Finally...something besides that Jack o"Lantern!!

It's been busy around my house...
since Halloween, the addition has moved along nicely. The guestroom is just about done, although probably won't be inhabitable when my sister's family comes for Thanksgiving...but at least the new bathroom will be functioning!

I've just about driven my builder to a Home for the Hopelessly un-Hinged by taking SOOOOOOOOO long to make the sun room flooring choices and then, when I finally did decide....it's turned out to be a floor from Spain which will take ages and ages and ages to get here... plus there are some installation issues because of the type of stone it is...so now I'm thinking it would be really nice to have the sun room done by Christmas.



And then the other big thing of course was Beauty & the Beast at McDowell High School. Here's my very own personal Chip(ped) tea cup!! :He loves being on stage and had a blast with all the high school theatre arts kids, but we were all pretty done in by the intense rehearsal schedule and run of shows last weekend.

But



despite all the distractions,

I have managed to make some progress on my knitting projects and even teach a few classes.
Here are the ladies working on Fair Isle hats. They're using Debbie Bliss Rialto, DK or Baby Cashmerino which all feel like butter, and everyone was pretty focused on getting down the technique for working with 2 strands of yarn at a time. I love all their color choices!

I also have a Mitten class going on, and the 2 lace shawls, plus another Intarsia Bag class, and it looks like there's enough interest in an evening Oops class to schedule something for December or early January. So it's looking pretty busy.

Shirani has turned the shop into a Holiday Wonderland of gift ideas, kits and beautiful new yarns, so stop by and take a look.

Yours in knitting,
Claire

A Confession...

This morning I accepted the fact that I have an awful lot of yarn...




maybe more than is normal...





probably more than can be knit in a lifetime...





So, with the kids back in school, and in the spirit of getting organized, I decided to take a serious look at all the yarn I have tucked around the house. Admittedly, this urge to do some housekeeping didn't wash over me till quite late in the afternoon so I only really had an hour or so before the chaos of the children's return from school descended upon the peace and quiet...I should have known better...

As you might imagine, what started out sort of leisurely, ended up kind of frantic, compounded by the realization - once I'd actually dragged out my piles and piles and piles and bags and bags and bags of stashed yarn and really saw what I had - that my husband was just going to freak if he walked in and saw the state of things...



This is sort of how things looked at about the time I realized the kids were going to walk in the door at any second and maybe my husband had been right about there being an awful lot of yarn in the house and did I really need to EVER buy anymore?

Those big plastic tubs on the left there are the ones with the yarn I really like - the yarn I really intend on using because it's either a project for a class or something I promised I would make for someone, or well it's just so gorgeous how could I not use it... (This is technically only a small portion of "The Stash" because there are already 4 tubs in the basement that I'm sort of in denial about: yarn I can't believe I ever liked, projects that I hated almost immediately upon starting, and maybe worst of all (this is part of the confession - the secrets nobody really needs to know about me) stuff, maybe even nice stuff, I ripped off the needles midway through because I needed those needles urgently (?) for something else and the tangled mess left behind was too hopeless to ever sort out but the guilt kept me from throwing it away...)OHMYGOD what a run-on...

That basement stuff really never enters my mind, so I don't realistically, or maybe optimistically, consider it part of the problem.

Anyway, back to the task at hand, that drawer on the right was my allotted space for yarn (what could I have been thinking. Now that I've moved tons out of that drawer and into the bins, I can not only close the drawer, but I can see at a glance the sock yarn I have available should the urge to start another one strike.

Now that's a nice variety!

Also visible in that drawer are a couple of my many knitting bags (and by many I mean it's almost a sickness) that are holding the various works-in-progress that I'm going to need in the very near future for a class. Other knitting bags are holding works-in-progress that I'm not really in the mood for but think I might get back to some day...haha...they are now tucked up in the really really really high cupboards in my mudroom that I need a chair to get to but mostly I just feel better because they're out of my sight - more denial??

It took me somewhat aback when I really thought about it and looked behind every chair, in every closet, under every bed, EVERYWHERE, and there was always another bit of yarn. I'm not going to tell you how many of those plastic Cultured Purl bags I found, still with un-touched yarn in them, because you wouldn't believe it and it makes me a little sick to think about it. Then, just when I thought I had found it all, I remembered the hoards and hoards of that lovely green alpaca I got to make that seed-stitch car coat AGES ago and well, Rita, it's just NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. So I got that out from it's hiding place behind Nana's very large empire dresser in the corner, and hid it at the bottom of the bottom-most bucket. There's that handy denial again!



Here it is, hidden well, by all this beautiful yarn. Aren't the colors and the textures just the prettiest thing you've ever seen? See, looking at this, I just want to keep this all out because I really should be able to something wonderful with it. You know what I mean?


So, I had started out thinking I would actually sort the yarn and label it, organize it, store it sensibly so I could find it later....(....she pauses to consider just how optimistic to the point of ridiculous that sounds knowing herself as she does)...then reality set in (and the clock was after all ticking away) so it all just got pretty much STUFFED in bins and stacked in a dry and well-lit corner of the basement,

leaving

only

this....



sort of prettyish little wooden bowl holding a reasonable, sensible, normal amount of yarn...

