Knitting along The Way

I flew into Toronto last week to visit a dear friend of mine, and her dear husband too! It was a grand vacation for me—something I don’t do often enough. We saw the beautiful new opera house and heard a lovely concert, took in a couple yarn and fabric shops, saw porcelain in the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, went to the Bata Shoe Museum—a wonderful exhibition on the history of shoes, saw the textile exhibit at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), ate Greek food, went out to lunch a couple times… Sigh. It was lovely.

Toronto is wonderful: clean, diverse, lively, cultured. How often do we Americans think to look northward to those riches of nature and culture? And those clever Canadians don’t let winter get them down. In Toronto, there are 10 miles of underground walks and shopping for those days when you can’t bear to brave the elements. I was astounded!

Well, the most amazing experience I had while there was at the Textile Museum of Canada. I saw the exhibit Battleground: War Rugs of Afghanistan. So what the heck is a war rug? Already I didn’t think I wanted to see them if it was about war. But I love handwoven rugs, especially those created as a part of a culture’s expression. I am especially drawn to the borders woven in Turkish, Afghani, Peruvian, or… (fill in the blank with any handweaving culture) textiles. The endless variations are inspiring and I keep envisioning sweater designs in which these motifs are incorporated. But I was not prepared to see borders of colorful images of hand grenades, bullets, mortar shells, and tanks. It was so shocking and jarring! Helicopters and fighter jets, Soviet rifles and American weapons are also depicted, including the Butterfly land mine—a small but deadly piece of plastic often mistaken for a toy by children. Afghanistan is the most heavily mined country in the world and the US is one of only a handful of countries that has refused to sign the agreement to abolish land mines forever…

Here is the main link for the War Rugs. From there you can view the whole collection, including detail shots of each piece and a description. Granted, it’s not easy to view, but it gave me a concrete sense of how living in a war-torn country colors every aspect of one’s existence.  Although it’s not comfortable or pleasant to look at these images, I believe it is important to continue the dialogue these rugs open up. Also you can contact Afghans for Afghans for more information on how you can help to clothe the children of this devastated country. Thanks. May we each embody peace.

What a fabulous winter it has been. I TOTALLY loved every bit of snow that came down and I didn’t get stuck once! Having said that, it is now Mud Season here in Vermont and I am keeping my fingers crossed for safe passage across my 5 miles of dirt road. I must have hunkered down for the season because all of a sudden it is spring, even though the photos below don’t look like it!

I am finishing up a new pattern Aran Winter Set–my timing isn’t so hot, but these mittens and scarf are. It was so fun to work the medallion motif! You won’t fall asleep from boredom while knitting these. I worked them in Classic Elite’s alpaca. Yummy! I hope to get the final pattern edit done in the next month.

Meanwhile, I have been playing around with a different type of Sanquhar Glove. This motif is called Small Shepherd’s Plaid. It has been so fun to knit, but is now presenting me with a real challenge. I want to continue the motif into the fingers without interruption, but the stitch count/ motif counts aren’t cooperating. So far so good on the thumb and first finger, but from there I have to think on it awhile…

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2008 Events
In rearranging my schedule, I was able to open up some more dates for workshops. They are:

May 10-11 The Norwegian Fana Cardigan in Forest Hill, MD. I will be hosting a workshop in Forest Hill, Maryland on May 10 and 11 (Saturday and Sunday) at my mother’s B&B “Be My Guest” (http://www.geocities.com/bemyguestbandb/). If you love a Victorian atmosphere and some great cooking (my Mom’s the best) while taking a knitting class, give me a call to schedule your reservation. 802-387-3025. The class will cost $150 for the two days, which includes lunch. If you would like to stay at the B&B, you can contact Edith Brown for room rates, which include breakfast (410-838-8943). And info can be provided for local restaurants for dinner.

