Arctic Lace and other good things

All that changeable weather last week, brought some fresh new snow. This is a shot from my back door very early Saturday morning. Looks sort of sad and gray, but fresh snow much improved Sundays sun. We haven't seen a lot of sun this winter, not on weekends at any rate.

I have a request to knit another Calorimetry, so Saturday I was off to town for a quick yarn trip. I found some of my favourite things!
River City Yarns has Zitron Loft in stock again. This is a really, really nice yarn, truly wonderful to work with. Since the request was for a combination of yarns, we searched the store for a good colour match, and I came away with some Mission Falls, a new to me yarn, with a really great soft feel and a dusky warm tone. I'm looking forward to using it. Calorimetry is such a nice quick to work project. For those of us who thrive on the gratification of completed projects, this is as close to instant as you can get and a great study in short rows. I may go back for one more skein of the Mission Falls yarn. If I have two skeins, I will have plenty to make both the headband and a bonus of some wristers. The lovely recipient will have a treat more than she hoped for.

I did come away with some other treats too, I'll show you those tomorrow. River City has some really great stock in right now. Some of my favourite yarns and some really gorgeous colours, symphonies of colours.

Saturday afternoon, Mr. Needles and I found some intriguing stuff on the Internet about his uncle who was a POW in WWII. We spent a lot of time cruising sites WW II sites looking at and reading information about Lancaster bombers, the crews and reading POW stories. There were many tears, and much sorrow found, and a lot of contemplation about the dark side of humanity. But there was also a lot of good found, that some people still care to remember, that someone out there took the time to write and record and put in out there on the Internet. Some knitting happened around all this reading, but a lot of it was just a little too intense for knitting. Hard to believe, but it happened. Its been a while.

I worked on my shawl along with these other things. Its getting close to the size I want.I figure another weeks determined work and it will be ready for the edging. I had hoped to get it to that point this past weekend, but for all that there was knitting time, there was not large amounts of knitting hours.

I must beg forgiveness of the photo though, maybe Ms Shawl too. I didn't notice till I posted the picture that the needles are impaling the shawl. I will prefer to think of them as being Ms. Shawls delicately folded hands.

Thinking of folded hands, I am reminded of this pattern from Arctic Lace. This one too. The first is called a chevron scarf, and besides the chevron, I saw the folded hands of a contented knitter. Maybe some of you can see that too in these chevrons Donna Druchunas was inspired to create.

I see something else too. Something I saw from the first moment I saw the design of this lace. If you look at the pattern from the opposite direction, you see a woman. See her head centered in the pattern stitches - she is wearing her hair in a bun? She has her hands laid lovingly on her daughters shoulders, who has her hands on her daughters shoulders, and so on down the scarf.

This is the image that sticks in my mind. Its such an warm comforting concept that fits how I see knitting, spinning and all these wonderfully fulfilling things that use strings and needles. Someone at some point developed how to do them, and we are shown and taught, guided by those who have been shown and guided through the many seasons of humanity. Our ancestors hands are on our shoulders, and we have the duty of passing these things on.

We are one long unbroken yarn of time and love.