Shelburne

Shelburne Museum is home to one of the finest quilt collections in the US. I have tremendous admiration for quilters and quilting. It takes time, patience, precision and skill to execute these complex designs.

Our visit to the Shelburne coincided with two special exhibits involving quilts. The first was a wonderful display of the Museums crazy quilt collection, the first time they've come out of storage in over 10 years.

I am by no means an expert on quilting and all the variations thereof. I am fascinated by the seeming randomness of crazy quilt 'squares', the variety of materials used, the wonderful stitch embroidery and embellishments. These elements add up to a much more direct and personal narrative than the traditional quilts. It really appealed to me, and I could imagine trying my hand at something similar.

There were lots of traditional quilts on display as well. Some incorporated embroidery,

some were made with tiny triangles that radiated out from a center square,

some had blocks made with duck feet.

The second big exhibit involving quilts was deeply moving as it involved Alzheimer Disease.

Quilts made by quilters who have experienced Alzheimers', telling stories through quilts. To say I was choked up is putting it mildly. The stories attached to these quilts blew me away. I had to sit down and get a grip after going through this exhibit.

We spent a day and a half going through this amazing Museum consisting of nearly 40 buildings, some historic and relocated to the Museum's grounds, others built in situ to house special collections. The variety and breadth of folk art, craft, tools, fine art and all things handmade was astounding. Well worth a visit especially for those involved in any form of craft.

Vermont Family Trip

When I say family, I mean of the four-legged variety. Over Labor Day weekend, we packed the car with our stuff, which included dog beds, food, bowls and lots of treats. Nothing but the sweet comforts of home for our babies. A six hour drive landed us in Burlington where we checked into a dog friendly hotel.

Rudy proceeded to bark at everyone in the lobby, setting Lola into a good howling fit. Ever hear a Coonhound do their thing? Think Harbor Seal. That would be pretty accurate. I almost died. That's when the front desk clerk reminded me there's a $50 fine for dogs barking in the guest rooms. Which pretty much meant we'd be hauling them with us whenever we ventured off the the premises.

Turns out that was the worst moment. The rest of the weekend was pretty good, dog-wise. Lola is a real trooper, and remained calm and happy throughout the trip. I'd venture to say it was the best time she's had in a very long while. She travels well, settling into the car and watching the action from between the front seats. Rudy is a bit more high maintenance. He's insecure and suffers from separation anxiety. As a result he grew clingier than usual and was hyper-alert to sounds outside our hotel room.

We found a wonderful dog park along the waterfront in Burlington, so that became our daily destination before and after Shelburne Museum visits. It's a nice city, with lots of outdoor eating and a dog friendly vibe.

I have tons of pics from the Shelburne which I'll post separately. It's an amazing place and we had a fantastic time exploring the vast property and wonderful treasures.

Nupps

Whammo!! Here we are, September! It's true what they say about time going faster the older you get. I'm trying to keep up with all of you through your blogs, and just doing that is getting harder and harder to manage.

So, let's see...what's going on?

- We're having a deck built off the kitchen. A Big Deal. Involving large sums of cash. Ouch. and Yay!

- We finally installed new countertops in the kitchen. Double Yay!

- We're going away for Labor Day, to Vermont. A long expressed wish come true coupled with visiting friends. Taking the doggies with us. That should be interesting.

- I took a weaving class this summer. I know, I've been holding out on you guys. There's still two more classes and I'm working on my "final project". This image is part of the learning sampler. There's a three week break before we wrap up and I promise to show and tell as we near completion.

- I am knitting again. There is numbness but not as bad. I actually think the pain originates in my shoulder, the right one which was injured in a yoga class several years ago and hasn't been right since. And interesting, it's the same hand that uses the mouse at work. It's all connected, I'm sure. And it's much more noticeable with bigger needles. Carpal tunnel, repetetive stress.

- To counteract the lack of knitting for nearly two months, I made two dozen of these.

- I had an unnatural obsession with Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream cones this summer. Which means my fall agenda now includes mandatory visits to the park for 2 mile runs. Ooof.