I will be teaching the Norwegian Fana Cardigan over two days, limiting enrollment to a small group. If you have never sewn a steek or cut your knitting, this is the class for you! I love to teach this class–there are so many interesting techniques those clever Norwegians have come up with to create this gorgeous garment. Here’s the class description:

The Norwegian Fana Cardigan, 12 hours
Level: Intermediate to advanced (Experience with double pointed needles is helpful.) — The classic details and traditional construction of the Norwegian Fana Cardigan sweaters will be taught in this two-day workshop through the knitting of a small sweater. Techniques to be learned include circularly knitted body and sleeves, square and drop shoulder armholes, cut-and-sew armholes and front, cleverly knitted self -facings, buttonbands, and 2-color star, band, and checkerboard patterns. Designing one’s own Fana cardigan will be discussed.

July 12-13 OPEN

July 19-20, 2008 Summerlude-a Vermont weekend. Hosted by Margaret Klein Wilson of Mostly Merino yarns for an intimate group (around 10 people). I will be teaching Swedish Cast-Ons, the Norwegian Purl, and Latvian Mittens. Contact Margaret through www.mostlymerino.com.

August 2-3 Tentative workshop
August 10-16, 2008 Annual Vermont Retreat–this year in two parts! Hosted by Margaret Klein Wilson of Mostly Merino. There may still be a few spaces left! (Is this really the FIFTH year? WOW!!) I will be teaching Sanquhar Gloves (one part), Norwegian Purl, Twined Mittens, and Swedish Cast-Ons (the other part). Mix and match! Contact Margaret through www.mostlymerino.com.

September 13-14 OPEN

November 10-17 I will be teaching (my fifth time here too) at the Olema Inn in Olema, CA, north of San Francisco. This elegant Inn offers exquisite local, organic cuisine. Hey, it’s good enough for Bonnie Prince Charles, it’s good enough for the rest of us! (See the Olema website for The Royal Visit that was. For my workshop info, check back in another couple weeks–they don’t have all the updated info there yet for this coming November.) I will be teaching Sanquhar gloves on the 12th and 13th and Norwegian Mittens on Nov. 15. Seamless Arans will be offered on Nov. 16. You can pick and choose which classes you’d like or take the Full Monty!

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2009 Events

March 13-15: I am honored to be invited to teach at the Nordic Knitting Conference in Seattle. Stay tuned for classes to be determined!

August 22- September 3, 2009: Plan now for a Baltic cruise with me and Nancy Bush on the Holland America line. We will visit St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen, the Oslofjord, Tallin, and Helsinki, to name a few cities, plus three days at sea filled with knitting classes! You can check out Craft Cruises for more information as it develops.

Whew! I think that’s it for now. Oh there’s a backlog of things form the fall I meant to get up on the blog. I’ll try to get to them later! Have a wonderful spring everyone!

Now where did four months go?  Well, I’ll tell ya…  As Grace Slick says, “It’s a new dawn” and it surely is.  I was going along this year minding my own business, teaching my workshops, when in August I went up to my beloved Vermont for my annual workshop there, held by Margaret Klein Wilson of Mostly Merino.  Dear Margaret listened to me whine yet again about how I wished I could live in Vermont and she handed me the newspaper so I could look through the rental section.  Well, long story short, I found, or was directed to, the most wonderful house in the world.  It fits me like a glove and I couldn’t be more thrilled!   The room that has a whole wall of windows is my bedroom and each morning I wake up to a view of the meadow and woods beyond.  (That’s my daughter Chelsea in front of the house.) Of course, this photo was taken in August, and the leaves have turned and fallen now.  There’s even been some snow.  I have brushed up on my fire-building skills from 30 years ago, to use the fireplace.   It’s a new phase for me, living without the kids around.   I am excited with the prospect of having time to do all those things I want to do… like spinning, weaving, maybe get back into dyeing, as well as finishing up a bunch of knitting patterns and sweaters, and The Book.  I finally figured out what the real name of this blog is, so once again I have changed it– this time, for good.  And I am rethinking my goal of writing every week.  I simply do not have that many interesting things to write about.  So rather than waste your time and cause myself great stress, I will aim for posting once a month.  And if I am seized by a need to post an extra time, well, fine.

