Stitches Update

Hi Mom,

Well in the end I did go back to Stitches, accompanied by my very patient husband Nathan (who I managed to loose at one point when he was standing only 2 feet away...) but all that I picked up on my second go-round was another skein of sock yarn. This time it was Lisa Souza Sock! (the same yarn I used for the Pomatomus socks I made for you) in a light sage green. What can I say, if I am going to make a project using lots of yarn I tend to plan and plan and plan my purchase for ages in advance, so I didn't succumb to any of the big bags of yarn on offer. And I know from past experience that the single skeins of luscious $30-a-hank yarn can be hard to find a purpose for after the fact.

So instead I settled for browsing and making notes and comparing colors. (I think I have come up with the perfect combination of Lisa Souza yarns for the twisted float shrug from the 2005 Holiday VK that someday I will actually put on the needles - once I actually order the yarn, that is). I also briefly browsed the new pattern books, including Victorian Lace Today which was being heavily touted all weekend - the author was on hand for the show and book-signings abounded. I think I want to pick up a copy for myself (if only to use up all the single skeins of laceweight I've bought at past Stitches!) but it will be for the knitpick's price, not the full-on retail price.

I glanced through the new Interweave briefly - I have to say nothing caught my eye - but still need to check out the new Rowan. My last stop was at Black Water Abbey yarns, a shop that designs patterns sold by Afghans 4 Afghans (based on traditional Afghan motifs). I fell for one of their cabled sweaters, which may be a project for next fall. It is the cable & lattice pattern, which can be found by following the links to worsted weight patterns, then pullovers (it is the fourth one down).

I also visited the knit doctor (my first-time ever!) to see if she had any insights as to why, with my entrelac, the squares on the knit side pull at the edge where I knit my working stitches together with the square below. My purl-side squares are perfectly beautiful and even; the knit-side squares have this odd ladder-like gap at the second from the last stitch. I've tried ever decrease imaginable to get rid of it to no avail. The knit doctor didn't have any ideas either, so I've decided to just shut my eyes to it and continue knitting away. Besides, I have made it to the 1/3 mark (12 rows down!) so at this point, even if I did find the answer, I'd still have a large portion of the shawl with this problem in place that I am not keen to re-knit. Hopefully your Lady E is behaving better! It really is a simple but beautiful pattern - and truly addictive to knit. I am also looking forward to the fringe, for some reason - it really seems to finish off the scarf in the pictures I've seen. If only my extra Handmaiden would arrive so that I can be sure I'll actually have enough to finish it with!

Now that my Lady E has gotten too big to travel well (and the ball of t-shirt yarn is even heavier to hoist now that I am 1 1/4 shirt from the end of the cutting stage!) I have succumbed to the lure of another project. I do seem to be on a square theme as I cast-on for Argosy, from the winter Knitty. This consumed me for most of last night as I tried to rework the pattern to suit my fancy. I decided after starting it the first time that I didn't like using the row of purl stitches called for to divide out the sections along the horizontal axis so I substituted a row of yo's instead (not easy over an odd number of stitches). This meant that I also had to switch around the order in which extra panels are added on the left and right (since the yo's didn't look right place just after the cast-on row and I needed some extra rows in between). In the end this altered the overall balance leaving me with one 'big' foot at the bottom but I think I can live with that. In the end the yo row doesn't directly balance out the vertical spacing between the rows but it does bring in a matching sort of lacey effect so I'm going to say it works! This project is also going quickly for now - we'll see if all these squares (more squares!) starts to drag after a while. I'm working it in the leftover Silk Garden from my Klaralund - of course, I had to buy an extra ball to get the correct yardage, which sort of negates the leftover part of it but I'll ignore that for now

The 'murder' on your deck sounds thrillingly gruesome. I can just picture Dad watching the whole thing from the deck, shouting out his commentary! I am sure it is all the chatter among the creatures living in and around your house - you have developed quite a community, raptors and all. I also saw the pictures of Clay's new 'do. I don't know about investment banker, but 80's teen sitcom star comes to mind for me when viewing the 'after' shot...

