Thursday, August 06, 2009

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old...

Gold Medal Flour mill
Stone Arch Bridge
In store for you today: A few more shots from Minneapolis (above, the Gold Medal Flour mill and Stone Arch bridge), some interesting agricultural products (below), and then an actual, bona fide sweater that has been completed by me. All of this will be coming your way assuming that you don't subscribe to a certain bockety blog reader that has suddenly refused to pick up my feed. Yes, for the last few weeks I have been screaming into the Bloglines void as it has been plugging its ears, making loud 'I-can't-hear-you' noises and pretending I don't exist. Humph. Was it the knitted willy warmer? My abrupt detour into Shawl-land? A lack of actual pertinent content? Whatevs, Bloglines. Google Reader will be smiting your ass any day now...

Niagara Grapes
Grapes from the arbor!
The above grapes are from my friend Phil's grape arbor in Star Valley. Let me tell you that they were the essence of grape. Fragrant, perfume-y, grape to the power of 10--almost unbelievably so. The glass you see is of actual grape juice. Sad Alzheimer's footnote: my dad couldn't smell the juice at all because many suffering from his condition completely lose their sense of smell.

Cirque du Soleil pitched their tent!
The big top you see above belongs to the Cirque du Soleil. Let me officially apologize to everyone who has raved about these performances as while you were talking, I was secretly judging and even rejecting you a little. But you were right! I'm a jackass--it was a stupendous show.

Rusted Root in Rowan Calmer
While on my trip I was also able to complete a project I began a month earlier--Rusted Root. I saw my mom eying it and knew that she had to have it. Happy Birthday, mom!

Rusted Root in Rowan Calmer
The Specs:
Pattern: Rusted Root by the Zephyr Girls
Yarn: Rowan Calmer 476, exactly 6.
Needles: Size 8, which was larger than called for. I wanted some drape in this fabric and it's what I got.
Mods: I made damn sure to do 14 lace repeats. You better believe I was zooming in and counting them on Ravelry FOs! I also opted out of the cap sleeve version as I fear them.
Time: Mid-June to the end of July, off and on.
Rusted Root in Rowan Calmer
This pattern is a classic Zephyr girls production: top-down raglan construction, cute details that keep the pattern interesting, and exceedingly clear instructions. Calmer is a true pleasure and I recommend it for all your warm weather needs. It had been hanging around in my stash for quite a while and I am sad to say goodbye to my old friend...but luckily while I able to pick up a new Rowan pal that is making a huge hit. I was even told by the LYS employee that I was the first person to buy it as it had just arrived--now you KNOW that sealed the deal, right? Introducing....

Rowan Felted Tweed Aran
Felted Tweed Aran! Yes, our favorite Rowan yarn in a gauge that would actually want to make a sweater out of. I am so excited, I think this just moved to the top of the Minimalist Cardigan queue...

17 comments:

Clumsy Knitter said...

Awww...Minneapolis is my home town, and as soon as I saw your first photo I got a little homesick. Thanks for the view! :)

Anonymous said...

Circus tents and Girl Scout songs. What a post! :)

Ashley said...

Felted tweed Aran, you will be mine. Oh yes. YOU WILL BE MINE.

knithound brooklyn said...

Whew! I am glad I use Google reader because it would be just awful to miss even one of your wonderful and hilarious posts.

The Rusted Root is so pretty in that color. Calmer is destined to become part of my stash someday.

Laura said...

Felted Tweed Aran is the best idea since circular needles.

And the color you chose is amazeball.

Anonymous said...

What gorgeous photos of Minneapolis! I lived there for 32 years, so I recognized them right away.

Rowan Calmer is soooo nice. Love the sweater!

Yarnhog said...

Beautiful photos!

I'm so glad you linked to your Willie Warmer post again! I've been trying for ages to remember who posted that story. It still makes me laugh til I pee. I think the bell on the end has something to do with it. ;)

Kirsten said...

I'm giddy over the felted tweed aran. Must go now and seek some out.

Alison said...

Great Mpls pics! We'll be driving through tomorrow, though at a much lighter time of day...
Congrats on the sweater completion! (lucky mom!!)

Happy knitting!

gale (she shoots sheep shots) said...

I do believe we were just a few footsteps off from each other in visiting the sites of Minneapolis, especially loving that Mill City renewed area (hubby's hometown, my college town). What we thought was going to be a draining visit to family ended up a fine vacation.Looks like for you, too.
Your Rusted Root is the first one I've really liked. May need to queue it....

weezalana said...

It's Friday and I'm kinda tired, so my mind is whirling over how green grapes turn out a glass of reddish-orange juice.

Lovely job on the Rusted Root!

kim said...

What is this you say? I have missed blog posts?! Hmph, indeed!!! How funny. I just mentioned the Willy Warmer to someone this morning. The Rusted Root is such a perfect gift. Nicely done.

Kim said...

I gotta convert to google reader cause bloglines is not my friend. Love your Rusted Root! So I guess Cirque de Soleil is not Cirque de Solame.

earthchick said...

Beautiful Rusted Root! Happy Birthday (late) ADDMom!

tiennie said...

Great project for your mom! I agree - google reader is so much better!

nicole said...

Well, that explains it! How dare you Blogger to deprive me of my regular dose of hilarious knitting insanity.

But then again, I did notice that my desire to acquire new, fantabo yarn did decrease significantly while I was sans-ADD. Now I just want to run out in the streets in my underwear waving my Visa shouting "ROWAN FELTED ARAN TWEEEEEEEEEED"

Thanks. Good to have you back.

ingrid said...

Bloglines has finally picked up your posts, so I'm catching up on everything you've been doing since mid-July!