Category Archives: knitting

January, the Selfish Month

Posted on January 8, 2012 | 1 comment

As it should be.  Surely I’m not the only person who thinks this.  Almost every year of my adult life I have taken the month of January to recharge myself.  In fact, for many years, the day after Christmas was a day when I’d gather all my knitting and weaving journals from past years and look through all of them, enjoying the inspiration and letting ideas for my own work wash over me.

January is also my birthday month, so I get special dispensation to be selfish.  I can put my post-holiday inspiration and project-planning into action by spending money on myself!  There you go!

This year I’m struggling to finish a shawl for a friend during my selfish January.  This shawl should have been done back in November, but as I mentioned in another post, life has thrown some difficult stuff at me lately.  I’m a bit behind schedule.  I’m not worried though….I don’t mind having a selfish February if it comes to that.

Back in October, I bought four balls of Crystal Palace “Mini Mochi” from my local yarn store (The Stitchery in Pearl River, NY) for “Lala’s Simple Shawl” (available as a free download on Ravelry).  Just moments ago I bound off!  I hope I have just enough left to make a crocheted scalloped edge around the shawl.  If not, I have some Jaggerspun “Zephry” in a deep warm red that should fill the bill.  I’d prefer the edge to be Mini Mochi, but it will be what it will be!

I think these colors will suit my friend perfectly! She wears a lot of reds/greens/browns.  The LaLa shawl is simple and not too lace-y so the pattern doesn’t distract from the wonderful color changes.

It’s not blocked yet, so don’t judge it too harshly!  I’m not feeling confident about that little ball of extra yarn making it all the way around the shawl….but at least I have the “Zephyr” as back up!

 

 

 

Now to get back to Selfish January….
Here’s what has called to me….another shawl that is a free download on Ravelry.  The shawl is called Revontuli which is Finnish for Aurora Borealis, which is Latin for Northern Lights.  The designer is AnneM and you can get the pattern from either her site (follow the link) or here on  Ravelry.

Here’s the thing about this shawl.  It looks best with a yarn that has l-o-n-g color runs.  The designer shows this shawl made with a yarn called “Aade Long 8/2 artistic.” I did a search and discovered that it’s not available in the US, but is easily found on ebay and from an online shop in Germany, as well as from some individuals in Estonia.  Selfish me…. I’m getting two colorways!  “Pink/Brown” and “Red.”  They are both coming from Estonia, although from two different vendors.  Let’s see how long it will take for each skein to arrive.  Countdown starts tomorrow.

Aade Long 8/2 Artistic "Red"

Aade Long 8/2 Artistic "Pink Brown"

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A Knitter’s Memory Lane…

Posted on December 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

Sometimes early in the new year I perform an “Airing of the Stash” where I get all my yarns and spinning fibers out and have a look.  I will be doing that as soon as I step away from the computer today.

Earlier today I did something that I rarely do: an airing of the stash of knitted garments.  I opened my cedar-lined, cherry chest which my husband made 35 years ago as a wedding present to me.  This chest holds three decades of my adult life in the form of knitted garments.  It holds every sweater I’ve ever made with exception of the ones I no longer own.  All the baby, toddler, and youth sweaters that my sons wore, all my own sweaters that I do not currently wear, and all the sweaters I’ve made for my husband in past years before I realized that he was never going to wear a sweater of any kind.  There are a few precious sweaters that were knitted by my husband’s mother and one of his two delightful and eccentric great aunts.  One of her sweaters is a cream wool Tyrolean-style cardigan with vertical columns of beautifully embroidered flowers between the columns of cables, bobbins, and eyelets.  You probably know the style.  No one does this much anymore because of the labor involved.  It is a gem.

Aunt Ruthie's Tyrolean Sweater

Then there are about a half dozen sweaters that I obviously knit in the 80s… they are painful to look at!  During that same decade I was knitting the baby and toddler sweaters that are so classic and timeless, but somehow, for me I was knitting sweaters with styles that could never stand the test of time.  I have removed these sweaters from the chest and am contemplating either throwing them out or donating them somewhere.  It’s hard to imagine donating them….they are truly awful, their single attribute being that they are at least made from natural fibers.

