Last night, I was lucky enough to see Stitching Palestine at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
While the film and its stories held me in its web, I kept thinking, “Where’s the embroidery? I want to see and learn more about the embroidery!”
Well, there’s a story to that…
I missed the real action the night before. For the closing celebration of the Palestinian Film Festival, Clotide Abudi’s embroidery was an integral part of the event. Her embroidery will be on exhibit Tuesday through Saturday (October 31 to November 4, 2017) at the Center for Arabic Culture in the Somerville Armory.
[Knit 2, purl 1] to last three stitches… so goes a current sequence on a new Thorn by Bristol Ivy, which I started while sailing last week. Having knit this in 2014, I know that attention is needed with each new section of this easy yet detail specific scarf.
My second Thorn in the same Claudia Handpaints laceweight colorway.
Sequences appear to be a trend this September. As I declared in my last post , the 8th and 9th were days of sequence knitting. Thanks to the Common Cod, Cecilia Campochiaro set a group of knitters off on a day of sequence exploration. Cecilia is an attentive and flexible speaker and teacher who shared her discoveries and a glorious stack of knit samples from her first book.
The Common Cod Class morning results of sequence knitting samples.
On Friday, Cecilia presented the essence of sequence knitting and her path that led to the book’s creation. Like any innovative researcher, she sought to solve the problem of “what can I knit that is interesting but appropriate for traveling?”
“Holy cats,” I thought to myself. My search for traveling knits never goes much further than Ravelry’s pattern search!
If you’ve not had a chance to explore Sequence Knitting, do take the time. The knitting itself is a bit like Soduku. As you settle into different patterns, the resulting fabric that slips off your needles. 8
Many of us experienced “Aha” moments during the class. I enjoyed playing with the different ways to write out serpentine pattern sequences… it was just like junior high math! Cecilia’s class also brought up the cold hard fact that I own a sweater’s worth of indie dyed superwash dk yarn which I don’t want to use…. any takers?
As she works on her second book, Cecilia used the face time with knitters to ask questions about format, layout and undoubtedly, she observed what made students swoon or a moment of pause. Those who love knitting for touch and fabric should dive into her first book now. I would heartily recommend spending the day knitting with Cecilia, which definitely jump starts your comprehension and inspiration.
As I reset professional sequences in my life, many of Cecilia’s observations touched home. How fortuitous to concentrate on a series of knitting riffs as I develop the pattern for the next section of my work.
Bristol Ivy speaks at the Common Cod on November 10, with classes also planned… my goodness, I’m in sequence with the Guild speakers so far this year!
The 397 page exploration of knit an purl has been on my wish list for two years – I’m sure the price deters my family from buying me another knitting book. Well, it’s time for wishes to come true.
The Common Cod Fiber Guild is hosting a talk and class with Cecilia on September 8 and 9, 2017 (oh, no, I didn’t have ANYTHING to do with that….). Yours truly will be at both events.
And, I bought myself the book, to continue to play with the joys of knit and purl. There is much to enjoy and do during these glorious summer days, but I can’t wait to spend a Saturday indoors and explore.
September, where did you go? Summer left and I miss it so.
Bare skin, sunshine, warm sailing days slip into sweaters and shawlettes to combat the grey.
The first grey weekend in eons gives me the opportunity to nest in my new studio space, plow ahead on indoor quilting projects and begin blogging again.
Most New Englanders love fall and jump into formation as soon as the first apple drops in late August. Me, I wait for the equinox, with full knowledge that by Thanksgiving, the best of fall leads to that quiet hibernation called winter. Sigh.
Really, I just wanted 20 minutes of light television to keep me company while I knit before heading to bed. Instead, I found the Iris Apfel documentary
A photo posted by Alanna Nelson (@tactiletravels) on
That doesn’t mean my stitch and glow lifestyle stops. I just don’t take time to blog about it. After all, there’s only so many hours in a day!
There was no sailing for me over the last weekend. All other activities were structured around relocating my studio space from the attic to better digs. There was definitely chaos before catharsis.
A photo posted by Alanna Nelson (@tactiletravels) on
A few other unexpected movements in the house mean I won’t move into my new space until after our summer cruise, which is right after we head up to Montreal for the weekend.
AAAH! No wonder it seems incredible that it’s already August. The last three months have flown by, one great thing after another. Never fear, I decided that blogging is a good way to document all of the fibery goodness that speeds through my life.
