Archives, 2007 | Jung At Heart

Happy New Year!

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 09:01:00 -0500

The snow stopped when it was supposed to -- after dumping a fresh 9 inches on us -- so the city was able to get the streets and sidewalks plowed in time for the New Year's Eve By the Bay revels. We went to see the Katahdin Valley Boys

and their wonderful bluegrass music.

Ameranouche, a gypsy jazz trio in the spirit of Django Reinhardt, came after them

Then over to Main Street for the parade of the Drum & Rabble Corps down to the landing and the bonfire

Then the bonfire

The drums and the fire went on until 1 am. It is a great way to welcome in the New Year.

This morning, the sun gave me a great beginning for my From My Window series launch --

The Flickr Badge in the sidebar is now set for this series.

And now, Clue 1 of the Spring Surprise Shawl is up and I must start a knitting! Another snowstorm is due later today and we have a nice rib roast for dinner.

Enjoy your day as we welcome 2008!

Janus

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:43:23 -0500

Last day of the old year and time to look back at what has been and forward to what will be.

In knitting:

I completed the following projects:

✦ Eunny Jang's Print o' the Wave stole

✦ Scheherazade stole from Pink Lemon Twist

✦ Leda's Dream Stole -- Pink Lemon Twist

✦ Honey Bee Stole from Anne Hanson

✦ Mystic Waters Shawl

✦ Krista Tee from White Lies Designs

I also knitted several pairs of socks, but they seem kind of matter of course to me.

Started, to be finished in a month or so:

✦ Secret of Chrysopolis Stole from the KAL of the same name

✦ Guinevere

✦ Feathers stole based on Swan Lake Mystery Stole

✦ And I got this blog going!

Not too shabby, I think.

Looking ahead to 2008:

✦ I already have 4 lace projects lined up, continuing in my Lace KAL obsession.

✦ I want to knit one of Sharon Miller's patterns from Heirloom Knitting

✦ Contemplating possibly designing something myself.

✦ My daily photo From My Window, starts tomorrow. I'll create a Flickr set and put a link in the sidebar.

I don't do New Year's resolutions, so what the year ahead holds and where it will take me in knitting, reading, my work is open and waiting to be discovered in the living.

It is snowing this morning. We have about 4 or 5 inches of new snow. This storm is supposed to wind down this afternoon then midday tomorrow another moves in. By the time it is over, we may have as much as another 18" of fresh snow.

Happy New Year!

Blog 365?

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:54:41 -0500

Here is an idea whose time has not yet come for me -- Blog 365. Yes, a blog post a day for a year. I didn't manage to get a post a day for one month, November, so who would I be kidding to say I would do one a day for a year? I must say though that NaBloPoMo helped me to pick up the pace of my posting -- I have managed to post 20 out of 29 days so far this month and that, my friends, is progress.

Something along the lines of Blog 365 is on my agenda for 2008 though. I have a great view from my window -- across the harbor and down into Penobscot Bay. I have decided to do a Year From My Window and take a picture first thing when I get up each morning. I'm thinking of creating another blog for it -- I'll let you know.

Prep time

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 07:29:52 -0500

When I woke up this morning, it finally dawned on me that I have some serious prep work to do for several things I will be teaching in the next few months. At the end of January, I am teaching a one day seminar at the Senior College on blogs and blogging -- got to get that material organized. About Senior College -- I love this whole concept! Classes in short 6 week semesters on all kinds of subjects, many of them quite intellectually demanding, for folks who are 50 and older. It is a great group to teach plus no grades, tests or papers!

Then March 15, I will be doing a one day workshop at the C. G. Jung Center in Brunswick on Medea and Betrayal. I have done this workshop/seminar twice before here in Belfast so I have a good idea of how much territory I can cover in a day, but I want to work on it some more.

And in the spring I will be teaching about psychological type at the Senior College.

Yikes!

Then yesterday when I called Helen at Heavenly Socks Yarn -- because Spike made off with my teeny crochet hook that I use to apply beads when I knit -- she asked if I would be interested in teaching a course on beads and lace. Which I am but that's another preparation and I have to get a description in soon.

Fun, eh? From blogging to Medea to knitting with beads!

We bought a new recliner and Moe has decided it is a wonderful thing. This is the face of a happy cat

because he can arrange himself on my lap so that my hand just happens to fall on his soft furry belly --

We had ourselves a Merry Little Christmas

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:15:39 -0500

We did indeed. Christmas Eve we finished up wrapping and baking. I finally got the stole I made for my daughter blocked -- it is Scheherazade from MS 2. I ended up steam blocking rather than pinning it all out and it turned out just fine. The photo doesn't show the design very well but you get an idea --

It made me very happy that she loves it.

Yesterday we hung around here by ourselves till noon. It was lowkey for us as neither of us really wanted anything so we just enjoyed being with each other. then off to Courtney's house for dinner.

The moon was bright on the ride home, brighter than I have ever seen it. It was perfect.

Merry Christmas

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:52:20 -0500

There are cookies to be baked and presents to be wrapped today and tomorrow. And Tuesday we are off to my daughter's home for Christmas dinner. I'll be back to post here on Wednesday.

Growing up is so very hard to do!

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:37:32 -0500

Christmas once the kids are grown up is tough in some new ways that I am still trying to figure out.

When I was growing up, my dad was in the Army so we almost never got to be with family at Christmas. My brothers were both grown and gone by the time I was 7, which meant that most years, it was just me and my parents. The last time my family had a big extended family get-together was in 1954 -- and even then, neither of my brothers were there though my grandparents and some of my aunts and uncles and cousins were. When I was in high school, one year both of my brothers came to our house for Christmas and there was a year or two like that when I was in college. And that background created in me a yearning for family on the holidays.

When my first husband and I got married, we went to visit our parents that first year but after that we decided we would stay home. And we began our own traditions which multiplied after the kids came along. Like the year, when David was 3, that we started going to the movies late afternoon on Christmas Eve as a way to help keep him from jumping out of his skin with excitement. And the Christmas Eve package with pajamas every year. And a special Christmas breakfast to eat after all the gifts were opened. And a big prime rib roast for dinner. I loved it all and love it still.

After the divorce we made some adjustments. The kids went to their dad's Christmas Eve and then came back to my house to spend the night and we would have our Christmas on Christmas Day. It wasn't the same. I missed going to the movies, which became an activity with their dad. But enough remained that I was happy and I built some new things for myself around the day they were not with me.

Then I moved to Michigan. That first year, both kids came out to be with us. It was a great time for us, though maybe not so much for them as there was a lot of new family and friends for them to meet. The next 3 years they came to see us, but not at Christmas. I missed them fiercely. Neal and I melded our traditions together -- to his friend's house Christmas Eve -- after we went to a movie -- and then Christmas at home before going out to visit his family.

Now we are back in Maine. And my daughter has married. Though both of my kids live within a couple of hours of here, we don't see them all that often -- and any ideas I had of casual Sunday dinners together are long gone. The first year they both came and all spent the night here and we had a Christmas a lot like the ones we used to have. Last year they came up Christmas afternoon.

In June my daughter moved in to their new house. And she waned to have Christmas there. So she invited us. Initially it was to include her dad also, which would have been odd but okay with me, but he is unlikely to come. So we will go there Christmas Day for dinner. I understand her desire to have Christmas in her house, I really do. And I am more than willing to go this year. And we will have fun, I know.