In the chest is my very first knitted garment which must be from the mid-70s, a textured vest pattern from Tahki that was made from their Donegal Tweed yarn in brown with rust colored flecks.  I have a clear memory of knitting this vest during numerous evenings, sitting on a metal bar stool in my future-husband’s woodworking shop in order to spend time with him while he worked on a project.  Also in the pile is my first attempt at lace knitting….not a shawl or scarf, but a lovely lace Chanel-type jacket that was a Phildar pattern for which I used Phildar’s mohair blend yarn.  Sweet, sweet memories!
 The children’s sweaters bring back a flood of memories.  In particular there was one spring when my small community held a fashion show, and I decided to participate by modeling my first Marion Foale’s design, “Badminton,” while both boys joined me on the runway wearing matching cabled vests and coordinating knickers that I sewed for them. (I wore a store bought skirt with a print of ships’ signal flags on a sky blue background.)  We were all in shades of daffodil yellow and pale sky blue.  This memory is hilarious to me….my sons modeling in vests and knickers….how cruel!
 I am sorry to say that the Marion Foale sweater, while classic, has not made the cut for staying in the chest!

 This trip down memory lane is prompted by our hard decision to leave our current house and move out of the NY metro area.  We hope to go back to a slower pace and quieter lifestyle that we used to enjoy when we lived in New England.  I know that times have changed everywhere, but we hope to downsize both our possessions and our frenetic pace.  Hence, the airing of not only the stash, but everything we own!

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Recharge

Posted on December 28, 2011 | 2 comments

Life has been pretty stressful for the past 8 months.  My blog is a place where I try to put my daily, non-fiber obligations behind me, but all those obligations have basically taken over my life these past few months so it’s been hard to feel connected here, especially when I’m avoiding talking about these obligations!

Thankfully, this is a time a year when I recharge my enthusiasm, my commitment, my passion for weaving, knitting, spinning, dyeing.  My wonderful family and friends have encouraged a rekindling of fiber energy by giving me some empowering gifts!

‘Warped 2 Weave’…..exactly the message I need to get me back on track!  My son ‘painted’ these sneakers for me with colored pens.  He says if I keep him supplied with shoes he’ll keep making them!

Finally!  A way to organize my circular needles!  Some Tofootsie sock yarn to knit while drinking my favorite morning beverage in this adorable sheep mug.

This sheep mug is from Herdy.  I’m in love…..
Their website has a creative video of escaping sheep that showcases their products.

Time to get busy!

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Thankful

Posted on November 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

Autumn in NY (by Chris)

Today I’m playing in the kitchen, making stuffing from a whole wheat baguette, a loaf of raisin pumpernickel, turkey sausage, onions, celery, chestnuts, a few more raisins, and lots of thyme, and also making pie dough in which I’m tempted to substitute vodka for water (have you tried this?).

My kitchen counter is also strewn with several colors of Jaggerspun zephyr which I’m swatching for Pam Power’s lovely Devonshire sweater.  Sigh….  Life is good.

Happy Thanksgiving….

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Ending the trip with a Bang!

Posted on August 27, 2011 | 1 comment

My last few days in Maine will be spent riding out what remains of hurricane Irene when she hits these shores.  Hopefully she will be spent by the time she arrives, but everyone has to be prepared for the worst!

We are in a small island harbor called Pulpit Rock in Penobscot Bay. There is a big rock formation at the mouth of this natural harbor that does look a bit like a pulpit.  More than looking like a podium this rock is famous for having a 200+ year old osprey nest at the pinnacle of the pulpit.

Our preparations for the storm are almost complete.  We have two anchors out to keep us from swinging when the winds increase, all the sails are furled and lashed down, loose items have all been stored below.  The larder is well stocked so I intend to cook some comfort food today, perhaps an egg/veggie/cheese timbale, onion soup, and warm homemade chocolate pudding!