Oh, and I'm sure that you do get quite a few comments when you go about town with your lobster mitts on!

Hope you have fun at your rug hooking course this week,

Megan

I want to go!

Hi Megs,

I am really jealous that you get to go to Stitches West - I WANT TO GO! Can't imagine what it would be like to see all that yarn. All those colours, all the interesting patterns and stuff people are doing. My consolation is that we have FRENCHY's! At least you found your t-shirts in such great colours - don't think you paid over $2 Canadian for any of them. You did a great job of "tossing the bin" to find them. That rug is going to be a very interesting project. How big is you ball by now or have you given up on rolling just one ball. Your colour sequence is is really nice. Like the way the orange pops out.

And - now I have to admit that I checked out the Scarf Style - love the projects in this book and ordered it from Amazon. And now I am doing enterlac again. I did this in the early 90's - remember it being called "interlaced", but never liked how it looked. But with the new yarns with really great colour combinations it really is neat. So, I am also making the Lady Eleanor. So I guess, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." I am using smaller needles - 5 mm and Freedom Spirit 100% wool yarn from Twilley's of Stamford so the scarf is smaller - the width on my foot-stool. Love the colour way - the way it is looking. Had to refresh how to do this but didn't take long and I was picking up stitches and going like crazy! But it is like eating peanuts - you just have to have another handful/row. It is really interesting how the colours of this yarn are mixing with the enterlac pattern. You got me hooked!

The new Interweave Knits has the directions for "how to" enterlac but they are really confusing. The directions in Scarf Style are much better. Really didn't like ANYTHING in the latest edition. Some awful stuff that comes under the category "just because you can knit it doesn't mean you should!" They try too hard to be "innovative" and it just comes out nuts. Also got the new Rowan Magazine, #41 and there are some beautiful sweaters in there. Really like design of the Kaffe Fassett Marble (page 59) and Maris by Sarah Hatton (page 83). Very simple and classic. Oh - so much to knit (and hook) and so little time.

Doris - with me looking on - has spun another skein of the brown Marino. She thought it was Polwarth but now thinks it has to be Marino. We compared and the Polwarth is just not as soft as this roving she is spinning - the dark brown. I am going to my rug course this week but AM going to get to spinning the week after. I have also started scarf # 3.

We had a "murder" on the deck. We have had a little hawk in the tree over the deck. When he shows up the birds leave. Well, one dumb morning dove - not a fast moving bird at best - wandered into the feeder and he got her! But the morning dove was just about as big as the hawk and he had a devil of a time getting her lifted off the deck to fly away with his prize. I wasn't home but you Dad saw the whole thing. He said the feathers were really flying. We had to clean up the deck. I guess that is just how life works in the bird world.

Yes, all is well with us. Your brother shaved off his beard and cut his hair - says it is too hot in the Barbados for facial hair. He says he looks like an investment banker. He does! He also looks very young. It really runs in the family - the looking young thing. This is good!

I am going to ask around to see if I can find who knitted the lobster claw mitts. Would love to get the pattern. They are kind of neat. I have worn them once and really got a lot of comments. I hate it when people ask, "Did you knit those?", and I have to say "NO".

So - hope you gather your energy and are able to get back to Stitches and wish I could come with you! Maybe after we visit to go to the San Francisco Jazz Festival in May, we can come again so I can go to the Expo. The Knitting Guild has been talking about doing a field trip to Stitches East when it gets to Massachusetts or to Maine - if it ever does. But it has to be when the Ferry runs to Portland or Bar Harbour so we don't have to drive all the way around.

I will let you know what I am learning at "rug school".

Love ya, Mom, XOP

yarn accumulation?

Hi Mom,

Sorry to hear about your car & keys - that's a bit scary. I can't believe you had something stolen in Yarmouth! At least the RCMP are on the case, and hopefully your locks are all changed by now. And it's a small enough town that if you see someone running around in your work-out clothes you'll know who to nab.

Clay's photos from Barbados look great - that is a lot of goats. I'm not sure about the obsession with documenting the frog though - or, looking back through his album, the many many pictures of food. There are a surprising number in there...

