Quebec

Hi Megs,

A little short post - this has been on my mind. Don't know if the news has reached the US or if they even care, but Quebec had a major political shake-up this week. They have their first minority government is 180 years and the separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ) came if last of the three parties. The Liberals hung on to power but a new party, Action's démocratique du Québec (ADQ) are "autonomist" within Canada (whatever that means) is the Official Opposition. They are lead by a young guy (relatively speaking ) Mario Dumont. In the picture Premier Jean Charest (big picture), Liberal, Mario Dumont (top right), ADQ, and Andre Boisclair (bottom right) of the PQ. The Liberals got 125 seats, the ADQ, 41 and the PQ 36. Interesting times in Quebec.

When going through the old pictures (in preparation for putting in the hardwood) I came across these pictures of the rally in Montreal before the Yes/No vote for Quebec Sovereignty in 1995 (12 years ago - yikes!). A group of us from the Ottawa Board of Eduction went up with pictures and letters from the children at First Avenue School. We found a good tree and strung them on the tree (I am wearing Dad's old red jacket - still have it). We had a lot of wonderful conversations that day - in both official languages - with some translation. It was a very moving experience - one I will always remember.

As you remember, the NO only won by 51%. Could have been a very different Canada. With this election - things will be settled for a little while - a good thing for Canada, particularly Atlantic Canada that would have been disconnected from the rest had the YES vote passed. I guess I am in a reflective mood - this was - and is important.

Love ya, Mom, XOP

Crazy Days!

Hi Megs,

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. It has been crazy days! I think we have Spring fever because we are doing all kinds of things around the house. It has been beautiful here - not as warm as SF but nice for us - up to 12 c and sunny except for Saturday when we woke up to snow all over the place - but pretty snow. All gone now. The ducks and Canadian geese are back. Like the ducks - not the geese! We had our first BBQ - scallop kabobs!

I am still knitting the 5 shawls - have 3 3/4 done - so almost finished. It is good TV watching knitting but every so often I have to switch to something interesting! They are looking really good. Have been busy getting all the stuff ready for the Rotary GSE to Brazil. We had to pick out "outfits" - not easy with 4 young small women and me! But think we finally have it nailed down. On this map we are going to Rotary District 4700 (the light pink one near the bottom). This gives you an idea of where it is. I have also started a Group Study Exchange blog but it is not ready for prime-time yet. I will let you know when it is.

I have copies of "Knit Lit" and "Knit Lit (too)" and have to say I didn't like Knit Lit enough to finish it or even start the second one. It is really hard to write a really good short story and being about knitting might get me interested but doesn't hold my interest. I got both for gifts so they are on my shelf to loan out. I do like the Yarn Harlot - in small doses - she can be very funny. I have been reading "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. It is really good - strange - death is the narrator.



As to knitting books, I got two great books - "Knits for a Painter's Palette" by Maie Landra and "The Natural Knitter" by Barbara Albright. Both talk about dyeing wool and give some techniques. The Natural one show how to dye using natural materials like onion skins, eucalyptus, dried marigolds and mallow. I grow mallow in the backyard. Itching to get at this.

Dad has been working hard with the carpenter and plumber and electrician to get my basement dyeing station all set up. Have it all ready except the electricity. We had to clean out the basement by the windows. It has a lot of natural light at the back so perfect. I really am itching to get going.

But - we also decided to put in hardwood floors upstairs - so by the end of the week we will have NO MORE CARPET! Yea! But we have had to move everything off the balcony and the 3 bedrooms. It has been wild. My "studio" is next so have to clean it out tomorrow night. I won't have a computer for a little while - YIKES! Don't know if I can survive. It is going to look great when it is finished. The house is totally messed up. Someday I will actually get back to knitting.

I do love your dishcloths. I still use the two you made me a couple of years ago. I saw the water bottle cover but never thought anyone would ever make it! Love it and great yarn. I guess a person has to experience the cold nights of Africa before they get the yen to do this.

