Monday, May 30, 2016

City Views, Country Dreams

Good afternoon from New York on a rather grey Memorial Day.

It was raining earlier and more showers may fall.  I expect that this weather will have messed with quite a few folks' plans for the three-day weekend.

Over in Paris, today's French Open matches were called off.  I'd hoped to see some of them today on television, while it was too wet for another walk in the Park.  Perhaps tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I thought I would show you all some photos of parts of my recently completed knitting commission.  It is unusual for me to combine green and yellow hues and it was fun to give it a go.


I hope that the ducks seem to be on water.


I've now moved on to a simpler project that will combine various greens with softer tones.


Some of the colors are very close in value (light-to-dark ratio) which can give an additional softness to the knitted results.


Yesterday, I took my trusty Vornado electric fan down from the closet top shelf where it spends its winter.  If I am to continue this wooly knitting, I will need the fan close by my side.


Along with the rain, the temperature topped 90 F over the weekend.  Seeking a bit of chill, I went to see a movie, A Bigger Splash, at a neighborhood cinema.  Perhaps some of you all have seen it?  Ralph Fiennes plays one of the characters, and he kept reminding me of Robin Williams.  I never would have anticipated my response.

In case anyone who has not seen the film and would like to do so, I will say no more.

As I have been typing, I realize that the sky has cleared and the temperature seems more comfortable.  I think I will go out for a walk and find some ice cream.

Thank you all for your visits and comments.  I hope those of you who also have a three-day weekend have found much joy in the open hours.

36 comments:

  1. I do admire your designing and knitting skills. Glad to hear the temperature is a little more conducive to wool handling. We are due for a nasty storm. I was supposed to be visiting the Chelsea Physic garden tomorrow but we have postponed that plan.

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    1. Thank you so much, Lucille! Hoping that your visit to the Physic Garden won't be for too long. It's a place I've seen in many pictures but have yet to visit. Maybe some time we might actually be able to visit it together. xo

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  2. Your knitting is beautiful! Hope you enjoyed your walk and got that ice cream you were wanting!

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    1. I really appreciate your comment. I so enjoy playing with colors and knitting provides a great playground. Just as I started my ice cream walk, really dark and huge thunder clouds started blowing across the sky. So...I only took a short walk before returning home. Ice cream will be found today or tomorrow. xo

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  3. I love the mixture of greens in your finished scarf, the ducks are lovely too.

    It's been a holiday weekend here too, the weather for us was lovely, part from the cloud and northerly wind yesterday but it was dry. However today has started with heavy rain, our first for weeks so I am pleased for the garden and the beans in the veg garden which are yet to germinate! However it is the start of the half term holiday so many families will be disappointed with a week of cool, cloudy and damp weather.

    Fingers crossed for a fine day for Saturday as I plan to visit the Wool Fair - something I'm sure you'd enjoy.

    C xx

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    1. Dear Celia, I really enjoyed playing with the various greens and yellows in the duck scarf. it was grand having quite a large amount of yarn on hand for the experiment. If some combination did not quite work, I just unraveled it and tried another. Perhaps the scarf is a six-foot swatch!
      It was so interesting to read your post about using orange for the Gardens Illustrated picture.
      Yes, I would definitely want to visit the Wool Fair. Looking forward to a report from you...may the weather be fine.
      Also hoping yesterday's rain will be a gift to your garden. xo

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  4. I love the colours in both your knitting projects Frances. It has been a weekend for gardening here, helped (or more accurately hindered) by the puppy who loves to dig. I hope you enjoyed your ice cream. G x

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    1. Thank you, Gina! I've also still got my fair isle v-neck vest almost, almost finished. Just a few more rows at the shoulders, before I connect the front and back and do the armhole and neck ribbing. (The tedious parts.)
      I can just visualize you and energetic little Hector out in the garden. Perhaps you can train him to recognize weeds!
      My ice cream had to wait...huge dark clouds were rolling in just as I went outdoors, so I kept yesterday afternoon's walk short. Today is another opportunity! xo

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  5. Bank holiday here, and sunshine as well! So good for all the holiday makers who come down to Cornwall.
    Your knitting colours are so gentle.

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    1. Great for those Bank Holiday folks to have good weather to sample Cornwall. Even better for you all who can sample its beauty all year round.
      Thank you for your kind words about the knitting. xo

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  6. I like tge greens with the yellows. Weather amazingly good here for the bank holiday, a real surprise:)

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment. After finishing that six-foot duck scarf, I think I know a bit more about green and yellow. It helped to be working on the project during early spring when the Park was filled with so many variations of that color combination. xo

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  7. Such splendid knitting! Must research the Ralph Feinnes movie!

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    1. Thank you, Elizabeth! As a fellow knitter, you know how much fun it can be to watch a project grow, loop by colorful loop.
      Do check out that movie...we can compare our reviews over tea and coffee. xo

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  8. Dear Frances, Only a fellow knitter can appreciate the difficulty of your designs.
    You are a Master.