- Very natural obsessive listening to Alejandro Escovedo since seeing him live this summer. He is amaaaazing live. And the new album rocks.

photo by Jose Gaytan
josegaytan.com

- Who doesn't love a little Steve Earle? We caught two shows at City Winery in July. Great venue, they will come to know us on a first name basis. I never get tired of Steve.

photo by Jose Gaytan
josegaytan.com

- The month of August saw less spinning, and meanwhile tons more fiber entered the home. Now I feel smothered by the avalanche of 4 oz. bags of wool piled in my office. My version of crack. It gives me a glimpse into the life of an addict: intense joyous highs followed by guilt-ridden lows. I need to spin more, give away more, weave more...I need to stop worrying, and be grateful I can afford it.

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Okay. So what's that lovely confection at the top of this blog post? Ah! A shawlette named Annis. Brought about through a Knit Along I jumped into on Ravelry (without looking first, so typical). Lace. With NUPPS. um. Using really skinny, poolry made (not by me!) hand spun yarn. Yarn I bought at Rhinebeck 2007. A long marination by anyone's standards.

Of course I had a few challenges before I saw the other side of this project. Few projects I touch go from start to finish without a hitch! In this case, most of the issues are attributable to the yarn.

I remember buying the little skeins at the end of the first day, in a stall that was nearly cleaned out of yarn. The seller convinced me that despite being under plied, it would work out fine once blocked. What she failed to mention is how challenging it is to knit under plied yarn on big needles! It's splitty! And throw in a few rows of these nupp things and it all goes to hell in a handbasket right quick. You try p7tog with super splitty yarn. Good luck on ya. It took four attempts, ripping and restarting, each time working up 363 stitches at the cast on. Yikes. At one point I seriously considered starting over with different yarn. But the allure of this gorgeous deep dark purple kept pulling me back into the project.

Last Sunday, during a visit to Governor's Island with my friend mknits, (poor thing, had no idea this was part of the grand plan that day...but she's good natured and very sweet to agree to my bossy ways!) I captured the ethereal lightness of this little shawl.

It has an interesting construction, being shaped with short rows and starting at the bottom/widest part. The pattern calls for lace weight yarn and is intentionally knit on large needles to create a very airy, light fabric. This thing is truly weightless. And the shaping means it stays on the shoulders easily. I especially love how the deep purple color adds a Victorian quality to this little piece. It's old fashioned but frothy at the same time.

The lady who sold me the yarn was right. It did block out nicely. The nupps are just okay. I think I can do better next time I encounter them in a project. However. Let it be known, I am no nupp fan and won't actively seek them out with the possible exception of Swallowtail Shawl, long on my knitting to do list. But with better yarn.

Weeners! We Have Weeners!

Rain! We actually got about 30 minutes of rain this afternoon! I think (hope) we've turned the corner on this brutal heat - the last few days have held out a promise that Fall is right around the corner.



I wanted to take pics of two newest skeins of yarn I've finished but we spent the afternoon playing the ponies! I did win $10.80 on one horse in the 5th race, woo hoo! It was fun and so nice to be outside without a blazing sun. Sometimes I wonder if I am part vampire, I avoid the sun that much.

But I have a weener here on the old blog! I consulted the Random Number Generator and the winner is #16!! Yay!

I'll tell you a little story. When I was a girl I was completely horse crazy. Though I didn't own a horse, I did ride regularly with a stable and even competed in some of the local horse shows. The one year I competed and won some blue ribbons I wore #16 on my back. I've liked that number ever since. So I was truly delighted when the Random Number Generator spat out #16.

I must have horses on my brain today.

Anyway, this little yarn giveaway was fun. Thank you, everyone for your sweet comments. I enjoyed this enough that I might have more giveaways in the very near future.

SarahB, send me your address using the linky in my profile and I hope you enjoy knitting this yarn - I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Prize Winners!!

Sunday afternoon, August in Brooklyn. I want to take a nap!

But first I have some things to share. Like the promised and long overdue Tour de Fleece wrap up. You recall I wanted to spin 3 lbs of fiber. This was the pile before I started.

And this the pile I ended up spinning.