Chocolate Pudding from Cook's Illustrated

Thank heave there is a good internet signal because I got the chocolate pudding recipe from this month’s Cook’s Illustrated!

 

 

Also on my agenda after we have finished our storm preparations, is watching a couple of good spinning DVDs I have on board while doing some spinning! I have Margaret Stove’s “Spinning for Lace” and Judith McKenzie’s “A Spinner’s Toolbox,” both from Interweave Press!

Handpainted cotton roving "Phoenix Garden"

And in my large bin of toys I have some handpainted cotton roving from Girl Meets Spindle in a colorway called “Phoenix Garden.”  Now doesn’t this sound like a good plan for riding out a tropical storm?

So I’m hoping that wherever you are you are safe and dry, and doing something fibery on this stormy weekend.

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Knitting and Fabric Shops in Coastal Maine

Posted on August 10, 2011 | 1 comment

Several of our usual ports have surprised me with wonderful knitting and fabric shops!  Our ‘guest room’ is quickly filling up with my treasures!

Bath: Halcyon (the photo on their homepage is that Ecobaby sailor pattern! Ha!)  I have to admit that I’ve never been to Halcyon by

Halcyon Yarn

boat, but I have been going by car for 15 years.  You could get there by boat if you wanted to go that far up the Kennebec River and brave its challenging currents.  In all the years I’ve driven over that bridge I’ve never actually seen a sailboat moored in the river near Bath.  That’s not to say no sailboats ever go, just that I haven’t seen them on my yearly visit.  And what can I say about Halcyon, other than it is a weaver’s and knitter’s Mecca, not to mention spinners, rug hookers, crocheters, braiders, felters, etc…etc… If you do anything related to fiber, this is a great resource! Halcyon is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.  I had a wonderful shopping spree there!

Boothbay Harbor:  You need a car to get to Onboard Fabrics, but it is really worth it!  It’s a barn on Rte 127 (and their address is Edgecomb but my point of view is the harbor where a sailing seamstress might disembark), not far off Rte. 1 on the way to

On Board Fabrics, near Boothbay Harbor

Boothbay Harbor.  They have lots of nautical fabrics, inweights from upholstery to cotton lawn.  This year I bought fabrics to make aprons for gifts.  No sewing machine on board Pandora, so these projects will have to wait ’til I get home (meanwhile, my husband does have his sailrite sewing machine on board…but it will only sew heavy canvas and sail materials!).

 

Rockland: Quilt Divas.  They have fabric and yarn!  And the selections for both are great!  It is walking distance from the harbor

Quilt Divas in Rockland also has a large selection of yarn and knitting books

for us sailors!  I bought the Debbie Bliss “Ecobaby” book here as well as the yarn for the sailor sweater that is currently challenging me to re-design the collar!  I also bought more fabric for aprons here.  Now I’m going to make a lot of aprons for gifts!

 

 

 

Camden: The Cashmere Goat is new this year, in a good location right in the center of town (what used to be a shoe store).  The shop

'The Cashmere Goat in Camden

is not yet full, but they do have some wonderful yarns.  I bought Manos del Uruguay’s “Serena” (kettle dyed, 60% baby alpaca, 40% pima cotton) in a handpainted colorway (#9796) of watery blues and greens.  I’m going to knit a lace shawl from one of the free patterns at Interweave Knits

 

Belfast: Sock Heaven.  This yarn store has been in business for about 10 years now, but I haven’t been to Belfast in about 15 years,

Heavenly Socks in Belfast

so it is new to me! There is an entire wall of yarns produced in Maine, including Hope Spinnery and Done Roving. My big score here was Louet “KidLin”(49% linen, 35% kid mohair, 16% nylon) which I’ve been hoping to find during all my yarn store hunting.  It was hard to choose a color for Louet’s “Cia” Pattern, but I finally settled on “Mexican Orange,” a fun blend of gold and warm pink.

There is also a beautiful fabric store on High St. in Belfast.  I did not note the name yesterday, but I hope to go back today to spend more time there.  I will take a photo and get the name!