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    1. You are too kind, dear Gina. I always think that knitting presents endless possibilities. Even though I've recently been devoted to fair isle, I also like working in monochrome with lace designs, or complicated cabling. All sorts of puzzles to solve, loop by loop.
      xo

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  9. Warm and wet sounds perfect growing weathr Frances.

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    1. When I took a walk in the Park with a friend last Thursday, we could see lots of the lawns were freshly mown. The scent was delicious. I imagine that by today that grass might need trimming again. xo

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  10. It is sublime Frances. Such a beautiful piece. I can see you with that vornado blowing your hair back. Sounds like a good start to your summer.

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    1. Aw, thank you, Donna. I am so glad that the scarf really did please the recipient.
      The trusty Vornado makes a fine fair weather friend. I am also lucky to have excellent cross ventilation in my apartment. Perhaps it's my southern childhood that helps me resist air conditioning. Perhaps it's just foolishness. xo

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    1. Thanks so much! I am also enjoying visiting over at your place and seeing what is keeping you and yours busy.

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  12. I love the colours in your knitting, especially the green and yellow. Id quite like some of your heat at the moment as we've had torrential rain and wind today. the garden is looking very battered but I guess it will recover!

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    1. Su, thank you so much for your compliment on the knitting.
      I would be happy to share some of our city heat...could I also let you have some its humidity. Hee hee. I did manage a good afternoon walk across the Park this afternoon, and bought a cup of chocolate ice cream on the way back across the Park. Delicious! xo

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  13. Your latest knitting is just beautiful, Frances! The colours are delicious! I hope the rain stops soon and you can continue to enjoy your lovely walks.
    Helen xox

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    1. Thank you, Helen! Like yourself, I have got some other future projects whirling around in my head, and have made a few notes and sketches.
      The rain stopped today, and I really enjoyed a long afternoon walk across the Park and back home again. xo

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  14. Hello Frances, Attempted to comment yesterday, had such trouble! Anyways I have been reading through all your May posts. I was delighted to find such a colourful photographs of flowers and blossoms, and then your beautiful knitting. Once again I am so impressed with your skills and colour combinations. Lovely to see how inspired you are walking through the park , you really embrace the changing seasons, spring time is always so welcome. The fashion exhition also very interesting to see how the fabrics are textured and sculptured with different techniques, inspiring. I too have made Suffolk puffs, the Cape design used them well.
    As always I see you are using each day creatively and sharing with us all and obviously enjoying your free time. I hope it feels like a long holiday.
    I am busy in the garden, planting pots having visited the garden centre. Not much time for drawing lately. The weeks fly by, have a happy month of June., hope it's not too hot. Best wishes. Millyx

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    1. Milly, sorry about your problems with the comment access. I am so glad that you persisted and have left me such a lovely comment. Thank you so much for your kind words.
      Living near Central Park is such good fortune for me. This time of the year is one of my favorites, along with autumn for Park walks. Sometimes the summer heat is too brutal to make a walk very pleasant!
      I wish that you could see the Met exhibit with its many examples of creative experimentation.
      Do enjoy your gardening...I am sure that your beautiful drawing will be continuing, even as the weeks fly past. xo

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  15. Hello Frances, just quickly waving over and admiring your knitting skills. I would love to do some so beautiful colour combinations and the wool looks so soft but will never be able to do such work of art. Cold and rainy here and waiting impatiently for better weather and the wee granddaughter. Best wishes from the Bayou.

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    1. Bayou, it's great fun to play around with colored yarns. I usually select an assortment of yarns from my collection, some in close harmony, some that will be accents to keep the design from being a boring mush. Then I just cast on and see what happens. It's not difficult to unravel a row or three if it seems as if some combination is not quite right.
      Hoping your weather improves soon. I know you'll be enjoying spoiling your grandaughter. xo

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  16. You have such a lovely sense of colour, Frances. Gorgeous combinations! Hope the postponed walk and ice cream were greatly enjoyed. We have been battered by unseasonal storms here and the wind is still high, which is bad news for all the tall plants in the garden right now. Hopefully June will eventually remember what it is expected of it!

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    1. Dear Marianne, I so hope that all those strong winds will be tapering off, leaving some flowers for you to enjoy. I've been following the weather over your way and it really seems fierce, way too fierce for late spring.
      Yes, the chocolate ice cream was delicious. I am looking forward to trying more flavors soon.
      Thank you so much for your kind words. xo

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  17. Oh Frances, as someone who can barely knit a pair of plain mittens, this fill me with awe! And such lovely colours too.

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  18. Gretel, one of these days I would love to learn needle felting from you. We could do cross training! I know that I wear a lot of black, but it's the playing with colors that keeps knitting fun for me. xo

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  19. The colours you've chosen for your own projects are so very beautiful. I would feel happy knitting with those combinations! I'm not much of a lover of green/yellow combos, but I can see that your commission is going to be very nice, indeed!

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    1. Thanks so much Pondside. Yes, the "duck scarf" was very well received, and the project allowed me to stretch my color sense wings. xo

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