A blooming sense of peace April 13, 2010

There’s a tree (I think an apple tree) next to an abandoned house near my office. I walk past it at least twice a day. Right now it has the loveliest pink and white blossoms I have ever seen.

Last Friday when I walked by I snapped off a piece of a branch with several blossoms, and set the branch on the dashboard of my car. As I drove home, I touched it, and the petals were so light that I could barely feel them. When I got home, I stuck it in some water, in a place where I could see it while sitting on the sofa. And for a while I just contemplated it.

I was filled with this overwhelming love for the world outside me, and amazement that something so mundane (how many billions of trees are there in the world?) could be made with such exquisite detail. The petals had the faintest pink tinge around the edges, with white centers. The leaves were a perfect yellowish green.

Faith in religion, in God, in a higher power – whatever you want to call the belief that some people have – has often been hard for me. But contemplating those blossoms, I felt reassured that there was some sort of power bigger than us humans.

Yes, I know there is a scientific reason for the blossoms (to attract bees, to continue pollination) and all the other features of the tree. But what sparked my faith was the very fact that I was capable of perceiving beauty – the fact that something called “beauty” exists, and that it can impact our souls. The fact that this world is so richly complicated reassures me.

Yarny goodness, possibly made of cocker spaniels. April 7, 2010

I went to a little event for work – with some people you may have heard of – and on the way back I decided to cruise by

ReBelle to fondle some Springy non-wool yarns.  You will not be surprised to hear that I bought some. See?

What’s that? You actually want to see what’s inside the bag?

Here’s a peek:

It’s the yarn of the month at ReBelle, Eden Madil, in color 623. I bought five skeins (all they had in that colorway…that’s right, it’s mine all mine! Get your own!). I’ve used this yarn before. It’s very soft, and has beautiful stitch definition, and wet-blocks wonderfully. It’s slippery as heck, so I’m going to have to wind it into cakes on the ballwinder so it won’t fall apart while being knitted, but that means that it should be able to show off drop stitches very nicely.  The plan is to make a Clapotis (yes I’m officially the last knitter on the planet to make this pattern) to wear to a couple of weddings coming up this Summer. (You know how it goes – the church is always cold, then you get hot at the reception, then cold again leaving at night, and someone’s Great Aunt Mabel always says uncovered arms are inappropriate in church, even though you weren’t aware that your friends’ extended family members were apparently from 1895 and members of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union…).

Now the real question is – what’s with the two dogs on the label? If you were a non-English speaking person, wouldn’t you assume that this yarn was made of dog?

Olympic Goal, Achieved March 1, 2010

It was touch and go for a while. I was knitting through an injury, as I had a wisdom tooth extracted last week. Doped up on Lortab for 24 hours, I lost valuable knitting time as I slept the day away. However, I was able to pull it together in the last days of the competition, and sprint to the finish during a visit to Rebelle yesterday. The sweater, though in dire need of blocking, is done. Here’s a look:

And, because binding off this sweater at Stitch ‘n’  Bitch meant I was sitting in a yarn store with empty needles, I made a wee purchase:

Yup, that’s Malabrigo Silky Merino. There is nothing more sinfully soft than this yarn. Except maybe puppy ears. But you can’t knit with puppy ears. I think this yarn wants to become a soft, lacy spring scarf, perfect for urging Winter to take a hike, already.