needles flying

Jesse recently got a set of fatigues to wear during his two Airsoft leagues' games. The previous owner's name patch said Jordan, which obviously needed to be re-done. So Jesse dug out the embroidery floss and some appropriate fabric for a patch, stitched his name, and sewed the patch to the jacket.

As he was putting away the embroidery floss box, he pulled a small photo album out of the drawer. "What's this?," he asked. Oh, that's the blog before I had a blog!

It's a photo album of many of my projects from the late 80s and here's the facing pages that just happen to show two projects I mentioned in my last blog post -- my brother-in-law's sweater and one of my uglyblankets, much of which was crocheted during a trip to Ohio to see the Grateful Dead. See, my friend Jim and I drove in a blizzard to get there, only to discover that the first show was canceled because of the weather. It was a doozy of a storm, so we basically camped out in a hotel room for three days with a bunch of friends. I crocheted through all the yarn I had brought with me, but there was a store within walking distance that had acrylic yarn (which is what I was using at the time), so off I went to get more. You can crochet a lot of granny squares while laughing with friends for a few days. We finally did see a show or two, then headed back home, from Ohio to Connecticut, via back roads because the interstates were all closed because of the storm! See? Good times and good memories stitched into these projects!

And the next generation of silly stitchers keeps moving along. Leah made another snood/slouchy hat this week. Same pattern as the first one, this one longer and slouchier, made from leftover yarn from a toddler dress my mom knit.

As I was snapping this pic, I noticed that she's wearing a handknit snood, a shawl that she wove out of Scott's handspun yarn, and earrings made from some of the very first glass beads I ever made. (Yes, first beads *I* made. Did you know I had an interest in glasswork first? I took the first couple of lampworking classes and Scott later became interested.) Accessories R Us. :-)

words of the week

Word 1 = Fez, as in the Tasseled Fez pattern from Hats On! by Charlene Schurch, knit in Berkshire by Valley Yarns, available at Webs. Learned a 2-color cast-on and twined herringbone edge, which I'm not sure I did right but I like it anyway. Long repeat means that this little project requires concentration, but it's a quickie because it's fun to see the design develop.

This is a 3-pointed hat and I chose to do a 3-needle bind-off at the top, making a very cool kaleidoscopic pattern where the design comes together at the center and an awful lot of giggles because of the three floppy tassels hanging by braids from the points. The yarn is loosely spun single ply, Lopi-like merino that includes some alpaca for luscious softness. Double thickness as a result of the stranded pattern makes for a very thick and soft hat. The herringbone edge has a tendency to curl, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal. I'd probably do the edge on smaller needles if I made it again, switching to larger needles when I started the main pattern in an attempt to eliminate the curling.

Word 2 = Snood, as in a tiny snood crocheted on a whim as a bun cover for a kiddo whose hair is not really long enough to wear in a bun yet but who really wanted her hair up off her face on a recent hot day. We weren't sure she'd like the hairstyle after all, so I just made up a quick double crochet pattern in acrylic boucle, but it ends up that she LOVES wearing her hair this way and I agree that it looks nice, so there will undoubtedly be more variations in the future. Maybe we'll even do some finer designs out of the scads of crochet cotton I have leftover from hackeysack-making Dead tour days.

Even though we don't need another hat around here, I've already started the Lusekofte Cap from Hats On! That book has probably half a dozen hats that I want to knit and it's still hot and humid out, so I figure I'll stick with the small projects during the end-of-summer parties, picnics, and beach days planned over the next week or two. If I'm lucky, I'll finish the current hat between the two picnic-parties this weekend and move on to another (or whatever else floats my boat) for the mid-week beach days to come!

everyone needs a thneed

We need a thneed?
Oh yes, a thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!

But a Goob? A Goob needs a SNOOD!

First knitted lace (or is it lace knitting?), started and finished January 1, 2009.

rockin' the free world

Finally, the parade of post-vacation finished objects. Believe it or not, there are still more FOs to come!

Just Enough Ruffles scarf, knit by Debbie. The luscious angora yarn was purchased at Spa Knit and Spin last Feb. Leah was going to make this pattern, but it became my project instead when I needed another vacation knit. Entirely easy and quick to knit, but I think the result is pretty fabulous. This yarn, we paid for, but it occurs to me that everything else in these four pics was free or pretty darn close to it!

The scarf pin is a stick pin made by our friend Leslie Wind and received as a gift when we shared a booth at Franklin County Fiber Twist this fall. The stick travels through the back of one of Scott's glass buttons for a little more decoration where it holds the scarf ends in place.

