Trying My Hand at Knitting a Shawl

Shawl in progress
“Arch” by Madeline Tosh
“Cielo y Tierra” by Malabrigo

“Sock yarn” is really pretty, but I’ve never knit a pair of socks. Many knitters use it to create beautiful shawls, so I am trying my hand at shawl knitting.

Since I live in Florida, when will I ever wear a shawl? Possibly walking the beach in winter … or else I’ll take it with me to New Hampshire on a visit. It’s quite possible that I will knit a wardrobe that can only be used one week a year!

Oh well, I love knitting.

This shawl is called the No Fuss Shade-Loving Shawl and the Free Pattern (not mine) is available for download at Ravelry.

The stitches are easy enough, with a written pattern that is easy to follow.  The stitches you need to know are knit, purl, yarn-over and knit-2-together.  Not too tough.  As a beginner knitter (or someone with poor eyesight), you may want to choose a light color yarn which makes the stitches easier to see.

knitting a shawl
Began with “Arch”, which was too gray for me, so I switched to “Ceilo y tierra”

I began it using sock yarn by Madeline Tosh in color “Arch” which is dark gray-black with some blue.   You can see it in the photo above at the top of the shawl.  It was too dark for my liking. I had a similar weight yarn, by Malabrigo, in color “cielo y tierra” which is more brown, but still had the blue.  The last color I used for the edging, which is done in seed stitch, was Malabrigo mechita in “Marte”, which I loved.

I knit a few rows alternating the yarns to make the change over, and then I knitted to about the edging rows and changed yarn once again.   I like the feel of the Malabrigo yarn, so I am now using the color “Marte” which has some bright rust-orange.

Malabrigo’s “Marte” colorway
See the orange in this one

I have joined Ravelry, which I have enjoyed until recently (I have since been disappointed by their policy which calls all supporters of the POTUS as bigots and racists).

I’m not an experienced knitter, so buying a pattern is a bit scary. Also, I can’t easily understand a chart. I like directions written out. Once I feel more comfortable using all those increase and decrease stitches, I will look for something more advanced. I have no problem paying for a pattern. People work hard to create them. I just don’t want to waste money on something that ends up frustrating me.  I need more practice.

I’ll post a photo once it’s finished……… And now it’s done! …….. I consider myself a beginner knitter, maybe even an intermediate. I can’t read a graph pattern, only written ones. This shawl was easy and fun to knit, and the only problems I had was with my own mistakes.

I would recommend this pattern to anyone wanting to try a shawl, and it’s perfect for beginners who need practice. It even begins easily and not with that strange way some shawls begin. I loved the Malabrigo Marte yarn which I used for the last rows / border.

Will continue with the pattern longer next time before doing the border. The shawl is a bit small for me.

shawl knitting pattern
Finished “Shade-loving shawl”

Keep Reading About My Recent Knitting Projects

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Revisiting an Old Blog Means Lots of Organizing

Little house-misty field
The Little Red House

As I prepare to write again on this blog, I am seeing just how horrible I used to be at writing.

Blogging for me has been a huge learning experience and whenever I see old posts of mine, I cringe. Tags are horrible, links are missing, categories don’t make sense, and photos are not placed well, if they show at all. Some posts have bad links and some writing is so bad it should be deleted.

I was learning. Like anything in life that is new to us, doing it over and over usually makes us better at it. I’d like to think I have advanced in my writing and blogging skills over my years of posting at my various websites and blogs.

What I didn’t know, but do now is that links are good. Outside links and links to pages and posts within a blog are good for SEO. Bringing readers is what we want after all, right?

I suppose some people have plenty of family and friends who read their blogs and that is fine. Some photography blogs I follow have little text yet they have loads of likes and comments. Supposedly you must write good content to place well in the searches for subjects. And that content should be at least 300 words.

I’ve never been much on keywords, since I believe in simply writing about my subject matter in the best way I know how. But tagging is important and many of my posts here have horrible tags. Almost none of my posts link to each other, and I can’t even find subjects to read about when searching my own blog! That is not good.

So I’m organizing this blog just like I organized my Seashell blog not long ago. Categories can be removed, but first the posts have to be directed to other categories… but they are almost all bad. This will take time.

No one I actually know reads my blogs. I have come across some very nice fellow bloggers who run sites I truly enjoy visiting. Mostly they are photographers, artists and gardeners. And they visit me and leave comments (thank you!). I don’t have family or friends who keep up with my blogs, and that is fine. Blogging can take you around the world, where you will find nice people who show you great things. It’s partly why I do it.

Don’t just write… visit others who write about subjects that interest you. Leave comments and maybe they will become a dear online friend.

(Photo at the top is of the Anchorage restaurant on Lake Sunapee.)

What Springtime Meant and Means to Me

Springtime in Florida is barely noticed. Possibly it means the return of heat more than anything. Spring breakers and bikers (Bike Week) have gone, and so have the Easter visitors, but I’m sure there are some tourists somewhere, or should I say….everywhere.

Springtime in New Hampshire was impossible NOT to notice.   Everything became suddenly GREEN!

Before the snow was gone, or the temps rose much, people would be running and walking wearing t-shirts and shorts.  It was surprising to me how much people liked to pretend it was Spring, even when the temperatures were still in the 40’s!