 

Other places.  I’ve been to the guild shop in the center of Blue Hill, as well as the yarn shop slightly out of town that has since gone out of busines (sigh…), and I’ve been to Shirley’s Yarns in Hancock (where I bought Dale microfiber years ago for a tank top I never finished because it was so unflattering on me!). Now I understand there are two shops in Blue Hill that I may not know: Blue Hill Yarn shop on Ellsworth Rd. and  String Theory on Beach Hill Rd.  I don’t know if we’ll get to Blue Hill this year, but now I hope so! And a google search shows two promising shops on Mt. Desert, one in Southwest Harbor (Lilac Lily Yarn Shop) and one in Bar Harbor (Bee’s, Inc.), so I hope to visit both of these since we are on our way there for the weekend.

I am putting aside the Debbie Bliss sailor sweater for the moment.  This is quite a disappointment to me, but I do want to give some thought to that collar.  The knitters on Ravelry did not have any solutions that appealed to me, so I will take a look in my library of knitting design books when I return home in September.

Here is my next knitting project, Louet’s “Cia.”

Louet's "Cia"

Louet's KidLin Mexican Orange

First I will finish my own design that uses Tess Designer Yarns’ micofiber ribbon.  I’ll be writing up that pattern to share here and on Ravelry.  It’s a very simple pattern, and I’m almost finished!

 

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Impressions

Posted on August 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

 

Greenhouse Tank finished!

Camden Harbor and Mt. Battie through the stern of Pandora

 

Schooner "Appledore" with Camden's iconic steeple in background

 

pedestrian bridge of flowers in Camden

 

Camden Harbor from the top of Mt. Battie. "Pandora" is at the bottom of photo, closest to shore in second row from left of moored boats.

Camden Harbor and beyond from Mt. Battie

Seals on the beach...on our way to Buck's Harbor

sailing to Buck's Harbor with schooner "Mercantile"

Sailing with Herreschoff New York 30'. This is the boat I used in my tapestry of the Palisades on the Hudson River.

Friendship Sloop with schooner in background

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Famous Knitter or just Famous?

Posted on July 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Each year at some point in our Maine sailing adventures we go out to Allen Island, a lovely getaway for the well known Wyeth family where they have very nicely placed a few moorings for visiting boaters to enjoy.  Last year I was thrilled when Betsy Wyeth arrived at the island and waved to me from her launch.  But this year’s visit topped even that.  Betsy sat outside her house with a basket of knitting; I sat aboard Pandora with my knitting.  We each sat knitting and watching the other knitting.

Knitting with Betsy Wyeth!

So,  Where in the world were my Signature Arts knitting needles?  At Allen Island, a rather private place only accessible to those with means of traveling on the water, where they rubbed shoulders with Betsy Wyeth’s needles!

And, by the way, there are about 100 sheep on Allen Island….and it  is the spot where George Waymouth landed with his ship Archangel in 1605.

Betsy (on left) knitting

And that was the day I finished my “Garden Tank” by Deborah Newton.  Deborah’s designs are extremely attractive and wearable for many body shapes which makes her one of my favorite knitwear designers!

What I love about this design: the simple lace pattern that does not overwhelm the sweater, the flattering boat neck, the A-line ‘swing’ shape, the armhole shaping, the way the lace creates a scalloped edge at the hem!

In Interweave Knits the sweater was knitted with Manos del Uruguay “Serena” (60% alpaca, 40% cotton).  Now maybe I’m missing something, but isn’t alpaca one of the warmest fibers?  So even with the addition of 40% cotton, wouldn’t this be too warm for a summer tank top?  I decided to use raw silk, and since this yarn has virtually no elasticity I made the top with zero ease.  I’m very happy with the fit!

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Wild Kingdom!

