I didn’t bring any of my 5 sewing machines out west. There was a limit to how much could fit in the car. It was my choice.
I was contemplating how to finish the napkin hems, without any fringe, by hand, when I read the Estes Valley Library has sewing machines and lots of other things to lend.
So today I got myself a visitor library card and took out a book and a sewing machine.
They had a wall filled with items you could sign out, including scanners, knitting kits, microscopes, telescopes (something else I left behind), trail cameras and more.
I chose a sewing machine. The kit included white and black thread, extra needles, a sharp pair of scissors (or sharp scissors) a beginner’s guide to sewing, instruction manual, and materials to sew a drawstring bag.
Napkins have been zig zagged, cut apart and washed. I’ll sew the hems after they dry.
Now I have to think about what I’d like to borrow next.
Or perhaps it was Kansas. Somewhere along our drive west, I lost one of my favorite handknit hats, Katie’s Kep.
I’m over it but I needed another hat. Luckily I had some yarn leftover from the hap shawl I just finished knitting. It’s Shetland wool from Jamieson & Smith, and is very soft and warm.
We also need cloth napkins. I scored some crochet cotton at the local thrift store and warped my rigid heddle loom.
Not my first color choice but it was all they had and cost a mere $4.
Here’s my cabin workshop, complete with an antique quilt. Big plans!
We’ve designated one of the dining tables our game table. It holds my dad’s old travel cribbage board, cards, chess, and today’s addition: an empty egg crate and dried chick peas for mancala, a new favorite of mine. I may have bought the chick peas just for this purpose.
And in the evening, we’ll have oreos. I woke up with a craving and since we didn’t plan to go out today I made a batch. Yummy,
A lot of wood has gone into the stove since my last post. We had snow, then a melt and torrential rains and finally, flooding. I couldn’t get home from work for several hours because the road was flooded and then washed away. I had to walk over the bridge but the road was repaired the next day.
We travelled near and far. First to White Pine Camp, where we plan to spend a lot of time in the next several years. We spent three days at President’s cabin, where the fireplace was blazing.
Our bedroom had a quilt pieced by former President of the USA, Calvin Coolidge. How many of our former presidents were quilters, I wonder.
We were reminded that Adirondack black bears look sweet when compared to those of Manitoba. They do not stand taller than me and like to dress up for holidays.
Christmas quickly approached and we spent a few days in Kittery, Maine with family. A good time was had by all. I received this knife, to add to my collection, and now it looks like we have the makings of a murder mystery in the kitchen.
I did not walk away from this holiday season uninjured. First I burnt my finger on the new wood stove, which is much less forgiving from the old one. Then it became infected and entailed an ER and doctor visit. That finally healed but then we went ice skating with the grand kids, and I decided to show off and demonstrate speed skating form. Well, I fell and broke at least one rib, maybe two. You would never know it from my happy smile taken after the fact.
It’s been two weeks now and I no longer tense up for a sneeze or cough, but I still hold on.
On the home front, a friend had a new baby and I got to make baby things. I tried out my new to me standard gauge knitting machine and made a cute little fair isle sweater. Note to self, it needs more contrast in the bands.
The event that will dominate 2024 is my daughter’s wedding. I already took a trip to DC and she found the perfect wedding dress. I am working on linens for the newlyweds, so can’t preview them, but here is a shot of my weaving area, where I will be spending plenty of time.
I’m going to try downhill skiing again in a few weeks. Hope it doesn’t slow me down!
The view from the cabin is always lovely and especially after snow. The branches droop with snow and clouds hang low on the mountain.
It may be a sign of aging that I think of snow blowing before I consider skiing and playing in it. I cleared the cabin path then headed to the end of the driveway.
Not so bucolic. The road was plowed to the dirt, which is great, but I faced a three foot wall of snow and dirt. They don’t teach you how to gnaw through this in Snow Blowing 101.
But gnaw I did.
And now there’s a clear path and the possibility of driving out…to play? But this is already on my loom.
Happy to report I’m all better. My leg pain was a side effect from yet another statin. I stopped it and am fully recovered. Now I’ve moved on to an injectable med. We’ll see.
We’re swimming in the local pool three times a week and I’ve upped my game. Now I routinely swim a mile. I needed a bag to organize my swim stuff, so naturally I made one. This is the second iteration made from a bird seed sack. It holds everything I need, including my suit and goggles.
I was so happy when someone commented on how cute it was.
The loom has been warped with projects since I’ve been home. I’m working on my second set of towels.
I’m playing around with some of my quilts. I turned one into a baby sleep sack and a jacket.
My linocuts are getting more complex. I’m working on a 3 color version of a loon swimming. Here’s my drying rack.
And I’ve made a slew of hats and mittens as I am wont to do every year.
I finally had help stacking the wood for the winter. It’s the first year in a while Tim was not injured and he did most of the work.
We need it. We got two feet of snow and it’s not even winter yet!
My to do list is getting shorter. We leave in a week to become caretakers at Bass Harbor Head lighthouse. If you are one of the 100,000! people who visit annually, please say hi.
The National Park Service acquired it from the US Coast Guard in 2020 and we will be its first NPS caretakers! Mount Desert Island is technically an island but we can drive there.
