Autumn Friday

Here is the shawl I finished using Tosh Merino in the ‘Mare” shade.

My goodness, is it big! Luscious. I used five skeins of yarn. In this photo, I attempt to show its big lusciousness by draping it on a larger chair.

Really, I don’t know how to photograph it. It’s SO HUGE. I’m pretty excited about that. Have I mentioned how much I love Tosh Merino? I think it’s my favorite yarn ever. So soft, I love the colors, and very warm. Now I’ve depleted my little stash of it, so thankfully Christmas isn’t far away…

A close-up of the fabric to show the color variation. Can you see it at all? There is a very dark base (blue or black, I can’t tell) with specks of blue and brown.

I painted my nails with Rescue Beauty Lounge’s Concrete Jungle. It’s a little more blue than it shows here and sadly, unavailable right now. If you want it, VOTE for Ji to bring it back! (There is a weird yellow reflection on my index and middle finger from the leaves on the tree outside. Ignore that.) Two coats with base and top coat.

My children are having a quiet art day. They’ve been drawing, painting, doing some origami…I love when they take a day like this. A little time out for Speedy Eddy, a game they like to play. “It’s kind of our Thing,” they told me.

I Will Now Show You My Nail Polish, Part 5

Okay, well, did you guys hear? Chanel is supposed to release a new white nail polish called Attraction in May, I guess.

I don’t have any Chanel nail polishes, and I’m not sure that this is going to change any time soon. If I was going to spring for a Chanel polish, I don’t think it would be a pearly white. Unless it was a very special pearly white. Like, it would probably have to border on magical.

What I do know is that there are two companies, Chanel and Rescue Beauty Lounge, that always cause this scenario to play out for me: they do a color, and I see it at first and think, “Oh, PLEH. WHY???” Then, before I know it, there is NOTHING I want more than that color.

I think I need to just start BELIEVING, you guys.

I’m BELIEVING in the weird, pearly white that reminds me of when I was a little girl in the eighties and didn’t know what color to choose and just went with something that looked really pretty in the bottle but was less than stellar on my nails, which is how I’ve felt about this color for a very long time.

But I don’t know now. I’ve been wearing it all day, and I have to admit that it does feel somehow RIGHT. Kind of fresh again, or something. I think I’ll be ready for this color by May, and maybe even sooner. I truly never thought I would wear this color again. So. 

My choice was OPI’s Kyoto Pearl. I have no idea if Attraction will look like this, but I’ve devoted more time in the last few days than I’d really care to admit trying to figure out what exact white might possibly be THE white (and really, in general life I obsess over shades of white an unnatural amount–just ask my family–so this is nothing new) and this is what I went with.

Kyoto Pearl next to my white Christmasy lights:

Kyoto Pearl next to the window in the gloomy autumn twilight:

My pictures are a little blurry, and I’m sorry. I used two coats over a base coat and there’s a top coat on there, too. The pictures show shadows that look like my nails are maybe dirty, but actually there is a bit of a nail peely problem under there, and since the polish is pearly the ridge shows up as a shadow. In real life I don’t notice it so much, so don’t be scared to try the polish if your nails are less than perfect. The brush strokes and sheerish parts don’t seem as visible in real life, either. I guess you could do a third coat if that sort of thing really bugs you.

So, besides that color, I also tried Essie’s Show Me the Ring which didn’t really wear as white at all, but more like a pale gold. I’ll show that on another day. It looked unexpectedly nice with the big chunky shawl I am knitting for winter in Tosh Merino. I’m using the shade called Mare, and it is gorgeous. I’ll have to show you that soon. I linked to Happy Knits, where I bought my yarn. They have the best photo of the color, I think. Not the sort of thing I would normally choose, but I am so glad I did.

I Will Now Show You My Nail Polish, Part 4

 OPI Steady As She Rose.

For your viewing pleasure, here it is on an 800-year-old lobster claw that I had grafted onto the end of my arm. Pretty!

I’m not a great nail-painter and I don’t know why I do this to you all. It’s fun, I guess.

I don’t love this polish. I don’t love the color, the formula was pleh and streaky and I needed three coats, and I hate the brush. It’s good enough for today, though.

 

I Will Now Show You My Nail Polish, Part 3: Hurricane Preparedness Edition

Deborah Lippman Some Enchanted Evening. Had to have it.

Let’s not get all worked up about the state of my cuticles, let’s just look at the sparkles.

And that sums up how I am dealing with this situation.

We’ve got sparkles, a full tank of gas, and some drinking water.

I think we’re as ready as we can be.

I Wake Up Thinking About What Pattern Repeat I’m On

Knit, knit, knit. Purl, purl, purl. That is how I am spending my days.

This shawl is for a bride, an older woman who has been a friend to me. Boy, am I in a time crunch, and I keep losing feeling in my fingertips.

I am so ready for some nice, chunky wool when I’m done.

Teeny Tiny Stitches

I woke up this morning to my husband saying, “Can you call the police? Someone stole the car.” Surreal. I know people have their cars taken all the time, but that doesn’t make it feel anything less than shocking that it’s happened to us.

Consequently, my brain feels numb. If I was thinking as I normally would, I would go down a hundred little rabbit trails in my mind, about what are we going to do now? We really are a family that needed that car, and we really are not a family who can just go buy another one. It isn’t like that for us, and I don’t feel like going into it all. I know it will work out just fine. I know it will, and I think that’s why my mind isn’t going down all those different trails with all the different, anxiety-causing scenarios. I just keep focusing on the fact that it will be okay. It will be okay SOMEHOW. It just will. And it is okay.

But I find myself suddenly and strangely (or not so) obsessed with this shawl, and with working as many miniscule stitches as I can in this silk lace, a material that is beautiful but not very forgiving.

 

 

About That Shawl I Finished Way Back When

I finally blocked it and here is the resulting lace. I’m really happy with it.

The pattern I used is called Damsel Shawl and was written by Lori Law. It was intended to be knitted in a fingering-weight yarn, which is a little heavier than what I used, so my shawl is airier and maybe a little smaller. My tension is so loose that I doubt it’s much smaller, though. I found the pattern very easy, but tedious, which I suppose is often the case with these lace patterns. I saved myself loads of agony by counting stitches every other row so I was able to find any mistakes almost immediately and not have to rip back too much at any time.

I used my favorite brand of yarn–Madelinetosh. This is the Prairie base, which is a single-ply laceweight merino wool. I think it feels like a slightly heavy laceweight, but I’m not a big expert on laceweight yarns, so I’m not sure. I looooove single-ply yarns and buy them almost exclusively, at this point. So soft and pretty. I did feel that the Prairie isn’t as soft as the Madelinetosh single-ply options in other weights (such as Tosh Merino Light or Tosh Merino)…it felt a little more wiry or something when I was knitting it. However, it softened up more when I washed it, as often happens. I’ve noticed Amy’s single-ply yarns vary in feel by the color, and some are softer than others, so maybe it was the color and not the base yarn. I don’t know. Anyway, it wasn’t scratchy or anything. I absolutely love it. This shade is called Calligraphy.

Here’s another little photo, and now I have to start dinner. Happy Sunday.