Trying to get "back in the grove" after 6 weeks on the road!

Hi Megs

I am very impressed with all your projects! You have finished so many! I am sad to say that I have finished nothing but the 15 little purses (16 because I made another on the road) that are now all over Brazil - and one in Jefferson City, Missouri, that I gave to Sally. My Eleanor is still on the needles and with the finer yarn and smaller needles I am now on section 39 but it is only about 1/2 to the length I want it. I enjoy working on it. Yours is beautiful. The colours came out really well. I do like your water bottle cover. I was thinking about it in Brazil because we were so cold. I want to make one of the sweaters in the magazine you brought me from Japan but may have to get Nathan's help with the translation.

I haven't had much time because as soon as I got home I had to start working on the Rug Hooking Guild Magazine. It is already late and want to get it done. Also the garden was a mess but at least the weed are big so when you pull one a lot comes with it. We had our friend the lobster fisherman help (the season here is now over) and he whipper-snipped and put the dock in.

I loved your stories of what you saw on your travels. You found some wonderful places and I am sure that Dana enjoyed your visit. Her children are beautiful! I did the gambling thing in Macau, then we lost Ed - one of our traveling companions when we couldn't fit in all the taxis - so I didn't get to see all the wonderful places you found. I did love Japan. Spent most of my time in Kyoto . It is just a beautiful place with wonderful gardens and temples. Would love to go back to both places with Stan with time to explore on our own.

I did enjoy Brazil. We were in such a special area - Rio Grande do Sul (gaucha country and we did see gaucha's). What stands out is the people. They are so nice - lots of hugs - and welcoming. We packed so much into the 4 weeks it is hard to know where to start. I would suggest that you go to our blog Rotary GSE 2007 where we have stories of what we did and who we met with pictures. We only got to June 2 - the last day we could get good internet access - but will be filling it in for the rest of the time so visit it often for the continuing story. It was winter there (way below the equator in the mountains) and so cold. By the time we got home at night I was so tired and it was colder in the houses than outside - my hands were too cold to knit. I did like to wrap up in the wool shawls I made (they were life savers) and my knitting. We did finally had to buy gloves and long sleeve t-shirts so we could layer ourselves.

We did get to meet one young crafter who is revising the art of weaving on a frame she learned from her grandmother. You place threads on a frame and then tie then off at the intersections. Hard to describe but her art is in the fibers she puts together. She is going to write up her technique and some patterns she has developed with it. Her name is Roberta Borcarin Bordin. She has just graduated with a degree in commerce and wants to have her own business. I found her colours combinations very appealing and the fibers she selected for these combinations. She also had nice patterns. This is very much like the triangular frame I got in Missouri at Hillcreek Fibers although the weaving technique is different. I was very impressed with Hillcreek and Stan also liked the "husband chair" (thanks Nathan!). I worked on one piece on my way home on the little loom I bought. I used Noro Transitions in brown and grey tones. I am going to make 3 more pieces and hook them together. A very interesting technique of weaving the warp and the same time as the weft. I put the fringe on. It is like the old pot holder frames but more interesting.

In Brazil what did strike me more as a rug hooker than a knitter were all the patterns that are around you. Most of the streets, even in major cities are cobble stones. This is a material that is readily available and inexpensive. So you might be on a paved road and then hit the cobble stones and you rattle away down the street. It must be hard on the tires but I loved the patterns they make and the earthy colour. In fact I notice that my weaving is almost the same earth tones as the cobbles. The soil is red as are the stones. We visited an area where the stones are found - they actually break away in squares lengths and are then hit and break into the size for cobbles.

The churches from the 1800's had really nice Italian tiles that the immigrants brought with them to build. That are square and are arranged in many different ways to make different patterns. Really nice and interesting. I could imagine how I would arrange them to give a different effect. They would also make great hooked rugs. Most of them I had not seen before.

The wood floors were also interesting. Beautiful native woods were used in older homes in so many colours. Now the wood is totally protected because so much of it was cut down. The tree is a Pinheiro that only grow in this area of Brazil and are now protected. They are beautiful and very unique. People were very proud of their wood floors and took great care of them because they can't be replaced. I loved the patterns they make.


Have to get back to my magazine and try to find time for some knitting. I visited Briggs and Little in Harvey New Brunswick, outside Fredericton - on our way home - and got some 2-ply. Don't know what I am going to do with it or when I am going to do it but liked the colours.

We enjoyed seeing you in Missouri. It was nice all around. But it was also good to be home. I was gone 41 days! Home is great - weeds and all!

Hope you are feeling better and the dog is responding to the "needles" and it is not too stressful. Keep knitting.

Love ya,

Mom