Not all of it, but I am very very pleased with the results so I am happy. Some stats for you: I spun 2.25 lbs of fiber, 2,670 yards of yarn. By my standards that's alot but there are spinners on Ravelry who spun 7 and 8 lbs of fiber. Whoa! I need to take a vacation next year and devote an entire week to spinning.

The Hello Yarn pink/green/boggy brown yarn is destined to be a sweater. I have over 680 yards in that ginormous skein and I was very lucky to come into possession of one more bag of this highly coveted fiber! With another 4 oz to spin up I should have enough for a cute cropped cardigan and I think I have a pattern in mind!

You all know Zinnia is destined to be a sweater and yes, thanks to the kindness of blog reading friends, I now have the pattern! Zinnia has been doubly lucky for me, by the way, because on the last day of the Tour I submitted a photo to the Natural Yarn thread on Ravelry and won a prize! Woo Hoo, Yay! More fiber, coming right up!

Time to spread some Handspun Love. As my thanks for your ongoing support and encouragement, loyal comments and far-flung friendship, I'm putting Istanbul Sunset up for a Prize Giveaway! Yup, that's what I'm sayin!

Simply leave a comment to this post no later than Sunday August 15 and I'll select a winner using Random Number Generator.

Some of you have never knit with handspun before and trust me, this will spoil you for more. And hey, maybe I will coax a few of you over to the dark side that is spinning. It's not the worst thing that could happen...heh heh. :)

So rock on with your comments and good luck everyone! Oh and you can get all the technical deets for the yarn here.

Where Did I Put That Thing, Anyway?

Here we are, August already! The Tour de Fleece feels like it was a million years ago, and I haven't done a good blog wrap up post. I promise, I have one in the wings. With special surprises, too!

But I wanted to tell you a funny.

I finished spinning up all the Gray Shetland, my Zinnia. This yarn is wonderful. I can't stop fondling it and I pinch myself because I sort of can't believe I pulled off 5 skeins, 1700+ yards of consistent, mostly even sport weight yarn! Seriously, I am that excited about this yarn.

So of course the next thing I get to obsess over is what shall Zinnia become? Oh, fun! Honestly, the planning can be as much fun as the doing. Or no, the planning is a part of the doing, really. And it's fun. For me. Shut up!

And! I think I've found what I want to do, the Gathered Pullover from Interweave Knits.

Now that I've landed in this place, the past 10 days have been about mulling over the design modifications I'll make and organizing myself to give this project my full attention.

So last night around midnight I decide I'd like to go to bed with the pattern and read it through, just to familiarize myself, you know?

I searched the book case for Interweave, Winter 2007. Not there. Should have been. Hmmm. Search the desk, my WIP pile, the dining room table, the kitchen book case (highly unlikely), the family room book case, and a few other places. No Winter 2007 anywhere. I found Fall, I found Spring. No Winter. Hmmmm.

Next, as a last ditch effort, (it's now nearly 1AM), I go online to Ravelry and quick search the other patterns in that issue. You know, so I could maybe cross reference to something I may have knit in the past?

And then it dawns on me. I never bought that issue! No wonder I couldn't find it! It simply doesn't exist in my home. DOH.

Spin City meets Hipnic on the High Line

Spin City's meet up on Monday evening at the High Line converged with an event called Hipnic, who also did their own spinning, of sorts. The event was captured and posted to YouTube -

Over the course of the evening, the lines between the two groups merged into a single cohesive whole. Which is nicely described by the New York Times.


I'm still kicking myself for bailing out but that kitchen thing needed attention since the plumber didn't get to us till Monday. Oh well, it was a lovely evening for all my friends!

Push On

A nasty head cold, insufferable heat, plumbing disconnected in the kitchen since Tuesday, husband with a flu. Life is grand over at Chez Knithound, I tell ya.

