Etherknitter: My summer of Lace

At the start of the Hot Times, Pat declared this to be the summer of socks, lace, and mitts. A sock was in my hands, two lace shawls were already taking shape at home, and mitts are always an easy sell. I always listen to Pat.

Since then, socks have filled their usual ecologic niche: knitting in the car, on vacation, or in planes and airports. The lace! Oh, the lace! After finishing Foglifter, a lace obsession began.

The downstairs lace is Featherduster. Carefully. Slowly. So I don't have to tink. Exquisite fabric. I have worn Foglifter almost to death in cold restaurants. The idea of another Susan shawl that slips into my handbag weightlessly for such temperature emergencies keeps me going on the mohair/silk tightrope.

The upstairs lace is Onerva. Written only in Finnish, with key words translated by intrepid knitters on Ravelry, charts by NeedleDiva have made all the difference.

Lynn contaminated me in June. She showed me Grace Anna Farrow's shawl booklet. I initially fell hard for Dusk, then switched to Volt. Do you know that impatience of waiting for the kit to arrive? I checked the front door over and over, day after day. Despite knowing better, I even checked it on weekends. Last Thursday morning, I saw a grey bag propped at the garage door. The UPS man should burn in hell for that one. Who looks at the garage door? I found it on the day that I would not be home til 9pm. The bag sat quietly in the car all day. A cursory glance just as I fell into bed that night, back to work the next day.

Saturday gave the opportunity to immerse. Joy! I looked at different provisional cast-ons. 395 stitches. Sobriety slowly arrived. It is a counting challenge, then a perimeter of attached I-cord. I will knit this as a longitudinal project. The knit is a marathon. Happily, the other two shawls have flexed the brain lace muscle.

I have evidently been through some quiet, unblogged startitis. My MIL and I found yarn for a warmer winter scarf for her: Manos de Uruguay merino/silk in a colorway she loved. I am a typical knitter. It is not blue, but I am entertained by the rapid-fire changes in color as I knit. She chose the pattern. The yarn store had a Knitting Calendar on display. We leafed through briefly. It took her no time at all to settle on January 5th, Lace Rib. The pattern is treating the colors well.

Knitting seeps into the fiber of personality. I chose zinnias at a local farmstand. When I got home, I found I had selected the colors of the scarf.

The Wine of the Week makes a steamy summer appearance. Only the hardcores drink the world's hearty reds in July.

This bottling was sent as an email tickler by a suburban wine store. It is a delicious, crisp, refreshing, satisfying quaff. I'll let the wineguy have his say on this one:

"When I tasted the Casamaro Rueda yesterday I was struck by how complete a wine it was for the price. Not only how complete but how balanced, nuanced and delicious it is. When I taste wines at this price they seldom have all these qualities and they are rarely this provocative.

One reason this wine is so good is probably because it is produced by a small family winery in a part of Rueda that has sandier soils than the rest. This makes for better drainage and greater temperature swings from day to night - making for more interesting flavors in the grapes. The sandy soil also helps protect the vines from the ravages of Phylloxera so this wine is made from Verdejo grown on vines that are 100 - 145 years old! Older vines means more concentrated flavors and these vines are about as old as you can get.

For the uninitiated, Verdejo is the more interesting and characterful grape in the Rueda DO and is reminiscent of Sauvignon Blanc but with a bit more fruit tone and less grassiness. Verdejo also seems to pick up a stoniness not often found in Sauvignon. The other important white grapes are Viura and Sauvignon Blanc itself. Many producers have been blending higher and higher amounts of Sauvignon into their Rueda in an effort to appeal to the New Zealand crowd; but my vote stays with the wines made from mostly Verdejo.

This one is 90% Verdejo and 10% Viura, all free run juice, fermented in stainless steel for a crisp and fresh fruit driven style. The wine is at first melony, then tastes of nectarines with a nice backdrop of minerality and an orange juice acidity then hints of sweet lime and pink grapefruit. The concentration of flavor is terrific without being cloying and the finish, the fruit, sits on your tongue for easily a full minute plus after swallowing. It tastes as good today as it did when first opened yesterday and it is only 12% alcohol to boot. This wine is refreshing; taste-wise, style-wise, origin-wise and price-wise."

Back to me. It is the 2009 Garciarevalo 'Casamaro' from Rueda, Spain. Regular price is $11.99, on sale here in the Commonwealth for $9.60. For the relentlessly academic among us, this link provides more background on the wine. It will not age, so buy only what you will drink by Halloween. The heat will quit by then, won't it? (Please tell me it will, even if you have to lie to me.)

Comments

Pretty lace and zinnias. That's the Manos Wildflowers colorway I believe. Saw it at your LYS last week before my cut and spackle though put it down. That wine sounds awesome! Got to get some.

Posted by: Manise | Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 10:19 AM

Gawd. I am wishful the heat will quit by tomorrow. It is brutal here.

I'm just so tickled at all your gorgeous lace projects. I'm betting tho, you aren't mixing the KSH and the wine at any one sitting, eh?

Posted by: Anne | Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 10:53 AM

Looks like you've got some great projects on the needles. Thanks for the tip on the wine, too. Don't know if we can get it here, but I'll have a look.

Posted by: Cheryl S. | Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 11:00 AM

Gorgeous lace!

The heat had better quit by then. I am planning on wearing sweaters to Rhinebeck, darn it!

Posted by: Amy | Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 11:02 AM

Oh no! More patterns for shawls that are just gorgeous!
Thank you for pointing out Grace Anna Farrow's patterns. They are fascinating as well as beautiful.

Where did you get the kit for the shawl, if I may ask?

Posted by: technikat | Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 11:10 AM

Oh I do love Zinnias and forgot to plant them this year. I bought Grace Anna Farrow's book about 6 months ago but have done nothing with it. Yarnery will soon have the Isager yarn, so I'm glad I waited.

Posted by: marylou | Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 11:28 AM

I have yet to cope with the prov cast-on for Dusk. I'm still Tour de Fleece-ing and knitting on Shale when I'm sick of spinning. Maybe next week....

Posted by: Lynn | Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 11:31 AM

am looking forward to being back east in a bit of that heat - we go to upstate NY in August. It's been the summer of brrrrr here. most nights down to 50, and days average 70. (like what you all had last year!)
Feather Duster is in my queue - maybe someday when my addled brain is back on line. Yours is looking lovely!

Posted by: Teyani | Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 11:34 AM

Feather Duster is around my neck now. It's one of my most oft worn shawls because it slips weightlessly into my bag and is at the ready. You'll love it.
The wine sounds divine for summer sipping.

Posted by: margene | Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 12:14 PM

I can laugh at the heat because the a/c in the car works now after two summers of baking alive. The novelty will last about a week and then I'll have forgotten how hot it used to be and be dwelling on how hot it is.

I'm still having a lace block in that I can't decide what to knit.

Posted by: Caroline M | Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 12:25 PM