Congratulations on your success with the fund-raising calendar too - I know that was a lot of hard work. And how great to have so many mementos of the project sent in. I know it will bring back lots of great memories whenever you pull out those crazy lobster mitts! It really would be great to have the pattern for those too.

While here in San Francisco it is really just rainy and cold, we have had snow in the area up on Mt. Diablo. This is such an event that people are actually driving up (about 2 hours from the city) to 'visit' the snow up at the peak! I asked Nathan if he wanted to go too but truly after being in Chicago so long (not to mention my growing up in Ottawa) we have seen more than enough of our share. If we go for snow, it's going to be in Tahoe where we can enjoy it to its fullest!

I am already back from Stitches, still trying to decide if I want (need?) to go back to actually pick up some yarn. In the end I only managed to make it through the Thursday set-up of the A4A booth (which was slightly more hectic and emotionally trying than I had anticipated - its a great project with a wonderful mission, which I had to keep reminding myself as I struggled to handle the personalities involved in the actual management) and didn't stay over for Friday shopping. In the end I was only followed home by a single skein of the much sought-after Socks That Rock lightweight sock yarn, in a gorgeous purplish red color called Jasper that jumped in my knitting basket. There is more there that I want to check out, largely so that I know what to put on my list for future orders since this is a great place to see in person what I otherwise know only from the internet. But I actually have no need for more yarn at present. The question is whether it is worth another drive down to Santa Clara and back just for that purpose. I'll keep you posted.

I'm actually busy slowly but surely making my own 'yarn', not by spinning or dyeing or any of the other creative ways that you are learning to do (I am jealous, I admit) but with a pile of t-shirts and a pair of scissors. Now that my box has arrived with all of the shirts I bought at Frenchy's over the holidays I am getting ready to make the t-shirt rug from Alterknits. This has been on my mental to-do list for quite a while so I'm excited to finally be able to start it. The first step was to sort out the order of all the colors - there are 18 t-shirts, each of which will be it's own color stripe in the finished rug. Here is my color plan, with the first t-shirts already cut and balled up at left:


Now I am in the cutting phase, adding each t-shirt as it was turned into yarn onto my ever-expanding ball - I decided to just cut them all at once, make a giant ball, and then knit it straight off in one go. This actual 'yarn' preparation is slow going - I have been at it a week, and think I will need another week to finish - but it is kind of fascinating to watch the ball grow and grow and grow. This is definitely an at-home project! As the pile sinks down (I am now through 10 shirts, with 8 to go) the ball has slowly started to overpower it. Hopefully I can actually lift it when all is said and done. Here it is 6 shirts down, and as it stands now with 10:


Just to be sure that this will work out the way it should I have also swatched on my jumbo size 19 needles (which I bought last week along with an extra skein of Noro Silk Garden, which the salesperson patiently explained could not actually be knit successfully on the size 19's so did I want to trade them for another pair? It took a while to explain they were for different projects...) It's a bit open so hopefully that will mean the rug will be something that can be washed and dried successfully. We'll see.

I am also making slow but steady progress on my entrelac stole - I am through 10 tiers so far, with only 30 or so more to go! At a tier a day (and I'm not even knitting that steadily so far) it will take over a month, so this is definitely another slow-goer but I'm still happy to plug along on it for now. I am worried that the extra Ottawa yarn I ordered got lost in the mail - Handmaiden was again oh so generous to send me another shipment, which hopefully will get here next week, but now I'm slightly fretful. Without it I'm not sure that I will have enough to finish - and definitely not enough for the fringe which looks so beautiful in the photos of completed shawls. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

(Hmmm, notice how the color of the shawl and the color of the socks that rock is basically the same? I must be on a color trend again... Last fall it was for bubblegum pink, so hopefully this purplish red will get a better reception with Nathan...)

I do keep thinking that I need to start something else, something lacy and more intricate than the stockinette and squares upon squares of the entrelac or the ongoing scissor-work of the rug (to be replaced with garter stitch once it's finally cast-on) but for now these are keeping me more than entertained. I think that my next project will be the short-sleeved Rowan sweater, but that will be three big projects at once. Yet I'm not in the mood for more socks. So for now I'll just keep plugging away!

