Ride the wild wind

Ride the wild wind
Push the envelope don’t sit on the fence
Ride the wind
Live life on the razor’s edge
Gonna ride the whirlwind
It ain’t dangerous – enough for me

Get your head down baby we’re gonna ride tonight
Your angel eyes are shining bright
I wanna take your hand – lead you from this place
Gonna leave it all behind
Check out of this rat race

Ride the wild wind
Ride the wild wind
Gonna ride the wild wind
It ain’t dangerous – enough for me

Tie your hair back baby
We’re gonna ride tonight
We got freaks to the left
We got jerks to the right
Sometimes I get so low – I just have to ride
Let me take your hand
Let me be your guide

Ride the wild wind
Ride the wild wind
Gonna ride the wild wind
It ain’t dangerous – enough for me

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Saint Agnes – Annis the Black Hag

“Some say that the legend of Agnes sprang from the cult of the Danish goddess Yngona.”

Angrboda
St. Agnes by Shonnie Scarola
St. Agnes by Catherine Fournier

One of the biggest insults the Christianity has offered to Paganity is “Christening” the Pagan Gods. Annis, a strong and independent Virgin Goddess was made on the one hand into a hideous blue-faced crone, and on the other into this innocent and pure child. Both ways made that the Pagan Goddess was reduced.

Interesting little detail here is that in Swedish, the place where all the witches go to dance on Beltane is called “Blåkulla” “Blue Hill”. “Kulla” also means “girl”. In Finland this hill was said to be made of glass and so polished only virgins could get up there. So there’s a nice correlation between the Agnes, protector of innocent girls, and the hideous blue witch Annis. I’m sure to anyone who was trying to violate virgins, a meeting with Annis was horrifying experience, and afterwards the reason to the meeting was played down, and the hideousness of the avenging and protecting Goddess was played up. And, sure, if you don’t know that a person is being punished for rape, the punishment might seem unfair and evil.

nnis day feast

Perfect Entertaining: Six Course Rack of Lamb Menu
Hinamatsuri – Girls’ Day in Japan

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Knitting Champion of the World?

There was a message in my mail box… Posted on Friday, I just read it.

“Have you got what it takes to be Knitting Champion of the World?
Yarnmonkey launches the latest global knitting battle!”
More info here: - http://www.yarn-monkey.blogspot.com/ “

It should take a couple of months, March and April. Of course I joined. *sigh* I know, I’m mad, stupid, and everything else, but, come on now, I CAN NOT resist a temptation like that LOL

No, I don’t expect to win, but I think it will be fun. The Sock War was great 🙂

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Dogs do play with yarn…

Dogs play with yarn. Here’s the photo evidence. He had the yarn THREE TIMES around his neck, and once around back legs, and it was also twisted around a chair on the right of me from where I stood taking the picture. It took me about an hour to clear the mess.
Oh, and about the mess… I didn’t realize how messy my home is before taking this picture. I told my hubby that I can’t possible EVER publish this photo, but he said that it’s a good photo, and I’m a good person, even though my home looks like a garbage pit. Well, that mess is cleaned up as well. But I’m still ashamed.
But as my hubby says, if anyone judges me by the cleanliness of my home, it’s THEIR problem, not mine. But I think it’s my problem. It’s *me* living here, not they. Anyway… I took the picture without noticing how messy it is, and it’s just a good picture. Of dog playing with yarn.
Funny enough not one of our cats played with yarnballs like this. And one of them was totally cord crazy. Couldn’t see a yarn, thread or cord without jumping on it. Except my crafts.

(Edited 22.1.
Now it’s official… I’m stupid honest.

If your house is really a mess and a stranger comes to the door,
greet them with, “who could have done this? We have no enemies.”
~Phyllis Diller

From Turkeyfeathers blog )

The other picture is of my peacock socks. The pattern will be at Socknitters’ sock challenge book, which is going to be free on-line. So, keep your eyes open, I suppose the book will come out this year.

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When angels sing

There are no sounds
As pure as rain
Or soothing as wind
Except when angels sing
As powder plumes
Their falling cavalcades
Of crystal brooms
Sweep needles green
As morning reveals
Other bone white limbs
Of those gone before
And starry tiaras above
Are glittering tears
Cried for those we loved
And autumn’s amber seas
Of scarlet crimson scenes
Are flowers of the rainbow
Reflecting the love of God
In pastel effusions
Of rose emerald blue

— Wesley A. Storer

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So many rods in the fire…

I really need to get the socks on the paper, better than just this:

and this is what I am doing… crocheting tulips for no reason what so ever… Isn’t it interesting how the mind works? “Now I’m going to write down a couple of sock patterns, and then it’s done”. An hour later you sit there with a nice pattern, that would look nice as a little girl’s spring jacket. You can make the leaves in green, and the rest in what ever color you want. For example, have the background in light blue and flower line in pink… Oh so cute!
Or you could make a square in an aran crochet afghan. It’s rather easy pattern, and I can think of many uses 🙂 And I can think of many different applications 😉

Uh. Back to socks.

