knitting
Word association
What comes to mind when you hear wedding? I think lace shawls, knit bracelets, leggings.
New house?
Rugs and mats.
Baby?
Sweet sweater and cap.
I’m warped.
Betwixt and between
Squeezed.
I hold the latest technology in my lap. I broke down and bought an iPad Air. I nursed along my Apple iBook for eight years. At this point, it’s merely a repository for my photos, all of which are backed up on an external hard drive, CD’s and now Scandisks. It no longer can surf the internet because it’s been outdated.
Last night I looked through my friend’s telescope and clearly saw the moon’s craters and mountains. The night was clear, crisp and below freezing! I had to go inside to thaw my fingers and deferred looking at Jupiter for another night.
My son is downsizing and I am now the proud owner of my Dad’s accordion from the 1930’s. He played it through high school and college to earn money and would briefly bring it out and play a few songs at family gatherings. The last time it was played (can’t say it made music) was at my wedding seven years ago, when it took two inebriated souls to squeeze the bellows, push the buttons and play the notes. Now it’s my turn. So far, not so good. It has to be played by feel because it’s so large, my chin gets pushed up, over the top. But it’s a mobile, off the grid sort of instrument
And then there’s fiber. I put my daughter’s sweater aside to whip up a wee one. Here it is sans button and matching hat. Cute!
Big sweater, little sweater
And a hike in between.
I finished the front piece of daughter’s Irish Moss Sweater. It’s a beautiful pattern, still not quite memorized.
Yesterday, I took most of the day off. I took a six mile walk with hiking buddies, spread 400 pounds of topsoil in my new raised bed and planted 110 daffodil bulbs.
Today, I completed my Ob/gyn AND menopause certifications. Another interesting fact: menopausal women tend to lose hearing in their left ear first. What’s that you say?
I’m working on a sweet baby kimono sweater. I bought the pattern because I loved the textured band and couldn’t figure it out when I saw a sample. Now I know.
Now, I’m off to another swimming (umhmm) session. My mantra is: BREATHE! Farewell.
No rest
I love Sundays. The end and the beginning of the week. I’ve had a chance to mull over our farm share and start cooking: bagels; chicken pot pie; and brussel sprouts to freeze. There’s a rhythm to working with a weekly bounty.
Next I hit the books. You will be happy to know I had to answer this question to remain Board Certified:
I answered it correctly and only have four more articles to read. Most of the articles are relevant and interesting but the questions? Not so much.
So I took a break and wound the Malabrigo worsted yarn on my nostespinne. Luscious.
A mat, a hat and that’s that
In between closing the keeper’s quarters, burning burnables on the beach, closing the gift shop and baking the cinnamon (ginger bread cookie) buns, I made a rope mat and baby hat.
The rope mat is my third attempt and is almost a charm. I made my first, while we lived on our former sailboat. My second was at Five Finger Lighthouse and now, my third graces the outhouse. One design flaw, it’s too thick for the door to swing so it’s next to the door.
We figured out the window grate system. They are numbered 1-16, except 7 doesn’t exist. Of course!
There were strong winds again today, no visitors or crickets, so we walked both long trails today to get out to rocky points where the waves crashed on the rocks. I rearranged a little cairn and Tim released a million seeds from a cat tail.
Four reindeer hats are complete.
The lighthouse door latch is secure with another Prusik knot.
And the first Aldo Leopold bench we ever built watches over the glorious sunsets. Until next season…
Floor work
My recent theme is floors and their coverings. We spent last weekend sanding the paint and stain off our son’s floor. I forgot how hard that job is, especially when the floor has been painted. I spent five hours crouched over an edger. It only took me a few days to stand straight again without groaning.
At home, I’ve been playing with rope mats and rug braiding. My daughter requested this rug, which was sitting around waiting to be finished.
So I finished it and am happy with the results.
Instead of building (further) a yarn stash, I’ve expanded into new media. I am collecting wool fabric from various sources and braiding a rug for the cabin, since I must confess the woven rug has issues. The square one is in the cabin but Tim rejected the tan one, which will be a perfect mat for my spinning wheel (maybe, something about lemons and lemonade).
The braided rug is super smooshy. I’m trying to make sure it lies flat. The metal “Braid Aids” roll the fabric strips so the raw edges are concealed. Pretty sweet.
It lies flat but curves a bit. Next time…
Several families have recently added second babies. I intend to make Aviatrix hats for the babies and We Call them Pirates hats for the older brothers, who already had Santa Cruz Hoodies.
Some where in there I have to make another “climbing deer” hunting hat for a friend who has promised me some venison.
Best knitter pickup line
For the love of family I was back on the road – or took to the skies – again to visit my darling daughter in DC (DD in DC).
She received an award at work and took ME out to dinner to a very chi chi, DC restaurant where I ate Alaskan Halibut. Imagine that!
I got to see her new home since she moved while I was away. Then we ate and partied some more and even hatched out the idea for a possible business venture. More to come.
But I digress. Travel time is knitting time and I was working on a second sock to match the one I knit last week during my 12 hours of flights. I happily knit away during the brief flight. When it was time to get my backpack out of the overhead compartment, a man nearby brought it down for me, which was a help but I would have been happy to do it myself. Then a woman a row behind me commented, “You turn a nice heel.”
I was confused and gave her a questioning look because I thought she was referring to why the man helped me with my bag. I may have even blushed. Then I remembered I had spent the flight working on my favorite magical moment of knitting a sock: turning the heel and knitting the gusset.
She had watched the whole process from behind me and was impressed. She confessed she only ever knit one sock and it remains single.
DD loved the sock and I finished it during the return trip, without an audience.
Small projects
We had a day on our own before an unexpected visitor arrived for an overnight stay before he was picked up by tender to be a naturalist advisor for a BBC documentary. Never a dull moment on a remote island.
Here’s yesterday’s radar image:
This morning brought a quiet fog with lots of whale sounds around us. I couldn’t see them but heard them all around us. I may upload an audio recording if I can figure it out.
I found this landscape on the windowsill.
I’ve been playing around with knots and may have gotten carried away.
My leftover sock yarn blanket is moving along. It’s simple knitting and since we have internet we can stream videos. Sherlock, a modern BBC remake has caught our attention.
Here’s an unedited video. The sound isn’t great but any breaths are not mine or Tim’s and I’m pretty sure we’re the only ones here at the moment.
Your browser does not support the video tag
My geraniums are in the Halcyon Yarn catalog
Really. Halcyon Yarn is located in Bath, ME. I’ve stopped in once or twice and they have a wonderful weaving section plus knitting, spinning, the works.
Last year, a few weeks before we arrived to help close Seguin Island Lighthouse, Halcyon Yarn went out to the Island for a photo shoot – without ME!
Whatever, I’m over it. I encourage you to get a copy of the current catalog. It’s a lovely display of fiber projects in a beautiful setting. They have even devoted a line of knit, woven and hooked projects to Seguin.
But I digress. Back to MY geraniums. As we closed up last year, I found two potted geraniums under the porch. They had been in outdoor planters that brightened the entry during the season and were now discarded. I was determined to bring them home, by dinghy, the Leeward and car to nurture them over the winter. And they flourished.
Here they are featured on the back cover of the catalog from last season on Seguin.
And here they are brightening my dining area today.
A convergence of passions: Seguin and fiber – and pretty flowers.
Island and North Country Life 