But I am realizing that after being home for 35 of the last 37 years, I am really not wanting to do it this way again. I am finding it really hard to get into the holiday. We have had our tree up for 5 days now but still haven't put lights on it. And I keep putting off doing other holiday stuff. Because it just doesn't feel like Christmas to me knowing we won't be home that day. Silly, I know. But there it is. I like being the mom and gathering my family around me.

I think I have found a new sense of common ground with my mother, who must have felt much the way I do when I, her last child, decided not to come for Christmas. But what I want to do is find a way to make something new, that recognizes the changes that have occurred, that preserves the parts of what was that have a place in what will be, and that opens the way for what can be meaningful and delightful in a way similar to what was. I don't know yet what that will be. Maybe we will start a tradition of an open house for our friends around the holidays. The door here will always be open to my kids, but they must also know that they are free to develop their own traditions; we will work it all out. And in that mix, we will all find a way to celebrate our lives, together and separately.

This growing up business is very hard sometimes.

Stay tuned...

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:51:33 -0500

I am halfway through the last clue for Mystic Waters. It's possible I will finish it today though tomorrow is more likely.

In the meantime, a cookie recipe to keep you busy -- I have had this recipe for around 15 years and no longer remember where it came from.

Ginger-rum sandwich cookies

2 C flour

2/3 C granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C cold butter, cut into 8 pieces

1/2 C sour cream

1 egg white beaten with 2 tsp water for glaze

Preheat oven to 350? . Grease 3 large baking sheets. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, ginger and sale. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs ( I use my food processor). Add sour cream and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

On a floured surface roll dough out 1/8" thick. Cut out dough using a well floured cutter. Brush cookies with glaze. Place 1" apart on baking sheets.

Bake 8-11 minutes, until pale golden on top. Cool on racks.

Ginger-rum buttercream

1 1/2 C butter softened

2-3 tsp. minced crystallized ginger

3 C powdered sugar

3 T. dark rum

Beat together butter and ginger until creamy. Add powdered sugar 1/4 C at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually drizzle in rum, beating until smooth and creamy.

Spread buttercream about 1/8" thick over bottoms, top with glazed cookie tops. Store in airtight container at room temp for 3 days, in frig for 5 days. Can be frozen.

And the meme goes on...

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:52:57 -0500

So here I am cruising through blogs this afternoon and I discover more items for the meme --

25. Shopping...I am proud to say I have not been in a mall in 3 years. Of course it helps that I live in a small town far from the nearest one, but I swore off them even before I came here. I hate, loathe, despise malls! I shop locally and online.

26. Do you decorate outside for Christmas or just inside (or at all?)

We put a wreath on the door. And we always have vague ideas about something more. But it doesn't usually happen.

27. Favorite Christmas cookie?

Hmm, today I would say ginger-rum sandwich cookie. But it could and likely will change.

28. Do you own Christmassy clothing or jewelry?

I have a red sweater I made sometime in the very early 90's. It is quite something with some red angora, sequins and other glories that only that period and a crazy Anny Blatt design could bring. I wear it on Christmas defiantly with pride.

29. Do you believe in Santa?

But of course!

Christmas Meme

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:41:23 -0500

I saw this on several blogs, so I stole it.

Christmas Meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. When I was in high school I got all involved with learning to make fancy bows and I did that until I had kids. Then came the stick on bows. Then came the no bows because kittens and kids took them off.

2. Real or artificial tree? Real. My father sold Christmas trees during the Depression -- I heard the stories every year when I was growing up. I ended up being somewhat perfectionistically committed to finding the most nearly perfect tree possible. But artificial is just a no-go for me.

3. When do you put up the tree? Any time after Thanksgiving.This year it will be this week. I think we'll get the tree tomorrow.

4. When do you take it down? New Year's Day or sometime before Valentine's Day.

5. Do you like eggnog? Only the kind I make.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? a Madame Alexander doll which was Jo from Little Women.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My son.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My husband.

10. Worst Christmas present you ever got? A box of dishwasher detergent. My ex-husband thought it was a joke. The humor of it evaded me.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail but only a few.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story followed closely by Elf.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? When the spirit moves me.

14.. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.

15. Favorite thing to eat on Christmas? Roast beef.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear and this year we have new LED lights which are kind of yellow like candlelight.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Good King Wenceslas

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay at home. But this year, we will go to my daughter's house Christmas Day. Because i am a good and flexible mom.

19. Can you name all of Santa's Reindeer? Yes.

20. Angel or star on top of tree? Neither

21. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning. Morning.

22. Most annoying thing this time of year? Too much hype

23. Do you decorate your tree in any theme or color? Nope. Lots of ornaments from my childhood, my kids' childhoods, things we have gotten along the way. Combination of breakable and unbreakable. We buy a new ornament every year.

24. What do you leave for Santa? Used to be cookies and milk.

Slow start...

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 12:13:38 -0500

It's a slow start to Christmas for me this year. We haven't gotten our tree yet and likely won't until Tuesday. And though my cards have arrived, I have not begun to address them. No holiday knitting for me to do as I finished the stole for my friend and will not be knitting for anyone else.

So this weekend, I will figure out what cookies we will make and I'll start writing cards.

But first I have to finish listening to The Last Town on Earth, which is our book group book this month. It took me a while to get into the book, but now I like it a great deal. I have only 3 hours left to listen to, so I should finish today. And while I do, I will knit clue 7 of Mystic Waters.

Tallying

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:22:42 -0500

I have finished Clue 5 of Mystic Waters, meaning I am now just 2 clues behind. The rows have become pretty long but the pattern is fun to knit so it goes easily.

I want also to make some more headway on Secret of the Stole -- all the clues have been issued, but I have 3 left to knit. I am bartering this one with a friend who is an artist -- she will give me one of her masks in exchange. So, I need to get going on it.

I decided I will use the terra-cotta cashmere/silk for the Secret of Chrysopolis. I ordered beads yesterday so when they arrive I will start that one.

Now here is where the madness enters -- there are 5 mystery KALs starting after the holidays and I plan on downloading the clues and knitting them as I can. I have yarn for Spring Surprise(the Yahoo Group name is spelled "Surprice), and for at least 3 of the others. But right after Christmas I need to gather the information and assign yarn to project and figure out how to organize myself.

On some level, I seem to be operating as if a lace pattern and yarn famine is imminent.

Isn't it a rule...

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:18:32 -0500

that you start a new project as soon as you finish an old one, even if you have a gazillion others on the needles? I'm sure I read that somewhere.

Anyway, I started itching to start something new. So I made a swatch out of the terra-cotta Colourmart cashmere/silk.

I made no effort to hard block it and didn't even pin it. I washed it in hot water then finger-blocked it and let it dry. It measures 5" wide, which is about 6 stitches/inch. The length, and my swatch is one pattern repeat sorter than given in the pattern, is 4.5" over 20 rows. So it looks like gauge would be fine. The stole would end up about 21" wide, which is what I like. Now I have to decide if it is too open. This yarn is so light and soft. I would add beads, which would increase the weight and give more drape. What do you think?

It snowed all day Monday into yesterday. We had flurries into the afternoon. We ended up with about 14".

