The Final Bliss

Well, I hope it won't be the final bliss, because I would love to stay in touch with you, my wonderful one skein secret pal! Yesterday I got my handknitted gift! My computer is having a hard drive meltdown but I wanted to post my thank you before I send my poor mac off for a transplant. I received a beautiful scarf done in one of the recycled silk Sari yarns. It sure is beautiful and totally unique. It self stripes in a lovely way and will go with lots of outfits. It is mostly made up of red tones from brick to magenta, but there are bits of navy, gold, jade and purple as well as splashes of pumpkin, turquoise and emerald. I will post a photo as soon as I can. I wore it yesterday with a white t-shirt and jeans and got complements at the supermarket! I love the drape and feel of the fabric and will always treasure and enjoy it!

Jeff leaves Utah for Panama today. He has been at the Missionary Training Center run by the LDS church in Provo Utah since June 28. He has been learning Spanish and culture and how to answer questions about what we believe. Sadly, knitting is not part of the curriculum, but I told him to keep his eyes open for knitters down there, it can be an ice breaker, especially since he himself knits! He has had a good experience on this adventure so far. His letters are full of faith, hope and a willingness to work hard. He is already excited to meet the people of Panama and has a sincere desire to serve them.

Knitting TV

When we got our satellite TV a couple of years ago, it came with a DVR which is a giant hard drive that allows one to stop the program in progress and record shows. I have enjoyed it because I can record shows and then click through the commercials. I now get really frustrated when I am watching actual live television and I can't skip the ads. Another result of having the DVR is that I can get the computer inside the satellite receiver to search out and save all the episodes of a given show that I want to watch. Last year, I turned that characteristic into an art form as I began watching endless reruns of M*A*S*H while speed knitting my sample of the Oregon Sweater for Cloverhill. My whole family got into it and so I may have the only 10 year old in America who knows who David Ogden Stiers was before he played the clock in Beauty and the Beast. He chose to watch M*A*S*H instead of SpongeBob SquarePants, and that should tell you something. Well, after finally getting through all the episodes at least a couple of times, we got sick of M*A*S*H. I honestly never thought it would happen. Now we are into House. (all exept for the 10 year old-he thinks it's boring, which is good because I have to be a little more careful about censoring than I did with M*A*S*H) I love House. Actually, I think I may be becoming unhealthily obsessed with House. Just kidding. I can stop if I want to. I can. Really.

Anyway , I started watching it because I am a long-time Hugh Laurie fan, from his Jeeves and Wooster days. So funny. Plus I think he is quite easy on the eyes in an everyman sort of way. House is not a funny show, but it is emotionally honest and straightforward and human emotions just can't help but be comical if one is honest with one's self. It is also sad and cathartic and, at times, beautiful. So now, it is my knitting show. I am working on the Chinese Lantern Sweater and it is taking hours and hours, and my sister has requested arm covers (like mom's) for her to wear while cooking. This sister is confined to a wheelchair and sometimes gets burned while cooking, so these will be extra protection for her skin while reaching into the oven and reaching across the stove to the controls. Who knew elbow length fingerless gloves could be so useful to people with health issues? As I've said before, they have become some of the most emotionally satisfying knitting I've ever done. Anyway, as for the telly, watch and knit I shall. I have to finish watching season 2 before season three starts! This sounds like I am sick in the head, but it is only when I knit....really....

Stitches Midwest

I am back from Stitches Midwest in Chicago, and my experience teaching there just gets better and better. The people are great, I really enjoy the students and the working environment is so much fun. I got some great comments-some with some really specific and helpful advice for improving my classes.

I loved the market and found a few delightful treasures. Starting from the top, we have an exquisite yarn from Grafton Fibers, which I have known for beautiful spinning fiber, but the yarn is a new addition. Mohair Silk-yum-look at the shine! I next indulged in a Fair Isle bag kit from Black Water Abbey Yarns. They import classic, rustic Irish wool in a really pleasing and rich array of colors. Moving down the stack though, I think my favorite find was yarn from Jojoland. This company is brand-new to me. The owner has been knitting for a year (!) and is now designing truly extraordinary yarns. She had a small, no-nonsense booth with the pictured shawl hanging front and center. I was mesmerized by it and the other samples. Her yarns have a subtle kind of self-striping that makes Noro look overbearing by comparison. I bought 7 balls of a lovely soft colorway with greens, pinks, peaches, and cream for this shawl, which is knit circularly from the middle out. I almost bought needles at the market so I could start on it, but I refrained so I could use it as a bribe for myself to get some projects out of the way.

