Cherry Knits

Something New

It's amazing that I have actually finished two whole projects since beginning anything new!

But, this week I succumbed to the temptation of starting a new project. I really need a change from the constant diet of chocolate brown yarn in the simple lace shawl. Sumptuous as it is, a little variety now and then is a good thing. You know, like making sure you include all the food groups. Chocolate, even dark chocolate,  can be too much of a good thing.

This week I started Bettna. I needed to tweak my yarn taste buds with  something tangy and savory. Bettna is a Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton design. The pattern is featured on the cover of Noro Revisited. It's classic CTH and I've wanted to knit one for a couple of years. So why not NOW! So what if I have all those other projects that could use a little attention. No willpower whatsoever...

You may have already knit the popular Klaralund from CTH's Noro Book #2, which is an earlier version of a similar design concept.  Klaralund is the pullover version knit in four rectangular pieces also in combinations of garter and stockinette stitches.

This is the finished lower back piece of Bettna, and the beginning of one of the lower fronts.

Here's a  close-up of the Silk Garden colorway #234.

And here's what the finished Bettna will look like from the back.

So, wishing you the pause in your knitting (with a new project, of course) that refreshes! And hey it's ok - its all fiber and no calories!

A Promise of Spring

Finally. Yesterday was snow-free. Beautiful blue sky. Comfortable temperature. The Colorado I know and love. Well, ok, I actually love the snow and all the fun things there are to do in it, but the last couple of months have been way too much of a good thing. I now have a major case of Spring Fever.

So, I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens.

  A light blanket of snow still covers the ground.

But ice on the little streams and ponds is now just a skim.

And droplets of water from the snow melt are falling from the roofs of pagodas like tiny jewels.

All the glittery bits from Winter's Blossoms of Light enjoyed their final glory but are now making way...

... The tropical flora inside the conservatory hint at the thriving greenery and riotous color that will overtake all outdoors, the long summer days and the evening picnics and concerts to come.

Can you just imagine lounging on these slopes when they are grassy and green, wiggling your bare toes in the soft blades, sipping something cool and listening to the sweet sounds of a chamber ensemble?

...The tea ceremony?

...The pergolas heavy with trumpet vines and wisteria?

So please come quickly Spring!

I was going to post one of these images for my Saturday Sky. But, I couldn't choose just one. And anyway, now it's Sunday. But today is equally glorious. I hope you enjoyed the little stroll with me through the Gardens and the promise of Spring to come.

And speaking of Sky

This was in my "rearview" on my last road trip -- Montana's Big Sky.

Knitting Notes

  I'm making good progress on the Simple Lace Shawl - at this point, all 367 stitches of it. It's been my travel project for the last few weeks. I am now beginning work on the lace border. Yay! I was afraid of lapsing into a garter stitch coma. The drape and subtle sheen of this Giada yarn is gorgeous.

  And finally, a big thank you to my good friend Patti from Sweetgrass in Helena, Montana. She gifted me with this lovely skein of her own Montana Fibers in a hand-dyed Blue Faced Leicester. The colorway is Ocean. The wool is gorgeous and has a beautiful soft hand.There are about 375 yards and it looks like it will work up to about 5 sts to the inch. This might make another lovely Forest Canopy shoulder shawl. Any other ideas?

Happy Sunday - and Happy knitting to you!

"Well-behaved women rarely make history."

Happy March! It's also Women's History Month.

The quote is by one of my favorite historians, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.

She won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1991 for A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary, 1785--1812. A few years ago there was also a wonderful PBS documentary based on the book.

Check out more at this fascinating website: www.dohistory.org.

Other works include: The Age of Homespun and Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750.

And on a realted subject near and dear, check out No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting , by Anne Macdonald.

Wishing you your place in history - - and if you are of the female persuasion, misbehave whenever possible!