absolutely nothing for the past two years but knitting, blogging, junking, and cuddling my darling blue chihuahua: a real Lady of Leisure, complete with lap dog. I'm scared! I know I can do it, because deep down I'm as tough as an old boot, but it's going to be a shock to my middle-aged lazy-ass system, to say the least. Full time! Yikes! By next spring I hope to be able to go to part time, but the hospitals have the upper hand right now — for the first time in years and years they're not begging for warm bodies to fill the nursing vacancies. And they want full-timers. I am excited, but the excitement spirals into pure fear if I think about the coming life upheaval too much. SO to allay my anxieties, I went on a junking spree, and got these cool items at a flea market: an aluminum hand, a groovy round linen tablecloth from the 70s, Royledge® shelf paper, plastic pins, a square of pillow fabric, and Bridget. No I didn't get her at the flea market, but isn't she cute?

Moonlightning Shawl

Here's Part V of the Summer Moon Shawl Challenge: The Moonlightning Shawl. I aim to finish six shawls by the Harvest Moon on October 4th. I've finished one, three are 1/3 done, this one's just 20% there, and I have one yet to cast on. I already have a name and yarn in mind for this last one: The Moondust Shawl in some Elvincraft Wensleydale laceweight that's flying to me from the Isle of Skye right now. Not sure of the stitch pattern yet, but it will be done in 4 60 degree triangular panels. The stitch pattern for this Moonlightning Shawl is Flaming Chevron, adjusted for top-down triangle purposes.

Dolls of Many Lands

Every year I cover the junk and yarn beat for the local weekly's Best Of. The deadline is soon though this very special issue won't be published till September. There's enough pea-sized pay in the blurb writing to buy some Happy Meals, but this pittance is more than offset by how much I spend in the junk, antique, thrift, flea, and yarn emporiums I write up! Found these adorable note cards in a junk shop. The girls shown represent the countries on ravelry where my favorite knitters live, from the top: Scotland, England, Sweden, Germany, and France. Too cute!

Prairie Moonshine Shawl

This Prairie Moonshine Shawl, part IV of the Summer Moon Shawl Challenge, is made with Elvincraft Wensleydale 4-ply yarn, which is super lightweight and curly, and looks great knit on bigger needles (in this case 5.5mms). I made up the graduated ziggle zag lace by altering Flaming Chevron. Can you see my cat Brother in the outdoor art shot?

How To Wreck A Camera

Just take pictures of your garden in the pouring rain. Now my Kodak won't shoot when I pull the trigger. I have to turn it off first, and then when I turn it back on it snaps whatever it feels like snapping! Maybe if it dries out for a day or two it will start obeying again? Next you have my friend Mary on our back porch wearing this year's birthday Sea Drift Shawl, and after that come images of my tray collection. These are probably from the 30s or 20s, and I buy them whenever I see them, which, since I only go into yarn shops anymore, isn't very often. So this may be as big as the collection gets.

She Loved The Golden Rays...

The first image, captioned She Loved The Golden Rays Of The Sun As They Shone Upon Her Garden is from one of my Thrfit Store Scores, an old kiddie book published by the fabulous Platt & Munk Co. in 1932. It's called The Road In Storyland and was illustrated by Lucille and H.C. Holling. Super-saturated colors, like the wonderful Elvincraft yarn I'm making a Moonrockets Shawl out of using that old standby pattern, Garden of Alla. This will be part of the Summer Moon Shawl Challenge. Doesn't that have a lovely pompous ring to it? It just means I'm going to knit shawls all summer. Why not give a important title to what you plan on doing anyway? I have a new cell phone full of images of my MIL's garden, just for contrast to my wild one, but I don't have the right cord to get them out. And my new scanner works, but I don't like it nearly as much as the old dinosaur I worked with for years: too many bells and whistles. Back to knitting!

No Moon At All Shawl

This summer I'm only going to knit super lightweight shawls with yarn where blue is the predominant color, and the titles of these design masterpieces are all going to feature the word "Moon." So here you see the two currently on my needles — the No Moon At All Shawl featuring Dyeabolical's Laceweight Edition in Midnight Blue, and the multicolored Moonbow Shawl done in Elvincraft's Green Moonbow. This weekend my darling husband and I stayed at the new Moonrise Hotel in the Loop on Saturday. Bridget the chihuhuha came with us, and had a great time hiding her complimentary doggie croissants around the room. One of the best things about the place, from my tunnel-visioned point-of-view, was that it's right across the street from a yarn shop: Knitty Couture. (Guess what I blew my walking around money on? There was the prettiest peacock blue Kidsilk Haze inside. It's going to become a Moon Pie shawl... ) I think I do have a knack for lace shawl designs. The No Moon At All Shawl in particular is one I'm proud of, because it uses the world famous Bunny Ears Decrease to make the rounded moon shape. I'd try to get my designs published somewhere other than ravelry, but that would mean I'd have to offer more than charts with my patterns, and I just don't know if I'm capable of Technical Written Instructions. "Technical Written Instructions" is synonymous with "Mountains of Laundry and Dirty Dishes" to my pain threshold...