Faroese Shawl

After two months of hard knitting (yes, difficult), the Faroese Shawl from "A Gathering of Lace" book by Meg Swanson is completed.

Daughter Heidy is showcasing the needlework. Its finished size is 80" x 36". Phew.

The Faroese Shawl takes its title from the Faroe Islands that are northwest of Scotland and halfway between Iceland and Norway.

Artisans from that area ... "here in quiet homes, often far from the nearest neighbor, gossimer fine wool is transformed into cobweb-like beauty..." (from Rae Compton, The Complete Book of Traditional Knitting).

This was a fairly difficult endeavor, but worth the effort for future chilly evenings.

Vegetable Love Poem by Barbara Crooker

by Barbara Crooker

Feel a tomato, heft its weight in your palm,
think of buttocks, breasts, this plump pulp.
And carrots, mud clinging to the root,
gold mined from the earth's tight purse.
And asparagus, that push their heads up,
rise to meet the returning sun,
and zucchini, green torpedoes
lurking in the Sargasso depths
of their raspy stalks and scratchy leaves.
And peppers, thick walls of cool jade, a green hush.
Secret caves. Sanctuary.
And beets, the dark blood of the earth.
And all the lettuces: bibb, flame, oak leaf, butter-
crunch, black-seeded Simpson, chicory, cos.
Elizabethan ruffs, crisp verbiage.
And spinach, the dark green
of northern forests, savoyed, ruffled,
hidden folds and clefts.
And basil, sweet basil, nuzzled
by fumbling bees drunk on the sun.

And cucumbers, crisp, cool white ice
in the heart of August, month of fire.
And peas in their delicate slippers,
little green boats, a string of beads,
repeating, repeating.
And sunflowers, nodding at night,
then rising to shout hallelujah! at noon.

All over the garden, the whisper of leaves
passing secrets and gossip, making assignations.
All of the vegetables bask in the sun,
languorous as lizards.
Quick, before the frost puts out
its green light, praise these vegetables,
earth's voluptuaries,
praise what comes from the dirt.

"Vegetable Love" by Barbara Crooker, from Radiance. © Word Press, 2005.

Classy Comic Pumps - CraftStylish

Classy Comic Pumps - CraftStylish
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