Tulips and other bulbs would brighten the drab landscape and oh, the forsythia! I wonder how tall my forsythia has grown.  I’m searching for photos, but can only find tulips.  This one was especially pretty.

yellow frilly tulip
Yellow frilly tulip

At my house in New Hampshire the garden hoses would be brought up and re-attached to the house ready to water the flower beds and vegetable gardens. Freezing weather was gone… these were exciting times.

May meant planting season was coming and seedlings could be purchased at Tenney Farms and elsewhere. I would haul out my little greenhouse (which I sold for next to nothing when I moved) and set it up on the porch where my little plants could stay warm until the end of May.

hose
I would drag the hose up out of the basement once freezing weather had passed.

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The cats would love going outdoors again – Skittle likes it warm

The cats would begin to spend some real time outdoors. There was grass to chew and things to chase, but mostly there were warm sunny spots.

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Haul the lawn chairs outside – so Fontana will have a spot to sleep!

My plastic “Adirondack” chairs would be brought up from the basement and placed in the front yard. I so enjoyed sitting beneath the big oak and beech trees that lined the front yard. It’s one of my favorite memories of the home I lived in for five years.

And oh yes, the hummingbirds! I kept a feeder hanging for them and replaced the “food” every other day or so. That was fun.

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May means feeding hummingbirds!  I’d almost forgotten….

The house I bought had a bunch of cement blocks lying around so I dragged them out to my front yard (that is where the sun was) and made an ugly raised bed. This thing was kinda small, but I did manage to grow eggplant and other things there.

While searching for photos of Spring for this post, I realized that I didn’t take all that many pictures of Spring in New England. Maybe I was too busy, or maybe it was mostly work, with little beauty to share. My photos are mostly of the months to come when the gardens were thriving and the flowers were blooming.

Maybe it was because of the Black Flies, which used to give me big welts when they bit.  May weather was so lovely, and those bugs could ruin it!  I was glad to see them go in June.

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Think about planting in my makeshift raised bed

The people who bought my house removed this eyesore (can’t say I blame them) – but it worked for me.

Spring at my New Hampshire home meant no more shoveling snow, lugging wood, or dealing with the snowblower (ugh – a man’s job which I hated).  It was almost time to shovel dirt – my favorite thing (sort of).

Ahhhh… the memories.

Now I live in Florida. Here is my backyard at the end of April (photo below). The weather is very warm, and hot in the sun. I have summer squash, green peppers and tomatoes already growing, and some are ready to eat. Imagine that… in the North the gardens won’t be supplying fresh vegetables for months yet.

Still, I like gardening in the North much better. My Florida garden gives me something to do, but it doesn’t compare to having a yard full of wonderful flowers and vegetables.  My photo shows my entire garden area.

Dig in the dirt in New Hampshire and you have worms and good stuff for growing. Here I have to “build” my own dirt.

Ah well… no sense in complaining. I will simply take trips down memory lane to be reminded of what I had. With all the photos I’ve taken over the years I still have many to share.

There is a saying I like to remember which goes, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

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Reality… Spring in Florida means heat and that’s about it.

Keeping in Touch With New England

New England
Nubanusit Brook in Peterborough, New Hampshire

I have to keep reminding myself that in many areas of the country summer is almost over. September brings fall colors to my old home town and the New England area, but I am not there. I find myself missing all the things I knew I would miss. I miss the fresh air, cool breezes, cool anything. I sit in front of a fan, in an air-conditioned house to find my cool air these days.

I miss the quietness of my front yard. I’d sit under the big oak out front and just drink in the peace. I knew that not everywhere was that nice, and I sooooo appreciated every minute of the five years I had it to enjoy.

foliage season
Foliage Season

I miss my gardens and wonder how my hydrangeas are doing. They would be blooming by now, and in fact my elderly neighbor in the north has told me how lovely the white flowers by the front door look. Those would be the Limelight variety. They always grow long branches with big heavy flowers. The Pinky Winky hydrangea was one of my favorites and I hope the buyers of my home are appreciating their loveliness.

I miss sleeping with the window open, and snuggling up under my blankets. I used to sleep so well. I miss my big kitchen and my little back deck. I miss all that storage space in my basement! No more basements. Florida homes don’t have them. That’s a whole floor full of space that is just gone! So I’ve had to downsize. Nothing wrong with that. I have way too much stuff anyway.

Fall is coming and I won’t be there to see the colors. I won’t crunch in the fallen leaves or see the tour busses pull into the shopping center so flatlanders can get their photos. I won’t be pulling on a jacket any time soon, and I certainly won’t be raking leaves. That part of my old life I won’t miss. I loved my trees, but boy did I have some autumn raking to do.

But what I really miss is something I’ve never had at all. A peaceful, normal life where I am not constantly moving or thinking about moving. A life where I can think about living and doing things that normal people do. I will be moving out of this rental and into a new place soon. There are no vegetable gardens there, so I will start from scratch once again. It seems that life will always be difficult and full of strife, but I never count on anything. I have no idea what lies ahead.

I’ll always miss fall in New England, but I knew I would.