September 22, 2003
An Addiction Revealed...
Today's Gratuitous Story of the Day is for booklovers, not just people who read books but people who like to open old books and sniff the sweet, musty smell of the paper and ink, who know that email and instant messaging can never replace the magic of the printed word, who live for the quiet moment in their day when they can sit quietly with their latest read, who love the book they're reading but are already thinking about the next one, who have run out of room for books in their house but don't really care, who feel the same hush in their soul going into a bookstore that they feel going into a cathedral or temple or museum. You know who you are...
Twice a year the Seattle Friends of the Library has a book sale in a cavernous old naval warehouse. On the days of the sale, the warehouse is filled to bursting with books, people, remarkably quiet chatter, and the shuuuush, shuuuush, shuuuush of hundreds of book-filled cardboard boxes being pushed along a cement floor. I usually go about once a year but do major damage each time, buying from 50 to 70 books (hey, ya' want I should go crazy during our long rainy winters?). This weekend was no exception; I bought about 60. Usually I just buy whodunits, science fiction, classics, the usual, but this time I also came away with these books, all published in the 1800s. I know the books are in bad shape (what do you expect for one dollah each?) but how they exude character and life and history!
From top to bottom, "The Mysteries of Paris, Vol. 1", Eugene Sue, no publication date but owner-signed in 1896; "Brown's English Grammar and Analysis," Goold Brown, published 1872; "The Poetical Works of Owen Meredith (Lord Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton)," no publication date but owner-signed in 1888; and "The Battle of New York," William O. Stoddard, published 1895.
A beautiful signature in "Brown's English Grammar and Analysis." (This says "M. W. Satterfield, Libertyville, Lake Co" which, from another signature in the book and from some online research, I now know stands for "Miles Wilburn Satterfield, Libertyville, Lake County, Illinois.")
The embossed cover of "Eugene Sue's Works:"
The tooled leather cover of "The Poetical Works of Owen Meredith:"
Knitting Knews
This weekend I started knitting what will now be called the Arboretum Socks (in honor of the beautiful, lush arboretum we are so lucky to have in this city). Interestingly, the Rowanspun DK feels very cottony, although it is 100% wool. I've also discovered it breaks frighteningly easily. Frankie lay on my yarn while I was knitting (which she always does) so I tugged very gently on the yarn to pull it out from under her fat furry belly (which I always do) and it broke instantly. I have concluded that this yarn is not good for socks but it will suffice for this trial run.
Here, a photo of the cuff, looking, from this angle, very much like a green octopus with paralyzed wooden legs:
Good news! Despite the fact that my interest in the Acoma Sock has gone "phhhht," Janine from Guild has offered to try to knit it! I am thrilled! Janine, I'll try to write up a pattern for you and send you the chart ASAP.
Dye Garden Dyegest
Ack! Now that I'm rarin' to go again with the natural dyeing, my LYS is completely out of Henry's Attic! Yesterday I marched in there confidently, my $25 gift cerficate clutched in my sweaty palm, only to be greeted by tiers of Henry's Attic-free shelves. Pooh. I left my name for them to call me when more comes in, or I may just order some online. I say again, "Pooh."
In the meantime, I started to experiment with the sunflowers from the dye garden. All of the recipes I've read for dyeing with sunflowers say to soak the entire sunflower head, seeds, petals and all. However, since the petals on our sunflowers are so dark I decided to experiment with using just the petals.
A photo posted in an earlier entry of one of the sunflowers:
The petals before being soaked. Note that the colors range from a deep yellow to a dark plum brown:
The petals steeping in hot water:
A freshly picked sunflower petal next to one that has steeped overnight:
The color of the dye water after steeping (but before simmering, which I haven't done yet). It seems somewhat transparent and more like a wash than a true dye, but we'll see what happens.
