Wednesday, June 17, 2015

yarn along: frog









The dog days of summer are upon us.  

Oh it is hot.  I don't mind it but the animals clearly do: the dog lazes through the afternoon, eyes rolled back in his head.  The various fowl wander aimlessly through the yard panting and the kitten hides inside, napping.  We get in the water as much as possible.  Tennis shoes and boots are a thing of ancient history.

My sunflowers are skyrocketing, my tomatoes are fruiting, and my raspberries are heavy with dark gems.  The tadpoles are dividing into a head and a body segment while adult frogs hop through the grass looking for a cool and safe place. The magpies are stealing our eggs.  My weeds along all the edges of our property are also skyrocketing and I wish I could hire someone for an afternoon to come just yank out a bunch of tall grass that has overtaken a few spots that I haven't had time to keep up.  There are never enough hours in the day. 

Maybe I'm too tired to knit this month (gasp!  horror!  Never!)!  I have done so much ripping back the last few weeks - frogs here of a different sort.  I am still in the process of ripping back a few rows on my Radiance shawl and when I tired of that, I started an Adama cowl with beautiful cushy Malabrigo which I realized late into the project was wayyy off gauge and was going to turn out much too small.  Oh, the value of doing a gauge swatch!  I wish I had heeded the little voice in my head at first!  I frogged the entire shawl and cast on a swatch in the next needle size up - much too small.  Another swatch two needle sizes up - too big.  The needle size in between was finally just right.  (Someone's been eating my porridge!).  Things were going swimmingly (like a frog) until I lost track of what row I am on and could not for my life figure out last night just what I was supposed to be knitting and why I had an extra stitch.  At that point I just put it down and will return to it later today. 

Cross-stitch is sounding rrrrrreeeeeeeaal good right now.  

I have been reading a smattering of this and that.  One of my faith heroes, Elisabeth Elliott, passed away yesterday and I included the book I've been slowly reading through by her in her honor.  I imagine she and my friend Sue are in raptures over the Savior together right now and the thought makes me smile, since I know EE was also one of her heroes.  Strange that I just wrote a post including Elisabeth Elliott in light of Sue's passing and now they have both commenced out of this shadowy life into the real life we all await. 

Lyddie and I are reading Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink and we are both enjoying it. A copy of Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani is at the library for me on hold and I am going to pick that up today and will hopefully have some fun reading ahead of me. I am listening to Sense and Sensibility on CraftLit and just went back to continue with The Scarlet Letter, also on CraftLit. 

Although my knitting is so back and forth (mostly back) right now, I am still so looking forward to joining in with the Yarn Along crowd over at Ginny's blog.  This post is so rambly but it reflects the state of my mind lately, which is heavy with sorrow still for my dear friends and disorganized with all the solo work I do to keep this place running in the summer while Jesse works long hours.   Let me know you stopped by, I love to hear from you.  <3 span="">


9 comments:

  1. I'm sorry you are filled with sorrow and then having to frog your knitting doesn't help either does it? I don't usually knit a gauge swatch, just living on the edge, but for my shawl I did this time and am glad I did, I needed to go down a needle size.
    It's miserably hot here too, and I for one can't wait for winter.
    I pray your day is a joyful one!

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  2. sorry about the ripping, so disappointing. However I'm sure you will be well on your way to knitting once more. I am on the third book in that series. So far so good!!

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  3. I feel your pain. And it is starting to heat up here in Southern Ontario as well.

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  4. I have had to do a lot of ripping back lately too, so I have cast on something new to help me get over it! I just need to leave the other knitting alone for the moment.
    Summer will be over before you know it - I know it is not your favourite time. I must admit, I do not like heat at all. I must be the only Australian who cannot wait for summer to be over!
    Enjoy your time with your gorgeous girls and don't worry about those weeds - they'll die off in the heat eventually!

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  5. How frustrating with the projects, though I couldn't help but laugh over your porridge comment!

    My dog has been lazing around in the heat as well. We had some cool air come in yesterday that dropped things down into the 70'sF and it felt "cold" in comparison to previous days! I had hoped for a little rain but apparently that wasn't in the cards.

    Wishing you a wonderful day!

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  6. Ripping out knitting is not fun. I have been there done that. It's been hot in New York too. I can deal with heat but I don't care for the humidity! Hope you have great rest of the day! :)

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  7. So glad you mentioned Elizabeth Elliot I didn't know she had died. Such an amazing woman. Love your photos . Hope your knitting goes better. Weeds and frogging are no fun.

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  8. Oh no, frogs and weeds and bears (the porridge!) Here's hoping this next week picks up for you.

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  9. I'm envious of your raspberries and tomatoes already bearing fruit! Not a single flower has yet to show itself on my tomatoes although my raspberries are on the verge of ripening! We've been picking strawberries daily and awaiting the ripening of blueberries. I love the thought of the dancing and praising that must surely be going on in Heaven. One day... LOVE that pic of -- don't know which of your girls -- with the frog. Those eyes!! Beautiful!

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