Over the weekend, my friend Karen and I had our “Movie Night”. We are making a new tradition. Since I don’t really have a life (except when I am away teaching), this is my big night out about every 3 weeks. The first time we did this, we ordered pizza delivery and watched Patsy Zowakowski’s video on spinning cotton and flax. This week Karen got Thai food, and I brought decadent chocolate dessert. The point of this is actually NOT the eating part, but to get together, have fun, and actually look at those DVDs and videos we bought oh so long ago. You know, to learn something! We were going to watch Mabel Ross’ video on spinning, but as my brain was fried from reading (and finishing) Harry Potter almost non-stop, we watched some sillly movie on her Tivo. Hmm, didn’t learn much, but had a good time. This is what I am working on right now:

It’s weird (but fun) to be knitting my own Fana sock pattern again after all these years! I am using Louet’s Gems Merino. SO yummy and very nice to work with!

I think it is a good thing to schedule fun. If I don’t I just stay home and work.
Many of us work too hard ALL the time. Knitting is great, and even better in company! The next time we have movie night, I think we’ll watch one of my 6 Lucy Neatby DVDs. She is so fun and upbeat, and I always learn something from her. I do recommend her series. Do any of you out there have movie/ knitting night with friends?

And, I won’t whine too much about this, but my soon-to-be-ex could never quite let himself spend money on flowers for me. I don’t mean a single flower…I mean a good ol’ fashioned dozen. I love roses so much that for awhile there I bought them for myself. Well, what a surprise! This lovely bunch was given to me by my daughter, Chelsea. How I cherish them! And her!

Earlier…
I am beside myself with ecstacy! I spent the day working, instead of doing the 4th of July thing. Chapter three is off to the editor. Now I think I will go knit something useless. My brain needs a break.

I have been thinking about the kitchen door. It leads to the outside and half of it is glass. And while I am going through a period of No Curtains In My House, my daughter feels uneasy at the lack of privacy. So I rounded up all my handspun non-wool yarns from two lifetimes ago. Some of it is deliciously spun, and some is almost nasty. It’s a survey of my spinning abilities, you might say. I love to dabble, that’s for sure, because there’s not enough of anything to do something with it. Hmmm, unless I combine a bunch together with some other exotic skeins I’ve picked up here and there.

Some of the skeins

So I envision this curtain, very organic in nature and shape, in hemp, a hemp-cotton blend, aloo from Nepal, bleached and unbleached linen, cotton, jute singles, Ramie boucle and singles I made, gorgeous brown ramie singles and something that looks like twigs (hemp bark) that I got from Habu Textiles. Now, this may get finished AFTER I move out of this house, but ya never know. Anyway, what if I made layers, each one being as much as I can knit from each skein until it runs out? I could make different lengths, different surface patterns, edge treatments, different widths… It may end up looking awful, but I am intrigued enough to try.

So, about the Hair Shirt, or, the more modern word cilice… Actually hair shirts are pretty grim and gruesome uncomfortable things worn for penance, usually made from goat hair (no, not mohair). I spun some goat hair one time and it was not something to cuddle up in! One of my curtain panels reminded me of a hair shirt. This is my first panel and I used a two-ply linen yarn I spun in the ’80s, I think. It looks so pathetic lying there, unblocked. But I have a great vision!

Unblocked:

And later….
I just got back from the TKGA conference in New Hampshire and while I was there, I saw Takako (from Habu Textiles) and bought another skein for my hair shirt, um, curtain. It is called Kenaf and is from Africa. It looks and feels a lot like jute or linen tow, but it is bee-you-tee-ful!

So if anyone is interested, the background of the last photo is a section of my Turkish (as in I Went to Turkey) Rug. It is so lovely, even the part I spilled red wine on. And to think I thought twice about it because of the cost. I am so happy now that I splurged. I have such good memories of that day.

I have been busy this week–I have finished another pattern that’s been lurking around the house. This pattern was in Interweave Knits in 2004 (Fall or Winter) and finally I will have it available very soon. Those mittens were so fun to design and knit!