It was very cold when I got up today -- 6F. When I looked out, I saw the arctic sea smoke, which always seems magical to me. Here is what I saw at sunrise this morning--

SNOW!

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:23:13 -0500

They promised snow and it has arrived!

We're expecting 12-14". One of the things I love about living here is that a snowstorm is cause for excitement. not panic. Yesterday when we went to buy cat litter, the supermarket was not filled with panicked people buying bread and milk -- because we know snow is not the end of civilization as we know it. Pretty soon there will be kids sledding down the hill outside our house -- one of the best things about our house is that we live right on one of the premiere sledding hills in town so we get to watch and hear kids reveling in the delights of snow.

Our street has already been plowed once and the storm has hardly begun -- we are supposed to get snow through tomorrow morning. The Belfast road crew does an outstanding job!

Now to a day of knitting and watching movies.

Red sky at morning

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 07:16:01 -0500

Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. There is a snow storm coming.

We have some preparing to do today for the coming storm -- get the snow shovel out. Find the mittens. Lay in a supply of good snow storm goodies to eat. Reschedule the book group meeting tomorrow night. Charge the iPod and camera batteries. And then when the snow starts, hunker down and enjoy it.

Tomorrow might be a good day to block the stoles I have completed -- I have 4 now awaiting blocking and it doesn't look like the blocking fairy is going to come long and do it for me.

And I just want to say that I love what I am seeing of Morocco -- look here at A Few Stitches Short. Red beads win me every time! And what's not to love about another blog with readers numbered in the tens like mine?!

A new month

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 08:01:42 -0500

Well, it's December 1 and it is clear that I did not make a post a day in November. But I did manage to make 20 of them, altogether, and that is quite a bit for me. So it served the purpose of showing me I can post more often and I shall endeavor to try to continue. And next year, maybe I will achieve the target.

I have been reflecting a lot on holidays and the discrepancy between fantasy and reality as I consider how I would like to have Thanksgiving in the future. I should say at the outset that Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday despite my connection to its origins. For me it seems like a mountain of work to make a meal which is soon gone. And I am not the world's biggest fan of turkey -- though I must say our organic free range bird was the very best tasting one I have ever had.

When I was growing up, my father was in the Army and we were usually living too far away to have holidays with extended family. My brothers are much older than I and were off on their own from the time I was 7. One year, when I was 8 and we were stationed at Ft. Knox, I got the measles. What I remember most about that year is that we didn't get to eat in the mess hall with all the soldiers -- well, that and the fact that I threw up at dinner. So I grew up with wonderful fantasies of the Norman Rockwell kind of holidays with family and friends gathered together around the table -- the whole works. I thought that when I married and had children that was what we would develop.

But I failed to reckon with reality -- like divorce. The fantasy persisted but the mechanics of making it real became even more difficult. When I moved back to Maine a couple of years ago, having been in Michigan for 4 years, I guess I believed my kids and whatever significant others they had would come here for Thanksgiving and that we would figure out a way to juggle all the obligations they had at Christmas so that everyone could be satisfied.

This year, with just my husband and son here, I had a chance to really look at what I wanted. And I discovered that my fantasy holiday is not really it. We had a lovely day last Thursday and a terrific meal. My son brought a friend of his, a last minute addition and it was delightful to be able to include him without any effort. After they left and the leftovers were put away, I began to realize that my childhood fantasy was just that, a part of my childhood, an outgrowth of wishes for connections I never was able to develop. But that it doesn't have have a whole lot to do with my adult life.

I remember early in my first marriage wanting to be able to stay home for the holidays, to have a chance to develop our own traditions. My in-laws and my parents were welcome to come, but I wanted it to be our time with our children in our home. I know now that my mother and mother-in-law probably had their own fantasies about gathering their children around the table for holidays, fantasies that they did not see fulfilled. I want my daughter and her husband to find their traditions and for my son and whoever he eventually marries likewise to find their own. Their fantasies won't be the same as mine.

So for a few years, it will all be in flux as they and my husband and I shift into new variations on the holidays. This growing up thing just never ends.

I finished Leda's Dream -- I will post pictures later today.

It is very cold here today and we have a snow storm on the way for Monday.

Some days titles just don't spring to mind

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:33:36 -0500

It's another cold day and it has been snowing a bit. The Jack o' lantern that we left out for the squirrels to munch on got a nice white hat this afternoon

Tomorrow it's time to get started on preparations for Thanksgiving dinner. This year it will be just my husband and my son and me as my daughter and her husband are going to my kids' dad's for dinner -- that's the way of divorced families. For many years i have not much enjoyed Thanksgiving. It always seemed like a lot of work for a meal and I couldn't find other benefit to it. But somewhere along the line this last year, my attitude seems to have changed and I am really looking forward to it. Neal picked up our organic turkey from the Co-op this morning and we got all of the other ingredients for all the things we usually make. It will be much more food than three people reasonably need but then again, we can send my son home with food and still have enough left over that we won't be cooking again until the weekend. It helps a lot that Neal shares the cooking chores with me so that we both can enjoy the preparation as well as the meal itself. And he is that most desirable of all kitchen partners -- he likes to do the prep work!

I joined 3 more lace alongs that will starts in the new year --

1. Secret of the Stole ii

2. The Secret of Bad Nauheim

3. The Fisherman's Wife

I am too lazy to look up the urls but you can find them by searching at Yahoo Groups. It's madness to do this, I know, but there are many worse kinds have.

Chilly Sunday

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:34:45 -0500

It's cold today -- just 36F at noon. So thoughts of coffee cake entered my head when I got up. I searched my trove of recipes and came upon a cranberry nut upside down coffee cake that I got from somewhere a few years ago. We buy lots of fresh cranberries in season. I love the tart taste and use them in all kinds of things. And best of all, we can get organic berries grown right next door in Lincolnville.

Cranberry Upside-Down Coffee Cake -- from Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 1/4 cups cranberries

1/2 cup chopped pecans -- I used chopped walnuts because that is what I had on hand

1/2 cup butter, room

temperature

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Wrap the outside of a 9 inch springform pan with aluminum foil to prevent leaking. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar and 1/3 cup butter. Bring to a boil, then pour into bottom of springform pan. Sprinkle with cranberries and pecans.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto serving platter and carefully remove pan. Serve warm.

It's yummy!

So I sat and drank my tea and looked out my window.

No more NaNoPoBlo

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 11:53:30 -0500

I am not even sure what the correct acronym is, but clearly I am not a post a day kind of person, though I must say I have enjoyed picking up the pace of my posting, so this experiment is not for naught.

It snowed yesterday. Thursday it was warm and in the 50's and yesterday it snowed. Up north there was even some accumulation. Today it is clear and brisk and obviously winter is soon upon us.

Kim, at The Woolen Rabbit, mentioned in her post last night that she is not seeing so many in progress pictures these days and that she missed them. I hadn't been posting many of my various lace projects because lace is not much to look at before it is blocked. But I take her point because i also enjoy seeing things in progress. In that spirit, here are a couple of mine --

First, Leda's Dream, from Pink Lemon Twist, is now about 60% complete. I am using 2 strands of Colourmart 2/28 cashmere in the color cyclamen. which is fiendishly difficult to accurately capture.

It's a pretty easy knit and I expect to finish it by the end of the month.

