So much fiber, so little time

Onwards, edging!

I'm just about to start the rose trellis shawl edging - finally! The shawl has been sitting on the back burner while I worked out a pattern editing problem that required knitting the item in question one and a half times. Now I don't plan to interrupt the shawl again until it's pinned out to dry.

CSA

CSA = Community Supported Agriculture

I was introduced to this concept last summer when friends of mine had me pick up (and eat!) their veggie share while they were away on vacation. Very appealing, particularly for a person like me who hates gardening.

My friends' CSA didn't have room for new members (a pity, since they're but a short drive from home), but my next-door neighbor Samantha has been doing a lot of research, and we're going in together on a full share to another CSA. This one appeals to both of us because, along with a wide variety of vegetables, it also includes an unlimited share of berries. Mmmm, can you say fresh berry ice cream?

I still may plant containers of assorted peppers and plum tomatoes on the southerly facing front patio, but those are freezer-friendly and easy to grow. However, they will need to wait until mid-May-ish when I can be reasonably sure that the thermal mass of the house will shelter the containers from a killing frost.

Mixed results

I swatched for the needs-to-be-done-quickly design, and while I like the swatch and think the finished project would look good, I'm concerned that the charts might get too large for publication. Guess I'll wash/block the swatch and ruminate on it further.

The rose trellis shawl is larger by a half repeat. It's slow going because currently there are about 900 stitches on the needle, which means I can only do 2 rows per hour. Therefore I've got another 11 to 12 hours of knitting before I even start the edging ...

We got roughly 10" of snow last night, which Hermione the snowblower cleared away snappily this morning. Unfortunately, it's supposed to be very warm by the end of the week, so the rivers will run through my yard again. Sigh, the basement was just drying out a little.

Public service announcement

If you live in the US (and you don't already have one), buy a NOAA weather radio. Once you set it to the local NOAA frequency, it will make a horrendous noise when a weather watch/warning is issued for your area, which can give you enough time to take shelter.

Mine went off at 3 am today with a flood warning. Fortunately, I don't live near a river or large stream, but I did get up to check that the sump pump was handling the excessive rain and snow melt.

That is all :)

Proof of progress

Here's the new rose trellis shawl, all bunched up on the needle. I'm approaching the end of the fourth pattern repeat and plan to take it to at least 5 repeats, since this should be a large and dramatic shawl.

Last night I heard that one of my patterns will be in More One Skein Wonders although I don't know yet which of the two it is. It will be out in the beginning of October.

Newsy bits

The rose trellis shawl progresses and looks good. I also may be doing another shawl in a heavier yarn for publication - need to swatch a bit to check whether it will work out as I want it to.

Plus I'm now working several days a week at the LYS. I'm better at helping people fix their stuff than I thought I'd be, and I may also teach some classes in the future.