Ahead of the Storm

The alarming weather forecast for tomorrow is for pelting rain and 70 mph (113 kph) winds. That's bound to do some damage, so I rushed out to Branch Brook Park for a hurried look at the cherry blossoms lest I miss this year's show entirely. The main season bloomers were just shy of peak bloom. If you can't see this year's show in person, try Cherry Blossom Cam.



Inspired by jooan's wee socks, I knit a wee Rose & Thorn sock, using the fussy beaded CO, Quatrefoil Eyelet (in Treasury 1) and twist sts for the roses and thorns, eye of partridge French heel, and wedge toe. Note to self: for a wee sock, it's better to knit a plain heel flap rather than a slip-st flap, which pulls in too much for the reduced scale. I think I'm going to attach the wee sock to my purse.



Here's hoping everyone in the path of the storm stays safe and sound. See you on the other side.

Shawl Ministry Pins

Thanks to a timely prod from Pat and Jane Ann, I finally wrote down and uploaded a ::cough:: long-promised PDF pattern for these whimsical little Shawl Ministry Pins.



The pin depicts a miniature prayer shawl in progress. The pattern includes a pictorial tutorial for the miniature knitting needles as well as the miniature shawl. For gentle readers wondering about the scale of things, here's a pin with a NJ quarter.



The pins were designed for shawl ministry groups, although perhaps other groups and individuals will also enjoy making, giving, and wearing them. In keeping with the spirit of shawl ministry, the pattern is free for personal, non-commercial use. I think the pins are best shared freely and widely – I hope they bring happiness wherever they are bestowed and maybe, just maybe, do a little bit to sparking lovingkindness (or hesed, agape, metta, mohabbat, etc as gentle readers may prefer).

F is for Felted Marbles

F is for felted marbles. At the end of Malabrigo March, I had a bunch of high-quality skein ties and remnants left over, much too good to discard. So I made felted marbles and strew them around the first Annetrelac sock, which is posed with the Wee Tiny Sock Swap sock for scale.



It's easy to felt Malabrigo marbles. You start with skein ties and remnants, tease them mercilessly, dunk a fair quantity (not too much at once) in warm soapy water, and roll them between your palms. It takes a minimum of two minutes of tedium rolling to form a decent marble. Even so, most of these have a seam, like a peach.

      

The marbles seem heavy and dense when first formed and wet, but when dry they are surprisingly light for their size.

F is also for freak flag. Mine would seem to be waving high. I didn't set out to select the Ten Most Obscure Movies of All Time (and I do mean all time), but apparently I have a penchant for such. So here's second clues for the movie meme.

1. "I am not a sissy!"
"You see what's happening, don't you? How we're being corrupted by their hipper-than-thou fashion and cool slang you can't help but use?"

2. "Arthur! What an Englishman you are."
"I'll discuss peace over Wellington's dead body!"

3. "Id! Id! Id! Id!" (Dr. Morbius)
"Monsters. Monsters from the id." (Doc Ostrow)
From: Forbidden Planet (1956). What guilty pleasures are all about, in cheesy b/w. There's an excellent hommage in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
Identified by: Risa

4. "Akita! Akita!"
"A time of beginnings, of darkness, of light, of the sun, the earth, the sea, of man!"

6. "People of Valencia! I bring you bread!"
"We call such a one El Cid."

7. "Break the conga line." (Mel Bakersfield)
"Any approach is no damn good if it lands on runway 2-2." (Vernon Demerest)
From: Airport (1970). A worthy progenitor of Airplane! and many, many others.
Identified by: Risa

9. "You can add Sebastian's name to my list of playmates."
"Waving the flag with one hand and picking pockets with the other, that's your 'patriotism'."

10. "As long as the lady is paying for it, why not take the vicuña?" (Salesman)
"It's the pictures that got small." (Norma Desmond)
From: Sunset Boulevard (1950). Overlook the howlingly bad framing device and instead enjoy how ostentatiously scrumptious vicuña looks in b/w. Although in film noir, those who play must pay.
Identified by: Eileene

DH keeps insisting he can do better with this meme and is threatening to take over the blog. Gentle readers, what say you?

Finally, while out biking I noticed this sign of the times.



Possibly the happiest family roundabout Exit 151.

Church Wedding with Crafting

With the addition of a simple border on the swatch, a bit of handstitching, and some [cough] calligraphy, the wedding card for my pastor was finished. The inspiration for the project was Ann Budd's Knit Your Own Greeting Cards but the intertwined trees motif was taken from the Enchanted Forest Aran Sweater (VK Fall 1992, also P701). ETA: I just noticed the pattern is called Twin Trees II in Barbara G. Walker's A Third Treasury.

The wedding service was on an auspicious date (7/7/07) and beautiful. Or perhaps I should say complete, in both the earthly and the spiritual senses. Church of the Improv was full of family, friends, and church members of all ages, races, cultures, genders. The guest preacher crafted a liturgy that allowed for laughter, tears, joy, and solemnity and that was inclusive of wedding guests unfamiliar with Christian traditions. The happy couple was radiant. In the wedding party, the women wore satin, the girls innumerable crinolines, the men and boys barongs. The soloist and string quartet were superb and the organist played the Widor Toccata "a little faster than the metronome marking." There were bubbles (more fun than rice or birdseed) and a reception in a big tent on the parsonage lawn and thoughtful favors, fans (it was hot) and flipflops (for those who wore heels).

Afterward, there were fireworks. It was the annual township display, postponed from July 4 because of the rain, but it seemed like a fitting end to a very happy day.