AND, I sent a chapter off yesterday to my dear editor, Deb Robson! I am feeling accomplished. : ) I am trying to keep up the momentum. I hope you also are having a productive week.

I haven’t posted for awhile because I was very busy preparing for my class I taught at Camp Stitches last week. It was held at Asilomar, a lovely venue, right on the ocean near Monterey, California. It was a relief to be in 65 plus degrees weather with no humidity after Maryland’s upper 80s and 90s with crushing humidity.

The Lusekofte is a sweater from the 1800s that was worn by the men and boys in the Setesdal Valley in south central Norway. It has never lost its popularity and now just about everyone wears them in Norway.

One interesting part of this sweater is that fabric was applied to the cuffs and front panel, and the collar if the sweater had one. These were embroidered–sometimes elaborately, sometimes very simply. Annemor Sunbø stayed at my house a few times and taught me the “antikk” embroidery. You can check out her book on the Lusekofter (plural for Lusekofte)

There is a lot of sewing in this class and I brought my little Featherweight sewing machine along. (You can see it on the back table.) The knitting part is fairly straight-forward. The hand embroidery and the assembly of the sweater are what take so long.

I taught the Norwegian Setesdal Lusekofte for three days. Everyone worked so hard and I am so proud of my class and the sweet sweaters everyone made. Lambchops was especially pleased with her new sweater!

It was a wonderful experience, being with a smaller group of students and staying with them for 3 days. I really prefer that so I can get to know the knitters. I am hoping I can go back to Asilomar next year to teach. It will be held September 11-15.

Beautiful Pittsburgh. It is hard to imagine what Pittsburgh was like 50 years ago with the steel mills belching pollution into the air. It is so different now. When I visited last weekend, Pittsburgh looked to me like a mini-city (compared to Baltimore) nestled in among the mountains with quaint Victorian homes and cute little shops.

I found the Three Rivers Knitting guild to be especially warm and loving. I taught the Gansey class over the weekend and here are the participants, proudly showing their progress. (Hmm, someone seems to be finished knitting their sampler in that picture–no wait! That’s MY little gansey!)

Well, I can’t please everybody, but I got an unkind comment today about my title “Knitting Around”. Yes, I know it’s the title of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s book, and as Meg Swansen said, no one has a copyright on those words. But perhaps it’s best to reconsider my choice. I have just finished reading Jack Kerouac’s book “The Dharma Bums” and am about to get into his all-time classic “On the Road”. At the risk of being unoriginal, I think that title gives the sense that I am observing knitting in my travels. So, that’s where that is!

Hey, everybody, enjoy the day! : )

I am so easily distracted. I begin one thing and one aspect of that task will take me on a tangent to another and another. It is very hard to finish anything, especially with kids (almost adults) hanging around. I love their presence but I really thought they’d be completely self-sufficient by 18. They’re not, and come to think of it, neither was I.

Anyway I’ve had the house to myself for days and am so excited that I have finally finished laying out the Fair Isle (Lativan) Bag pattern I had in the Summer 2004 issue of Interweave Knits. It’s been on the to-do list forever! Now I will get it proofed and printed and hopefully I can start sending it out in two weeks or less to LYS! YAY!

The pattern took awhile because it contains an in-depth study of Continental knitting, the Norwegian purl and corrugated ribbing on the right and wrong sides. I had an article about that in Knits and the bag was to be the learning project. Editorial space being what it is, the article was brief. And I am seldom brief! So the article has been expanded into the pattern with focus on Continental knitting and lots of photos. I am also slogging through multiple learning curves at the same time with Photoshop, Illustrator, In Design… I learn a lot every time I post here, but it takes me forever and it’s HARD. wah!

While I was cleaning up the text for the pattern, I was laying the groundwork for my new chapter in my book–chapter X: Knitting Styles and Technique. It grew out of chapter 3 and became so unmanageable I decided it wants to be its own chapter. I love to multi-task! I have until Friday to keep working on this. I feel like I am on a roll!

I hope you are all having a meaningful Memorial Day, whether it is a time of sadness over the loss of someone dear, or a joyous occasion like a family picnic.