FiberTribe

Life Intervenes

Back from a blog break... life sure does have a way of cutting down the knitting and blogging time. Mostly good reasons this time...dinners with friends and trips to the beach and well, you know... and the knitting is going slowly so if I show you pictures could you see any progress? must. focus. sigh.
Oh. And I was rear-ended on I-95 on Monday and knocked into the car in front of me. I'm OK but was feeling pretty shaken since I'm just starting to feel better after the May 1st big accident. Christ on a pogo stick, I'm still driving the rental car from the last accident... sheesh. Not sure what the universe is trying to tell me but am becoming the world's most defensive driver...
So back to the blogging life am I with promises of knitting progress, stash updates and pictures to come.

Sick and Tired of...

...being sick and tired, eh. Sorry for the dearth of posts. Only wish I could blame in on another Harley... actually I've just been down with a wicked, bone shaking, head aching cough and on and off fever. Don't these viruses understand that I have rabbits to chase, foxes to catch?? Well you know how well railing at yourself and said disease-beasties works for healing... basically not at all. So have been sleeping lots, eating well even doing a bit of knitting. But very little and nothing glamorous to show for it. Mom's pink ribby halter is turning into the Ribs of Hell... I am soooo bored with 3 x 3 ribbing I could just spit. Of course I misread the pattern and thought I was all ready to start the seed stitch ribbing and the titty triangles but no...2 more inches of ribbing to do. And since I'm doing this in the round, it goes on f o r e v e r.

OK, I've exceeded my daily quota of pissing and moaning so how about a change of subject? Am I the only one who re-reads favorite books when I'm feeling punky? I just re-read a really fun one, Charlaine Harris's most recent entry in her Sookie Stackhouse series set in rural Louisiana, Dead To The World. Sookie is a telepathic barmaid who has fallen in love with Bill, a local vampire. The backstory is that about 2 -3 years ago, with the advent of commercially available synthetic blood, all the vampires came out of the closet, er...casket.. or whatever, and went public to mainstream with society. Bill happened to be from the same small town but was made vampire right after the Civil War. They hooked up when Bill came in to Merlotte's Bar, where Sookie works. This is the 4th in the series and is just a good 'ol girl hoot. It's like a cross between mystery, vampire fantasy and a lot of great sex a la your better romance writers... But Charlaine is really good at characters so you end up getting hooked on them despite all the overtones...
The first in the series is Dead Until Dark and all but the last are in paperback. It's worth reading them in order... Ok, they're fluff but FUN fluff...Hey, Rachael has TIVO and I have Sookie...to each her own!

Hopefully will resume knitting and normal daily posting tomorrow. Maybe I'll even seam up the Zen Side-To-Side pullover. Anything is possible when I have cabin fever.

Blame It on a Hawg...

Well, you see, it was like this: I was riding down Route 1 to Islamorada on the back of a Harley Heritage Springer, listening to Walkin' in Memphis by Brucie-Baby and, well, it just didn't seem like I could really get any knitting done at the time. And then there was munching wings at the Hog's Breath Bar and Grill. Nope. Couldn't risk getting the nuclear hot sauce on the Ribby Halter, no ma'am. The Hog's Breath is the place with the big billboards that say, "Hog's Breath is Better Than No Breath At All". Hmmm. Hard to argue with that one.... And the sign posted on the marina boardwalk in front of the outside bar that says, "Children Not Accompanied By Adults Will Be Sold As Chum". Sigh. Gotta love the Keys. Riding back after nightfall with a touch of a sore throat turned into a 101 degree fever and a phenomenally sore throat by the time I got home. And it's with me still along with one sore fanny from sitting a bike for, oh, 7 hours or so... heh. And it was sooooo worth every minute of it.

So that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. It was External Factors what led me to a lack of knitting and posting, lo, this past week. heh. Back to luscious fiber on the morrow....forgive me, I may have to knit a Harley tank...