And I am on row 149 of the Mystic Waters Shawl. It is too big to finger block the whole thing without taking it off the needle. I love this pattern -- just enough challenge to keep me on my toes. I am using a single strand of Colourmart 3/45 cashmere/silk and 3.00 mm needle.

These two and the Thermal are getting most of my attention these days.

But look at what arrived yesterday -- MORE of the 3/45 cashmere/silk, this time in terra-cotta!

Brrrrrr!

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:05:25 -0500

I was greeted with this when I went out this morning.

Restraint was exercised...

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 09:22:27 -0500

Remember when I thought yesterday that I might just cast on Pretty as a Peacock, thereby sending my lace WIPs over the top? Well, I didn't do it. I finished a sock -- and then, in a variation on second sock syndrome, couldn't find the first one which was completed months ago. It is still missing.

And I picked up too long neglected Thermal and worked on it some more. I am at the point now where I will soon divide for the placket. I realized that this yarn, which started out as a slightly garish pink/red now overdyed, is the colors of the blueberry barrens in fall. And that made it even more attractive to me. I can't say that a sweater in my size knit on 3.00mm needles just whizzes along but I do very much like the fabric and will look for other patterns to knit in this weight yarn.

(I'm making up today for the absence of pictures lately)

Here is a glimpse of my active projects basket which sits next to my chair. Not that this is all of them though.

As you can see I am a neat and well organized knitter.

It is looking more wintery around here. The past three mornings the temperature has been in the mid-20's when I got up. The harbor has very few boats moored in it. And the water takes on a blue that I see mostly at this time of year. This is yesterday from my dining room window

It may be cold and the flowers may be gone outside, but in my kitchen window -- flowers!

Further thoughts on mystery projects

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 09:22:15 -0500

I kind of lost interest for a while in the Secret of the Stole project this past week. So I set aside until all the clues have been released and I can see the whole pattern, which should revive my interest in finishing it. But the Mystic Waters shawl holds my interest with ease. And that set me to thinking about what it is about some of these mystery projects that grabs and holds me while others take effort to complete.

The Mystic Waters shawl is complex enough to really require attention as I knit it. And that engages me and holds my interest. It's a challenge as the rows become longer to complete each patterned row without error. And the pattern itself is sufficiently complex to be really interesting.

Designs which have motifs that can be fairly easily memorized and repeated for fairly long stretches are nice in terms of making them work as projects to take to my knitting group, but after a while I am less interested in them and getting through a given section to the next one becomes the challenge. This is what happened with the Secret of the Stole, I think. And with MS3 too. And, now that I think about it, afflicts me with the Honey Field stole -- having knit the first half, it now suffers from second half syndrome. I will finish it but having done all of the motifs once, the thrill is not there.

Maybe that is an inherent problem with stoles -- symmetry looks nice but it means knitting the same pattern twice.

Which makes me think that a willingness to endure and find some enjoyment in repetition -- the seemingly endless rows of stockinette in a sweater or gazillion repetitions of a pattern motif -- in order to accomplish the end goal of a garment is a huge part of what knitting is about. Times when that willingness is in short supply for me, for whatever reason, are times when I jump from project to project needing novelty, complexity to challenge me. I am always a bit of a magpie drawn to the latest shiny pattern to catch my eye and it will always be hard to hold off starting something new, but the restless that sets in when a project hits a routine section -- well that takes the right state of mind and I seem not to be in it just now.

Which means I will likely cast on for Pretty as a Peacock before today is over.

Knitting Magazines

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:04:28 -0500

My copy of the winter issue of Interweave Knits arrived Saturday. I did a cursory look through over the weekend and then settled in to look more carefully today. I am underwhelmed. Usually I at least like the socks but I wasn't excited by the ones in this issue. And the sweaters look too much like things I was knitting 25 years or so ago. There is nothing wrong with the patterns -- they are perfectly nice but nothing that just screams KNIT ME! at me.

And this made me think about where I go for patterns and ideas for things to knit these days, because it really isn't usually the traditional print magazines.

There is a cardigan, simple but quite nice, in the current MagKnits and I might knit it eventually. And I have bookmarked a couple of things from past issues of Knitty that I will get around to knitting sometime and I know I will knit Muir and Oblique from the current issue.

My lace obsession aside, as I look over the patterns in my library are mostly from various places online, either free or that I have paid to download. I think that these designers may have fewer constraints on what they produce and so less tied to the commercial issues involved with the magazines. And with the wonderful database of patterns accumulating on Ravelry, it is becoming easier to find designers I didn't know about.

And who knows, maybe someday i will design something for myself!

Election Results

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:00:12 -0500

Although it rained all day, the turnout was pretty good. And by just before 11 last night we knew the outcome. The progressives carried the day. The candidate favored to win as mayor won by only 30 votes -- an experienced and well known local politician very nearly defeated by a political novice who is from away and not a strong candidate. The incumbent city councilor who favored unfettered development lost and lost big. Thoughtful growth and development won last night, a good thing for Belfast.

Spike was eager to see if the television station had the results --

When they didn't appear, he went around back to see if he could find the results there --

Big Election

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:20:24 -0500

In our town, the election today is a very big deal, the culmination of a long and often bitter battle over big box stores and development. For seven years folks have been able to stave off the push from some to have a Wal-Mart in our town. Mid-coast Maine towns have in the past few years been pushing back on this kind of development.

Belfast, which is where I live, in the last 10 or 15 years has enjoyed an influx of retirees, artists and others who have changed some of its character. Where Belfast was once a town to be avoided because of the dreadful smells from the huge poultry processing plant which was in the center of town, now is a town of art galleries, small shops and surprisingly active art and cultural scene. For the people who moved here because Belfast was and is a real town with a living downtown and very little of the kinds of retail development so common everywhere else, the change has been a good one and one which it is hoped will be expanded. But the folks who were here before Belfast became what it is today are not so happy, or some of them aren't. The town they knew, with factories and grocery store downtown, active waterfront -- that town is gone and the very things that the newcomers find so desirable to them feel like an imposition.

Such issues are never simple. They are correct that there is very little in the way of inexpensive clothing for sale. So a lot of people drive to Bangor, Rockland, or Ellsworth -- all 30 or so miles away -- to shop at Wal-Mart, Target and the other chains which are ubiquitous elsewhere. And there is a long standing hostility among a lot of Mainers against zoning and efforts to control what landowners can do with their land. Which means that there is a sizable group here who would allow developers to come in with whatever they want regardless of the fact that Belfast could end up like so many towns with a downtown that is just for tourists and strip malls and big box stores along the major corridors leading to the town.

The lines are drawn between the old time Belfast folks and the folks from away and the election today will have a huge impact on what happens here in the next few years. You can read more here if you're so inclined. It may be that the saving grace of this long battle is the very fact that it has gone on so long because it may be that this town is not a rich enough target for the big boxes. Keep your fingers crossed.

Ravelry, Yahoo Groups and other delights

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:05:48 -0500

Another pictureless post today as there isn't much of interest to see in lace in progress.

Here and there lately I have been reading people's thoughts about the impact of Ravelry on a variety of things and that has made me think about its impact on me. I marvel at people who are really active posters on Ravelry's or Knitter's Review forums. I guess I am as introverted a knitter as I am everything else in my life because I don't feel moved to post often at all. And likewise with Yahoo knitting email groups. I belong to several of Yahoo groups, skim them and post rarely.