I got to see lots of great knitted garments which is always an education. Things that don't thrill me when I see them in a magazine captivate me when I see them in person. I also loved Tilli Tomas yarns, which I was not familiar with. She has beautiful luxury fibers and bags.

So, all in all a great weekend. My 12-year old daughter flew to Chicago with me and my sister-in-law picked her up and had some excellent doting-aunty time with her while I was teaching. Sara had an awesome time. I am so looking forward to Stitches East-right here in Baltimore!

A Special Thanks and Then Absolutely No Knitting Content

So, the Secret Pal exchange gets better and better. I am so excited to "meet" my pal I can hardly wait. I may have to fly to MN to give a hug in person! My gift for July was an incredible skein of Colinette Point Five-one of the most unique yarns ever. Thick and thin and in the most beautiful colors of Autumn. I'm not sure if the photo shows it , but there are purples, browns, golds and fawns and taupes and every other color of a walk in the woods on an October day. As if that weren't enough, my kindred spirit of a secret pal, who understands that yarn is art in its own right and that knitting it up is just the icing on the cake, sent along the perfect display container-a beautiful turned wood bowl. Yum. It has a proud spot in our new family room, where I can enjoy it every day. Thanks again, pal--many hugs to you.



Today is Sunday and church was lovely. We are having some folks that my husband works with at church (he is a lay minister-the Bishop of our congregation) over for dessert later on, so an early dinner is bubbling away, giving me a moment to try and write. We got home from Maine 2 weeks ago, but the memories are still so fresh in my mind that I wanted to comment a little on the meaning of the trip. It was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of my wedding. Eric and I went to Maine on a whim for our honeymoon. We drove up the east coast in 3 days and ended up in Ellsworth, near the entrance to Acadia National Park. I am not sure we even have any photos of that trip, as I am not sure we owned a camera yet. I have wanted to go back ever since because of the memories I had of Maine being a bit magical. It was so cool in July that I remember we had to buy sweatshirts and other clothes because we came from the muggy 90 degrees of late July in Maryland not expecting total refreshment in the temperatures. I remember the rugged coastling and seeing water everywhere. We saw some seals and explored many rocks and tidepools. So, I spent a lot of time looking for a place to go. I really lucked out on the house we found. It was so perfect that I would buy it in a heartbeat if it ever went up for sale. It was a shingled ginger-bread cottage come to life that looked directly out over the ocean. Here is our view at sunrise:



The kids got to see the rugged coastline and even the seals. We spent many hours together just watching the sea or watching the fire or playing our new favorite game, Gobblet, which is a combination of chess, tick tack toe and Sorry, sort of.




On our last day there, it was pouring out. We packed the car with the rain just pummeling us. As I was taking one last run through the house. I caught the fog lifting a little off of our little stretch of coastline and captured this view:



In the end, I think that everyone will have fond memories of our trip. I know I will.

Catching Up: The Second

Here are pictures of the latest arm covers for mom, modeled by Sara, and the Fall Fair Isle Sweater for Cloverhill. I was in a total panic after I washed it because the Karabella 8 absorbed so much water that it stretched beyond any recognition of my original gauge. The sweater became a dress. Blocking was not a possiblity. I spun it out again, rolled it in every towel I had and still it was completely unuseable. So, in desperation, I put it in the dryer on very low heat and started drying it. I figured that it really couldn't be worse. It finally started looking more like it used to when it was almost completely dry. I stopped it before it actually started fulling, but man was I worried. So, make a big swatch with Karabella 8 and wash it and weight it to see what it will really do. Holy Cow.

Catching Up: The First

In the midst of all the travel and other summer goings-on, the air conditioning finally got fixed around the last week of June and the addition is all but finished as of about a week ago. I am going to set up my spinning wheel today and hope it will find a permanent home there. I am thrilled with the way the room turned out and am happy that it has already become the favorite room in the house. I love the half-round window, especially with the addition of my lovely leaded glass medallion.

