I continue to marvel at how lovely the Christmas season can be in the tropics! Bob and I took a walk together through the more historic residential area of Cocoa, the major style being bungalow from the early 20th century…..my favorite!
Nice modern addition to this classic bungalow, although I do wonder how hot that glass enclosure gets in the summer!
There were also quite a few more traditional looking Spanish inspired houses. Most of these houses had historic plaques.
Palm trees and Christmas decorations….it does work!
I wonder if this lovely shade of blue was chosen to match the flowering vine on their arbor.
Christmas with orange trees, bougainvillea, hibiscus, and lots of little lizards skittering across our path wherever we walked!
I capped off the day by visiting Knit and Stitch again to sit with the other knitters and work on my Ann Jacket. What a lovely spot! On top of being in a community of knitters, I learned that one of the women who works in the shop, Barbara, is an avid weaver and reps Schacht products for the store. One of the other shop women, Ann, seems to have done some weaving herself, so I felt that I had found some wonderful connections here. Thank you!
As if this wasn’t enough of a perfect day, we spent the evening on board Meltemi (a Catalina 42′) with Jeff and Susan, while they taught us a popular Bahamian cruisers’ domino game called “Mexican Train.” (I shudder at how un-PC this name is!) I never knew there are dominoes with 12 spots on them! I was terrible at understanding all the little dots on these tiles!
Today we are headed to Melbourne….not Australia. Before this trip I didn’t know there was a Melbourne in Florida. It seems that wherever the English went they used place names from home. Makes for a very confusing world!
The past two days we have awakened to temperatures in the 30s! Sweater weather! We will be leaving Charleston today and heading ever more southward…. St. Mary’s, Georgia, by Thanksgiving!
I have come to the rather deflating realization that my Ann Jacket will not be finished by Thanksgiving. Even if I had been knitting during the past week, which I haven’t, I still would not have finished it. Sigh…
Before I took a hiatus from knitting in order to spend my days sightseeing in Charleston, I took a break from knitting the final body panel in order to knit the front left onto the back at sides and shoulders. Once again, Vivian Hoxbro’s clever ideas kept me quite enthralled! The way the shoulder knits together even includes an angle at the neck edge in spite of the fact that both body pieces were simple rectangles. Brilliant!
This is really a terrible photo….the shoulder connection is not tapered as it appears here. It’s just they way Bob is holding it. And you can’t see how the front neck edge is tapered in spite of the front body panel being a rectangle. Trust me, it’s ingenious!
I plan to spend some time today working on that final body panel, the right front, since we’ll be heading out of here shortly. We’re not certain where we’ll stop at the end of the day. Most likely a secluded place, which will be a rather nice change from being on a dock in a big city like Charleston….
I’ll end with a fun song I stumbled on a few a weeks ago. I’d better warn you it will stick in your head for days…. but it’s catchy!
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 fromGirl 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.
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!
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. BattieSeals on the beach...on our way to Buck's Harborsailing 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
Today we are headed to Melbourne….not Australia. Before this trip I didn’t know there was a Melbourne in Florida. It seems that wherever the English went they used place names from home. Makes for a very confusing world!