Twelve years or so ago, when I first became aware of the Knit List, I was amazed by it. So many women in so many places drawn around a virtual kitchen table to talk and share ideas about knitting. But the novelty wore off fairly rapidly and the digests began to pile up unread. Then I unsubscribed. I've learned now with the various and sundry mystery stole and shawl groups to elect only to receive special notices because I know that I won't enjoy the volume of social posts. It's just not me.

I am not really certain why I have catalogued my projects on Ravelry. But I have and I admit to being pleased when one of mine gets marked as a favorite of someone. I will never catalog my stash -- that level of organization is more than this INFP will ever undertake.

For me, Ravelry works well as a source of inspiration because I have found patterns there I want to use and it is very useful to see what yarns and colors other people are using for projects I want to knit. But the social aspect -- I'm not outgoing enough to make much of a mark.

How about you? How does Ravelry work for you? And Yahoo knitting groups?

Noel changes plans

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 23:25:22 -0400

I had a lovely day planned for today and then along came Noel and he changed a lot of plans. Right now the wind is howling and blowing at over 40 mph and they tell us that it is gusting up to 60 mph. The rain is pelting the house so hard we have had some come under the front door.

Noel meant that everything loose outside had to be rounded up. And we had to check batteries and candles and food supplies and water. Because you know it is te storm you don't do these prep things for that ends up taking out your power for days on end.

Then the Dish network guy was due to come back this afternoon to check again to see if there is any point o our house where a dish can get the signal from satellite. We live at the bottom of a hill and there are lots of trees in the neighborhood. I certainly wouldn't be out on a ladder anywhere today and figured the guy would reschedule, but no, he arrived just minutes before the rain started. And after much climbing up and down determined that indeed it was not possible to install the dish in a place where we would get a signal. So we're staying with cable. Which I had wanted to escape because they charge so much and because I just don't like monopolies. My attempt at freedom was struck down. No, I will not give up television to make my protest -- I definitely have my limits.

So by the time all of that had happened and we had made yummy tomato soup and cheesy onion bread, it was dark and too late to take decent pictures of the knitting I did get done yesterday and today.

Fear not, tomorrow is supposed to be sunny so I should be able to get some shots of the newly completed Clue 2 of Mystic Waters and Clue 4 of Secret of the Stole. I know the prospect of this is exciting beyond belief.

No, No NaNoWriMo for me

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:17:11 -0400

Ahh, November when the clickety clack of the keyboards of writers sound through the land. Fortunately for our household, my husband is the only fiction writer because if both of us were seized with the desire to churn out a novel this month, everything would go to hell in a hand basket.

But NaNoBloMo is a distinct possibility for me. I have two things going for me that make me think I can do this: I actually house two blogs under this same umbrella, so I figure I can post knitting posts on odd days and shrinkish posts on even days. For whatever the reason, that seems manageable to me. The second thing in my favor is that I am shameless and stealing borrowing topic ideas from other bloggers when nothing comes immediately to mind for me.

Clue 2 of Mystic Waters is almost done. And Clue 4 of Secret of the Stole is close. Pictures in a day or so.

Slow reveal of mysteries

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:02:18 -0400

I finished Clue 1 of Mystic Waters -- I love this pattern!

Sorry the photo isn't better but it is enough to give you an idea.

And I am almost finished with Clue 4 of Secret of the Stole. But no photo because it is not all that photogenic at this point.

As I compare and contrast the experience of knitting with Colourmart cashmere and cashmere/silk with the cashmere from Yubina, I must say that the Colourmart yarn is much softer and more luxurious to the touch. By comparison, the Yubina feels like really nice merino more than it does like cashmere. The color is nice and the novelty of ordering yarn from Inner Mongolia is charming, but the difference in feel means I will likely order cashmere only from Colourmart.

I'm weak...

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 11:27:51 -0400

Yes, I am. I am weak. I signed up for the Mystic Waters mystery shawl KAL telling myself I wouldn't start it until I had finished a couple of other things got finished. But then I saw the first clue and it is really lacy and the designer says it will be a big shawl. And I got this yummy palest lavender cashmere/silk 65/35 yarn from Colourmart. And Secret of the Stole hit a somewhat boring section. Next thing I knew I was knitting Clue 1.

Not a great picture -- it is raining today and gloomy outside so the light is far from ideal.

I am using Knitpicks Options 3.00 mm -- I tried a 3.25 but it looked too loose. This is a nicely lacy fabric I think. And this yarn is so delicious to knit with -- soft soft soft. I am using beads, putting in them in the center of each small edge diamond. The beads are clear iridescent which really don't show in the photo.

I think this will prove to be a really nice project. I have done the first 71 rows of the first clue.

Though it is gloomy today, the light in my office yesterday was glorious!

What do you think?

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:28:12 -0400

Changing the theme in Sandvox, which is the application I use to make this blog, is really easy. And it seemed like a good time to try a different look as fall moves along toward winter.

So, what do you think? Like this one? Let me know.

Whew!

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:18:42 -0400

Well, I have been buried in social networking this past week but things are settling down now and I can again give time to blogging. I don't think I have read and responded to so many emails in one week before -- I was literally bleary-eyed by the weekend.

In making the rounds of the gazillion blogs I follow, I have seen post after post about Rheinbeck. And I have realized I really don't like reading that kind of post. I always end up feeling like I am in the out group --

-- because I didn't go

-- because I have no pictures of me with any of the cool bloggers

-- because I can't show pictures of yarn I bought and then must feign guilt about.

It always seems to me that those posts are for the folks who were also there and in the pictures and not so much for people like me who are not especially drawn to big events like that. Introvert that I am, most likely if I went, I wouldn't meet new people, much less any of the cool bloggers, anyway. And large groups just aren't my thing. So I don't go.

Okay, so I am a bit of a curmudgeon on the subject. I actually have registered for NETAs spa weekend down in Portland for the last 2 years and ended up not going. I have reservation at one of the host facilities for 2008, but who knows if I will actually go? I need to find an extraverted knitter from here to go with me and then maybe I would actually go. But I promise if I do, I won't make more than passing mention of it here -- because, you know, I hate those kinds of posts.

My knitting moves along. I have finished Clue three of Secret of the Stole. This Yubina cashmere though -- really pretty, really soft, but it doesn't seem very cashmerish to me. We'll see after I wash and block it.

I signed up for the Mystic Waters mystery shawl -- first clue is due tomorrow but this one I will save the clues from and start later.

Leda's Dream, which I am knitting in cashmere from Colourmart, is almost 1/3 done. I figure I need to knit 6 rows a day to finish it for Christmas for my friend.

And of course there are always socks in progress. Knitting pictures tomorrow I think.

Yesterday we went out for a drive in our area. The foliage is at peak now -- a litle later than usual -- and it was a gorgeous warm day. Here's a bit of what we saw --

The blueberry barrens have such exquisite colors

Along Goose River --

The new Penobscot Narrows bridge

Down country roads

Social networking and other delights

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:35:02 -0400

In addition to my therapy practice, I also work as a community manager for Beliefnet. I have had a passion for online community since first discovering AOL almost 15 years ago. I've watched it move from being heavily focused on live chat -- I remember days when chat rooms on AOL on any given evening numbered in the hundreds -- to discussion boards and now to social networking with options for blogging and journals and discussion boards and anything else developers can think of to attract and hold interest of a community. Certainly Ravelry is a good example of this in the knitting universe and the Knitters Review forums are discussions boards without all the networking bells and whistles. And of course Yahoo Groups offering community via email continue to thrive and proliferate. I remain amazed at the abundant energy we humans have for making contact with others who share our interests.