I am looking for your birthday present. It is almost Easter - it is SPRING! Yea. Got the hotel room and ready to get on the plane and visit you both. It is going to be a very busy May and June so happy we are getting the house in order now. When I get the 5 scarfs done I can get on with my entralac and finish the rug I have been hooking on for two years! And look at this yarn. Don't know what I am going to do with it (add it to my collection) but just found it so beautiful. It is Fleece Artists - makes a yummy ball. It would make a great dish cloth. Colour, colour, colour!

Take care! Pat Rushka for me - and Nathan!

Love ya, Mom XOP

New inspiration and books galore

Hi Mom,

Well it seems that all the time I spent at home last week - plus the nice feeling of having it all to ourselves again - has got me on a home-oriented knitting streak. I have been going like gangbusters through the dishtowels and finished my third (and last for now) today. I was using leftover Blue Sky cotton in a bright purple - probably not a brand intended for dishtowels but the first one I finished works like a dream and the bright color matches the Fiestaware theme of the kitchen overall. I may just have to buy another ball in a different color if they hold up. As you can see, I got to use the casein needles you got me a while back - they are perfect for this project, just the right size. It's not often that I get to use them so I'm glad I got to play with them again!

Thinking about the color of the dishcloths has also made me rethink the final destination of my t-shirt , which continues to grow bit by bit. It was meant to go in front of the door to the patio, to try to catch the fine sweep of dirt that seems to blow in all the time. Seeing how long it is becoming, though, and how bright and happy all the colors are I think it might just have to go in the kitchen instead. We'll see where it ends up...

I'm glad to hear that you like the Argosy scarf. In the end, I'm having trouble finding 'big foot' myself so I think my adjustments worked well. And yes, the colors I used are darker than the original but not quite as dark as they appear in the photo. The deep red and the purple pop out a lot more against the golden brown. I really do love this colorway!

With the warm temperatures visiting during the day but the cold returning at night the weather here has been reminding me of South Africa, where all my housemates and I froze during the winter without any kind of central heating (let's just say no-one wanted to be the first person to use the bathroom in the morning - brrr!) Which got me thinking about how nice it was, staying with my friend Alan in Harrismith, when his mother would warm up all the beds with hot water bottles in the evening. So when I was running around in Noe Valley Friday I found myself at Walgreen's and picked up a water bottle of my own. And then directly headed down the street to Noe Knits to pick up yarn for the water bottle cover from Sarah Dallas knitting that has been in the back of my mind ever since I saw this one by Yarnstorm on her blog.

(Well, I didn't actually run straight over - I decided for the sake of caution to stop by my car and fill up my meter first - good thing, since the second I dropped the first quarter in to quell the "expired" flashing madly a parking control van appeared around the corner! Too bad the person parked in front of me didn't have quite so good timing...)

The pattern calls for a Rowan cotton that I couldn't find, but I did come across some Debbie Bliss cotton cashmere yarn in a rich deep blue that I think will be a pretty fine substitute. I also had some Rowan Wool Cotton leftovers in the stash that will be good options for the trim - right now I'm leaning towards the bright blue, maybe also using the little bit of purple for the tie. I think that this will be my next carry-along project instead of socks , small but with the cables to keep it interesting. The big bonus is that unlike all of my other recent projects, it is neither a square nor based on a square. I feel like I'm breaking free!

I'm sorry to hear about your friend's husband, but it is good that she has such a good circle of support. It is strange to think that I was reading reviews this week of two books based on knitting groups and how they helped people cope with loss, one of which is the infamous Friday Night Knitting Club (which it seems cannot be mentioned, even by me, without the additional information that it is soon to be movie starring Julia Roberts). The other is The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood, that is supposed to be the better story. It's good that both Sue and Shirley have you all there to help them through the rough patches of bad health and heartache too.