Back from Tennesee and Maine

Time Flies When You're Having Fun
Okay, as methods of journaling, go, blogging has been the hardest for me to get into a groove with. I am too used to curling up with my beloved book and one of my many pens. It is a comforting ritual for me and this has not become so yet. So...July...lets see...the month started out with a bang as my two sisters were visiting. Independence Day holds some of our family's most reliable and treasured traditions and both my sisters arranged their visits just to be home. Our town has a celebration that is iconic in its small-town patriotism. All the elements are there: the parade down the main street, the barbecue parties at every house, the fireworks at the high school-its just classic.
After that, the month barreled along and included a trip to Tennesee with one sister, a couple of days at home, then a trip to Maine. In between the kids went to a total of 3 different camps/retreats, with all the attendant busyness to get them out the door. This week was spent looking at photos and doing laundry...and not packing the car.
As for knitting, well, let's see...another pair of armwarmers for mom out of Sockatta with a cute little picot bind-off, toe up socks for my Stitches class, and two sweaters in process to display for the fall newsletter. One is mostly done, the other, well, we may have to display just a front and some sleeves. A faux sweater is better than no sweater, as I always say.
I can hardly believe it is the end of the month already. But here we are. Next time-photos of Maine. Stay tuned.

To Utah and Back

Well, the last weeks were spent fitting the knitting in around the major endeavor of getting son one out the door for his two years of missionary service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There were so many last minute details and so many things to try and savor and enjoy and not get stressed about. It was wonderful to see him rise to the occasion and be really quite poised and mature about the whole matter. He took care of all the practical aspects like visas, shots, applications, etc. He mostly just told me what he was alredy taking care of on his own. It does a mother's heart good to see a kid actually function in the real world. I always said my job was to create humans who could live without me. Some have called me callous for having that attitude, but really, what better gift can I give them? I certainly don't want them dependent and suffering without me there to make them a sandwich. So we went with him to Utah to begin his service. We won't see him at all for two years, but instead of being scary or sad or difficult, it was a good parting. He was ready to go, and the sense I had was that he is in the right place at the right time. That to me is the definition of peace, and that is what I felt. Anyway, in the midst of this busy time, what should come but an absolutely lovely gift from my secret pal. In a meticulously wrapped box with my name hand lettered in beautiful caligraphy came extraordinary yarn and one of my favorite books ever to treasure for my very own. It was a lovely moment of sweetness. That strangers with nothing in common at the outset but knitting can come together in this way and really care about each other is a very special thing. In a time of very tender emotions, the care that was taken with this simple gift moved me to tears. That someone who knows me only as words on a screen would do much for me warmed my heart.

The middle picture is me just plain showing off. My youngest sister is in town with her new baby and they are so beautiful, I just figured they needed to be published.

No AC

So we are on week 6 without Air Conditioning. I am so proud of my kids, they have been such troopers. Little complaining, lots of resourcefulness in finding ways to keep cool, etc. What I have found, in the humidity, is that I can't knit with wool. So in desperation, I took a break from the landscape shawl and socks to make the Otis sweater from Knitty a couple of years ago. I have the fronts and the back done and because I knew I was short on yarn, I did the sleeves from the top down and converted the set in cap shaping to short rows. It worked really well. I will finish the knitting tomorrow and put up a photo. I was all prepared to put on a lace border to make the sleeves longer, but I am satisfied with the length and am going to leave them as is. It has been a fun, fast knit and has increased my confidence as a designer because I knew I had to make adjustments to get a whole sweater out the amount of yarn on hand, and I was fearless in my adjustments and modifications. Woohoo! Now to try and sleep. Two of my sisters are in crisis right now and knitting is much easier than sleeping. Even reading is not working in the heat. I just can't concentrate.