The past few months at Beliefnet we have been laying the ground work for making a big move into social networking. And the doors to the new site open today. So for the last week I have been deeply buried in helping to get things ready to welcome members today. There has been knitting. There as not been blogging. I hope that this week things return to something more like normal. And if you feel inclined, check out the new digs at Beliefnet.

Now as for the knitting --

I have been working on the Secret of the Stole pattern, which I decided to knit in my Yubina cashmere. I did the first clue on size 4's but didn't like the size so frogged it and started again on US 5 -- I like it a lot more now. The yarn is nice to work with but it feels more like a nice merino than cashmere to me. I washed my swatch assuming maybe it had spinning oils in it but it did not bloom the way I expect cashmere to. It's still very mice yarn and inexpensive so no real complaints. Here's a look --

It's always good to know that it will look much better when blocked.

Phases in a knitter's life

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 08:41:46 -0400

I haven't written much this week but I have been thinking a lot and knitting a fair amount. I remain fully in the grip of my lace obsession -- I love the yarns and that I can knit in glorious fibers like cashmere and silk and the softest merino for a fraction of what it costs for me to knit a sweater. And I do seem to be hell bent on developing a significant lace weight stash as I ordered some more cashmere/silk from Colourmart. There is something about the intricacy of the patterns, the necessity to pay attention and the wonder of making something of substance from the fine thread of lace weight and cobweb weight yarns that keeps me hooked.

For many years I was a colorwork knitter, drawn to complex intarsia and the madness of multiple bobbins dangling from the back of a sweater piece in progress. I remember more than one sweater with 15 or more color changes in a row -- sheer madness! I bought the Kaffe Fassett knitting books. I even made a coat in one of his designs -- which reminds me I need to photograph it so I can post about it and put it in Ravelry as the damned thing took 2 years to knit and ought to be seen. Remember the Juliet coat in Glorious Knitting? I actually harbored thoughts of making that one, despite the fact that it would have been ridiculous on my ample body. And I still look at the chrysanthemum jacket -- I think that is the right name -- and think it would be fun to make in soft colors. But I am not going to do it. Because my intarsia days are gone. I see Fassett is touring around now and I have read about the workshops and lectures on blogs but I feel not the slightest flutter of interest. As intense as the colorwork phase was, when it went away, it went away.

I think it was socks that pulled me away from colorwork. No way I was going going to fiddle with bobbins while knitting socks. So I became sock-obsessed. This was around the time that the big knitting email groups started and socks became a big topic. Thus began a sock knitting phase that continues today though not with the same ferocious commitment. But for a while there it was all socks all the time.

Maybe it was coming to enjoy working with finer weight yarns. Certainly the fact that my hands seemed to be able to work with small needles and fine yarns much better than with heavier weights and large needles played a significant role in the sock passion. They mystery of using a continuous thread from top to toe -- yes, I am a top down sock knitter -- and the wonder of turning the heel still delights me. These days I always have a pair or two of socks on the needles and I still acquire sock yarn every time I see something new that grabs my eye. But socks are secondary to the real love of my knitting life, lace.

I think lace started to grab me when Knitters had that issue on lace at least 10 years ago -- I can't remember the number of the issue, but I clearly remember the cover. And a litle while after that I started buying lace knitting books -- Myrna Stahlman, Cheryl Oberle, Martha Waterman. I looked at the patterns in them again and again but it wasn't until i joined the shawl club at Joslyn's Fiber Farm site that I began the process of acquiring lace weight yarn and knitting shawls and stoles. In the 6 years that lace has had me in its grip, my output has not been huge -- I have made Peacock Feathers twice, Forest path stole once, the sheep shawl, and several stoles. But these days i always have at least a couple of lace projects in process.

I am interested in the wild embrace of mystery stole and shawl KALs. Right now I am aware of at least 4 of them in progress or getting ready to launch. Hundreds, even thousands of knitters sign up for them and the volume of email generated by them is enormous. Blogs spring up. Ravelry groups. Many of the people who join seem more gripped by the enthusiasm of the masses than by the actual knitting; indeed a considerable number of participants in the various groups I have joined have no prior lace knitting experience and not even rudimentary understanding of the techniques involved. There is a swarming effect at play here -- a bit of a follow the leader thing such that if a well known blogger posts about such a project, readers will flock to that project and join, at least in part in order to be part of the community that forms around it. I have talked about the community aspect of knitting before -- here and no doubt I will again.

Meanwhile, fall is here. The number of boats in the harbor is dwindling --

The trees are turning to flame -- though peak color here on the coast is a week or two away.

I'm lazy today...

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:31:08 -0400

Lots of work today and energy for original thinking so I give you this meme from Knit Once Purl Forever

About the Blog

1. Do you promote your blog?

Does including it in my sig line count? Because I do that.

2. How often do you check hits?

Maybe once a month or so

3. Do you stick to one topic?

No. I don't have enough to say just about knitting to only talk about it. In fact, my blog is a bit of a reflection of my divided mind -- over on the other part, I take a more consistently serious voice to talk about therapy and mental health and other passions of my work life. And this part is for knitting and my cats and Maine and popular culture and all the rest. I think sometimes about making them two entirely separate blogs but that would be a lot of work so I just think about it.

4. Who knows that you have a blog?

My family and friends. Some of my patients. I make no effort to keep it secret.

5. How many blogs do you read?

About 110, via GoogleReader

6. Are you a fast reader?

Yes, except when I am reading professional stuff.

7. Do you customize your blog or doing anything special?

I use Sandvox, which already makes me different. I may change the theme from time to time, but for now, I am insanely fond of this one.

8. Do you blog anonymously?

Not at all.

9. To what extent do you censor yourself?

I don't talk about my kids, except in the very broadest terms, or about my private life. I do that because I don't post anonymously. I am *very* careful not to discuss anything remotely close to possibly revealing anything about my patients, so I talk about therapy in very general terms.

10. The best thing about blogging?

Writing and meeting a self-imposed schedule for posting so that I write regularly.

I also love having a place to show photographs. That is a new thing for me.

And having a place to express my opinions.

Must.Stop.Buying.LaceWeight

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 17:09:52 -0400

Okay, yesterday the cashmere/silk yarn I ordered from Colourmart arrived. And I spent the day petting it -- so soft and such a yummy color. Now to consider what to make with it -- I am thinking maybe the Unst stole?

Behold around 2500 yrds of 3/45 65%cashmere/35% silk. Sooooooo soft.

Moe would like for me to give it to him.

From Inner Mongolia with Love

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:22:33 -0400

I never imagined that two weeks after ordering it, my yarn from Yubina would arrive. The distance from Maine to Inner Mongolia seems much greater than that. But it isn't because this arrived today --

and inside was this

The color is sort of heathery and quite beautiful. The yarn is very very soft, but not as fuzzy as I expected it to be, given that it is cashmere. I ordered 1500 yds -- I got two hefty balls and one smaller which I am assuming will total 1500 yds. I am quite happy with this so far. I'll swatch it later in the week.