Hope all is well and that you & Dad are still safe at home,

Megan

Speaking of socks...

.... check out this woman's creations, courtesy of one of the members of the KnitList. She's just over by you in Maine - I think those lobster socks are made for you!

Megan

Lobster's in Winter!

Hi Megs,

Love the lobster socks. I found a great pair of knitted lobster mitts that I love! Have no idea who designed them. "Our Lobstermen in the Buff" calendar for our local cancer centre brings many such lobster related gifts. But - wow - happy to say that we, the "calendar girls" , have, to date, raised over $80,000 for the centre! We are really proud of this and hope to get close to $100,000 by the time all sales returns are completed!

And - answer is YES! I have no idea who or when or if I will knit anything from any of the books or every use all the yarn in my "collection" - an "extra special collector's items of sweaters that could be. But I do love to admire all the sweaters in my books and the yarn - lovely stuff.

I love your socks. They are beautiful! Lace is always picky and when you are doing it on circular needles - it gets crazy. But they are FINISHED and really nice. I love wearing my gray socks. Make me feel good. If you want more sock ideas I found some great vintage sock and mitt books. They have some really nice patters, particularly for knee socks - boy do I remember trying to keep those darn things up!

I tried reading "knit lit" but just can't get into it. I guess with the Knitting Guild and the Rug Hooking Guild I am living it! I am so into audiobooks (plug-in at Figures and when I drive) that if I can't get it from audiobooks or I-books I don't "read" it. I do always have one real book but tend to like to read Can-Lit (Canadian that is) like Wayne Johnston. Am currently reading The Custodian of Paradise by him. I do really like the Coxeter book, King of Infinite Space. It is a very good read - as a mathematician I really love the images and the thought processes that are described.

I have been knitting away on my shawls for the Rotary Brazil group. Also rug hooking. I am taking a course all next week on colour planning and dyeing with Barbie Baker-Dykens. She is a well known rug hooking teacher who specialized in these two areas. Really looking forward to this. She also works on unique dyeing formulas and techniques. What I need is a sink in the basement so I can do more dyeing. I hate to do it in our WHITE Corian sink!

And - we are just digging our of a big snowstorm! We were totally socked in on Monday. Everything closed - schools, banks, stores downtown and get this - the mall! The only thing opened according to the radio because we didn't go out - was Tim Horton's! Guess it is a Canadian thing eh!

Meanwhile, your brother is enjoying the Barbados! His only problem seems to be the goats and monkeys that invade his backyard. But he is warm and he says he is writing a lot so all is well with him.

All is well with us except my car got broken into while I was rug hooking - outside Holy Trinity Anglican Church no less! Is nothing sacred? I only noticed when my car info panel told me my alarm had been tripped (at least I know I locked it). All they got was my gym bag (black workout pants, underwear, toiletries, towel and a t-shirt) and the neat yellow bag. I keep my great shoes on the rack at Figures. At least that was all I thought they got until I realized that my extra set of car keys (with house key) was in the bag! Also sort of worried because I have the only Saab in Yarmouth so if they want to they can find my car. Your Dad parked his truck across the driveway last night and we made sure the "stay" alarm was on - little freaky! Called the RCMP. Officer Jenkins took a very serious report on it all - said their had been a lot of these car break-ins going around. So having the keys reprogrammed this morning and the key re-figured this afternoon. Finally figures out that how they got in was through the back hatch because when my car's back was repaired last month they somehow didn't reconnect the back lock. Have to drive to Halifax to get that fixed. Oh bother!

Am working on the mag, knitting shawls, hooking and having a grand time trying to survive until Spring!

Love ya, Mom XOP

Finished!

Hi Mom,

I can't believe you found another complete yarn kit for that Alice Starmore sweater - or a book of cowboy knitting from the 50's! My question is, though, who will these be knit for? Or will they be extra-special collector's items of sweaters that could be, to be admired just as they are?

