Summer Days

We’ve been having some crazy weather over the last couple of days—nonstop rain and lots of wind and lightening. We lost power last night, so I got to knit by candlelight.

Lights Out

I actually have a headlamp for precisely this kind of situation, but the batteries were dead, so candles it was. I’ve done five reps of the lace repeat on CeCe so far. Eight more before it’s time to start the sleeves. I’m getting there slowly but surely. It’s a nice pattern to knit, so I’m not particularly anxious to be through with it.

My big news today is that I tried spinning cotton for the first time. This was the first mountain stage of this year’s Tour, so I thought I’d get into the spirit of things and challenge myself. 

Stage 10

Spinning this was entirely different from spinning wool. There’s no elasticity or crimp to cotton, so it wants to slide apart if you’re too slow about letting the twist run in. It was fun for a change of pace. I need to work on maintaining a nice, even singles, though. Today’s effort was a bit thick and thin.

I came across an interesting article online about a woman named Melanie Gall. She’s a singer and actor who has written a couple of musicals about  knitting during the World Wars. Both are one-woman shows and feature some of what are apparently thousands of songs written about or that at least include references to knitting during the period. In addition to the songs, the shows present interesting bits of knitting history. One thing mentioned in the article was the impact of the knitting craze on women’s clothing: 

Knitting even altered fashion: Dresses were designed with large pockets so women could always have their yarn and needles on them; and, for the first time ever, women carried tote bags instead of little clutch purses.

I like this. I remember speculating one time about what Queen Elizabeth, who was often pictured knitting during WW II, carried in the little purse she always has with her. Wouldn’t it be awesome if it were her latest work-in-progress?! 

On a completely unrelated note, look at this gorgeous flower. It’s growing outside the door to my yoga teacher’s studio. I snapped a picture so I could show you.

Hibiscus

Thanks for stopping by. Be well!

2 Comments

  1. I am in awe of your cotton spinning. I’ve tried on takhli and supported and can’t get a draft to last more than a few inches to save my life. Maybe I need a lighter weight turk and try on that. The flower is a hibiscus, a form of it anyway. We had the tropical ones in Tampa – dozens of different cultivars. Some had blooms the size of dinner plates. I do miss hibiscus. We can come close with that mountain version, or when we grow okra, since it’s related. Glad your power came back on.

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