Er… are you sure you wouldn’t rather have a new washcloth pattern? *she asks hopefully*

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12 Days of Yule dishcloths

Now I have posted all the instructions to the 12 dishcloths 🙂
Partridge in a pear tree
two turtledoves
three French hens
four calling birds
five golden rings
six geese a-laying
seven swans a-swimming
eight maidens milking
nine ladies dancing
ten lords a-leaping
eleven pipers piping
twelve drummers drumming

Someone said that she’s knitting an afghan with these squares for her favorite aunt as Christmas present 🙂 I’m very flattered and glad about that 🙂 I hope her aunt will like it 🙂 (Well… I like anything my niece gives to me, especially when she has made it herself, so I think she will… but I’m nevertheless very flattered, delighted and humble about my design being accepted by a niece *blush* :-))

Have fun 🙂

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I need a needle case

I was looking for some ideas, when I stumbled over Shantti designs once again… I love her embroidery cases, bags, purses and what ever. I love her love of embroidery and stumpwork. *sigh* I wish I did something like that…

I want my needle case to be something spectacular, wonderful, beautiful, amazing, lovely… something that fills me with pride and pleasure every time I use it.
But it has to be practical as well. I need to have my crochet hooks, knitting needles and other crafting tools easily available, but in a reasonable small and handy case, so that I will use it. I suppose it will be something like a book or briefcase.

I love the boxes that fold out, but that would be a little unpractical for my purposes… It would be fun, but I can’t – and don’t want to – flip it over when I’m crafting. I’m very pleased with my little basket, that I can move easily with me, but it’s such a mess!

I don’t know if you can see, but there’s a sheep mascot on the right, and a pin cushion I made in school when I was about 15, and that has a sheep as well. And it’s pink… the “French Market Bag” which was a total failure 😦 It became a perfect lining in the old basket with a broken handle, and fixed the basket became a perfect craft basket for me 🙂
So perhaps I should go for sheep…
This is an Elizabeth Austen Needle Bag, and I like the idea – I just don’t like the fabric. I saw a lovely one made of old kimono silk…

This one is much prettier, from Morehouse Farms, by Katharyn Crippen Shapiro

Here’s a discussion about needle cases in “Knitter’s Review Forum”
Here’s how to make a hardcover circular needle case
Organized Knitter has a lot of pretty and fun cases
Hillscape has nice ones too 🙂
This one is wonderful 🙂 By Annie 🙂
Lantern Moon’s silk needle cases are lovely too 🙂

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And then came silence

With purest soul of mine
I beg thee come to me
Emerald eyes like deepest sky
Enveloped in the darkness of your skin
With every breath, every thought I make
Just one touch would fill my empty days
They say things come to those who wait
If wait I must theb wait I will
And if lied well then I die
And then came silence
A fading memory falls apart
Feel like I’ve stopped before I start
Darkness rains down all over me
The lifes blood tastes so bitter sweet
With purest soul of mine
I beg thee come to me
Emerald eyes like deepest sky
Enveloped in the darkness of your skin
With every breath, every thought I make
And then came silence

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Knots

I was moderately interested in macrame, because everything I ever saw was made of string, cords and rope and thus pretty rough and coarse and rude and plain.

Then I saw some Margarethe lace. Margarethe lace is named after Margarethe Neumann in Germany in the beginning of 20th century, and they are very nice.
(The picture is a scanning from a book depicting Margarethe lace. I haven’t managed to find any more information about it.)

Here’s some Transylvanian macrame lace tablecloths and doilies. Look at the details.

I haven’t thought of that the roughness and plainness is due to the thickness of strings, not due to the technique… One can knot just as intrigate and beautiful fine laces with lace thread in macrame technique as in any other technique. It really isn’t only boring belts, bags, chairs and flower pot hangers.

Another style of knotting, similar to macrame is the Chinese knotting.
Here’s a couple of sites about that:
http://www.chineseknotting.org/
http://co.middlesex.nj.us/culturalheritage/chineseknotting/index.html
http://photo.163.com/photos/jiaqyz/72883709/
http://photo.163.com/photos/cwj3348/43425628/
http://photo.163.com/photos/qiuhong558.com/104764627
They use silky cords and make all kinds of forms and tassels. Really fascinating 🙂

The there’s the Japanese Mizuhiki, which is also similar, but there the cord is paper, which gives a totally different air to the knottings. Mizuhiki artists are equally skillful and can create all kinds of forms with simple knots on a cord.
http://www.026.co.jp/mizuhiki/englishindex.html

Hamamusubi, the flower knotting, is another Japanese cord knotting, this time with silk cords.

Then there’s braiding, platting, cordmaking, kumihimo; making cords, plaids, twines, lucet braiding…

Passementerie; the art of cording, knotting and tasseling.

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