Happy Fourth!

... a bit early, but I'll be away from the studio for the next fortnight so this is me wishing everyone to whom it applies a Happy Independence Day, and to everyone a terrific weekend.

Things to look forward to:

If you're in the City of Brotherly Love, there is a LOT of cashmere on its way to a store near you:



The delightfully chic Loop, to be exact. So, if you're feeling the need for a little pick-me up, just cool your pavement-burnt heels and treat yourself to four walls of fiber ecstasy!

And for me personally, once I get my head above water at the office (if that ever happens), I'm looking forward to going to places where there is nothing between me and the sea but a few feet of wet sand...



... and an escape from the concrete jungle to as pretty a slice of Americana as in Cape May:









... some place where days begin like this:











... and end like this:

Field Trip! or Dora and the Drop Spindle

Well, all right, the title is a tad misleading, since there was no actual field trip. When I hear the words "field trip" my mind immediately harkens back to a time in my life when that meant getting to school especially early and my entire class kitted out in casual clothes (instead of uniform tartans), brown-bagged lunches in hand, and filing into a school bus with the windows open to let in the first of the summer's humid air and smog, and trying to grab a seat at the back before all the kids who thought they were cool got there first. But I digress...

I hadn't planned on posting again quite so soon, but I just know there are some of you who may be able to identify with how I felt during my little unplanned excursion. This morning I dreaded having to get up because it meant spending the better part of the day (away from the work I should have been doing and) schlepping out to take care of time-consuming admin -- the kind that requires you to make an appointment to make another appointment and then a long, long wait until [insert dull administrative task] is done.

Well, the schlepping took me to Philadelphia where I found myself having to wait over three hours in between meetings with NOTHING TO DO. But when you're a child at heart (or an embarrassingly old Dora the Explorer), dead time and nothing to be done = FIELD TRIP!!

Lucky for me, I was forced to loiter and idle away the hours in one of my favourite parts of the city: that lovely green historic district around Independence Mall where I haven't been since I was about 5 inches shorter than I am now and Joe Bloggs [name changed to protect the not so innocent] caused such a commotion inside the hallowed halls of Independence Hall (below) that our school was forbidden ever to return.



By the way, please forgive the phone pics. If I'd known I was going to have so much time to kill, I'd have brought a proper camera -- particularly because I adore these beautiful, lush Georgian neighbourhoods with their cobbled streets and impeccably kept red-brick buildings.





Have any of you seen National Treasure? Most of the Philadelphia scenes were shot in this area, around Chestnut and Market Sts. Okay, in the film there was a lot of running and shooting, but all of it along pleasant colonial alleys and well-manicured gardens. Like this secluded little gem, which is typical of the eighteenth century:



But the highlight of the day -- and this is why I'm talking about it on this knitblog -- was wandering through the gardens and finding three women in period attire, each busy at their own period craft: one embroidering handkerchiefs, another making a stunning wig with hair, and the other -- spinning with a drop spindle. And here she is (the wonderfully cheerful and patient Nora):



So many of you I know have been spinning for ages or have recently discovered its joys. I've been really late to hop on the bandwagon, but I hope there's room because as of 1:30 this afternoon I was officially seduced by the concept. After excitedly talking shop with Nora for about 20 minutes, I put down my briefcase and handbag and talked some more shop, while Nora demonstrated basic spinning techniques. The moment I held that roving and spun that hook (it was a hook I twisted with first, rather than one of the spindles) -- DESTINY was a-tuggin'. So, after ducking into the new Independence Living History Center for a beginner's spinning kit, the rest of my "dead time" flew by as we sat and Nora taught me how to spin. There is no more satisfying way of killing time than by learning a fun new skill -- particularly this one!

This is so addictive, and... soothing. Oh dear. As if I needed another fiber-related obsession. But I love it.

I've been spinning all evening now that I'm home, so it's nearly second nature to pick up the spindle and the roving.

Trouble is, it's so addictive, how on earth do you stop and make dinner/answer phone calls/go to bed??

(PS. HI, REGINA!! :) )

Ariadne

Who doesn't love a good yarn?

I know I do. And I've fallen in love with this:

Introducing Ariadne (shown here in a new colourway, Martha K**):





The List of Colourways has been updated to include these new additions, but here's a little fiber wrap-up:

Ariadne (pronounced ar-ee-AD'-nee; in Greek mythology, Ariadne, in love with Theseus, supplied him with the thread that led him out of the labyrinth of the Minotaur)

30% silk / 70% wool (available in all colourways, except as indicated)

-- 510 yds/skein; approx. 2300 yds per pound
-- Weight & Gauge: 3-ply fingering; 7 sts/in. on US 3-6 needles

Just because I adore Ariadne so much, here's a shot including two more colourways, Tender is the Night and Sawyer:



With over 500 yards in a single skein, one is enough for a large shawl and two can be enough for a woman's sweater. The feel of the fabric is light and cool, breathes particularly well in warm weather, but is substantial enough to wear through fall and spring. And the sheen is divine.

It's such a delight to work with that the skeins made up in the Sawyer colourway are growing swiftly into a sweater:


___________________________

** Martha K was inspired by the fabulous Annette O'Toole, whose performance on Smallville is, to my mind, the definitive Martha Kent. There is simply no other.

Dregs from my memory (card)

I wasn't kidding about the busy-ness. I could show you piles of blindingly minute print and pencils that have been duly pushed, but instead I thought I'd simply treat you to a peek at a fraction of the cashmere that has been shipped today
(in the case of this photo, the lovely folks at Yarnzilla).



And there's plenty, plenty more where that came from!

~*~

This spring I've been here there and everywhere, it seems, and there's never enough time to sit back and reflect on it all. Not even now! But I can leave you with a little picspam courtesy of my memory card...

Barkway Street Market (in Hertfordshire last month):



...which was a treasure trove of goodies including homemade soaps and salt scrubs, organic produce, preserves and honey, and just about every herb in Culpepper's Complete Herbal:



... oh yes, and artefacts salvaged from people's personal histories. If it wasn't for the weight, I could have made off with a late 17th century iron. A snip at 30 quid! (although, really impractical, especially when I've got my beloved Eurosteam) You know what they say: one man's junk is another man's...

... antique firearm (yes, that's a firearm (hunting rifle?) for sale right there; great for dinner party small talk, I suppose, until the host loses her eye shooting it):



And of course, there were the pretty gardens...



... fenced in and surrounded by fields and fields of bright yellow rape flowers** and emerald green pastures.

Also:



And finally, the one that makes me smile the most -- my adorable goddaughter (one of them):



________________________________
** from Dictionary.com: "A European plant (Brassica napus) of the mustard family, cultivated as fodder and for its seed that yields a valuable oil."

Still here, I swear!

I really am still here, I promise you. When I don't post, you know it's because I'm busybusybusy: painting, working, working, painting -- and, of course, still knitting. Here's a little peek at an ongoing project:



More on... well, everything, later.

Soon.

Hopefully sooner than later.

In the meantime, hope you're all enjoying the weekend and a glorious summer! (where applicable, that is)