Didja notice the cool cascading earrings Leah's wearing? Inspired by Sassafras Creations' knitting needle jewelry and our stash of aluminum straight knitting needles (which we rec'd as hand-me-downs, but don't use for knitting and were thinking about giving away), she used our pipe cutter to slice some needle shafts into loops. She then used chainmail rings to attach these to a small length of chain salvaged from who knows what. She also added a couple of rings with crystals on them, for sparkle, then hung the whole shebang on ear wires. They make just the slightest happy jingle when she walks, are colorful enough to go with everything, and the fact that they're made from knitting needles gives her a giggle.

Next up, mittens I knit in twined knitting technique. I've always been curious about this way of making extra thick and squishy fabric by knitting from both ends of a skein, alternating strands with a twist behind each stitch, so when I won two skeins of Crystal Palace Yarns Taos and saw that it was well suited to stranded knitting, it seemed a good time to give it a try. I got a Twined Knitting book from the library and really liked some of the patterns in it, but when it was time to cast on, I wanted very straightforward and simple instructions. Lisa Ellis' basic twined mittens pattern was a perfect introduction. Twined knitting is slow going and needing to frequently untwist the yarns is a little tedious, but I really didn't mind it and think the results are pretty cool. My tension was tight with the twisting of yarns, which is probably not uncommon with beginning twined knitters, so these turned out child-sized and will be donated somewhere. Another perfect opportunity to pay it forward.

In between bigger projects, Leah decided she wanted another snood, so she used weaving thread received (a big box of it, in many colors!) as a gift from a weaver to crochet one. She attached it to a headband that was in a bag of hair things received as a hand-me-down from my sister a couple of years ago.

Our lives are chock full of little gifts like these and a million more intangible kindnesses too. We are thankful for every single one of them and how they enrich our lives every day. Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the States!

whoa.

This week felt like we were navigating the crazy minefield of life. Among many, many other challenges and crises for those around us, we had half a day of no electricity and, later the same day, a water main break that eroded beneath our street and threatened to collapse part of it into the nearby ravine.

Yes, really.
"Please drive to the left, sir. We're concerned about a collapse,"
sez water company dude at the end of our driveway one evening.

Yesterday afternoon and evening presented the opportunity for a bit of a breather. After dropping Leah off for a ukulele band gig (where, BTW, the assisted living place's residents know how to par-tay!), Jesse and I headed out for a nice walk.

We were astounded to find blooming roses -- in December! in Connecticut!! -- and springtime blossoms on the poor, confused trees. We walked randomly, unfamiliar with the surrounding area just a short distance off a main road lined with retail places -- and we all know how I feel about retail places. I couldn't believe it when we looked to the right and saw a wide path leading off into a patch of forest! And so we headed off into the woods, shuffling through the leaves. Ahh. Part A of feeling a little more grounded.

Part B was then heading off to Old Sturbridge Village for their Christmas By Candlelight event, which has been mentioned here many times before. Spending the evening making memories with my family, nibbling gingerbread and sipping mulled cider, listening to live music, chilly air and a beautiful setting, bumping into friends, a magic show, a hug from Santa, a horse-drawn carriage ride, and a barn dance...

Leah and the other dancers going 'round for the next part of the fun.
She in her best 1840s-ish garb, including dress she sewed,mittens I knit, tippet and snood that she knit. Total count of handknits in use among us for the evening? 12!
Ahh! That's better!! Refreshed!

SUNday

Early morning monsoon over, it was a fine day at the farmers' market. Leah, in her role as a volunteer at the Nathan Hale Homestead, was given responsibility for taking payment for the horse-drawn carriage and pony cart rides offered in the upper field for the day. She decided that her snood (not the cap, not the bonnet) was the perfect head covering for such a task and bought a new bodice from one of the volunteers at Hale.

She put to use the hand-stitched pocket that she has been working on for a few days. She dug out some canvas from our fabric stash, drew her design, stitched it with hand-dyed embroidery threads leftover from our needlework obsession, and rummaged around for some ribbon trim (a variety of which was given to her by two of our friendly neighbors and has been put to use in many ways) to tie it around her waist.

After I helped Scott get the booth set up, I was off to the String Thing, a small but growing group of market-goers who bring along their hobbies to work on after they visit the vendors. Ooh, some droolworthy projects in that mix and again the easy-flowing conversation that seems to always be a component of such gatherings!

Eventually, the market was over, the booths packed back into vendors' cars and trucks, and the Hale Homestead volunteers had a meeting. This included discussing their part in the season's many planned activities and events while chopping vegs and cooking veggie soup in the Hale kitchen's fireplace, then feasting together in the side yard and finishing off their party meeting with the leftovers from the Hale tea and cake sales of the day -- tea flavored with mint grown in the homestead's garden and sweets made from recipes from Nathan Hale's time.

Since only one of those volunteers is too young to drive, her chauffeur couldn't have been happier to wait in the sunshine, with the silence interrupted in the most pleasant of ways by an occasional passerby on horseback.

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Rebecca Z, your bead idea turned out well, I think! Leave a comment that includes your email addy and/or Ravname so I can contact you directly. Pic to come soon!