The amount any normal person would expect to see in a the home of a friend who knits!

And so, having confessed to my gluttony, and having subsuquently hidden pretty much all evidence of my vice, I can go back to my one, neatly organized, knitting bag, waiting patiently beside my chair in the front room, and knit a few rows on my tablerunner, feeling completely unencumbered my all the other yarn and projects I no longer have to look at!

Yours in knitting,
Claire

Camping as our Forefathers Did...

NOT!: starting the campfire with a propane blowtorch...

That's Dad, starting the morning fire - truly my favorite part of camping : no bugs, I survived another night, the coffee's steamy hot and soothingly fragrant, and there's a cool, crisp promise in the air reminding me that life is good.

Sharon, it's raining! POURING in fact, and yes I was able to bring both project bags AND a sock. So, unlike the rest of my family who are grimacing at the threatening inclemency and going a bit stir crazy, I am calm, collected and even comforted by the pitter patter of drizzle knowing there are needles and some wool awaiting my attention!

Yours in knitting,
Claire

Knitting on the Road

It's time for our annual pilgrimage to the wilderness of the Northeast corner of our country, the Pinetree State, "Vacationland" (as stated on their license plates.) Maine: Where we camp under fragrant pine trees, listening to the music of the loons and the soothing sounds of a babbling spring-fed creek, falling asleep under a million sparkling stars set in a deep, crystal clear, non-polluted sky...(I thought I'd begin with that wonderful image instead of describing the dirt and the bugs that are also such a part of camping in the Big Woods!!)

Anyway...I'm getting packed - and although the car is ABSOLUTELY STUFFED TO BURSTING with a BIG tent, 5 sleeping bags, 5 air mattresses, 5 suitcases, a cooler, 5 chairs, cooking supplies, 3 bike helmets, a scooter, a bunch of fishing poles, a tackle box, my watercolor stuff, a medical kit, 5 beach towels, 2 lanterns, many flashlights, a portable fan, the hotel bag for tomorrow night, my bag of shoes (yes, I take tooooo many for a week in the dirt), the bird book, binoculars, (although Maine has a tick problem too so I don't know for sure...), 2 portable DVD players, my purse, a snack pack, 5 pillows, 3 kids' worth of blankets, backpacks, iPods, Nintendo games, and stuffed animals, 2 umbrellas, and an assortment of CD'S and books on tape...- I've still got to decide on which knitting project to bring.



A dilemma: the big bag with the diamond shawl design which I am chomping at the bit to finish... or the small bag with the quickie little ella rae purse project. Note here that this would have been a conundrum or even possibly a quandary if I could have put my hands on the MULTITUDE of sock projects I have going on right now. Yes Rita, you're right, a sock would be the perfect thing to take, BUT OHMYGOD, I can't find where I stashed them all when I started the shawl project...I had to hide them you see so I would feel guilty about all the unfinished things I have on the needles...

So it is, after all, just a dilemma.

I will let you know tomorrow what I decided to take. You see, I am hoping to blog as I go from my Treo and my digital camera! Wish me luck!

Yours in knitting,
Claire

10,000 Stitches

There are 10,000 stitches in an average woman's handknit sock. A staggering amount when you consider that there's still another one to knit...

"10,000" pops up all around us:

There are roughly 10,000 minutes in a week; 10,000 lakes in Minnesota; 10,000 days in the Vietnam War;

It's the number of seconds it takes to repair a heart valve; it is the number of other neurons in our brain that each single neuron touches; it is the number of steps we should aim to walk in a day to maintain a healthy level of fitness.

It's the name of a band - 10,000 Maniacs; the name of an album - 10,000 Days; the name of a song by Bob Dylan - 10,000 Men.

It is the collective name (The Year 10,000 Problem ) for all potential software bugs that will emerge as the need to express years with five digits arises; it is the size (processor speed) of the enormous Linux computer NASA built; it is the name (Powers of Ten Thousand) of a technique for browsing a very large space using a macroscope.

It is the number of yards from my house to Cultured Purl; the number of meters in a HECTARE; and, the metric length of my husband's favorite competitive road race.

It is the value of the US Treasury note featuring a picture of Salmon P. Chase (US Treasury Secretary under President Lincoln); and,


bringing us finally to the point of this post (!),


it is the number of known bird species in the world:

10,000 different kinds of birds...I've just finished a book about the "Big Listers", those very driven bird watchers whose goal is to see every bird on earth... Only a baker's dozen or so have managed to see 7,000. And 2 have made it to the 8,000 mark. An inspiring story...one of those 2, a woman, had been an avid birder for some time when she received an imminently terminal cancer prognosis. Rather than quietly succumbing to the disease, she decided to spend what little time she had left traveling around the world seeing as many types of birds as she could. 17 years later!!!, she had listed nearly 8,500 birds - a world record...