On my end, after this weekend I have actual completed objects to show off - my Baudelaire socks are finished! I don't know why the lace drug me down so much at the end, but they are done and I think they look great. There is a really cute little cable twist in the upper leg dividing the back and front lace panels, which themselves look to me like falling leaves. Very fancy all around!














I also finished a book sent to me by Sarah (who is trying to get me addicted to Chick Lit) - it's also about knitting, so it counts! It's Knitting Under the Influence, all about a group of friends who are knitters in LA and going through all the trials and tribulations of the single life. (Do you see the title down in our links on the right? It's there thanks to librarything, a new online plaything to help me keep track of my books now that they are actually out of boxes and onto bookshelves) It was fluffy but still a lot of fun - it was actually hard to put it down once I got into it. Now I know why Sarah is so addicted to these books! There is another book out now, the Friday Night Knitting Club (already optioned into a movie by celebrity knitter Julia Roberts) that I just might have to pick up now too... Although I think I'm most attracted to the look of the yarn on the cover! First, though, I have to get through the book on Coxeter - really interesting, even though I am not a mathematician, to read about one man and his insights and how they inspired so many over almost a century of work. That one of the people he inspired was my father-in-law is just a bonus! (That Glenn is also quoted in the book talking about aliens and geometry as the universal language is a super-special bonus). I understand that Siobhan sent you a copy - Glenn is jealous as the Canadian version is supposed to have more photos. I think both you and Dad will find it interesting - have you had a chance to look at it yet?

With such a busy weekend, it was nice to have an extra day off - here in California everyone actually celebrates President's Day, a holiday that passes by all but unacknowledged in Illinois. To make the most of the day, Nathan and I headed towards Ocean Beach here in the city, then just kept driving down Highway One all the way to Half Moon Bay. It was a really beautiful drive - they have just reopened the highway recently after it was closed by rock slides last year. It was cold and windy by the beach - can you see how bundled up I am? - with choppy waves but the clear blue skies more than made up for it. It was calm enough at Half Moon Bay that surfers were in the water, and we managed to trek our way down to Maverick's to put our toes in the ocean and feel the sand on our feet. Topped off with oysters and clam chowder for lunch, it was definitely a nice way to spend a Monday afternoon.

This weekend coming up is Stitches West, aka the annual-yarn-buying-extravaganza. I am going down on Thursday to help set up the booth for Afghans for Afghans, staying overnight in Santa Clara to go shopping at the market Friday. Since I got to go to Stitches Midwest just last August, I don't really need much so I think a lot of it will be looking and thinking - checking out yarns in person that I normally get to see only online, and making note of what is worth ordering for later when I actually have a need. That's what I say now - you'll have to wait for my report to see how good I actually was!

Megan

Spring!

Hi Megs,

I agree, even though the snow is beautiful, the cold and blow of last few weeks have just about done us in. All we can do is admire the snow and it gives an excuse to stay in and knit, hook, read or just sit. We did get out yesterday for our Valentine dinner at Bruno's. Couldn't go on Valentines day because of a blizzard. It was a beautiful meal - Ceasar salad, pumpkin soup and crab stuffed chicken and a wonderful white and dark chocolate thing for dessert. Finally a beautiful sunny day today but cold. I wish to see my flowers peaking through the ground but first have to get rid of the snow.

I love your scarf done by enterlac. Although I have seen many patterns using this technique, never tried it myself. But the scarf in Scarf Style really looks nice. I have tried domino knitting and of course my favorite-sweater-I-didn't-knit (Northern Isles) and the one I get the most complements on with people saying, "Did you knit that" and unfortunately I have to say, "No, I didn't" (GRRRRRRR). I like any of these techniques that look like patchwork but that you don't have to sew the little blocks together.

I have to admit that I have been ebaying and have been buying vintage knitting pattern books. I got a great one of "cowboy" knits for children. I was driven by the image of your father, around 1949 in his cowboy outfit. But really thought they were cute. I also got some vintage sock and mitten patterns, some bedspreads (go figure) and some lace patterns.