The saga of the Eight-Year Socks

Okay, so everyone has one...the project you start but don't finish but you can't abandon it because you really do like the process but there are oh-so-many other interesting things coming at you and hey, they're just a little pair of socks, I'll be able to finish them in a couple of evenings...
Yeah, right.
So, these socks have literally been floating around my house and my subconscious for 8 years. They were designed by a wonderful woman that I used to work with at Cloverhill named Jamie Flickinger. She was the knitting teacher there until I took over. I used to pet the sample in the shop and dream of the day I would have those cozy socks on my feet. The yarn got discontinued, so I bought it and cast them on, got halfway through the first leg and then...I don't know. They sat. Over the years I have forgiven myself of many started projects and just unraveled them. It is a very freeing process, I recommend it. For some reason though, these always got put in the "To Be Resurrected at Some Unknown Future Time" pile. Since this is my year of stash shopping, I was determined to finish them. I put them in one of my "active projects" baskets back in January and they continued to sit. Last month, I was spring cleaning and I had decided I was going to donate them to Children in Common so the girls in Russia could have the fun of knitting them and they would be out of my life. I couldn't do it! Then, it became a crusade. I would finish them or die trying. So, I worked on them during the driving home from Chicago. I finished the first sock on the road and got all the way to the heel of the second one before we hit Breezewood.
Last night I got all but the kitchener stitch on the toes done. It was a small triumph, the sort that is triumphant only in the mind of the conquerer. To everyone else they are just a pair of socks. To me they are a fascinating evidence of how my mind works, how my life is organized and how I participate in the art of knitting. I am glad that I finished them. The fact is, I finish most things, I just take the scenic route. That could be on my tombstone, that I would rather take the scenic route, and so I am okay with my beautiful socks that took 8 years and 8 hours to finish.

Back from Chicago

Here is the addition in its stark pre-insulation-and-drywall beauty. It is really coming together. The thought of sitting in a window seat to read and knit and daydream while the trees sigh above me just makes me so happy!
The other photo is the crew on the shores of lake Michigan with the truly beautiful Chicago skyline in the background. It was a good trip.
I am up working on my music again after a very challenging workout. The good news is that I have worked out hard for 3 days in a row now and am sore, but feeling strong. I am slow and heavy, but I somehow feel graceful and powerful when I run, so that is good. Tonight was 440 sprints. My times were laughable, but considering I haven't sprinted a 440 in twenty years, and considering all the life I've lived in that 20 years, I am happy I got around the track 4 times without throwing up. My goal is to see measureable improvement in my physical fitness by the big 40 in August. I have let my family own my body for the last 20 years, and I'm takin' it back! That sounds selfish. What I really want it to set a good example for my kids of taking care of myself and showing them that when I take that time, I am better for them. Now, at this stage of life, I feel like I can take 60-90 minutes out of my day for working out. 'Twas not always thus.
So, back to music and in a roundabout way, knitting...we did the Chicago museums while were there and museum shops always have a few worthwhile treasures. One of my favorite record labels is Putumayo. They do these totally fun compilations of world music from all over. I picked up French Cafe, Repubilica Dominica and, get this, Music from the Chocolate Lands! The last one is music from chocolate-producing countries, like Congo, India, Brazil, Switzerland ,and Peru. So, now we have music to eat chocolate by! Can life get any better?
In thinking about music to knit by, so-called "world music" is really nice because it takes up just enough mental space to keep things interesting, but I don't focus totally on the music and can concentrate on what I'm doing. Besides, I love imaginary travel, so I will enjoy "visiting" all these places this summer as I knit by the pool.

Yikes! Its been a week!

But, I've been working hard. I offer as evidence the long-promised picture of the Landscape Shawl. It is about a foot in length and about 18 inches wide, unblocked. It is up to 146 stitches on size 4 needles and I am about to start the third section, which I believe is stockinette stitch. It does show off the lovely Cherry-Tree Hill hand-dyed yarn, doesn't it? Anyway, this week has seemed really busy with everyone going a million different directions at once. Thus, no blogging for me. I got a fun pattern from she to whom I am secret pal and I did cast on a string bag in the sport weight version of Sugar N Cream cotton. It is going along quickly. I am trying to decide what to take on the Memorial Day visit to the Chicago side of the family. We leave tomorrow and will have a grand total of 24 hours in the car during the weekend. If I play my cards right, with four drivers in the family, I may not have to drive at all and can get lots of good knitting done. I might as well since I can't read in the car. Sometimes I can't knit either, but I can often pull that off. The big bonus this week was a surprise visit from Sister-in-Law Amy and Nephew Owen. I'll put a photo of him up soon.