Time to clean the fridge. Meals become interesting as we eat through its contents.
Time to finish projects I can’t take with me. Actually, I will take my latest with me in its finished form. Back in March, I started weaving a queen size blanket made of alpaca silk yarn. I planned and calculated but still ran short of yarn 2/3 through and could not find more. I found some similar though, waited for it to be delivered, and made do.
Hot off the loom
I wove about 10 yards of fabric, cut it into three panels and, poof, we have a blanket to take to Maine.
Tim is in full form so I no longer am responsible for EVERYTHING!! Of course, he is already doing too much.
Sparky is sporting a new windshield but won’t be making this trip with us. He is strictly a lake boat. I found a great guy in the north country with a can do attitude and he did it!
We plan to bike the 45+ miles of carriage road in the park and I converted Tim’s bike to fit me, while he had a new recumbent bike delivered to Maine.
My car may look like the Beverly Hillbillies because I also fixed my roof rack just in case.
Sunsets are guaranteed to happen every day, some more beautiful than others. We only have to marvel at them.
The palette inspires my weaving.
I am making more napkins on my table loom. We lost one of the two I made in Maine this winter so now I am making six for home.
My band weaving group is going to meet again after more than a year apart. I was inspired to try a 3 heddle technique on my inkle loom. I had to correct a few threading mishaps but now this will be easy weaving while we chat away the afternoon.
Aran meets Japan
I’m using a Japanese stitch pattern to make an Aran style baby sweater. Similar but different. It seems more delicate and lacy.
Kaleidescope quilt blocks
Down another rabbit hole. I am trying a new quilt technique where you cut 6 (or 8) identical triangles and arrange them into a hexagon. I use a hinged mirror to predict the outcome and plan the layout.
One triangle three ways
I try to create a little something every day. And keep a sense of wonder.
The vaccination is the first step in creating herd immunity. Finally a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel, even while infections surge worldwide. I urge you to do the same when you get the call.
I learned Thursday I was eligible and drove 16 hours there and back to get it. Another whirlwind. But worth it.
In the brief hours I spent at home, I finished two projects: napkins for us to use in Maine; and a baby sweater. That’s a wrap for 2020 works in progress.
I drove from sunrise to sunset two days in a row. I left Schoodic peninsula shrouded in frozen fog! Whoever heard of such a thing. It leaves a thin shell of slippery ice on everything.
Starbucks cold brew made my trip possible. Caffeine in a can. Great sipping during a 9 hour drive.
Back in Maine, we can hear the whistle buoy from home. Reminds me of a mourning from my other home in the Adirondacks.
“Oma, when will you come to my house so you can sleep with me and have a campout?” And just like that, I’m crushed. I don’t know when…
So I try to distract myself instead and make things and take long walks in the woods. I’m completing a batch of quilts for the grand darlings now that they all sleep in their own beds, even if it lets them wander in the night.
Shark quiltElli inspecting a quilt top
And a couple for the adults as well.
Just like I “read” two books at a time (one is an audiobook), I generally have about three projects in the works: a quilt, something on the loom and a project on my knitting needles for the evenings while we watch movies.
Tencel scarf on the table loomHands spun, hand knit scarf
We leave soon for the Schoodic Institute in Acadia National Park for the winter. What to bring, what to bring? I’m not talking about clothing. We’ll have boots, skis and snowshoes. Oh and a bathing suit to wear in the local pool. That’s always easy.
Which of my many fiber tools? Always knitting needles. Perhaps my portable table loom with premeasured warps? Or a sewing machine? And what about my spinning wheel? Oh my.
This is the first time we can drive to a caretaker gig and it boggles my mind. No dry bags, no dinghies, no planes. I may need limits.
We celebrated early with the family away and never brought a tree into the house. My geranium, salvaged from Seguin Island several years ago, brings holiday color to the room.
This year’s family craft project was paper cutting animal snowflakes.
Be careful, it’s another worm hole to fall into. We used the book, 100 Amazing Paper Animal Snowflakes by Marion T. Nichols. For some reason, the templates are available online on this website if you feel the urge.
My work area looked like a warehouse from Thanksgiving until now. I knit, wove and wove. I finished my final ? project yesterday but didn’t take a photograph it yet. I made tablet woven tiebacks for the log cabin’s curtains. Tim also received a wool rag rug for the cabin in the white elephant fiber exchange. The cabin may be complete – never.
There were hats, scarves, slippers, rugs, bath and hand towels to name what I can remember.
We sneaked a quick trip in to Montreal to listen to a choir perform in the Notre Dame Basilica. Despite the slush and the Montreal shuffle it demands, it is a beautiful city in the winter. Our new NEXUS passes let us sail across the border.
My fair isle sweater is almost complete. It’s knit but there about a million ends to weave in. I built a wooly board yesterday from plans I found online to block it. The pattern was for a man and it fits a little wonky. I hope the stretcher will help. For now, it looks just as nice inside out.
Today is a lovely snowy day to sit by the wood stove and finish this task. After I use the snow blower to clear the driveway.
Today is a lovely snowy day to sit by the wood stove and finish this task. After I use the snow blower to clear the driveway.
Island and North Country Life 