Esjan

I have KADD - Knitting Attention Deficit Disorder. I can be happily knitting on two, three, four projects when something catches my eye - "Oh, look, a chicken!" - and off I go to start another one. In my latest episode of KADD, a shawl named Esjan by Stephen West jumped up and grabbed my attention when my friend Laura in Massachusetts posted a photo of a gorgeous shawl that looked like it had a crocheted edge but was, in fact, completely knitted. I was immediately smitten.

I decided to use Valley Yarns Berkshire, which is a reasonably priced 85% wool, 15% alpaca blend. Cool artist friend Mary helped me choose the three colors and we settled on an oh-so-me combo of eggplant, turquoise and lime. It was a fun project to knit, albeit a bit monotonous at the garter stitch beginning; the fun began when I started the edging and the giant holey lace pattern emerged.

My knitting pace slowed as the heat rose - sitting with a lap full of wool doesn't work well in 90+ degree heat. I finally finished it by sitting at the dining room table, using the table to hold the weight and warmth of the shawl. As I started the bind off, I REALLY started to sweat when I realized that I was almost out of yarn. I was riding on fumes as I bound off that last stitch with less than 12 inches of yarn to spare. Whew!

I am so pleased with the result:

It is bold, it is bright and I will happily wrap myself in its warmth when the weather turns colder:

 I really like how the lace edging looks:

The pattern is very well written and worth the purchase price; maybe it will be another one of Stephen West's patterns that triggers my KADD the next time.

A work of art

For my birthday back in April, my talented friend Mary gave me a marvelous gift, a piece of her original art. I could choose anything I wanted (well, within reason), either something she had already created or a custom request. After much deliberation, I asked her to paint a portrait of our house in the medium of her choice.

Yesterday when we met for one of our marathon lunches, she brought the finished painting, a watercolor:

So, so pretty. My camera and photography skills are totally inadequate to capture the true beauty of this painting; you will just have to take my word that it is a wonderful depiction of our handsome home (and she gave us better landscaping than what we have - bonus!). We adore our century house and I really like honoring it with such a beautiful painting. Truly a lovely gift from a lovely friend.