The Mystery Stole III swatch. I really do love it. Click on the picture (hopefully) for a larger view that shows off the crystal silver-lined beads on the top and bottom /\/\/\’s better. Camera didn’t capture them the best, but that’s life. Anyway, I’m anxious to begin!

Thirteen Things About Midsummer

1. The summer solstice, in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway, is on June 21st this year. It’s the longest day of the year, and has the shortest night. (Though actually, that can vary somewhat - there’s actually several nights of the same length.) In the States, anyway, we call it the beginning of summer.
2. The ancient Celts, among other people, however, called it Midsummer - and regarded this time as the midpoint of the summer season. Going by this theory, summer would’ve begun on May 1st, and lasted until about August first, at which point, autumn commences. Of course, the ancient people didn’t go by our calendar - their only guide was observing the seasons and living naturally with them. Summer began when it was green and lush and warm. Summer ended when it was time to begin the harvests.
3. Wiccans, and possibly some other groups, term Midsummer ‘Litha’. It’s a fairly modern term, and its roots are somewhat hazy - some authors attribute it to Greco-Roman roots, and others insist it means ‘the opposite of Yule’. Roots aside, the two refer to the same holiday.
4. Midsummer is celebrated all over, and not just by modern neopagans. There are several large midsummer festivals held every year in the US alone. One in Seattle has drawn controversy over some painted naked cyclists.
5. The evening before Midsummer is termed (…drumroll…) Midsummer’s Eve. It’s said to be a time of great magic.
6. Midsummer was honored by Shakespeare in his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
7. Primarily, Midsummer was a Celtic fire festival, and midsummer fires were lit all around the countryside. People would jump over the fires for luck, fertility, and harvest blessings, and bless their beasts with fire by walking them around the fire. Fires were still being lit well into the 18th century, especially in rural areas.
8. Later, the Church decreed the day St. John’s Day, as St. John (The Baptist) was said to have been born 6 months before Christ, and Christ’s birth was set in December. The ancient pagans adopted it readily. St. John’s Eve was a time when fairies were thought to be at their most powerful (hence, Shakespeare’s play).
9. Along the same lines, St. John’s Wort was typically gathered at this time, along with many other flowers now at their most potent. Harvest herbs from your garden at this time (if they’re ready to be harvested! Mine are definitely not.)
10. In some Wiccan lore, the two gods - the Oak King and the Holly King, battle it out for dominance, and this time, the Holly King wins - meaning the light will slowly begin to fade for the next six months. In other Wiccan lore, the god is at his most powerful, and the goddess is ripely pregnant with his son.
11. Colors: red, gold, orange, yellow, green, blue, white.
12. Themes: faeries, first harvest, crop fertility, magic, honoring the sun, fire scrying, summertime, affirmations & dedications.
13. Activities: herbal activities (harvesting, planting, drying, making things with them), balefire jumping, dreamwork, leave offerings for the fae (milk & honey is wonderful), handfastings and weddings (traditionally popular in June, the time between planting and harvest), feasting.

That’s my knitted and beaded swatch for the Mystery Stole 3! Lovely ain’t she? I used two beads in this swatch - the top and bottom ‘rows’ are done in the crystal silver-lined beads, and the middle beads are done in the grey rainbow ones. They don’t stand out near as much, except in certain lighting. I mean, they’re gorgeous, but the way the sun sparkles on the silver ones… Yeah.

Slow progress on the Lacy Kerchief Scarf. I’ve bee feeling more like reading than knitting. Because yeah, I got some books to read, and so… fft. There you go. Right now, I’m delving into Wicked, which is fun and fascinating, even though I hated Wizard of Oz as a child (it scard me… don’t /ask/… I don’t know…), and I’m totally having to force myself to put it aside just to knit, which doesn’t make the knitting much fun, and thus, it’s going slow. I should just finish the damned book and then knit. But oh well.

I drug A out of bed this morning to hill potatoes. That was torture. Not really. Evidently, my morning chores, little as I thought they’ve been, have indeed given me a bit more stamina. I really wish I was one of those people who /liked/ physical work, but I’m really not. I swear I was some highbrow noblewoman in another life or something. Or maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I was a peasant taking care of pigs or cows or something, and now I’m rebelling. I have no idea.

The knitting goes on and on and on…

That’s my first sock. It fits… mostly well. Not perfectly, but it’s my first sock. Sue me. Still waiting on needle replacements, since I somehow LOST one somewhere between work and home. Joy. Then I’ll start the matchy matchy sock! Actually, I am almost positive that if I make my next sock slightly longer, and slightly better, I could probably get three socks out of my two balls of yarn, and, like, hang this first, not so perfect sock up for Santa this year. But maybe I won’t bother with that. I don’t know yet.

That’s the Lacy Kerchief Scarf in progress. I’m knitting it with Elann Sonanta (100% Mercerized Cotton, a nice sheen, but kinda stiff - hopefully it’ll soften up in the wash!), and Size 6 needles. Not bad to knit so far, but the cotton doesn’t stretch, of course, and… that’s hard on the wrists.