And - remember the yarn for your first sweater - the great purple sweater , Sweet by Kim Hargaves (Rowan Book 26)? I found the yarn for it in the basement. It was slightly the worst for being down there since about 1998. I bought the yarn, Alice Starmore Scottish Campion, for the pattern Boudicca's Braid by Alice Starmore in her book Aran Knitting. I did start it but with all that was going on with job and all, I never finished it. It is a highly complicated pattern. Well - on Ebay I found the yarn (25 skeins in all) for exactly that project in the exact colours I originally bought - so I bought it again (at a very reasonable price). I now have a second chance at this project. It was a "find" because Campion is no longer made. So I will try it again - now that my life is calmer. Or maybe I just should say "someday" and add this yarn to my "collection". I will, however, store it in a better place.

As you can see I am in a "dreaming about knitting" thing right now - waiting for spring. What I am working on are triangular shawls. They are fast but dumb knitting. I am going to make 4 more of the shawl I made for myself (see post on January 13) for the members my team I am leading for the Rotary Group Study Exchange to Brazil in May. We have to dress alike - in a sort of Rotary garb thing - so we decided if we have to do this we are going to be as stylin' as possible. The members (all women) really liked my shawl from hand spun natural Marino (dark brown), spun by Doris Cook, so I committed to doing the shawls. We also thought it would be a good way to showcase Nova Scotia's wool and crafts. I have until the middle of May to finish them. I may ask some of my knitting buddies to make one (or two) for me because it is really boring knitting. I am almost finished with number two.

We are busy but content.

Love ya, Mom XOP

Red is for valentines?

Hi Mom,

I cannot believe that we both ended up with the same obscure brand of Japanese running shoes - almost exactly the same make & model! That is too weird.

And yours are in perfect Valentine's colors - very to the season!

I may not have Valentine's shoes, but I did get Valentine's flowers from my sweetie - twice. The first bunch were in the requisite white and red, but I'm pretty partial to the orange orchids too - don't they look great in the green vase that I got from Meredith?













Perfect for the spring weather we have been having here. (Although the snow looks very pretty in your pictures, I have to say that I'm very happy to be admiring it from afar!)

Your sweater looks like it is coming along great - the finishing might be slow, but the effort will be worth it. And sometimes it is good to bounce from project to project just to keep things interesting. Right now, I am trying to get through the final push up the legs of my Baudelaire socks. There is a new cable twist added to the legsto keep things interesting as I work my way up, but by now I've worked the lace pattern possibly a few too many times to keep my needles buzzing. So I am trading off time spent on the socks with time spent on my new project: learning entrelac, in the form of the Lady Eleanor stole from Scarf Style. Here is my progress so far - I am in my first all-squares row, otherwise known as tier 2:


Since I get to do 16 repeats of tier 2, and 17 of tier one, I should certainly have the hang of this entrelac thing by the time the shawl is done! It really is addictive - instead of just one more row, it's one more square, and then another, and another, and another....

The yarn is the Ottawa yarn from Handmaiden that we got at Gaspereau Valley Fibers. I wish I could say it is a Valentine's red, but really it is shades of purple and brown with a few white slubs scattered in for fun. This is the one that I had not quite enough of at first, but which they very kindly offered to dye more of for me. Now that I have finally got this project on the needles it is occuring to me that even though they dyed and sent it out to me last month, it has yet to arrive here. Uh-oh - hopefully that doesn't mean that I have another stray package out there....

My Klaralund is already washed and blocked, I just need to get a photo for you. In the end, since I was worried it was too short particularly in the arms, I blocked the heck out of it so that now it is slightly too drapey. Hopefully I can get a photo that shows off its good side!

Happy knitting,

Megan

Running Coast to Coast

Hi Megs

We have some very strange vibes going from coast to coast. Remember at Christmas when everyone had their shoes lined up by the door and we notices that you, your bother and I - we ALL had almost identical shoes "done-up" with velcro? Well -- I have been going to Figures since mid January running 20-25 minutes on the treadmill and then one or two circuits on the machines. I bought a pair of just "work out" shoes: Mizuno Wave's! Never heard of this brand but the sales guy said they were the best - and they are! But they are not "the colours" but are suitable for Valentines day!