Knitting Friendships

I spent a lovely afternoon with a group of women to whom my first contact was knitting. 6 of us had a wonderful afternoon tea at Tea on the Tiber in fabulous downtown Historic Ellicott City, Maryland. 3 of them were former students. They no longer need my help with their knitting, and frankly, what can be more satisfying to a teacher? Wow. They are all in the next phase of life from me, from 10-15 years older, but we get along so well. I sat there just amazed at what my knitting life has brought me and how enriched I feel every day because of my pointy sticks and my string. I made lots of progress on the Landscape shawl-photos are forthcoming-I want to see my progress. This is serious deadline knitting, and I don't want to leave it to the last minute. I will have to have it done by early August.

Mother's Day

No knitting today, but another request from mom for arm covers,which are just long, fingerless gloves. I think I'll use Brown Sheep Cotton Fine because she wants them thin. I am going to swatch with the Elann Esprit though, and see what she thinks, because it has the lycra. We had 18 over for dinner which was really nice. My family came through with flying colors on the Mother's day celebrating and I scored breakfast in bed as well as a brand new copy of the Oxford Book of American Poetry. Sheesh, just reading the introduction has been a mind-expanding experience.

One Skein, etc.

The One Skein Secret Pal exchange is underway, and I am very excited. I have received lovely correspondence from both my secret pal and she to whom I am secret pal. Big fun! in the process of writing out my answers to the yarn personality profile questions, I rediscovered how much my stash leans toward a particular color group, so I thought I'd try to capture it. You would think I would be tired of taking pictures as I just spent the evening as official photographer at our church spring formal, but here I am at midnight taking photos of yarn. Oh well. My two classes today went great-both groups were engaged and willing to try things. The Fixing mistakes class is one of my favorites to teach because one can almost palpably feel the confidence level increase.
So many aha moments! The hat class got off to a good start as well. I am into the second section of the Landscape and now have yarn for all my fall projects. Let the knitting begin!

Writing to write

The socks below are almost done. I have started the landscape shawl for the fall newsletter. It will be a big knit, but the merino laceweight, dyed by Cherry Tree Hill, is really nice to work with. It has cast on picots at the beginning of the 3rd and 4th row of every repeat, which give a really unique edge. I like it. I am determined to spend an hour designing tomorrow-something, anything...swatching with my new Elsa Cormo yarn, sketching, dreaming. More to come.

Matching Socks???

These are my current socks-in-progress. They are made from Austermann Step(the one with aloe and jojoba oil right in the yarn) in color 06. The yarn does have a soft hand, rather like Puffs with Lotion. I don't notice it as I'm knitting, so it is not overwhelming. Anyway, the reason for the photo while in-progress is that they match! I have never made a pair of matching socks with self-striping yarns. I like the fraternal twin look. Not realizing this yarn is (apparently) engineered to match as long as one is making a medium sized woman's sock, I finished the first sock, did my kitchener toe without even thinking about it and cast on for the second sock in the most care-free frame of mind. When I finished the leg and started the heel, I got out sock #1 to measure and noticed that they were matching, like, exactly...I mean to the row. So, not thaaat big a deal, but it was a nice surprise to me. BTW, I pulled the yarn from the center of the skein. I am now really curious if they would have matched had I pulled the yarn from around the outside of the ball.

The Latest for Mom

Here I am with my folks and 3 of my siblings. If you look closely, you can see Mom's latest arm covers. They turned out really nicely, and it still gives me a bittersweet warm fuzzy every time I maker her a pair. This set was made with a strand of Koigu and a strand of laceweight mohair from Muench on size 3 needles. She doesn't ask for much, and in almost 30 years of fighting the Rheumatoid arthritis, she has never let it get her down. For her to ask me to knit her something was incredibly meaningful to me. It was a powerful feeling to actually be able to do something for her, instead of just admire her pluck and stubborness in the face of disease. She's embarrassed by her prednisone-y appearance, but frankly, she's never looked more beautiful to me. Disease has a way of refining-all but the essentials of a person get burned away.

Mittens

I am ready to ship most of my christmas gifts except the calandar that my sister and I made. I made Jeff some pre-christmas mittens that I am sending out tomorrow. I found a great lopi pattern for quick convertible mittens. I will shorten the mitten top next time to a total of 18 rounds, not 18 above the ribbing. Either that or attach the mitten top lower. Either would work, but they turned out too long, and I got the gauges=both row and stitch. The cutest thing about them is that they have a hole in the thumb so you can wear them while using your cell phone. I think Jeff will appreciate that.
So, tomorrow is wrapping, boxing and mailing. Wahoo! Well ahead of Dec 21.