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!
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:
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!
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"
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!
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.