Happy you got your box - what a crazy thing. And yes - you should make a claim for sure! The 38 days is way, way over the top. Hope you got all your pictures and beads and all your memories back.

You are right - the picture of the ocean at Whitepoint is white, grey and blue. Really like this idea of exploring colours. We use the colour wheel and colour sense training a lot in rug hooking. The swatches we use as reference when we dye are essential to creating the right colours - look and feel of our mats.




I also am doing the non-couch potato training thing. I figure that since I joined Figures I have "run" about 50k. Have lost some weight and some of my behind and spare tire. I also enjoy it. So - go girl!

After my hooking frenzy I am now back to knitting. I am knitting the I-cord around the jacket. Very slow going and you can't keep at it for very long. So working on another of the brown shawls from Doris Cook's hand spun Marino because I like them the feel of the wool and this triangular scarf is such "dumb" knitting - then go back to hooking on my frog purse. So feeling a little skitsy.



I have also promised myself to go down to Hands on Crafts take a little run a spinning. Really admire the wools that Doris is producing. She has a wonderful white Polwarth wool that she just finished (and I bought). She says it is one lower than Marino but I think it is just as beautiful in look and feel. So soft.



It has been snowing and blowing almost every day (the "whirligig" you gave us at the wedding looks so beautiful in the snow) so nice just to stay in and knit (or hook). . I also am starting to put together the next issue of the Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia Magazine - March edition. As editor and desk-top publisher person this will take a lot of my time over the next few weeks but do enjoy doing it - and our circulation is now over 900! We send it all over the Maritimes, all over Canada and into the US and a few other countries. My last edition in November was 24 pages and had a colour cover. We also send out about 75 copies via e-mail. We have a lot of contributors and I think it makes into a really nice publication. Proud of it.

But - as your little bulbs tell us - Spring is almost here - Happy Valentines Day - Knit something RED!

And - just as I was about to finish this I heard a "cackle" outside and this was walking up the hill just outside my window - snapped his picture quickly. Beautiful!

Love ya, Mom XOP

What I've been up to

Hi Mom,

I just realized it's been a long time since I have posted - you've already been to White Point and back! It sounds like you had a very relaxing time, and were able to just enjoy yourself doing one of your favorite things with others who share your passion for the craft. Very few of us are so lucky! Hopefully you managed to get quite a bit of hooking done too in between all of the chatting, eating and comparing notes on everyone's works in progress.

I saw your post on all of your recent yarn acquisitions, and I can only suggest changing the way you think about it. I have to say, your STABLE issue (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) is not a new phenomenon! So maybe the best way to approach it is not just as projects waiting to be done, but as a yarn collection in and of itself. This article from Knitty helps to put it all in perspective!

So what have I been up to all this time? Working on my two on-the-go-projects, the Klaralund and my Baudelaire socks. I worked on the socks during the Superbowl last weekend, with the theory that they had to be lucky for the Bears since I was also working on them when they won against the Saints in January. Alas, this was not to be, and the Colts outplayed them by a mile. But I am past the heel turning on both socks now and will start the ankles this week so hopefully they will be done soon and I can put the loss behind me by enjoying the look and feel of these bright blue beauties on my feet.

I have been making even more progress on my Klaralund, casting on for the sleeves earlier this week. I worked them using my new double-knitting skills, which helped me to keep the color changes even. This was NOT easy with this silk garden, as each skein started in its own place and some had colors - particularly the purple - that others did not. Let's just say this involved much splicing and pulling out of yards of yarn trying to catch the start of a particular repeat. In the end, though, I think I managed to keep it together pretty well, and was finished with the in-the-round section and into the upper body by the start of the weekend. Since it was generally rainy and miserable all day Saturday, this gave Nathan & I the perfect excuse to stay home and watch movies - and for me to fly through the last inches of the shoulders. I bound off the arms tonight and finished the very minimal sewing up (thank you knitting in the round) just this evening. I will wash & block it overnight - I think that overall the sweater turned out really well. The shaping was very simple but elegant in its own way and the end product looks great so far. Oh, and the double-knitting thing was considered very impressive by my fellow volunteers when I was working at the de Young on Thursday (let's just say the coat check can get very slow!)

