knitting – Page 18

>Always something

November 16, 2007 | 1 Comment

>First on my mind this week is Sarah. News from my son is that he saw her awake earlier this week and that she knows who everyone is that has visited her. She even knew people who were not visiting but were being discussed. She was brought out of her coma and will have a second surgery to replace the portion of her scull that was removed during the first surgery in order to relieve the pressure from her injury. Her family, from the Philippines, is there with her. She has a long road to recovery, so if you see this please keep her in mind or in your prayers.

In the last couple of days I have discovered that some of my friends are now on Ravelry. That made me realize that I needed to update my account there, post some pictures, make contact with some of the groups I joined. When I joined ravelry I looked around a bit, joined some groups, and then promptly forgot all about it. Having some local friends there has made me reconnect, and it’s a great place! I found lots of inspiration on the Bohus knitting group. Some of their finished sweaters just make me weak in the knees. I want to drop everything and start a Bohus design. I’ve had plans for that for years….but I try to be strong and make myself finish what I’ve already started!

Through someone on the Tapestry yahoo group, one of the Convergence committee members has contacted me to see if The Wednesday Group is interested in displaying work at a site near the Convergence activities. I am totally not ready to organize another show, but how can we let this opportunity pass? Will just have to see where this leads.

And lastly, it is autumn here at last. I can no longer dash out on errands without a coat, and the colors which are normally so vibrant at hallowe’en are looking pretty dramatic in time for Thanksgiving. Better late than never….
This i

This the “corky bark” or “burning bush” at one end of my main perennial garden, with the maples behind. There are miniature bamboo under the corky bark and there is the silhouette of my David Austin Heritage rose in the foreground.

>Knitting Pattern

August 7, 2007 | 2 Comments

Two years ago I started a knitting ministry group in my area. It was not about religion per se, but about the power of knitting to heal us and others. I think the act of making anything by hand and wearing it or giving to someone to wear or use is a powerful totem for good health and protection against bad things. There just has t be a lot of good karma in something that you’ve made stitch by stitch for yourself or for someone you know. I’ve made it a point for many years now to wear something handmade everyday. I was surprised at how easy it is to wear some little something made by real hands, mine or others, each day.

So, I figured there were plenty of people in my community who would want to learn to knit now that knitting is so hip and there are so many LYSs (local yarn shops) cropping up again, and so many mega craft stores carrying yarn. I also figured there were plenty of past knitters out there who wanted to start again and just needed a little impetus. So I decided to offer knitting lessons for free and to focus on knitting for others. I was happily surprised at the number of people who have joined, and very pleased at how they each help each other. Even the new knitters now help others. I’m awed by what they do!

Most of the group knits shawls since fit is not an issue and since they don’t require any complicated shaping. Some people have moved on to interesting stitch patterns and/or triangular shawls, and some have just continued to knit, knit, knit! Some of the members have learned to make socks, and some have rekindled their talents at making sweaters. Everyone has felt the healing power of just going through the motions of knitting.

So here’s one of the shawls for which I’ve written a pattern. It’s not complicated; it’s based on the traditional Faeroese triangular shape that starts at the neck edge rather than the bottom point, and makes a shape that stays nicely poised on one’s shoulders. Hopefully later today I’ll have the PDF!

>Summer Vacation

August 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment

>So here’s some of what I did on my summer vacation while sailing through the Elizabeth Islands, Martha’s Vineyard, and the Cape.

It was a good trip for knitting and spinning. I finished one pair of socks and knit another pair, and I knit the entire front of my next Elsbeth Lavold sweater (I had finished the back before leaving). I think she is one of the most interesting designers. Her pattern writing is so terse, but the patterns themselves are a joy to knit! Like Alice Starmore, even though Lavold’s designs look complicated, they knit like a breeze. There’s something about the designs that keep me going without any tedium, so they work up more quickly than would seem possible. I don’t think I could ever be that gifted designer who could manages to balance a complicated pattern with such logic and grace that the knitting is simple, so I’ll just stick to knitting their designs!

Wouldn’t you know this sweater, called Hild, was shown in my favorite color in the Silky Wool line! Since I’d already knitted Siv in this color I had to choose something else. I hope I will enjoy this color as much:

The first pair of socks I finished were the Jaywalker socks. I’d already made one months ago and had started the second, so I just finished these up one afternoon. The yarn is Regia Color Effekt.

The second pair of socks was made with yarn bought in June, in Williamsburg. The yarn is Regia Silk Color, and though it really doesn’t show in the photo, there is a certain subtle “glow” from the silk.

I had some trouble spinning while away. I’m trying to figure out the best way to spin a worsted single that is medium weight and has very little twist. It’s easier on my Lendrum, but I wanted to get some spinning done while sailing so I took my electric spinner. On the electric spinner I could not work out the ratio between slow spinning and slow take up. I had the brilliant idea that I could use my plying head to spin a low twist single, but I didn’t take into account how the plying head has even faster take-up since it’s used for plying. Ugh. Bob helped me put on a longer piece of cord for Scotch tension so I could slow down the take-up, and he suggested monofilament since it would slip a little which would also slow down the take-up. It worked well! Now that I’m home I think I want to go back to just spinning on a regular wheel, in my case, my Lendrum. I have barely put a dent in my beautiful Romney fleece. I’ll never get to dyeing if I don’t get a lot of spinning done….and soon!

I’ll be home for the whole month of August! I’m looking forward to catching up on a lot of reading and a lot of weaving. By the way, My copy of Tapeis Gael: Weaving in rural Ireland arrived while I was away so I couldn’t resist starting to read it moments after it arrived. I’ve read the first three chapters, and it’s well written and a wonderful story of such interesting people!

>Just a note….

June 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment

>A funny thing happened this evening when I went to write my last post. I FOUND the two missing posts. How weird is that? It seems I have two blog accounts, and the errant posts are in this mysterious “other” account. Hmmm….my ignorance on things techie knows no bounds!

….and one other thing. I’m smitten by the Knitting Daily blog. If you don’t know about Major Laura (an avid knitter serving in Iraq) you must take a look.

>Shameless May!

May 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I can only use this title “Shameless May” if I get this published before midnight! Yes, you guessed it….it’s May 31st. Where have I been for the last six weeks? Well, it’s been pretty exciting. I’ve been to England and Scotland for almost three weeks, and I’ve been sailing in the Chesapeake Bay for the long Memorial Day weekend. Not a bad life, is it? Believe it or not, aside from the UK, I would always rather stay home and weave, knit or spin. I know. I have an addiction! And you see, in the UK, I did get to spin and knit. ….

I guess for once I have more pictures than words. I think for most people this is a good thing. I can easily spew out more than a thousand words for every picture I take for this blog. Perhaps the best thing today is to share a few photos from England and a few from my garden. I have spent my very short time at home in the garden the last few days. So there’s been no weaving anyway…. I have been spinning mohair on a drop spindle and working on a new knitting project with yarn I bought in England. Have I tackled those other unfinished knitting projects? I haven’t even given them a thought. I’m a yarn slut. It’s not pretty….but it’s May and
my garden is!

And here is a picture of my friend Lesley and me at Isaac Newton’s house, appropriately named Woolesthorpe. Yes, there were sheep!