It's not my fault -- really!

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 07:48:13 -0400

Easy internet access is something that I, like many of us, have come to take for granted. And when the cable company -- the one with the name of a newsmagazing in it -- charges an arm and a leg for its services, I kind of expect for it to be reliably there. Since Friday evening we have had only intermittent connection -- it will be fine for a couple of minutes then stall and quit for a couple, rinse and repeat. To top things off, we use Vonage for phone service so this has meant the phone is essentially unusable as well. So in the maddeningly unpredictable couple of minutes of connection, I emailed our "customer service" to find out what the problem is. After 2 emails telling me I need to reset the modem, check the cables and all that usual it-must-be-dumb-customer-error stuff -- you know the things I told them in my first email I had already done -- I finally got a response yesterday that indeed there is a problem on their end, the technicians are working on it but no estimated time for when it will be fixed. *And* I should check their online network status page for updates1 BUT I CAN'T ACCESS IT!! Not that I am upset or anything.

We are going to DSL as soon as I can use the phone to call to order it.

All this to say I have been trying to post since Friday.

Nature's paintbrush

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:39:34 -0400

Like lots of us, though long off the academic calendar, I still get an excited feeling every September which always feels like the start of a new year to me. And the colors of fall -- every year I take dozens and dozens of pictures, trying to capture the brilliance to savor during the long winter.

Yesterday I got these on the way to the Fair. The leaves are just starting to turn -- peak color should be in a couple of weeks in our part of the state.

Off to the Fair!

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:09:33 -0400

The Common Ground Country Fair is one of my favorite Maine things. It is an old fashioned country agricultural fair but without the midway or some of the more tawdry attractions of more commercial fairs. I think this is the 31st or 32nd year of the fair. I know we went to one of the very early ones when my daughter was still a baby.

So off to the Fair we went today. We were there this afternoon to mind the Waldo County Democrats table -- my husband is the more active of us in politics. So we sat for 2 hours in the social and political action tent. Which draws some very interesting people. Most of the people coming by are big Kucinich supporters. I am not. I smiled and said little.

Then we got to wander the grounds. Eat lamb sausage sandwiches -- very yummy. Lots of food to choose from. The fair has come a long way from the early days when there was no fried food at all and the brownies were made of carob and heavy enough to use as doorstops. Most of the food served by the vendors comes from Maine and it was all good.

The fun part for me is the animals. Ox teams, draft horses, pigs, sheep. Mohair goats. Alpacas -- lots of alpacas. Rabbits. Chickens. Cows. And more. We wandered till our feet were throbbing.

I looked at some wonderful fiber. Mostly alpaca and angora. I restrained myself and didn't buy any because i have a huge backlog of stuff to knit now.

Thought you would love this guy -- he's a german angora bunny. I just adore his face.

I loved the fair, the drive there was gorgeous, the people we encountered interesting and charming. There was just one thing that sounded a bad note -- the truly vile pro-life demonstration at the entrance to the fair. I respect that there is a diversity of opinion on the matter of abortion. That is not the issue for me. This group -- all older men, not a woman among them when we passed -- had big posters with graphic images falsely purporting to portray abortion. And signs equating Democrats and pro-choice with Nazis among other things. How such hatred and vile spew equates to being pro-life defies me. It was ugly, nasty, and disgusting. Their display only serves to harden both sides in their position, converts no one, and is offensive. I am still grumbling about it.

Not just for kids...

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:46:10 -0400

I have always loved fairy tales. My grandmother had a big book of them when I was very small and I vividly remember her reading stories from it to me. One of the delights of being a Jungian is that I get to take fairy tales seriously.

Another love of mine is teaching -- though I haven't the temperament to do it full time and after a while I start not liking undergraduates much. But in Maine there is this fabulous thing called Senior College, affiliated with the University of Maine. At 15 centers around the state, Mainers age 50 and over take courses which run for 6 weeks. There are non-credit -- so no papers or exams or grades. And offerings range from bridge to history to psychology to gardening -- whatever the members and available faculty are interested in. I started teaching there when we got here 2 years ago and it is the best teaching experience of my life.

And this fall, I am teaching fairy tales, specifically fairy tales for mid-life and beyond. Classes start Thursday so i have been spending this week finishing up my preparation. We will be reading Marie Louise von Franz's Interpretation of Fairy Tales, which I find much more useful and interesting than Bruno Bettelheim's Meaning and Uses of Enchantment -- but you might expect that given that I favor Jungian thinking. And we will read several fairy tales that concern issues of mid-life and old age, like "The Fisherman and his Wife". It's going to be great fun!

Not a lot of knitting has been done while I got my materials ready. I have made progress on my feathers stole --

Big Brother ends the season tonight. I have no idea which of these two less than likable people should win. It always seems that way at the end of BB. Oh well.

Once more...

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:17:57 -0400

Did you ever have yarn that just couldn't make up its mind what to be? So you keep trying first this pattern then that one and you can't find the just right one? Well, the gorgeous dark navy silk that I got from Colourmart to make the MS3 seems to be one of those yarns. To recap, I did the whole MS3 and then decided I just didn't like the way the final piece looked, though I loved the feathers. But the whole thing -- not so much. Frogged it.

Then I turned to the Inky Dinky Spider stole. I like the pattern. I love the yarn. But as I was knitting it -- and I got about 8 inches into it -- I kept thinking about those beautiful feathers.

Last Sunday I spent a couple of hours playing with yarn trying to figure out how I would like to make a stole using that motif, long beautiful feathers.

Today I frogged Inky Dinky. And cast on my feathers stole. I will be knitting it from the center out, starting with short feathers and making them longer. I used just a simple 3 stitch garter edge on the sides. I will likely let the feathers form the bottom edge. It isn't complicated but I think it may just be the right pattern for this yarn.

Here's the start -- that black shape at the top is the inimitable Spike who came and lay down just as I was trying to get my photo.

Eggplant

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:42:33 -0400

I love purple. I have always loved purple. When I was a teenager, I painted my walls and ceiling a beautiful lilac. I have been known to use purple ink in my pens. I just finished the Starlight Evening Wrap in a luscious purple. I just ordered cashmere from Inner Mongolia -- I love saying that -- in a beautiful shade or lavender. So is it any wonder that I think eggplants are among the most beautiful of summer vegetables? This morning my husband came home from the farmer's market with these beauties, almost too lovely to eat --

I gasped with delight when I saw the photo I took -- those colors!

This afternoon I will be making one of summer's treats, Caponata. I like Mario Batali's version, which is what I will be making.

He also brought home some beautiful beets, which add my other favorite color, red.

Work on my stoles continues apace. Not worth showing yet though.

Wiener dogs rained out

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 17:07:58 -0400

Today was to be the annual Wiener Fest, a time for wiener dogs from all over Maine and New England to gather for races, costume contests and other festivities. Really, around 400 dachsunds were here last year for the festivities. But just after it was to start, the rain came. And it has been pouring since. So all the little wiener doggies and their owners had to pack up and head for home leaving me with no fun new wiener dog pictures for you.