There are roughly 900 species of birds in North America. And interestingly enough, about 320 pass through our very own Presque Isle each year! Who would have thought, tucked away up here in our little corner of the world, there'd be such a plethora of feathered delights. So, I have been trying to persuade my family (even one fellow avian sleuth would be nice company) that birdwatching would be an exciting and fulfilling hobby to take up, considering how one of the busiest bird sanctuaries is a mere stone's throw away from our house. so far no takers...my husband did raise his eye brows a little when I said all it really takes is a good pair of binoculars and some time: asking, when did I think I would knit...

so, it's looking like I'm on my own with this one. But if any of my knitting friends feel like putting the needles aside for a bit and strolling around the peninsula, let me know!

Until then,
yours in yarn,
Claire

Cherry Tree Hill

I am knitting a sock out of some gorgeous new yarn Shirani just got in:

Cherry Tree Hill's 100% superwash merino fingering weight sock yarn, lovingly and beautifully hand dyed in Barton VT - a quintessentially New England village tucked waaaaayyyyyyyy up in the Northeast Kingdom.

There are lots and lots of amazing colorways in every shade you can imagine and then some. But really the most charming skeins are the one-of-a-kinds called "Pot Luck" which you can request in a color family: Earth, Blues/Greens, Brights, Water, Blues/Purples, and Jewels. Beyond selecting the tone, the exact blend of colors will be a surprise! One skein of perfectly soft, perfectly plied, perfectly luscious merino begging to be knit up into a unique, not to be duplicated, made from the heart, pair of warm, (lightly) woolly socks!

I have to admit though, when I first looked at this lovely skein, I was surprised that Cherry Hill had labeled this particular pot-luck as a member of the Water group. Being that it was pretty much green...


However, once I'd worked an inch or two of ribbing, it suddenly dawned on me how beautifully the fabric evoked the idea of early blooms and freshly budding trees reflected in a mirror-like still pond on a warm, sunny, spring day. Taking a closer look at the gentle greens, soft pinks, lavenders, and buttercup yellows, with just the merest hint of robin's egg blue, I was reminded that water really is not blue at all, but colorless until it finds something colorful to reflect.

The hues of this skein don't shout out with vibrancy, but are much more subtle. Gradually emerging as the fabric unfolds from the needles, becoming something lovely: ethereal and impressionistic. Almost too nice for the pedestrian task of warming my hard working feet! Really more deserving of becoming an elegant sweater, but just the thought of all those stitches on 0's or 1's is replacing the calm of a soft, breezy, spring day with a terrible anxiety.....so I'm not going to go there.

I'll leave you instead with some lines from one of my favorite poets; Elizabeth Bishop, whose brilliant use of color and water imagery evokes the same feeling of peace and calm as I'm getting from this yarn! Bishop's poems are full of color, making them beautifully visual as well as lyric and lovely to listen to. Her gun metal blues and white-gold skies, like this beautiful wool, are rich with

"...melody, deep, clear, and liquid slow,
A song to fall like water on my head,
And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!

There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep."

Yours in yarn,
Claire

George and the Mitered Square Blanket

My cousin's wife had a baby boy last week and my mother asked me to knit him a blanket. I considered several typical baby patterns; lacy and delicate. But nothing seemed appropriate for baby George. Such a strong, rugged, manly name would seem to demand a blanket more in keeping with the dragon-slayer image of his namesake, the patron saint of England, my homeland, where my cousin lives. So when Shirani suggested the mitered blanket, which I'll be teaching in the spring, it seemed a perfect match - rugged, brazen, funky and a little daring, but still sweet when done in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK...



While one would wish for the baby to get a good strong dose of St George's courage and fortitude, I do like to think that the choice of name has more to do with his great grandparents: Phyllis and Edward George Turner. Aside from the obvious middle name link, there is another George in our family history: "The George", a small pub in Winslow England where Phyllis and Ted first met and our history begins.

Grandad Ted was, at the time, employed as chauffeur to King George's personal eye surgeon, Sir Richard. It seems the King was a little insecure about his eyesight and liked to keep Sir Richard close at hand, and so it was that Grandad accompanied Sir Richard pretty much all over the world at the King's whim and fancy. While passing through Winslow one day, Grandad stopped for a pint at "The George", owned and operated by Grannie Phyllis'parents. Family lore has it that Grandad took one look at the red-headed barmaid and was smitten. Years later during World War II, while Grandad was serving his country in North Africa, Grannie and my mother, then just a toddler, escaped war-torn London for the relative safety of the rooms above the pub...

Here are my grandparents, with their beloved terrier Rufus. You can't see Grannie's flame red hair in this black & white photo, but I can tell you that she lived well into her 80s with not one day of grey...

I'd like to think that Grandad, a right jolly old chap, would be tickled to see this photo of the two of them, out there for all time on the World Wide Web. Grannie, as far as I know, never knit a stitch in her life, but she'd have certainly been happy to sit down with a gin and tonic for a summer afternoon's chat about the merits of miters!!!

Whether he's named for a dragon slayer, a family landmark, or a charming English gent, baby George has big shoes to fill! I hope his blanket gives him warmth, security, and the courage to recognize, without aid of the eyes, the gifts that life holds for the wise.

Yours in knitting,
Claire