Category: Annabelle

Budding fortune

Published on by Jane13 Comments


I went wandering again today, but not far. I guess everyone knows by now that I love to visit Long Beach, on Little Peconic Bay near Sag Harbor (it has another, more official name, but Long Beach is just what it is). Ever since I moved here in 1993, this place has been a kind of touchstone for me. It was windy today — loud and blustery, not cold but brisk. I got a good dose of it.

Back at home, in my own back yard, I found a lot of activity. The forsythia are about to burst.


The maple trees are, too.

And the dear, sweet wisteria that twines around the top of my stairs and makes me so happy (unless it decides to try to grow through my door in mid-summer) is just beginning to think about Spring.

This little leaf bud looks like some sort of bug, don’t you think?


I’m still working away on my cardigan, but who wants to see a lumpy pile of yarn covered with a halo of cat hair? Sometimes I wonder why Annabelle isn’t bald. To break it up a little, and because monogamous knitting is not something I can manage to maintain (forgive me, members of the Yarn Church), I began a new pair of socks. This is Ann Budd’s lovely Celebrate Spring pattern, in Sundara’s sock yarn, Sage over Butter.

I’ve also been — gasp! — spinning a little. I’ve decided to try to spin more, and only on my Reeves wheel. I’ve never really used it enough, and so I’m not completely confident on it. I’m not making any rules here, just establishing an intention.

The Knitter’s Book of Wool Woolalong fiber for this month is Bluefaced Leicester, so I spun up eight ounces of dyed Superwash BFL top from Jen at Spirit Trail Fiberworks. If I finish plying the whole batch I might make something like a Morning Surf Scarf, which I think would work with this yarn.



My spinning ability has suffered a bit this past year. I don’t notice it all the time, but there’s some lingering neuropathy in my hands that doesn’t affect my knitting (except that it slows me down a little). I notice it when I’m spinning, though. It’s a good thing I don’t mind, and that lumpy handspun is just as pretty (to me, at least) as smooth, even yarn. The spinning’s the thing. I love to spin and listen to an audiobook, or to just the whir of the wheel. And the Reeves, though it’s so big and daunting, is a joy to have and use. It’s made so well, with thought and craftsmanship in every detail. I’m a fortunate spinner!