I did get a lot knitting reading in while I was down & out as I finally had a chance to read Knitting Rules by the Yarn Harlot. It was a great and fast read, perfect for beginner knitters but still something that I think I'm going to keep in my own library for reference too. Lots of basic knitting formulas that can be adapted in a multitude of ways, lots of reminders of why swatching is important (something I have ignored at my peril in the past) and lots of good humor at knitting gone wrong. I would definitely recommend it for Barbara - congratulations to her on picking up the needles again and a super kudos for picking such a project as her first one! (The lace and texture would have been too much for me starting out - that really is a beautiful sweater). I would suggest having a copy to share in your knitting group but I think that you'd never get it away from whoever got it first!

Last Friday I also received a copy of KnitLit 3 from Afghans for Afghans thanks to another volunteer who has an essay about her work with A4A in this edition. While I really liked her story and the idea that working for charity can free a knitter from the confines of having to have everything be 'perfect', in a whole the collection doesn't really grab me. I feel with this that the editors were mostly focused on inspiring creativity and being supportive to amateur writers than in creating a professional polished volume. It made me realize just how important an effective editor can be! Based on what I've read so far, I don't think I'll be rushing out to get the two earlier anthologies, sad to say.

My other read, which just flew by, was The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood. I have to be honest, I've never really liked anything I've read by her before but this one really grabbed me. I picked it up at a local used book store in the Mission, Dog Eared Books, and could hardly put it down. Maybe it was all the references to UofT in the 90's that struck a cord? I've already gone back to DEB where this time I found a copy of Cat's Eye. We'll see if my current infatuation with Ms. Atwood has any legs or if it was just a momentary illness-induced hallucination!

First, though, I have to finish The World to Come, a story that centers around the paintings of Chagall. It is a really interesting and well written book but at the same time just so sad that it's hard to get through. I'm about a third in so we'll see where it goes from here.

I'm bouncing between it and The Master Jewelers, which I got last weekend when I went for a double-barreled museum extravaganza to see the Vivienne Westwood collection at the deYoung and the French jewelry exhibit at the Legion of Honor. Talk about inspiration! I have never been a fan of Ms. Westwood's work seeing it on the runways, but in this show the clothes displayed on the models look fantastic. It gave me a whole new appreciation for her tailoring and research into patterns and shapes. Then the jewelry - all I can say is that I heart Boucheron and I've already made a trip to a local beadstore to start playing around with beads and jewelry again. It seems my box arrived with all of my old beading equipment just in time!

Both of these shows will still be up when you are here in May if you want to take a peek for yourself - I know I'd be happy to spend time with them again (outside of my volunteer work for the deYoung, when I barely get time to rush in and out of the exhibits). Do you know where you are going to stay? You are welcome with us but the digs are in our living room so it depends how much space you want. By then, though, I should be more than geared up for another round of guests!

Happy knitting,

Megan

Almost Spring

Hi Megs

Love to hear about your beautiful weather there. It is warming up here - but the weather just had to have another go at it. We had a brief snow storm, then sleet, then freezing rain, then rain and then it went up to 11 degrees (C) yesterday with really high winds and all the snow is gone. We also know it is spring because the ducks are back. There were 8 (4 pair) in the yard and then in the pond and then on the lake (which is clearing). They clean up all the dropped birdseed from the winter. They also make a mess but it is nice to have them back. We should have baby ducks in a little while. I love your new Jade plant. They are a beautiful plant and last so long. Remember our big one that finally got so big it split?

That ball of T-shirt "yarn" is gigantic - as will be the rug! Looks very interesting but also hard on the hands. I don't think I have ever knitted with needles larger that US 11. I also like your scarf better than the original. And notice the original has a "big foot" as well. But - when you took the picture you cut off your face! At least you could have put Rushka in the picture. The scarf is really nice. I particularly like the darker colours.

