knitting – Page 9

D-R-E-A-R-Y

October 10, 2012 | Leave a Comment

We were under way at 7.00am this morning, which I believe was just after sunrise, but I sure couldn’t tell. There was just shy of 20 knots of wind, gun metal grey turbulent waters with white caps, and a sky only slightly lighter than the water. The wind was coming from diagonally behind us, which made Bob happy, but also made the boat roll from side to side….ugh. I watched the ‘levo-gauge’ go from 25 degrees on one side of level to 30 degrees on the other side of level. Bob realized within our first few minutes out that he’d better find the stugeron for me.

Should I also mention that winter is nipping at our heels as we hurry south? For the past two days we’ve awakened to temps in the mid 40s with the highs for the past two days in the mid-50s. Have I mentioned that I only get warm showers, at best. Sometimes I’d say they are tepid showers. I’m getting seriously cold….

So today when I huddled down below, wrapped in a blanket on the settee, wearing my warmest clothes: one of only two full length pants (my summer weight jeans), one of only two turtleneckes (I wore the other one yesterday), my pullover fleece (why didn’t I bring any of my wool sweaters???), and luckily one of several of my hand knit wool socks, I began to think about what I could do to remedy this situation. I have a number of sweaters that are near completion with me onboard, but, although they are wool, they are not what I’d call useful sweaters. They are all cardigans with no buttons….jackets and such that are meant to be fashionable, not serviceable. I began to think about the yarns I brought with me and the projects they are slated to become. I remembered some yarn that I saw in the top of the first bin (easily accessible in the madly rolling conditions) and the ‘wingspan’ shawl pattern that goes with it. I managed to get it out. I opened up my iPad and found the pattern and the requirements, found the appropriate needles and some stitch markers. I found my earbuds and opened up a Cast-On podcast to begin my shawl. This project was to be for some future situation when I might hear about someone who might need a little love in the form of a knitted shawl which would represent my hugging them…. Well, sometimes you have to wrap yourself in your own hug to stay WARM…..

No photos of where we went today. I spent the whole day down below! We sailed until 5.30 pm and tucked into the Potomac River, into an estuary called Glebe’s Creek. I learned in the guidebook that ‘glebe’ is an English word for a plot of land given to clergymen. They could farm it or let it for extra income, and it’s another example to me of how much closer were the south’s ties with England than the north’s.

Two firsts today: Bob saw a pelican!

What a marvelous bird is the pelican
His bill can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak enough food for a week
I wonder how in the hell he can!

And we have crossed the line from Maryland to Virginia. Glebe Creek is a quiet little spot, and we are enjoying the peace after a week in Annapolis! The wind is howling but we are in a snug little spot in calm water. I made a dinner of comfort food…penne with my best effort at Alfredo. How can you go wrong with cream and fontina? We cut the fat with a salad that included a ripe tomato that I picked totally green from my garden a month ago. I never imagined that they would ripen before rotting. But they are perfect!

Here are the last two FOs (finished objects) that have made their way to their rightful owners.

And here is the beginning of my ‘Wingspan’ shawl. I finished two sections and started the third today. Could I wrap up in it by this weekend??

Day 29, October 9: Annapolis to Potomac River

Summer Camp for Cruisers

October 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment

About 75 boats and lots of cars (new word, CLODS: “Cruisers Living On Dirt) arrived at Camp Letts on the Rhodes River just south of Annapolis for a long weekend of seminars for long distance cruisers. Bob was in sailor heaven, getting to share his passion with so many other like minded sailors, and getting to meet some of his cruising gurus: Nigel Calder, Lynn and Larry Parday, and Hal Roth’s widow Michelle. It was a quite the gathering of famous cruisers…

Each day from Friday through Sunday we had catered breakfasts, lunches and dinners ashore, with two morning seminars and two afternoon seminars. It was a very busy weekend, and we fell into bed exhausted each night! We met lots of people who will be spending the fall heading to various exotic locations, and some of them will be heading to the Bahamas like we are! This gathering was a way of not only learning some important techniques and ideas from well known sailing authorities, but also a way to meet the folks who’ll be traveling to the same destination we are, or traveling to destinations that we hope to go in the future. I can see why this yearly gathering of sailors is so important!

Bob and I took seminars on lots of subjects relating to long distance cruising, and I knitted through most of them. The baby sweater is now finished and I’m nearing the end of the second front of my Vivian Hoxbro “Ann Jacket.”

Now we are in Annapolis, anchored right where all the hoopla is going on to get the Boat Show set up. Bob is like a little kid at camp, enjoying watching all the pilings get driven in and the temporary docks being assembled. As the next few days go by lots of show boats will get put on those docks. We will be in the thick of it….

Today’s chores are laundry, restocking the larder, and mailing the shawl and the baby sweater! ….mixed in with reconnecting with lots of friends who come to this boat show every year. This is our first year to arrive by boat rather than by car.

Days 17 – 20, Sept. 27 – 30: Camp Letts, Rhodes River

Day 21: Annapolis We are going to be here almost a week. It’s hard to believe that we’ve only been out sailing for 3 weeks today. In many ways it seems like a lot longer. By the time we leave Annapolis next week, we will have been gone a month….and only have traveled such a small distance, 477 miles! We have a lot more ground to cover to get to Vero Beach by early December, another 1200 miles or so. It will be time to make tracks!

Migration

September 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment

The lovely sights in Chesapeake City….

Do you think they bought that red car to match their front door?

We are starting to see lots of migrating birds, and it seems to me that this year we are migrating with them. Each day that we haul anchor in the morning we are accompanied by the honking song of Canada geese in their V-formations, and as we travel south we find monarch butterflies alighting on Pandora for short breaks before fluttering away.

