Friday Links

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1. One of my current interests (cough hyperfixations cough) is finding fabric in weird camo patterns. Except I almost bought some fabric in a Waffen SS pattern (“Platanenmuster“) before I googled it and realized it was Nazi, so now Camopedia is my best friend. Currently on the hunt for emerald Guyana tiger stripe!

2. Another encyclopedia for a long-running interest: the Japanese Woodblock Print Search. Search 223,000 images or upload an image to get a match.

3. Something to think about if you’re headed to the pool in the near future:
Screenshot of two tweets that say, How to have beach body: 1. Get swimwear you like 2. Wear it 3. YOU GOT A BEACH BODY!!! the idea that the "ideal beach body" just means being thin or buff is so unimaginative, surely the ideal beach body would have a powerful lobster claw, arm flaps to act as a windbreak and a sand repellent anus

The Gift Of Yarn

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I’ve been going to the same gym class time for quite a few years now, which means I’ve made some friends just from seeing them three times a week at 10 a.m. One gym friend lifts just about the same maxes as me–which is humbling, because she’s in her 70s–and she’s been my rack partner/spotter for the last few years.

She and her husband just got back from a cycling trip to Portugal and she brought me yarn as a souvenir! 

Skeins of unwound ochre-colored yarn spilling out of a brown shopping bag with a Portuguese store logo

An entire sweater’s worth of yarn, that she made a special trip to the yarn store for, and used Google Translate to make sure was made in Portugal and merino wool because when we were talking about her upcoming trip, I told her my fact that the Merino sheep originated in the Iberian Peninsula.  🥹

I spent a very fun afternoon browsing patterns and think I’m going to do a cabled vest–the Vest No. 8 from My Favorite Things Knitwear looks like an easy to memorize pattern and someone on Ravelry has already made it in the same color:

Then I can use the leftover yarn to make my gym friend a cabled hat and mittens set, as a thank you for the gift of yarn.

Wednesday Project Roundup: Vacation Suit

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We had a family reunion/vacation with Doc’s family planned in April but then his mom fell. (She’s home now and on the mend.) We didn’t end up going but of course I’d already made a new swimsuit for it.

So I broke it out at the sauna/onsen (saunsen?) and it looked wildly tropical in the alpine setting:
A woman in a barrel tub shades her eyes with her hand. She's wearing a bikini with a white background and pink, orange, and purple tropical flowers on it.

The fabric had been “marinating” in my stash for a few years, as it does, but I always planned on a vaguely retro-style bikini. I used a pattern from my beloved and dependable Greenstyle, the Surfside Wrap Top and the Waimea Bottoms (this time without the pocket and high waist, but I might be regretting that) (it’s less retro without it).

I love not having to find commercial swimwear that 1) meets my style criteria; 2) fits how I want it to; and 3) isn’t $200 for tiny pieces of fabric. Hooray for sewing!

Life of Leisure

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I was so excited for a four-day weekend that I forgot to post on Friday. I guess it’s been a while since I had a stretch of vacation–but we made the most out of it. There was an evening picnic in Millcreek, a visit to Soho Saunas in Midway (delightful!), a used record sale and ice cream, a full day of sewing, and even the first trip to the pool (not pictured, because it was impossible to get a photo without 100 other people in it).

I like this not-working life!

A river waterfall in the forest, with mountains in the background

View from inside a sauna with a window, looking outside onto a green meadow and mountains

A stack of 30 records on a credenza

An affogato ice cream on a pink marble countertop

A pair of tan pants being sewn, with the inside front pockets showing. The pockets are blue striped cotton.

Dog Reality

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Extremely long-term readers of the blog will know I was thinking about a dog before I ended up with Toby. Now that Toby’s gone, I just don’t think another cat can compare with him, so I’m back to dog thoughts.

I’m currently in the phase where I try to list out all the cons of dog ownership to see if this is something I really want to do. I hadn’t really considered eating random stuff? This is a thread from 2019 that I found again, and wow is it vivid:

screenshot of a post that says "What's the weirdest thing your dog ever ate and didn't need a trip to the vet for? Asking for me."

Screenshot of a post that says "In no particular order; deer legs, baby birds, tampons (used and new), rocks, diapers (used and new), plastic wrap, pizza boxes, 10-15 clif bars in a setting, three sticks of butter (along with those clif bars), fecal material (deer, cat, dog, human, bird, mustelid, bear...), etc" with a reply that says "Living the dream"
Screenshot of a post that says "Half a bottle of canola oil plus a whole fresh roll of toilet paper. If she hadn't barfed it up all over my bed we would have brought her to the vet." and a reply that says, "My dog ate an entire box of dishwasher tablets ..."
screenshot of a post that says, "Foam earplugs, goat poop, horse poop, hoof trimmings, lip balm (duh), used paper napkins, and a whole bird (maybe a starling) that she caught like a ninja and gulped down super fast."
Screenshot of a post with a happy dog and this text: "My name's Bentley and I love rocks, chocolate chip pancakes, lipstick, and used tampons that my mom has to pull out of my ass"

 

Of course, cats can be gross too: Screenshot of a post with a cat picture and this text: "This idiot once ate an entire bag of dried lentils (he thought they were cat food?) right before I had to leave for the airport. He then proceeded to vomit the lentils all over my suitcase."

Wednesday Poem

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The light in the mornings and evenings is so good these days, the valley like a bowl filling up with clear water. Am I thinking about getting a dog so I can go on more walks to admire the light? Yes, yes I am.

 

The Light Continues
by Linda Gregg

Every evening, an hour before
the sun goes down, I walk toward
its light, wanting to be altered.
Always in quiet, the air still.
Walking up the straight empty road
and then back. When the sun
is gone, the light continues
high up in the sky for a while.
When I return, the moon is there.
Like a changing of the guard.
I don’t expect the light
to save me, but I do believe
in the ritual. I believe
I am being born a second time
in this very plain way.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Three-Month Sweater!

Karen

I finished my J. Crew-inspired striped rollneck sweater last week and it turned out exactly how I wanted (the highest praise/best possible outcome of any handmade item).

A woman taking a mirror selfie. She's in a blue sweater with red stripes.

The yarn is Cascade Cantata, a 70% cotton/30% wool Aran weight yarn. The final fabric is lovely–squishy and drapey and cozy but not itchy. I used another Petite Knit pattern (the Cloud Sweater) but added stripes and skipped any ribbing before the bottom hems.

This was knit on bigger needles than my rainbow sweater, but I also stopped knitting socks while I had this going and that might be the trick to a timely sweater? It’s not quite timely enough to wear it this spring, since it’s going to be 85 degrees Monday, but it’ll be ready for fall.

Enchanted Forest

Karen

When you get an overcast day in the first flush of spring in the mountains, everything looks the way you imagined the England you read about as a kid did–green and gray and maybe filled with unicorns?

Friday Links

Karen

1. A surprisingly interesting look at envelope security patterns–it goes from their history into collections into architecture. (This is the same place that linked me to stick figures in peril a few weeks ago.)

 

2. Word of the day: Ossicone, “columnar or conical skin-covered bone structures on the heads of giraffes, male okapi, and some of their extinct relatives.”

 

3. I will always watch old ladies lift heavy weights, because it me, as the kids say. Way to go, Grandmother!