I like the different pinks in your Lady E. It gives it character and texture. I am also on row 20 of my Lady E. I took it to the Knitting Guild (YKG) last week but find that we get talking so much it is hard to keep in on track. Also, as a group, the YKG is helping my friend Barbara Johnson with her knitting. She really has great tension and very even knitting. She is re-learning. And, after a little craziness with the yarn throw on the k1 p1 rib she is off to a grand start on a sweater, Coastal by Sarah Dallas in Rowan #41. She has knit before and her mother is a knitter to give help and encouragement.

And yes, I did join IODE - they took me in even though I am an ex-pat American! Go figure (an me a legacy with the DAR and the UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy). I enjoy this group. All different age groups - some remind me of my mother, some of me! I think it is similar to PEO that sisters Ellen and Susan belong to in Lee's Summit. We had a St. Patrick Day Irish stew dinner yesterday. I made green desserts - a LOT of green desserts.

I have been working on the shawls for the Rotary GSE. I now have 3 done - 2 more to go (well, almost three done - one has to be blocked and one has about 12 rows to go before CO). Doris is spinning away for me. This is really "stupid" knitting. I am going to take it to the YKG next week because I can talk and do the garter stitch at the same time. That is the limit of my abilities.


I am also happy to have the March 07 edition of the RHGNS Magazine off in the mail and e-mail. I had the printer drop it off (all 900+ copies) to the church were the Carpetbaggers (one of my two rug hooking guilds) meet on Thursday. I recruited Pam, Barb and Gayle to help me tape, check and sort for the post office. We did it all in record time and I had it at the post office by 1:00 p.m. I love the cover. It is Doris Wentzell working on a project at our White Point Hook-in. She is a well known and respected rug hooking teacher.

I also got ambitious with dyeing wool (maybe too ambitious) and bought a bold of Dorr wool from my friend and rug hooking buddy and rh teacher, Shirley Bradshaw. She has been very ill. She had us all worried but think she is on the mend. We all depend on her at the Rugg Bees and Carpetbaggers and the Garden Club. We are working on the annual provincial convention of the Nova Scotia Association of Garden Clubs that we are hosting in June. I won't be there but working with the committee - Shirley is our chair - to get it all organized - and it is!

We were saddened this week by the death of the husband of one of our YKG Members. Sue lost Chris, a really wonderful man. He was one of our great principals at the school board who just retired. I really admired him - just a very nice, kind man. I think the importance of our Guild is that we like each other and we are just another support for each other as we move through life.

Take care. Looking forward to seeing you in May! In a little over a month - wow! Time goes fast when you are having fun.

I am putting this picture in for Rushka. The squirrels miss her! This squirrel is having breakfast out of our "squirrel proof bird feeder".

Love ya, Mom XOP

I'm back!

Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted - February 27! I really have been on hiatus for quite some time. It seems the combined effects of Nathan's birthday (dealing with the fact that he is really in his 30's now), food poisoning and having Nathan's brother, father & mother in town (while Nathan was away for part of it too) pretty much all at once really knocked me out of commission. But now I am feeling better, the last of the visitors are gone, I've had some time to regroup and finally feel like myself again.

Even with everything it really was good to have Matt here - he was in town (from France, where he is working in Toulouse) for just over a week visiting Berkeley for his prospective grad student's weekend, so his parents took advantage of the fact that he was here to visit too. In the end the atmosphere on campus, the proximity of his friends from undergrad and his brother, combined with the glorious weather we have been having (70's and 80's most days) may have convinced him that this is the place. He'll make his final decision in April - I know what Nathan is pushing for!

When I could find some quiet time I did take advantage of it to just sit, read and knit and try to get myself back on track. I finished winding the ball of t-shirt yarn just before everyone descended (pushing myself to get it done and out of the way seemed easier than trying to explain what on earth I was doing with all those bits and pieces of clothing). In the end, the ball weighed over 3 pounds and needed its own basket to be contained while I worked!

