smithing and sewing

Ever since I first learned to knit socks, I've been wanting to do two socks at a time on two circular needles. I finally gave it a go, did a few rounds, and decided it's not for me. I never have a problem finishing the second sock of a pair and mostly do socks because it's a super small project, so I've decided the extra bulk and extra fiddling just aren't worth it for me. Back to one at a time I go. Isn't this Cherry Tree Hill yarn purty?

Not fiber- or glass-related, but Jesse has had a lifelong interest in blacksmithing, so we go to hammer-ins (this would be the blacksmith version of a stitch & bitch) whenever we can. This past weekend's hammer-in was at the CT Eastern Railroad Museum, where we got lots of tips about setting up our own forge and getting supplies, as well as great conversations with a ferrier and a glass/PMC artist. Bonus prize was checking out the trains, riding on a pump car, and enjoying the fiddler and guitar player's music. Jesse is soooo ready to get into blacksmithing himself now, not just watching it anymore, so we're checking into our options to do that. You can see how much he's paying attention to this friendly and informative blacksmith, with whom we spent much of the day.
Leah is now officially sewing-crazed. We used freebie fabric (from our Freecycle friend, Denise) for her first dress, just in case we didn't choose the right size or something, but it turned out great!


The pattern was a Christmas gift from Grandma, a very simple design with detailed instructions for a new seamstress. We worked through every step together. I haven't sewn anything from a pattern in many years, so I was (re)learning right along with her. She did all the cutting, pinning, and pressing, and most of the sewing. I helped her out with the curved pieces and hand stitching. Even though it's a beginner pattern, it has nice little touches, like the ties in back, the patch pockets, and the bodice being cut on the bias, which is an especially good fit since the fabric we used has a tiny checked pattern. She has worn it continually, with pride and glee.

She's ready to dive into making a second dress and has her own fabric stash from which to choose. She visited her fabric fanatic Grammy yesterday and came home with a big squeal and a bag of fabric scraps. There's some patchwork in progress and book covers in the plans too (small for her paperbacks and large for the biggies, like her current Harry Potter read), and quilted bookmarks and a halter top and shorts and doll clothes and...!

genesis

We taught a friend to knit a few weeks ago and she's definitely liking it, enough so that she hosted her own knit night this week. Activities, of course, were not limited to knitting. There was crocheting, knitting, hand and machine quilting, needle felting, and dollmaking. Highlights of the evening, for me, included seeing our friend's son knitting a few stitches of his own and Leah teaching Amanda how it all works.

Yesterday was the spring meet of the New England Blacksmiths at the Hannaway Blacksmith Shop in Rhode Island. Scott and Jesse were up bright and early so they could hang with the blacksmiths for the day, watch demos, chat 'em up, and hopefully find somebody with a used forge for sale. We've been on the prowl for a forge for a couple of weeks now and felt fairly certain that this would be the winning place. Sho' 'nuf. When you get 80 blacksmiths together for a 3-day party, there's bound to be some extra equipment up for grabs. So the guys arrived home with a small forge, anvil, and tongs. Oh, the glee! To see Jesse's longstanding interest in blacksmithing finally become a hands-on activity is something I think we'll all enjoy.

Scott got a kick out of seeing this woman spinning merrily among the crowd in one of the blacksmithing demo tents. He snapped the pic because he said he was so tempted to sit and babble with her about spinning, but he didn't want to be disruptive during the demos. "Those crazy fiber fanatics, they're everywhere!," he said, in his best faux conspiracy tone.

Congratulations to Cheryl of Seed Stitch, who is the winner of the stitch markers posted in last week's giveaway!

Leah wants me to tell you all that she's working on a new project and she's very excited to unveil it very soon. Nothing like tidying up the yarn stash to inspire new projects!

connectionschooling

Our style of homeschooling is based on the premise that everything is related to everything else, so no matter what someone is interested in, there are connections to so many other topics that you're bound to run into a bunch of math and science and history and who knows what other good stuff along the way. Besides enjoying the opportunity to explore interests to whatever extent we want, much of the fun lies in the discovery of those connections, how the web of connections grows over time as interests and experiences evolve, and how some of the most unexpected connections often pop up to surprise us. It's like playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (BTW, I'm two degrees away from Kevin Bacon, as I pierced the ear of a guy who hung out with Kevin Bacon on a train ride) or pinballing around time and space with James Burke's Connections.

So when I was browsing some knitting books from the library yesterday evening...

and Jesse was browsing some blacksmithing books,...

we were having great fun sharing with the other some of the things we were learning along the way. After all the years of living the way we do and seeing the connections jump up in front of us, still we're surprised and delighted every time it happens. You'd think we would have seen it coming...

(You might need to click for the biggie view, but the books on top are explaining a blacksmithing technique called faggot welding and the book on the bottom is introducing a section of lace knitting techniques called faggoting.)

options

Leah and I spent much of yesterday marveling at beautiful handcrafted items and glorious autumn weather.

Jesse was at a blacksmithing workshop, happily learning some more specifics about pounding hot metal into useful shapes.

This workshop took place a little over an hour from home, so Leah and I decided to hang out in the vicinity while he was busy. We thought about going to Rhinebeck, but decided it made more sense to work on our current projects and just be mellow for the day. It was a good choice. We browsed the gift shop at Brookfield Craft Center and also a farm-turned-art/cooking school. We both laughed out loud when we noticed a yarn store at the end of the farm's road!

Browsed the sunny, comfortable store, then worked our way back to the Craft Center.

Did a bunch of knitting together, listened to podcasts, and oohed and aahed about the trees the whole way home. We weren't at Rhinebeck, but this was a mighty fine option.

few quick things

I spent much of today reconnecting with someone who has been a friend for 25 years and am about to head out for what will certainly be another pleasant time with a friend this evening, so I'm going to make this quick.

First, a blurry pic of a pair of thrummed mittens knit partially by Leah and partially by me. They're a kit we picked up at a local farm last year. We added more thrums than the pattern indicated so they wouldn't have bald spots in their soft inside fluffy warmth. I would knit any future mittens in the round, but they turned out well enough and she'll be happy to have them this winter.

Next is a pic of Leah and Jesse outside the Norman Rockwell Museum, where we visited on Saturday morning. I'm mostly posting this shot for my Gram, who may remember the last time we visited this museum, with her, when I had Leah in a sling and toddler Jesse was just the right size for that tiny funky cement sculpture chair in the distance. Since we were in the area of the Norman Rockwell Museum and clearly overdue for a re-visit, we snagged the free pass from the library the day before, stopped in, and all enjoyed it very much.

Then off to the Age of Iron weekend at Hancock Shaker Village. This was their annual blacksmithing event, where my young blacksmith hoped to get some input about challenges he has faced with his own forge. He talked with many blacksmiths, observed even more of them at work, and spent the next afternoon happily banging on hot metal at home. Leah and I, of course, eventually wandered off to check out the weaving and spinning rooms of the village. In case anybody's interested, they're having a spinning week in October.

More soon, but for now, there's Thai food calling my name. Yum!