Minerva

Today is my birthday. As a treat to myself I'm going through my vintage Minerva knitting magazines and trying to add them to the Ravelry database. I know that doesn't sound like a real treat. It sounds like work, but I swear I'm enjoying myself. The combination of organization, 30's style, and knitting is pure pleasure. Plus, I don't have to feel guilty about not being productive. My parents drilled that one in so far it's never going to claw it's way out of my psyche. Must. Be. Productive. So, as I was saying, I'm flipping through my old magazines photographing these designs and although I've looked at them dozens of times I'm still blown away by their beauty.



Can you see the splits at each shoulder, and the delicate glass beads on the end of each tie? She looks so calm next to her flowering bush.
This next dress is spectacular. That's about as close as a modern woman should ever get to a bustle. She looks 12, but the dress looks mature enough to order drinks. Those sleeves could probably order the martinis for her.


How does a woman dress like that? It must take her hours just to squeeze into her foundation garments. Can you really wear a hat that small and not look like you're about to hop out of a clown car? They pull it off. I don't know how they do it.



I really love the intarsia collar and cuffs on this one. It looks like it would be deeply annoying to knit, but with a little bit of length added to the ribbing at the waist this would be a very wearable sweater. I think it would make me look like a lady detective.


This next lady is sporting a bow that ought to be on top of a car at a dealership, and a hat that has ears. I'm not completely sold on this one, but the tunic does have some nice details.


I don't have any desire to wake up and worry about whether or not I've got a clean pair of gloves. I know that dressing like this isn't possible for someone with children, or a garden, or a kitchen, or a waist, or dogs. Oh god, can you imagine what a dog would do to a knitted dress? Still....I could probably get away with wearing that first lace blouse with a sturdy linen skirt. I really don't have time for new projects. Thank goodness I still have time for fantasizing. I'll leave you with the tam o'shantered sailing Scottswoman. Imagine the kind of life you would have to lead in order to justify this ensemble.

Planting, Spinning and Waiting

I have spring fever and have abandoned my knitting to spend more time outside. It's not quite warm yet but we've had a week of warmish days. I've been pruning, planting and hauling compost. My master lists are tucked into my moon planner and I open it carefully every day, as if it were a sacred text, checking to see when to plant what, and what to plant where. I can't stop smiling even though my back feels like it's one kink short of a Z . As if things weren't good enough, Jeanette called yesterday to tell me that she's back in her own home. We went to visit her today, and she has flowers popping up all over the place.


On the wool front, I've got two new hanks of freshly washed handspun. The first (pictured below) is posing with my lettuces.




It's a blend of dyed merino, yak down and some black Jacob. I think it's an aran weight. The next yarn is a worsted weight blend of dyed merino and cashmere.



I think it's destined to become a baby hat. Both of these skeins look like spring to me. Maybe that's just the spring fever talking.