I have been slowly plugging away at this, trying to get through a color a day if I can. It's harder to knit anything more than that with the giant size 19 needles, which start to hurt my hands after a while. I actually think I should be working with 17's since the rug is turning out to be HUGE - it is already 3' long and I am only at color 9 of 17! I decided to take out the grey 'yarn' - the only non-color color - and will use that instead for a crocheted border. It does seem the rugh will need something like that to finish it off. It is interesting though to see how the different t-shirts knit up. Some are ribbed and sort of scratchy, others soft and wanting to curl, some with side seams that stick out randomly and some made from a single tube of fabric that just flows through the fingers. Definitely a different knitting experience overall!

In breaks from working on the rug I have also been steadily making progress on my Lady E and am up to row 20 - over half-way there! The good news is that the extra yarn from Handmaiden finally arrived . The not so good news is that it is, of course, a slightly different dyelot and is definitely more pink that the original skeins I had:

I am disguising this shift not so very well by using the new pinker yarn for the center sections, planning to go back to the original darker yarn for the final edge. My hope is that only the people who see me from the side will see the difference between the two!

My major progress, though, was with my Argosy scarf which just flew by and is now complete! And this time I really did manage to use up all the yarn, with no more leftovers from my leftovers project. This is all that is left! In the end the big foot really isn't noticeable with everything all together so I think my changes worked out well if I do say so myself! How do you think it compares to the original?














I'm glad to see that we both managed to complete scarves over the past few weeks - is that the same pattern that you used for the scarf to match my first-ever sweater? I really like the way it falls. But while I know what the IODE is, I'm pretty sure you're not one, so I'm a little confused about that part! I'm sure they will be more than thrilled with your contribution in any case, though, even if it does come from one of those questionable American types...

Your dyeing class seems like it was a lot of fun too. I have 9 skeins of wool that need to be overdyed (given to me because they needed to be overdyed so there were no other takers) so I definitely have incentive to learn. If only my kitchen weren't so small - I feel as if any mistakes could have major impact on all the surrounding surfaces! I've thought of trying Kool-Aid dying since that seems to be pretty straightforward. We'll see if I ever build up the nerve.

Right now I have cast on for some dishcloths to keep me occupied while I try to make some headway on my two big projects and think about my next small project. It should be socks given all the sock yarn I have recently picked up but with the warm weather we've been having socks don't seem all that appropriate. I think I will just have to wait for the weather to shift and the fog to roll back in.

In the meantime I am loving the fact that it is warm enough to actually sit on the deck in the sun - we even had a bar-b-que on Monday with Matt, the first time we have had it on since we moved here (usually it is just too windy to be outside in the evening where we are). I even picked up a really pretty Jade tree at a plant sale at the SF Botanical Garden on Saturday. Feels like summer - I love it!

Happy knitting,

Megan

Finished Something!

Hi Megs,

I finished something! Doesn't happen very often. I spend more time starting things than finishing them - or adding to my "collection". I finished a scarf from Rowan #26, Dew Designed by Kim Hargreaves. The yarn is Briggs & Little hand dyed by Samantha Nickerson. It is so soft. I worked on in last weekend - fast-fast- because I donated it to the IODE (International Order of the Daughters of the Empire - a Canadian version of the DAR - but on the British side). It is a money raiser for an automatic bed at IWK Hospital in Halifax. I put a Tin Pot Textiles "hand made by Ann Jones" label on it. Really looks nice. Came out well.

Sorry to hear that you have been sick and also very busy. Not a good combination. Hope you at least have found time to do some knitting. I am still recovering from our rug school week and finishing the RHGNS magazine.

But is so nice that it is almost SPRING. Our snow is going fast. We got to see a grand eclipse of the moon last week - watched it over the lake as we ate supper. It was really nice. I tried to get a picture but all I got was black.

