Blue skies

I'm definitely getting spoiled - in a way I would love to continue to be spoiled - with the gorgeous weather lately.Yesterday was my birthday, and it's the first one in a long time when there was no rain. It was a fabulous birthday present! And - may I say - I was so touched and buoyed by your birthday greetings on ravelry, facebook and twitter. Thank you all! It was a Good Day.

This was my big gift. I love that the inside is so high tech,

and the outside is so vintage.

This is the new Kindle Touch and the e-ink is incredibly cool. Since I love books and the printed page, I held out for quite some time. I've always had a huge collection of books and I couldn't stand the thought of losing the smell and feel of them! But I have to say that the convenience of the size is what finally won me over. And when I found out that the e-ink is actually little particles of ink, well. I couldn't resist. I may have dropped some (very broad) hints. I know the Fire is what Amazon is really pushing right now, but I passed on it and I'm so thrilled to have my e-ink instead! I spent some serious time just looking at the gorgeous photos of typewriters, pens and printing implements that serve for the cover page when the Kindle is turned off. If I were a black and white photographer, I would put together a portfolio for Kindle. It's that beautiful.

After opening my gifty, I headed over to knitting group where they sang me happy birthday. I wish I could have gotten my video camera (erm, iPhone) out soon enough to catch A's stunning performance, but alas, I was too late. It is burned into my memory though. :) My three boys picked me up for lunch and we had a lovely one at a local cafe. Later on, we all saw The Muppets (fabulous!!!) and went out to eat Ethiopian food. It was the boys' first Ethiopian and #1 Son was dubious as always. The Bear was entranced by all the lentils, though - his favorite. They both ended up absolutely loving it, and - as the portions were humongous - we stuffed ourselves and still took home as much as we ate. I did point out that - so very sadly - an Ethiopian family could probably live a month on the amount of food we ate. After dinner, we were treated to traditional Ethiopian coffee, and we could smell it roasting in the back as we were finishing our last bites. All I have is a poor iPhone photo, but this is how it was served, with incense burning.

I loved the top of the coffee urn, and was happy not to worry that it would fall out when I poured.

The coffee was the absolute best I have ever had. Truly. The waiter/owner told us the chef roasted cardamom with the beans. It was very strong, but had no bitterness or aftertaste, and didn't need to be sweetened. I would go back just for the coffee, even if the food weren't so amazing.

When we arrived home, I found a little parcel from France on the doorstep. I opened it and was reminded why I no longer use the iPhone app to order from Amazon.

For those who don't recognize it, this is "Singin' in the Rain." In French. But in the Amazon app, this information (language) is not important enough to put on the front screen; it was buried. Too funny. And too bad that international DVDs won't play on US players. I think this would be fun to watch. I might try it anyway. Heehee.

Next is some catch-up from my period of anonymity. At Stitches West this year, Miss Babs gave me some of her gorgeous yarn in Terra Cotta.

But while digging around in stash a couple of months ago, I wanted something to go with it for a two color project, so off I went to check around her site for a willing partner. I fixated on Plum, and she and her assistant kindly looked at the two colors together and confirmed that Plum is, indeed, a good mate. It is stunning by itself.

And don't they look happy together?

I've also been working on some lined cuffs to go in the pattern with my Poinsettia hat.

Just a simple little project to use up a skein of yarn and some left-overs.

And it shows a pretty little ruffle at the cuff of your jacket.

I'm quite enamored. And the pattern should be out very soon.

Last, I saw some great Melpomene FOs on Ravelry and wanted to share. This one is from Ali. She blocked the edge into rounded scallops instead of flat across the bottom of each scalloped bit.

Great color! And the following one is from Justine. I love the way the stitch pattern pops in this yarn (Tosh). Justine's is blocked with rounded scallops too. It's so cool how a different blocking method can change the whole look, isn't it?

I love looking at the different yarns and colors everyone is using, so I've decided I'd like to start featuring FO pics on my blog. If I use your photograph and you don't want me to, please just send me an email requesting that I take it down and I will gladly fix it post haste! Also, if you want to share your FO, please email me a little linky to your Ravelry project page. I will not use people's faces without permission.

It's amazing. For so many months, I've felt that I have nothing to say at all. Now I can't seem to shut up. I didn't realize I was so stressed. Have a wonderful evening everyone!

Did I Mention?

Cáliz!

Originally, she was part of A Verb for Keeping Warm's Pro-Verbial yarn club, knit with a rustic special edition silk and camel blend yarn. Though it was sport weight, it felt more like a dk weight yarn.

So to re-release her, I knit another version in a fingering weight (sock) yarn from Abstract Fibers (and of course added the instructions).

This is Mighty Sock - a merino/tencel blend - in Gold, and I have to tell you, it looked very pretty in the skein, but knitted up it is stunningly beautiful.

I can't keep from staring at it!

I love surprises like that! Exceeding expectations is always good, in my book. :)

I've been playing with the light and photography. The above pictures were taken outside in full sunlight and not Photoshopped or anything. If you get the exposure just right, the background goes black. Mr. Romi - who used to be a professional photographer - taught me that little trick, and I had forgotten about it until just the other day, when I photographed Melpomene from my Small Shawl eBook subscription, year two (Muses).

Yes! She's out too!

Do you see how the neckline has a subtle scallop to it? That's my favorite part!

This is the small, knit in Alisha Goes Around yarn, Ashes colorway. I love the way the texture brings out the subtle variations in color tone. I think Alisha is a color genius.

I also have a partially finished medium in Lisa Souza's gorgeous Petal yarn, Elektra colorway. Because, you know, Melpomene is the muse of tragedy (more on that later) and Mourning Becomes Electra.

And my amazing super fast fingered test knitter did a large in Sea Silk.

Gorgeous job on the shawl, perfect colorway, fabulous scenery.

From the pattern background: Melpomene’s name derives from the Greek melpô or melpomai meaning "to celebrate with dance and song." Over time, she became the muse of tragedy - particularly tragic theater - and today is often portrayed with a tragic mask in her hand: the opposite of her sister, Thalia, the muse of comedy. Among the ancient Greeks and Romans, and even in the day of Shakespeare, a tragic play was one with a sad or thought-provoking ending; a comedy would have a happy ending. The ancients asked Melpomene to inspire them in the creation of beautiful and lyric poetry and phrasing.

Melpomene the shawl is knit side to side, and her calming textures soothe frayed nerves in times of stress. The repeating charts have the interest and the simplicity to enhance the healing nature of knitting. Melpomene is a perfect meditation for both the mindful knitter and the knitter in search of solace.

I can't end this post without thanking you all for your patience on my muses. This has been a trying year. Nothing terrible - no need for sympathy! - just life, but very very time and energy-consuming nonetheless. I will come clean to you all when things are more together. Otherwise, I always feel like I am jinxing things. (I can't help being superstitious!) Meanwhile, designing, knitting and planning are happening. As Lisa always says, it's all good. :)