Many people leave their mark when they’ve been somewhere. It preserves their place in history so that all who follow will know that they’ve been preceded by greatness.

Zorro leaves a swooshing “Z”

Gangstas leave behind intricate spraypainted tags

Maryse? She leaves sweaters on the soap.

 

It takes a lot to make me smile in the morning. Heck, it takes a lot for me to not wipe out entire countries in the morning. But this does the trick. Thank you, Maryse! And with summer just around the corner, the soap dispenser has been working out for bathing suit season. . . . hint, hint . . .

Last week, we headed off to Iowa for Jon’s grandmother’s 95th birthday and I am happy to report that I’ve discovered the secret to a long and happy life. Here she is demonstrating. I can’t tell you how pleased I am that the secret hinges on two of my favorite things!

 

Sleeping and knitting (well, she crochets, but in essence, it’s the same. Yes, it is. Pointy sticks, buckets of yarn, lots and lots of scarves. They have all the same symptoms.)

Actually, Edith is incredibly active, I just don’t happen to have any action shots at the moment. When we arrived, she was just getting dropped off by the shuttle bus from grocery shopping. She does water aerobics a few times a week, makes hats and blankets for preemies at the local hospital, and is involved if a few church groups. She really is a powerhouse. She prefers the Word Jumble over Soduku, thank you very much, and has recently discovered a fondness for Vanilla soy milk. I don’t think I could keep up with her, frankly. Now I know where my husband gets his fidgetiness from. She doesn’t like to sit still, she’s always buzzing around the house doing this and that, here and there. You go on with your bad self, Edie!

I got about 3/4 of the way finished with her scarf while we were there and I’m almost ready to mail it to her. I decided to do a thinner version of the Clapotis. She said the colors were perfect and this picture actually captures them pretty faithfully.

 

I’m really happy with it. The yarn, seen here, is Berger du Nord “Charmant”. I’ve never heard of it before, but I’d definitley use it again. What the photo doesn’t capture is the texture. It looks really shiny because it’s 50% silk. But the other 50% is wool, and since it isn’t plied, it has that gorgeous texture that’s not rough, but lucious. And I just adore the way the bars of the dropped stitches look with this yarn. It’s very rich and I can’t help but stop after every pattern repeat to pet it for a little while before continuing. Good stuff, that Charmant. I got it at Neccesities for Needlework in Westborough. A few people asked about it, it’s at 86 E Main St. They don’t appear to have a website and I don’t know Westborough all that well, but I do know it’s near a CVS and a really annoying intersection. It’s definitly worth a visit if you’re in the area.