Quiet Weekend

It was one of those quiet weekends. Got a wake-up call from my neck and head that the effects of the auto accident aren't over just yet. Felt so poorly that I just cut the Saturday errands short and came home and slept. Woke up, ate, socialized a bit and slept another 11 hours... It's a good reminder that you really can't fool mother nature. Woke on Sunday feeling somewhat better and took it easy at my favorite medical/spiritual establishment, the beach. Had a lovely afternoon at the Seaview courtesy of the equally lovely Grace & Marlene. Then off to dinner chez G & M just ahead of the afternoon rainshowers.

Knitting??? I did my usual beach knitting bonanza and Mom's ribby halter is now up to the good parts. But only just. It's coming along. No pictures yet because 7 1/2 inches of 3x3 ribbing doesn't look any more thrilling than 5 inches of 3x3 ribbing. Once I get up to the titty triangles I promise I'll post a photo. Maybe even get mom to model it for me. She's thrilled that it won't be finished for her birthday (tomorrow) because now she gets other gifts in addition to dinner tomorrow night. Halter? What halter? Heh.

For those of you in colder, damper climes, here in Miami it was a just lovely 91 degrees F. with better than 77% humidity most of the weekend... the O Holy Jaeger cover sweater is looking better and better...

Shrek of the Seas

BlogBeasts, meet FrogBeast. Actually, s/he is a Longlure Frogfish posing in front of unidentified British Virgin Islands reef. Photo courtesy of the ever generous Patrick Quinn down Tortola way. So what's so special about a Frogfish? First, they are very small, look almost exactly like sea sponges and are very, very rare. Quoth Patrick, " this is the only one I've seen in three years. They are a bitch to find..." This from a man who dives two to three times a day 5 to 6 days a week.

Secondly, it's a dive professional thing, I think. We recreational divers ooh and ahh over the big stuff like sharks and eagle rays, etc, but the pros are mad for the itty bitty fishies that are rare and hard to spot when goggling at all that's around you on a reef. It gets quite competitive down there. I have personally witnessed three hulking, badass male pro divers heave themselves back on board and damn near do happy dances and high fives over spotting a rare inch-long dayglo something or other. And they're licking their chops over what the REEF guys/gals (REEF is the supreme arbiter of what is officially found where in sealife the world over) are going to say about finding said itty bitty thing 800 miles away from where it usually is.
Really. Am going to knit them speedos with the logo "Real Men Do Fish Surveys" over the cheeks. Heh.

Somebody tell Bonne Marie we've found her Shrek of the Seas!

Post Enhancement

Look what the post-person brought yesterday....Garnstudio #78 & 77 and Martin Storey's Jaeger book. And guess what? Most of the designs in the Jaeger book are exactly at gauge with the new Rowan Paper yarn. Who knew? I may frog poor Pretty from R2 and instead knit up the cover sweater. I think the built-in air conditioning will be perfect for Miami. FYI, it was 90 degrees F. here yesterday with humidity about the same.
Feeling like you need a walking-around sauna with a great view? Come on down!

Stash-O-Matic

Not sure if it helped the summer cold I'm fighting off, but it sure did help my spirit to spend the day at the beach on Monday. It was just a flawless day with emerald water, great breezes and waves. Good for the soul and also several hours worth of beach knitting. Made much progress on Mom's ribby halter but it still looks like the boring 3-3 ribbing it so far is, so no pictures till I get to the good parts.

But here are the long-delayed results of two major raids on my local yarn store. From the left, a toasty golden Suede (Berrocco) for the Rowan Lola poncho and some icy white Debbie Bliss cotton DK for same. Then in the center is a really unusual ribbon yarn from Artful Yarns that gives the illusion of being Eros-like but is actually a 3/8" ribbon with two parallel rows of multi-colored checkerboard colors running the length of the ribbon. Not sure what I'll make of it, but probably a tank or skinny, cap-sleeved top.
And then to the right (and also below for a more realistic take on the color) is an extraordinary nylon and polyester yarn from an Italian company, FFF. The yarn is called Jolliet and is a curled ribbon with one bound selvedge-like edge in a constantly changing contrasting color. Really lovely though very short yardage (47 yds/. And it knits up super bulky, 10 sts. to the inch. It's a deep ruby red color with a green to gold contrasting edge. Much more beautiful than it sounds. The orange colorway (picture next time) is even more striking and lovely.

So there you have it. Close ups in the next post.