Yarn Perspectives

per·spec·tive
/pərˈspektiv/
noun:  a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

It's the last day of the August long weekend here, and it's been a hot one. We've been blessed with a mild summer this year, and yesterday was only the second day we've had to put on the air conditioning, and even then only for a couple of hours. Nonetheless, the heat has been enough for us to retreat into the cool depths of our house and hide away until the evening.

When we first moved to the Island, I was very excited to be living somewhere where there were plenty of places to go and visit within half an hour's drive. It was refreshing to have so much choice after living in a rural municipality. After living here for the last six years, I can say that I'm well over that now. Perhaps its the rising gas prices or maybe it's the construction on the main road to our neighbourhood which has created an annoying and lengthy detour, but I do know that I am in no huge rush to be planning outings every single weekend. In fact, I spent two whole days going no further than a few blocks away from the house to walk Seymour. I'm just not buying into the idea that a life rushing around everywhere is a life fulfilled.

I spent the weekend trying out recipes that did not require me to fire up the oven, which meant I spent an awful lot of time with the barbecue and the slow cooker. I was quite pleased with these Singing Hinnies, a kind of stovetop scone which turned out rich and flaky and tasty - a real winner:

I also spent a lot of time reading, which is a rarity for me. I'm usually so wrapped up in cooking and knitting that I barely make it through a paragraph a month. This is mostly spurred on by the fact that I've got some tight muscles in my right shoulder and pectoral, and I've been finding it quite relaxing to lay back on my yoga bolster and stretch out my chest while I read or listen to podcasts or nap... the only thing I can't do in that position is knit...

But I have been knitting... currently in experimentation mode with two skeins which I adore together:

The pink one is some Tough Love Sock Yarn by Sweet Georgia, and the bottom one is some sparkle sock yarn which is in the same colourway as the cowl I just finished, just in a different base:

The trouble is that the grey skein is so actively variegated that I've been having trouble figuring out how to use it without overwhelming the project. I started out with a short row project with the two of them working together in undulating shapes:

I initially quite liked this, but I set it down one evening in frustration because I was finding the grey and whites just a little too distracting at the time. I felt that the pinks of the Sweet Georgia were just getting too lost in the whites and greys and that they deserved more attention. I ripped it out later on, but seeing this photo a few days later has made me wonder if I was too hasty...

But I moved on from this and am now trying out an asymmetrical chevron shawl where I am changing out each skein proportionally do the number of rows knitted... and again, I initially really liked this, but at this perspective, I'm really not sure:

I am also experimenting with using different stitches as I go along as well, which may or may not be a good idea:

Sometimes, when I get overwhelmed by colours in a project, I find it useful to get up and hold the project up to a mirror. Somehow, that change in perspective really helps me. I think I'll have to do that later today to see if this is experiment is working for me.

Or maybe I'll just go for it and hope for the best.

We broke out of the house today and went for a swim at the lake this afternoon:

After a couple of days in the house, it was a good change of perspective for us all:

Seymour didn't swim, but he enjoyed people and dog watching, as well as a bit of picnic table mooching:

Back to work tomorrow. I'm kind of looking forward to having some kind of routine again. I guess that means the days off were a success. Seymour is looking forward to catching up on his sleep work as well, I think:

Have a good week!