Posted on July 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

I spent most of yesterday watching the bird life around Snow Island.  There are several ospreys in the area, more than I’ve seen in one place before, and they all seem intent on ridding themselves of the eagles in the area.  The ospreys worked together to dive bomb the eagles, and I’m not sure if they were just claiming their hunting territory of if the eagles pose some additional threat.  I know some birds steal the nests of others.  Clearly, for reasons I may not fully understand, the ospreys do not wish to cohabitate with eagles!

eagle at Snow Island

This eagle sat calmly in the tree while a group of ospreys hurled themselves and dived down on her/him!  Right nearby was the eagle’s nest complete with adolescent eaglet.

 

 

 

Eaglet on the nest

Well, I know this eaglet is hard to see even if you ‘bigify’ the photo…nest is near the center of the image.  I marveled at the parent eagle bringing food to this baby whose sharp beak and claws surely must make parenting difficult!

 

Yesterday was one of those Maine days that is so clear everything appears super-focused. I took photos of water and sky, and I hope someday they will be useful to developing a cartoon for a tapestry.

And I finished one of my summer books….

Summer reading:

This is a fascinating history of New York before the English, when it was the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam.  The author gives vivid images of life in this colony through the written records and correspondence of that period and shows that the Dutch culture has lived on to the present time in current New York culture.  His premise is that New York is still more Dutch than English, and that the Dutch culture of the 17th century is the core of American culture. He does a great job!

Amazing book!…too moving to describe.  I highly recommend it! I bought it for reading on board, but I finished it the day I took sneak peak at home….

 

 

 

 

I just finished this yesterday, while watching the bird life here.  A wonderful story written from the point of view of three different women during the year before American involvement in WWII, during the blitzkrieg of London and the rounding of up Jews throughout Europe.  I put this near the top of very few books that I will always treasure!

 

Just started this yesterday, and I’m hooked.  I don’t normally stumble on so many good books all at once!  I feel incredibly lucky….

 

 

 

 

And I’m looking forward to Water for Elephants that is on my phone.  I can’t see the movie until I read (or listen to!)  the book!

The day will end with a dinner of fresh local veggies and local cheese from the this quaint farm stand in Five Islands Habor….oh, and a bouquet of dark red dahlias, feverfew, and love in a mist!

Five Islands Harbor Farm Stand

 

 

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Inspiration in Maine

Posted on July 14, 2011 | 3 comments

Typically Maine, the weather changed every couple of hours yesterday, and the sights made me think about trying to capture the essence of a place in imagery…..which made me think of Joan Baxter’s tapestries. She has mastered conveying a sense of place for Scotland, with tapestries that are full of mists and myth and mystery. After 15 summers in Maine maybe I am getting a sense of this place….also a place of mists as well as brilliant sun and sharply focused views.

As we sailed out of the Basin and Cundy’s Harbor yesterday, the sky behind us grew very dark, and shortly into our trip we were overtaken by a squall.  Twenty minutes later the shoreline and islands glowed in the fresh new light and sparkled from the rain. We were headed to Snow Island, and just as we approached we saw an eagle soaring overhead!  He (she?) landed on a rock right nearby to dry his wings.

Eagle on Snow Island

In the trees just to the left in this photo was another eagle!  We could not get the two birds together in one photo!

After anchoring another quadrant of the sky darkened, and another squall passed through.  The quality of light is decidedly Maine to me, and something I’d like to capture in a future tapestry.

Approaching Squall

Can you see the eagle in the lone tree just right of center in the photograph?  All in all, we saw three eagles at Snow Island.

Before heading to Snow Island I spent a good part of the day working on another sweater…. Deborah Newton’s “Greenhouse Tank” which is in the current issue of Interweave Knits.

Deborah Newton's Greenhouse tank

Deborah Newton is one of my favorite knitting designers.  Her designs are lovely and fit beautifully!  I am really hoping this will be more flattering than my Plymouth “Kudo” sweater!

I am working this sweater in raw silk from Tess Designer Yarns in a colorway called Bahama Bay.

 

 

Deborah Newton’s “Greenhouse Tank” knitted in Tess Designer Yarns “Bahama Bay” raw silk

More about this sweater in another post…..

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