And last but certainly not least, my yarn and beads for the upcoming Mystery Stole 3! I’m so excited! The yarn is JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk, in pewter, and my god is it gorgeous. It looks like spun silver and feels like my Persian cat. Really. Actually, looks like my Persian cat, too. Hahaha. Moving on. The beads are all from The Beadwrangler (and oh, the yarn is from Sarah’s Yarns) And I would recommend either in a heartbeat. Ordered both this weekend (Saturday & Sunday). Received the yarn on WEDNESDAY, and I know it didn’t ship until Monday - holy cow, the service!) and the beads arrived today! So hoorah - buy from them! (Oh, and the prices on both are excellent - especially the Zephyr. Love it. Sarah also added in some color cards - for free - for all of her personal lines, and for the Zephyr.)

Anyway, I’ve decided to use the bead jar on the far left. (In the beads-in-the-yarn sample, this is the second bead from the left.) While the camera doesn’t showcase the glorious glimmer, let me just say that those beads look like raindrops on my yarn. Sooo pretty. But I really wouldn’t mind using the dark rainbow beads on my spare ball in some smaller project sometime! Wonder what else I can do with these beads…?

Now I’m off to put the chickens in for the night. Gotta take care of my babies!

My mother’s telling everyone she can about my pitiful state of physical health, because alas, it became overly clear to her a couple weeks ago that I, a spiffy 25 year old in the ‘prime’ of life, am more out of shape than she - a fifty-some year old with the ‘excess baggage’ that comes with having two children, an ice cream and candy obsession, bursitis, and very likely fibromyalgia. Yes, you heard me right.

This sorry truth came to light when we were out gardening in my garden. I’ve never planted cucumbers in hills before, so she snatched up the hoe and proceeded to show me how she’d always done - scraping a circle about 3 feet big, and then… hoeing up all the dirt into a mound about 7-8 inches tall. Inspired by the ease, I did the next one.

Sort of.

I got halfway through my circle and was ready to pass out cold in the ant-ridden dirt, heaving for air, my lazy and far underworked muscles quivering and begging for relief. She took one look at me and about peed her pants laughing. Thank you mother, I knew I could count on you for support.

I finished, but it took me several minutes longer, and the result was almost as pathetic as my attempt, looking more like a pile of dirt than a nicely formed hill for my cukes. She straightened it up for me. Because clearly, I was an incompetent imbecile when it came to any sort of physical challenge.

This is not exactly a new condition (who won last on place in every single “track and field day” event I was forced to attend (sobbing and protesting the whole way) as a child in elementary school? that’s right, good ol’ me! who was the very last person to finish two measly laps in gym class all through high school? yep! who could not advance past intermediate swimming lessons because I simply was not fast enough? yeehaw!), but suffice to say, I’ve never been this out of shape. Even a six year old could do better than that, I’m sorry to report. Hell, my cats can do better than that.

(Maybe not. They don’t even bother to attempt the whole ‘dig’ thing in the litterbox anymore. Wtf is up with that, anyway?)

That said, A found out through Mom (and me, because I figured I may as well tell the tale myself once she’d started), and tried to rope me into walking with her. Let me say this: I. Hate. Walking. Always have, always will. Something about it just seems pointless to me. Pointless. Boring. Numbing. Feet-hurting. Knee-hurting. Forever-taking. I hate it. I walk two and a half blocks to work every day, and I hate every step of it. I should walk three and a half blocks to the post office every day to get my mail, but I don’t. I drive. Just to avoid the dreaded walk.

Why do I hate it so? No idea, but I suspect genetics and upbringing has something to do with it. After all, my mother drove one block to work for several years. One block. I’ve never seen my father walk anywhere he couldn’t drive. We lived 5 blocks from school (maybe six?) and I recall riding my bike there twice. Every other time, I either got a ride, or drove myself. Genetics and upbringing, I tell you. And I have a hard time overcoming that.

Anyway, A then complained that I turned down bike riding, which is easier. All right, I give. It’s easier… if you’re in any shape at all, and if at least half your ass fits on the seat. When it gets down to like, a quarter of your ass, it’s more like sitting on an apple, and believe me, that’s even less comfy than walking. I used my stationary bike for a few days. Then I quit on that shit. I mean, when your inner asscheeks hurt from the strain several days later… it’s time to find a new exercise. Seriously.

I’ve lost two pounds in the last couple weeks. Some of it was ‘that time of the month’ weight, I think, or maybe not… but some of it was from my gardening activities. If I keep it up all this summer, maybe I’ll actually develop, like, a muscle somewhere! Wouldn’t that be neat?