Have also been working on the shawls for the GSE team - the brown natural Marino ones that Doris is spinning the yarn for. These and the entrelac are keeping me busy. It is getting longer and longer - but only have 18 sections so far.
..
I am also (crazy me) thinking about another project. I have these great yarns (the variegated are from Manos del Uruguay and the greens I got at the trading post in Arizona during your wedding week). I want to make something out of them but haven't had an inspiration yet. I am attracted to this blanket from Handpaint Country, A knitter's journey by Cheryl Potter - but it also may be the images of the Southwest. What a wonderful time we had in September - a magical place for your wedding. So if you have any ideas - I need them.

That's about all I have been up to. The sun is shinning at it is 10 degrees outside - yea!

Love ya, Mom XOP

Great Rug School

Hi Megs,

The "Rug School" was great. Had a grand week. But still would have like to have gone to Stitches. Grrrr!

We also had a second anniversary of the Knitting Guild. So it has been a busy week. We had a little celebration with "ice-cream cone cup cakes with candles".

I like the sock yarn you bought - great colour - and I agree that nice patterned socks are much nicer with solid or slightly mottled colour. I got a really great free sock pattern from Sandra Singh. I discovered Sandra when I was in Austin Texas last year. They are called Ann "Tilting at Windmills" socks designed by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. I have the alpaca yarn I am going to use to make them - but I will make them longer.

I have heard of the Victorian Lace Today book - good marketing - but I bought Arctic Lace by Donna Druchunas. It has stories, lace patterns and knitting projects from the native knitters of Alaska. They knit with musk ox and the patterns are based on native designs - which are also on their baskets (I thought you would like that part). I would recommend this book.

My entrelac isn't doing what you describe. Don't know why unless we were sitting together but agree - DON'T fix it now! Block it out - it usually works. Water does wonders.

Now - what did I learn in school? I colour planned a rug I got with a giraffe on it! It was designed by a woman "up the shore", Sheila Leblanc-Joyce (carried by Highland Heart Hookery in Halifax) By the time I finished I had taken out some of the elements because felt it was too busy for the rug I wanted.

Then I dyed the wool (the natural Dorr wool you gave me) - a RAINBOW - for the boarder and I dyed yarn ( wool and mohair natural by Brock Farms in Campbellville Ontarion) for the binding. Then I am going to dye all the other colours in the same colourway using the my same dyes. I did it mostly myself after Barbie Baker-Dykens showed me how. It is a very interesting process. You mix the dyes, I use Chem Pro and using them you literally paint the wool. I used red, red/orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. All based on my red, yellow and blue dyes. (with vinegar or citric acid to set the colours). You then bake it in the oven, rinse it and there you have it!

The painting is a really neat project where you paint how you want it to come out (I wanted a rainbow) on a piece of wool 4 times the length and same width that you are going to hook. You can do this in sections (see picture) and then you cut the wool (I use #4) and hook with the long piece. If you do it right the piece of yarn fits (with some adjustments) the area because you are pulling loops - taking up the length.

I also found out that yarn is really easy to dye. You do the same thing except add the vinegar or acid just before you bake it. I am going to be doing more of this! I put in a picture of Ann Durkee painting 2, 52" pieces for a sky for her rug hooking of a ship on the ocean. It turned out really beautiful and when she hooked it, it did look like a stormy sky. Really neat - but takes some planning and some vision of what you will get at the end of it all.

So really feel energized by all this. Also feel good tonight because I finished the Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia magazine for March, 07 (Volume 28, #2). I have 4 pages of colour on the cover, 24 pages inside and the mailing cover. Before our big storm - which we are having right now - I took it to Garth at Sunrise Printing. So - feeling very good!

But tonight I am sitting, listening to the wind (your brother said he sat on the beach all day) and knit! My only decision is to work on the entrelac or the brown shawls. Oh my - what to do!

I really like the pattern for the cable sweater - and the others as well. Great site. I also don't have any suggestions about the "big foot" at the end of your scarf - but do like your alterations to the patterns. Only comment is what your grandmother always says, "You won't see it on a flying horse". You will dazzle them with the colours on the scarf. You can see from my dyeing that I am not afraid of colour!

Have a nice weekend,

Love ya, Mom XOP