Mossy Cottage Knits

Ow.

At the end of its rather violent spin cycle, my new-ish washer does this odd—but apparently normal for a hi-tech appliance—thing where it gently cycles the clothes around, once every few seconds, as if fluffing them. Last night, being impatient, I didn’t want to wait for the “fluffing” to finish and wondered how important the “fluffing” actually was and what the “fluffing” actually did and whether it was safe to just open the door and stick my hand in while the “fluffing” was going on. Then I realized that I didn’t know the answer to any of these questions…but the washer did. And it was then that I realized that the washer was smarter than I was.

Now what are my personal ads going to say? “Moderately attractive and very available, but recently lost a battle of the wits with a household appliance?”

Went on my first official OutVentures outing on Saturday, a hike. I discovered that this is where and when the working out pays off! It was a long-ish hike which included a hellacious walk up a steep and long flight of stairs, and at no point did I get winded. It was quite remarkable.

(An aside: While I was writing the last paragraph, I had two phrases in my mind, “break a sweat” or “get winded,” which my mind was all too happy to scramble into “break wind.” Fortunately, I caught it before I clicked “post.”)

I dasn't post any pictures of the women on the hike, not wanting to "out" them 'n' all, but I can share a picture of our hiking companion, Ginger, who happily rode this way the whole way. You can't see it but Ginger was representin' with a rainbow collar.

And yesterday, much to my surprise and total delight—with a modicum of anxiety thrown in since it'd been a while—I found myself on horseback, thanks to the two very patient and accomodating OutVentures buddies I met at the dinner and one very patient and accommodating horse. Am I sore? You betcha. Apparently I now have a very bony butt. And today, I can't seem to keep my legs closed. (No comments from the Peanut Gallery.)

I started what I thought was going to be a Honora or Paloma on Friday night. Despite my promises, however, it’s turning out be anything but a Honora or Paloma. The good news is, I already know who else it is.

Ann of Mason Dixon recently posted story about and a picture of Elmira, the African American quilter who made Ann a quilt, and since then the African American crafting and knitting community and traditions have been on my mind. Thus, it was no surprise to me that, when I went to pick out a yarn for the body, this beautiful color fairly leapt into my hands, and I ended up making an Elmira:

Doesn’t look like much of a doll yet, but it’ll all work itself out. The head will be added at the hole; the wide piece at the top will be folded lengthwise and seamed into arms; the middle will be folded to the back and seamed to make the torso; and the divided sections will be folded to the back and seamed to make the legs. Then the fun starts: Knitting the dress and adding the hair. I’m thinking a beautiful, short salt-and-pepper for the coiffure, and following in the footsteps of Tori, the "mother" of "Maisie," self-striping yarn for the dress. God knows I have enough tiny, useless balls of half-used self-striping yarn lying around.

This project was a hoot and a half, and it only took maybe 1.5 hours to get this much done. Well worth the minimal cost to get a used copy of the book.

(Do I get credit for getting to the end of the entry without mentioning the cats once?)

Posted by Ryan at July 28, 2008 11:03 PM