The bird life here is extensive! In the Sassafras River we were exploring the coast line, and we startled two blue herons off their nest! What a beautiful sight to see them take flight right in front of us! We had not noticed the nest because it was well hidden in a ‘bog’ of lotus! We have never seen lotus growing in such a temperate climate before. It looks like it has become rather invasive in the Sassafras River, and we wondered if the lotus will soon take over… I guess only time will tell.

We have been sailing along with three other boats since Cape May….not on purpose….but each day that we travel we see them sailing too. For several nights we’ve ended up in the same harbor, so naturally we’ve gotten together to re-hash the day and talk about where we’re heading. I know this is quite a common occurrence for boats heading south. Perhaps we are becoming a different kind of migrating flock! We saw Banyan, a 40 ft Juneau, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, in Cape May with David and Alex (short for Alexandra) onboard. In Chesapeake City we first saw Peregrine, a 42 ft. Catalina, with Dave and Libby on board with their dog Brody. And also in Chesapeake City we stumbled on Rick and Julie Palm, who live aboard Altair, a larger version of Pandora, and whom we met briefly a few summer ago in Maine. We have formed our own very loose flock and have decided to explore the Chester River together over the next few days. We will see both Banyan and Peregrine at the SSCA seminars that will take place in Camp Letts at the end of next week.

So I am settling into life aboard…. coffee and knitting in the mornings. I have finished the shawl and should have posted photos days ago. I have now started a little baby sweater for the brand new granddaughter who arrived last week to join the family of my oldest childhood friend. And earlier this week I made ‘poolish’ which will become my ongoing sourdough starter for bread while the weather remains cool enough to bake. I made the first loaf yesterday, and it was a success! I will make another loaf today since there is more poolish ready to use now.

2012-09-18 09.48.43 — Swatch for "Shadow Baby" sweater

I am feeling the pangs of homesickness, but it is balanced by the joys of living is this soft southern landscape. We’ve seen a number of bald eagles since arriving in the Chesapeake, and yesterday we saw one shag a fish right out of the water and rise into the blue sky with his/her catch! It was dramatic!

Day 8, September 18: Lay Day in Chesapeake City (#29)

Day 9, Sept. 19: Chesapeake City to the Sassafras River (#29 – 31)

Day 10, Sept. 20: Sassafras River to Rock Hall (#31 -34)

Day 11, Sept. 21…..we’re not entirely sure yet! We will walk into Rock Hall today for some provisions, and then we’ll think about sailing up the Chester River to Chestertown….

Change

March 28, 2012 | Leave a Comment

We are stumbling closer and closer to our move to Connecticut. We have a buyer for our house in New Jersey, and we’ve committed to a house in Connecticut…..but getting everything to fall into place so everyone involved can move on has been a bit difficult. It looks like we will be en route to our new home by the middle of next week! We have been rattling around in our empty, echoing house for a few weeks now. It doesn’t feel like our home anymore, so it’s time to move on….

We packed my last loom over the weekend. I probably should have taken some photographs!…but it was too stressful. I had the strong impression that one of us was going to end up in the ER, so grabbing the camera just didn’t happen. This last loom is my big Toika, and it had a warp of cotton seine twine on it for a boundweave project. My dear friend and experienced Toika weaver, Sister Bianca recommended leaving the warp on the loom.

Sr. Bianca advised me to take the beater, the harnesses, and the jacks from the top of the loom, and wrap them all together around the warp beam. It was a brilliant suggestion!….

….executing it was not so brilliant….. imagine cutting the warp from the front apron and taking the reed out of the beater. While trying to keep that from flopping about, I then tried to hold all the jacks in place while my husband tried to disconnect the jack-holding frame from the large side frames of the loom. Where was our 3rd set of hands for this job??? Certainly no extra hands for photos… At one point I thought the jack frame would surely hit one of us on the head, necessitating a hospital visit, and possibly necessitating a long recovery from head injuries (if not worse). My husband was not amused at my conjectures. I wanted to take a ‘time out’ to plan a strategy; he just wanted to get it over with! Typical male/female disagreement, I believe!

I’m happy to report that there was no loss of life…..or even loss of consciousness! But I don’t want to do that again any time soon. If there is to be a next time, I must remember to get more detailed information on how to accomplish this! Advise welcome!

With my looms packed, I have turned to more portable projects. (Hey, who am I kidding?….I haven’t actually woven in several months, just knowing that I was going to have to pack up those looms.) Have you seen the swing knitting projects on Ravelry? Amazing! I’m intrigued…

I did buy the workshop download for learning this technique, but I didn’t want wristlets, or a hat, or socks. I wanted a jacket! So I jumped in the deep end of the pool, and really, this technique is not difficult to understand. There is no reason to do a little project if you really want the big one! This jacket, designed by Heidrun Leigmann, requires four sections just like this one which I finished a few days ago:

Knitting swing jacket 1 mar 2012 — Swing Knitted Jacket by Heidrun Leigmann

As you can see, it is a mitered square with short rows to create the curving elements. The yarn called for is Noro’s “Flower Bed,” which I cannot find here in the US. Since it is roughly sock weight yarn, and since I love the weight and bounce of Shetland, I have chosen to use a Shetland-like yarn by Kauni in a long colorway that runs through the entire spectrum. Is it too colorful?? Probably. Do I have the guts to wear something this blinding? …not sure… but I am enjoying knitting it! Can I really knit four of these sections without losing motivation? …not sure of that either!

In other facets of life, when not packing, I have made another “Blooming Gardens” crystal bracelet, along with matching earrings and even a small pendant. The purple one is for my sister’s very belated birthday.

And lastly, I finished the Nantucket basket that I want to give as a wedding present to a dear friend’s daughter. It’s only three months late…. that’s actually quite good for me! Now I’d like to make one for each of my own kids!

January, the Selfish Month

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.