The rain, much needed here in Northern California, has also helped add inches to my plants outside. I am so excited to report that so far all but one of the bulbs that I put in this fall are now poking out little buds from my planter boxes! This is despite Rushka's best efforts to uproot them, so it is quite an achievement. I have been checking on them all week and some are more than an inch above the ground now. This is my first try at bulbs, particularly in a planter box, so I am very excited to see how these develop.

I have also decided to make the most use of all this spare time I have on my hands these days by actually getting up from behind the computer and putting my body in motion. Yes, I have started running - a somewhat crazy pursuit in this land of hills, but so far so good. I had actually made this resolution and was listening to the Lime & Violet podcast as I walked down to get myself some new dedicated running shoes (as part of an excursion to explore the nearby Inner Sunset neighborhood) when they started promoting a new online group dedicated to getting crafters off the couch. So I joined run-a-go-go, through that found a link to a couch-potato-to-5k training program, and then I hit the streets! I'm still in week 1, walking more than I'm running (so far still so glad that it's another 5 weeks before I'm running all the time), and I'm not sure that I'll make the full 100 miles in the 7 weeks left in the run-a-go-go effort, but at least I'm getting on my feet and out the door.

My new shoes (Mizuno Wave 3's, above) served a double purpose this week, as not only did they give me the tools to get a move on, they also luckily served as my first foray into the colorways of the new Project Spectrum project - they are the perfect shades of blue, white and grey. The goal of this project is to encourage creativity using a select group of colors every two months. I'm already on the way with my blue Baudelaire's - now it's just trying to find some ways to incorporate some greys and whites into the mix. Seems like your photos of White Point in the snow would qualify! How about these shots of the massive Queen Mary which visited San Francisco last week as part of her trip around the world? (So big she just barely fit under the Golden Gate Bridge). I braved the traffic on Telegraph Hill to sneek a peek - then had to climb back down ages of stairways to get a closer look. Really, I'm not sure if the photos really convey how huge she is - let's just say that the green shape in the foreground is actually a full-sized soccer field.

Oh, and the biggest news of the week is that my box finally arrived! After only, oh, 38 days out in the wilderness after we dropped it off at the UPS Store? It got so bad that we had to threaten to just have FedEx come and pick it up from the depot in Montreal (where they managed to loose it, again, after finding it there after it was lost the first time) just to get them to admit there was a problem. Then, in the midst of a flurry of emails where everyone tried their hardest to blame someone else, I got a call early Friday from a driver trying to figure out how to drop off this priority parcel and it was finally here! Much the worse for wear (the cardboard box itself was hardly whole, and I now have a claim out because it seems they pried open the red toybox with a chisel to try and see the contents, breaking the lock in the process) but still here. I can hardly believe that all that worry and frustration is over, that I actually got it back!

Although, maybe the news that Dana is pregnant with her second set of twins (yes, thats right, two sets of twins in a row for a total of 5 children, all under the age of 4 by the end of the year), counts as big news too!

What can I say, it's been busy around here....

Megan

Hooking at Whitepoint

Hi Megs,

Just got back from our hook-in at Whitepoint Beach. It was great fun, relaxing - we just hooked. This was organized by the Rug Hooking group from the South Shore (Queens and Lunenburg Counties). There were 14 of us. Whitepoint was beautiful, calm, cold and snowy but we could hear the ocean and the food was terrific - but way too much of it - but we were not complaining.

I worked on my Frog Purse and others were doing a variety of mats from primitive and "hit and miss" to formal orientals. I will just show you the pictures to give you an idea of the variety of works.








































So I have been spending my time hooking instead of knitting - but at least I work with beautiful materials. The Rug Hooking groups here in Yarmouth are going to have a course on dyeing wools. I have taken one short course but looking forward to learning more in this area. Would like to dye my own wool for knitting as well as hooking. Same materials and techniques.

It is still snowing here and has been colder than normal but really beautiful. I like to stay in and do nothing but what I want to do all day.

Take care,

Love you, Mom XOP