Thirteen Things About Small Towns

1. You really do recognize people by their cars.
2. Often, homes and addresses are referred to by their previous owners. Example: “Oh, you live in the old Smith place?” when the Smiths lived there no less than 30 years ago and has had 3 owners since.
3. Charge accounts at local businesses are just ‘how things work’. “Charge it!” you say, and the clerks write your name at the top of the slip without having to ask.
4. Everyone knows your business before you do. “I heard your mother got a new haircut! What do you think?” *blink* “She did?” Buy a pregnancy test? You’ll be getting calls of congrats before you can read the results.
5. The bars and the grocery store are the only things open on Sunday.
6. Everything is in walking distance… but everyone drives there anyway.
7. It’s strangely common to drive around town just to see who’s at the local bars that night.
8. Everyone seems to be somehow related to everyone else. Creepy.
9. The local cops let the locals drive drunk… as long as they’re just going straight home. After all, you can’t just arrest /everyone/… soon, nobody would go to the bars, and then there’d be hell to pay.
10. You can connect to everyone in town within 2-3 degrees. Guaranteed. “Jane Smith - who’s that?” “Oh, it’s John Doe’s sister. You know John Doe, don’t you? He married Sue Smith - used to be Sue Black?” “Ohh! I know who you’re talking about!”
11. You cannot go have dinner with a friend without someone else in the diner sitting down for a chat. For that matter, you can’t go to the post office, grocery store, or anywhere else without ‘chat’, either.
12. There’s a lot of incompetent people working in various places… but you can’t fire them. That’d just be cruel… And besides, who would take their place?
13. 20 years later, you will still know the names of everyone you graduated with in high school… and their siblings… and their parents… and their high school sweethearts.

Things I want to knit (or start to knit) this summer:

• Lacy Kerchief Scarf (begun! and so far, so lovely!)
• Clay Socks (awaiting new needles… guh…)
• Mystery Stole 3!!!! (yarn ordered - this will not be finished this summer I’m sure)
• Harlequin Fetchings (for R)
• Harlequin Scarf (for R)
• Felt Pumpkins (2) (for Halloween)
• Daffodil socks

Quite a lineup for me. I intend to always have something on hand to knit. Maybe I’ll even get a couple of things from this list done! Haha.

A late response…

Now that the pentacle has been approved to be placed on Veteran memorials, do you feel that other symbols of different pagan faiths (the druid sigil, thor’s hammer, etc) are as equally important to fight for?

That fact that only a limited set of symbols are allowed on Veteran memorials is silly. Of course there should be limits on allowing anything clearly obscene or offensive (the middle finger salute, anything anti-american, racist, sexist, hateful, or pornographic), but personal symbols of faith or belief or whatever should be allowed without exception, rather than limited to certain ‘approved’ designs.

Either allow everything but the obviously obscene, or allow no personal symbols at all.

I’m knitting a sock (very very slowly, due to severe tendonitis-arm-hand-pain attack) in the gorgeous yarn my SP10 sent me.

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Clay. Oh, so earthy and so wonderful! It’s really sort of… late summery colors, or even autumn, and I considered waiting until… well, late summer or autumn to knit it. But she is a GODDESS and balled it up for me so I didn’t have to, and that sealed the deal. The very springtime/summery colorway (Daffodil? Something like that) that I purchased for myself was still in skeins. And there was no way I was going to mess with balling it up when I had a perfectly yummilicious yarn sitting there ready to knit.

Note to self: it would obviously be worth your time to invest in a ballwinder along with your beautiful swift. Really. You can spend $40 and make your life easier.

Anyway. On that note - my entire SP10 package for May is heavenly. And my pal outdid herself, really. She sent me an AUTOGRAPHED copy of No Sheep For You (drool drool - though granted, if the little “Your book has been autographed!” bookmarky thing hadn’t fallen out when I was flipping through pages, I never would’ve realized it, because I just went straight to the patterns!), and a delicious smelling soap that looks all earthy and mysterious, and some very lovely incense from a Japanese company.

There were two skeins of yarn in the package, but only one is show in that picture.

And that was not the end of my mail. Just the end of that package. The same day, I also got some other happy things that I ordered, including yarn for my spring fling pal (it’s on its way Monday!!), a cute pincushion, and happily, yarn from elann.

Some of that yarn is shown here, in a swatch I’ve begun (also on hold due to pain) for the Lacy Kerchief Scarf out of Interweave’s Holiday Gifts magazine.

Also, in other news, I finished Mom’s lavender sachet! I changed the pattern, deciding to do a lovely triangle instead of a 4″ square, which was neither as cute (I thought) nor as fun. This has the worst seaming job ever. Have I mentioned that I really have no idea how to seam?

Yesterday, I ended up a closeout sale at a quilt store. I bought lots. This first is for a quilt. The fabric line is called Almost Poppy, and I’ve been drooling for over a year. The only fabric that doesn’t go is the coral polka dot stuff, but it ‘matches’, even if it isn’t from the same line.

This, I picked up for a gardening apron:

And lastly, I picked up some charm squares in Moda’s “Sonnet” line. Love it.

I also got a few patterns. I wish I’d had the money for lots, lots more. As it is, I borrowed from Mom…

Anyway, I got my garden all planted at last, and now I’m just waiting for my muscles to stop spasming in pain so I can knit freely again. Hurry up, arms! Hurry up!