It’s one of those spectacular spring days where you want to go outside and spin in circles like a little kid just to celebrate the sky. Heading out to the Fruit Market, I passed the little antiques shop that has been going out of business since we got here, but usually closed. It was open! Bruce had gotten two lovely blue plates with yellow rims a couple of weeks ago, and today I scooped up the remaining two plates and two bowls of the same pattern. I will be on the hunt to find more to make this a set — a worthy undertaking since we have almost no dishes. It’s great to be in a place where ceramics are one of the biggest forms of craft around.
Much of the contemporary interest in ceramics comes from the work of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, founder of the Caldas Da Rainha Faience Factory. Founded in 1884, Pinheiro, an illustrator and political cartoonist wanted to revive the centuries-old ceramic tradition, fusing humor with practicality. His fruit and vegetable ceramics are well-known, and the birds that fly over the walking streets here recall Portugal’s love of the swallow, symbol of home and family (swallows return to their nests annually), hope, renewal, freedom and good luck.
I will hang my 3 birds in my new apartment as a symbol of my new home, as well as my hopes for the future.
The market was bustling today, but at 10:00, apparently I was a little late because nearly all of the cilantro had already been scooped up. I did find a little bundle, and successfully communicated that I only wanted half of it. The lady looked dubious (they use a ton of cilantro here), but cheerfully wrapped up my 20 cents worth. Then I spotted the peas. Oh my goodness! The first fresh peas of the season, already shelled and ready to go. It will take all of my self-control (as if) to not eat them raw right out of the bag.
I also got home to find that I’d had a yarn delivery. Woo hoo! Two skeins of lovely Cheviot yarn from my friend Sabrina Ross of Heatherlea Black Cheviot. This is most of what I need to finish off the fisherman’s sock (I am waiting for the cashmere to arrive). Sabrina and I stay in touch randomly, and it’s always good to hear from her. I need to point out that in addition to all of her other entrepreneurial activities, she has published a book about her sheep. It’s a lovely children’s book with illustrations by a local artist. If you don’t have children or grandchildren to gift it to, take a look at the lovely fabrics woven from her wool, and the kits to knit up. This will be the third time I’m using her yarn for a project. I keep coming back to it because it is quite simply wonderful yarn.
Another sign of spring is the street of umbrellas right next to the market. There is a coffee shop on the corner we frequent if we’re there on a Sunday morning.
I’ve just had my first language class (my brain is fried), and we’ve also just had the annual celebration of the City of Caldas da Rainha. This year it commemorated the 500th year since the death of the queen for whom the city is named. We thought at 500 years that might mean a rater large event, but it turned out to mostly be speeches, a memorial mass, and the laying of a wreath at her statue. There was a concert in the town square for the younger folk…it didn’t even get started until 9:30. As it was ear-splittingly loud, we left after about 2 minutes. However, not before we had partaken of the fried dough party food. These are cut into strips about 8″ long and then filled (or not) with things like Nutella or pastry cream. All very healthy (I’m told)…made even healthier by the fact that we decided to try out the local pizza place right before that. We gave it about a C- but there are many others left to try.
I’m back to working on this child’s sock pattern again. It’s now on “rush” to go along with an article I wrote for the Yarn Journal. The editor has asked that I size it for regular and large adult sizes as well. I’m trying to think of some interesting colorways for the larger sizes.
I don’t have the colors I used for the concept piece here with me (still waiting to be shipped from NY), so I’ve chosen a much more muted palette. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
Of course an important aspect of getting settled is making sure the cats are happy. In West Brookfield the girls had a screened in porch to hang out in and watch the world go by. It was mainly Lyla’s happy place, and she would bug Bruce to open it up every morning, no matter the temperature. Here he has reproduced that space on our balcony in an apartment-sized version constructed of snap-together panels like I used to use for yarn storage. It also features a wooden shelf scavenged from the dumpster down the street. It has taken a few days for her to get used to the nearly constant breeze, as well as the traffic noise, and very large seagulls flying by. A black and white cat occasionally traipses across the street — a very interesting event, apparently.
Time to get back to my wee socks. They are going fairly quickly, and will give me the gauge numbers to work up the next size as well as to refine the pattern instructions. I hope the small one will be done by the end of the weekend. Meanwhile, keep calm and craft on. I think about all of you out there who join me in my crazy knitting life, and hope all of you are well.