Aug 25, 2012
When I worked as a seasonal ranger for the National Park Service, August 25 was a great excuse for a party. Dubbed “Christmas in August”, we enjoyed more of each other’s company with a dose of Christmas cooking and perhaps a small present or two. When you live in a transient, isolated small community, hanging out together is a pretty popular activity. Most of us wouldn’t be together for the winter holiday and the summer season was beginning to wind down. While there might be mulled cider at “Christmas in December,” there never were stockings and Saint Nick wasn’t even discussed.
Thanks to the NPS for this aerial view.
Now that you know this little tidbit about me, you can understand why debuting a Christmas stocking pattern in late August isn’t so crazy. It gives you plenty of time for you to knit up a couple for this Christmas.
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to reproduce Christmas stockings for a Stoneham, MA family. When their girls were small, a neighbor had knit them each a stocking. Now that the girls are women and building their own families, the parents wanted to add a stocking for the son in laws as well. The original stocking was typical sock construction, with a seam up the back and an attached loop to hang from the chimney. I altered the pattern to work the stocking in the round and incorporated the loop into the stocking itself. For those who hate to seam, this is a simple stocking for you!
I’m planning to riff on this pattern for some color work holiday stockings, but click The Warren Christmas Stockings by Alanna Nelson for your own copy of this classic Christmas stocking to knit in worsted weight yarn.
Aug 7, 2012
Throughout this spring, I wondered why on earth I didn’t have more spring sweaters. The Lilly pullover was finally finished in mid June. I even had an opportunity to wear it while working at Sit and Knit one day before it got too hot! As I knit, I realized that my warm weather projects the last few years included:
Carmine in Berrocco Touche (this yarn was a great buy at the Boston Knitting Guild‘s yearly auction) was my first skirt, finished in 2009.
In 2010, inspired by those wild and wonderful women at Yarns in the Farms, here’s my “leftover skirt.”
Lily Chin’s crochet dress crowned my spring/summer in 2011, which I wore to my sister’s wedding last year. I am very sorry to say that despite wearing this dress loads, I have yet to properly photograph it. You’ll have to live with this:
Making skirts and dresses has been great and I’ve worn them happily. That doesn’t change the fact that I need some spring sweaters. I retired a lovely cotton zip cardi in 2010. I still miss it. So what did I cast on?
Sasha, a skirt pattern from Louet
Logical.
It was a fantastically wonderfully project for my long haul international flight. I had three skeins of Louet Euroflax in green and a few other skeins in the stash. I decided that the top ruffle was unnecessary enhancement on my short torso, so the idea was a green tier of lace, a yellow tier of lace and finish with blue. Or at least that was the original idea. I’ve finished the green and blue tiers. What do you think?
I’m very tempted to pull out the blue ruffle and move it up to the second tier and have the yellow kick out of the bottom. There’s a great temptation to lengthen the skirt as well. Rippit? Or, is it time to cast on a spring cardi…..
Jun 6, 2012
A barometer of culture and class, fashion has always reflected our values. The textiles in your life are, in essence, a reflection of your style and a statement of time and place. One of today’s guests on the WBUR On Point radio highlighted just how true this is.
Elizabeth Cline, author of “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion” was today’s guest. Her travels in Asia, researching the factories and lifestyles of those who produce much of the world’s inexpensive clothing, resulted in a not surprisingly dismal report. It is all quite obvious…. how else can shirts sell for less than $20 or shoes at the same price? I haven’t read the book, but it appears that her analysis is on target, and it will be interesting to see how the larger manufacturers, retailers and fashion media respond to her journalism.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this come up in public discourse. Last month, at the Common Cod Fiber Guild, Clara Parkes of the Knitter’s Review spoke about a Texas company which has become the last remaining large fleece processing plant in the US. She spoke of disappearing small lot dye houses. She reminded us that many of our favorite US yarn brands are simply distributors of products milled increasingly in China (although South America, Italy and Turkey still have a big stake in the game). She also shared some of the stellar U.S., British and European yarn brands who are holding on against the tide.
You are what you wear and what you create. Choose carefully.
Roving braids seen at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival
May 10, 2012
Has anyone figured out how to create an additional 6 to 8 hours in a day? If so, please comment below. Spring sprouts projects!
I jumped on board for my first sail of the season last Saturday. 
There had been no time to choose a new project, so a sleeve to the Lily sweater on dpns came along. No needles were lost overboard!
My other knitting projects include commissioned Christmas stockings and corrections to the Level II of the Master Knitter Program. Now that I think about it, you could call theses two projects “treat or torture” respectively. In any case, these projects needed to stay on land.
Perhaps next week there will be time to fondle fiber and choose summer sailing projects.
As promised, here is the top to the “Signature Sunspots” quilt, which is waiting for me to reschedule my long arm quilting appointment. The back is a hodgepodge of fabrics… let me gently remind quilters to always square after every seam? I forgot this on one band. When the pieces get large, there’s a lot to remember. The signatures are on the vertical light blue bands.
As for garments, perhaps I can create them in my sleep, as I’ve heard happens in Hong Kong? My l’il gymnast has a big school dance in early June. She has requested a dress. We were in New York at the beginning of May and we stopped by Mood. She got to pet the dog made famous by Project Runway, and we chose some great fabric. Then there’s that skirt I drafted for the Drama Queen. She’ll be home this weekend and hopefully that will head out the door.
And to top it off, gold work embroidery haunts moments carved from the to do list. Oh, yes, more garments on my horizon…. my summer travels include a wedding in Beirut in July.
It’s all I can do to stop daydreaming about knitted sofa covers, punch needle trims, tassels I want to try and the possible.
So yes, anyone with ideas about how to create those extra hours…
May 1, 2012
No, not pick up lines! My favorite lines are found in textiles and on sailboats. In New England, the sailing season is six months long if you belong to a club. Now that the merry month of May has arrived, I am ready to combine my favorite lines.
This requires not only pulling out the foul weather gear, but lining up the appropriate knitting projects to go with sailing. My requirements:
- on circular needles
- able to fit in the front pouch pocket of wind breaker
- not too difficult of a stitch pattern
- no more than 2 colors
Anyone have any recommendations for this season’s projects?