So here is a picture of the winner of the 2005 costume contest, Ozzie the Punk Wiener --

Deprived of wiener dog goodness, what was a body to do but return to my lace obsession?! Even while I was knitting the wing section of the MS3 stole, which you will remember I frogged, I was thinking that the pattern would make a wonderful stole itself. So I spent a while this afternoon trying it out to see if I could figure out how I would do it and assure myself that it could be done. And indeed, it can. I will knit from the center out with the feather starting short and getting longer . It will take me a while to work out all of the details but in my mind's eye, it will be gorgeous -- and the first lace piece I more or less design myself.

To make this wonderful thing, I hopped over to Colourmart.com and ordered a cone of silver grey silk. I have in mind to use sparkly silvery beads on it too.

Then, because I read Fleegle today with all of her lovely lace swatches, I was moved to order some lovely lilac cashmere from Yubina. Imagine being able to order something from Inner Mongolia! It boggles my mind.

It's still raining and it is chilly. I have lamb shanks, onions, garlic, tomatoes, red wine, and rosemary happily simmering away in the slow cooker and I am about to make an apple crisp. Then an evening of knitting, checking out the new HBO show, Tell Me You Love Me, and the first of the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Summer's waning

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 17:58:23 -0400

I picked pretty much the last of our tomatoes today. And look what I saw in the lilacs

Wouldn't those colors make lovely yarn?

It's a quiet weekend here for us. We've been waiting this afternoon for our new washer and dryer to be delivered -- one of those "between 3 and 7" deals and it's looking like 7 to me. Good time for listening to more of James lee burke - oh how that man can write! -- and satisfying my itch to start the stole I am knitting for my friend for Christmas. I had the good Richard at Colourmart.com ply two strands of fine cashmere lace weight together and started it on an Options 5 circular. Even though there is oil still on the yarn, the softness of it is still evident -- this is going to be luscious. My friend chose Leda's Dream from Pink Lemon Twist. The color is fiendishly difficult to photgraph but this is close.

Okay, so now I have 3 stoles, 2 sweaters, and three pairs of sock in various stages of completion. Think that will keep my itch for new at bay for a while?

Yarn, beautiful yarn!

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:16:31 -0400

Oh I do love yarn! And I especially love being able to buy yarn from all kinds of vendors online. Yes, fondling yarn in the store is fun, but for me, the delight of finding some small company or individual vendor online and trying new yarns and seeing wonderful use of colors is a special delight that the internet age has brought into my life. And these days I am drawn to laceweight yarns -- there s something irresistible about being able to get so much yardage for comparatively little money. Now I already have stashed some cashmere and cashmere/merino/rayon from Colourmart, and several other lace yarns I have bought over the years. But I also really enjoy perusing Handpaintedyarns.com to see what colors they have in their lace weight wool -- because how can I go wrong with 2500 yds for under $25.00 including shipping?! So last week there I was reveling the joy that is lace yarn on their site, and one color just cried out to me and I ordered it. And it arrived today.

Note the artfully arranged pose for this green goodness. The color is Green Tourmaline which the photo captures pretty accurately. I have no idea what I will knit with it -- maybe the Oregon Shawl by Joan Schrouder. I have had that pattern for ages and this might be the time to make it.

Again today it feels very fallish. It is only 62 here at noon -- I closed the windows because I was cold. There is not a cloud in the sky but still that brisk wind making it sound even colder out than it is. Definitely prime knitting weather!

The knitting goes on

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:43:42 -0400

I finished the first half of the Honeybee Stole Friday and got around to photographing it this morning.

Here's a close up of the beads in the bee swarm section --

And turned my attention again to Inky-Dinky again. Not much progress to show there as it is on smaller needles with finer yarn.

It's windy, really clear today and cool -- only 65F at noon. A lot of the tourists have gone and kids are back in school so it is quiet outside, far fewer people on the Common today and fewer boats already in the harbor.

Tonight my book group meets to discuss one of my favorite books, Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow. I heartily recommend it to you if you haven't read it. Don't be put off by the fact that it falls into science fiction -- it is one of the best books I have ever read looking at the relationship of humans to God and the consequences of faith.

Summer's last days

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:00:43 -0400

Labor Day is an interesting point in the year for those of us living here. After Monday, most of the tourists will be gone until next summer. The traffic rapidly dwindles, waits at intersections become rare, it's easy to find a parking space in town, and the general tone changes. From now till late June, the place is ours, not theirs and events begin to be aimed more at those of us who stay. Today it is cool -- in the low 70s -- and cloudy. The leaves on the trees are still green but they have taken on that tired tinge that comes just before the colors of fall appear, a dusty worn out green rather than the vibrant color of spring and early summer. Soon the number of boats moored in the harbor will dwindle and the sea birds will be back for the winter. Today I heard the loons who winter here just below us in the harbor.

The Honeybee hums along. I am about half way through the bees and honeycomb section now and will finish this half of the stole this weekend. Unblocked lace -- well you know how it looks so here's how it's looking now

I am really enjoying the James Lee Burke audiobooks I am listening to -- first ones I have been eager to get to each day.

It's going to be a lazy weekend for us. We're going to buy a washer and dryer tomorrow and that looks to be the big event of the weekend.

Moe and Spike are resting up in case there is some excitement.

Have a great holiday!

Bees and Books

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 16:44:54 -0400

Now that I am giving it my full attention, I am making good progress on the Honeybee stole. I want the length of the tall size -- not because I am tall but because I am wide -- but feared I hadn't quite enough yarn. I originally purchased the kit for the shawl and then decided to do the stole when that version came out,. The longer version of the stole calls for 1400 yds and I have about 1200 yds. What to do? Well, I played with gauge swatches and decided that using a size 7 needle with the number of stitches called for in the shorter version, with serious blocking I could get the dimensions I want with the yarn I have. So far, so good.

I finished the first motif yesterday and am now knitting the bee swarm. I am adding beads here -- to mimic drops of honey on the bees. I think I like it. Here's a close-up -- this yarn is very difficult to photograph true to color but this is close:

I am about halfway through this section now.

Something has afflicted our tomatoes. The weather has been difficult this summer for them -- wet, then hot and dry , then cool and wet again. The vines stopped setting new fruit or flowering at all about 3 weeks ago and the plants themselves look stressed. The purple cherokees gave us some terrific fruit for a couple of weeks but now they are cracked and look terrible. The brandywines are just now ripening -- huge tomatoes -- and look much better than the poor cherokees. I think my suggestions that we needed to do better staking them needed to be firmer -- cages will be the order of the day next year. We have the farmer's market plus the local vegetarian restaurant has a wonderful green grocery so we can still indulge in lots more tomatoes this year.

I continue my audiobook experiment. I have been a big James Lee Burke and Michael Connelly fan for a long time. Burke's Louisiana books are my favorite of his and I managed to find a couple I had not yet read. So I got them and a Connelly book I haven't read from the library. Love the fact that I can import them to my iPod to listen -- I then dutifully delete them when I return the CDs.

I am now listening to Burke's Crusader's Cross which is read by Will Patton. It is clear to me that Burke's work lends itself realy well to being read aloud and that in this instance, reader and work are very well matched. Patton's soft southern accent helps evoke the atmoshere that Burke creates so well. I am really enjoying this one much more than the previous books I tried. The Honeybee Stole is being knit to Burke's words about bayou country -- seems right somehow.

Uh-oh

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:03:21 -0400

Be careful ...