We got a new counter top. After 7 years of living with...are you ready for this...marine varnished plywood...(ahem)...we finally got the new counter top. BUT. The sink was disconnected Tuesday morning, I drove it out to the fabricator in Long Island (took 1/2 a day!), they installed the counter tops yesterday and here we are, Saturday evening with no kitchen plumbing! Seems the fabricator failed to instruct me to have the plumber come back after they were finished. Um...didn't you say you were reinstalling? Ohhhh, remounting, not reconnecting! aha. And the plumber called this morning, yes we will be by later today. Not.

So here we are, both sick as can be, the kitchen in complete disarray, the AC firing on high but not cutting it. What's a knithound to do but spin yarn.

The Tour de Fleece/Tour de France ends tomorrow. I won't be finished with the 3 pounds I set as the goal, but I am making my way through that lovely Shetland roving.

It's wonderful. 408 yards, 12 wpi. The second skein just came out of the bath, 368 yards. More singles tonight. I have nothing better to do the rest of the evening, and at least making yarn is taking the edge off my bad case of cranky.

Loop Cloud = Tweedy Yarn

Those of you who know me on Facebook know this is my profile pic:

Well, that poofy cloud (shout out to Steph who works her magic on a daily basis) in my arms became yarn sometime around March - April. I have no excuse for not showing it to you sooner.

Spinning this gave me a chance to practice long draw, an obsession that began with this yarn and shows no signs of abatement. It was interesting to feel the differences in the various fibers as they moved through my fingers.

I was a bit surprised at how tweedy the yarn became upon finishing. I'd never worked a cloud like this before and didn't know what to expect.

Now the next challenge is to find the right project for it. We had a lively discussion about various shawl patterns one evening in my spin group. And I queued up one in particular that might work.

But I could also use this in a woven project, and with weaving, I don't even know what I don't know. A whole world of unknown possibilities.

I have over 440 yards of 2 ply, DK yarn from about 5.5 oz of fiber. Lots of options with this yield. It will work itself out in time.

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Oh, one more thing: YOU GUYS!!!! You are all so supportive and thank you thank you thank you for your patience and understanding while I beat a dead horse worked out my thoughts on my HOBBIES. I really appreciated hearing from all of you.

Shetland

We're headed into the third week of the Tour de Fleece and to date I've finished two yarns (pics to come soon) and am well into the biggest pile of fluff I'd included in the Tour spinning set - the gray Shetland.

You see two bobbins here, but I'm actually on my 5th bobbin. With each bobbin holding approximately 3 oz of woolen spun singles, it means I'll finish up nearly one pound of singles sometime this evening. And judging by what still remains to spin, I'd say this roving is closer to 2 lb! Looks like I underestimated the fiber amount by 8 oz and this is great news because there should be enough yarn to make a sweater! Spinning a long draw moves fast despite the challenge of maintaining consistency. It's going well enough and overall I am pretty excited about this one.

The Tour ends Sunday and if I can get these singles into some finished 2 ply, it will be an accomplishment. I had set out to do more, but this infernal heat has really hampered my progress! Our house has room air conditioners, but not in every room. Every year that passes I recall how much I thoroughly dislike this time of year - I am so grateful I don't live further south where this beastly season lasts even longer. UGH.

About That Hobby...

Hi. I'm back and if you don't mind, I'll continue with the thoughts on work and play, ego and identity. Where was I? Oh yea, I was struggling with how to monetize the knitting and then I saw that article in the New York Times....

About three years ago I started a new job at a large corporation. And you'll recall I noted the self help industry's implied message that I am a lesser human because I wasn't pursuing the THING. The livin' the dream thing. I took it to heart with the result that I was twisted in despair. I resisted the day job, convinced of a better life...somewhere else.

The despair pushed me to spend money and time with a coach and I took classes to gain a license. While knitting and spinning, I was also doing a ton of soul searching. That New York Times article arrived at an interesting moment in this time line, because I was about to take a serious leap. But then I didn't. For a ton of reasons, I didn't.

Around that time I had a conversation with a friend, an artist who has struggled all her adult life to earn a living and lives pretty much hand to mouth. The reality of that kind of living is, it consumes so much energy.

Anyway, she said, "You are so lucky. You have a job that pays the bills and that means you can pursue your knitting and spinning without all that pressure." A simple and obvious statement, but the way she said it and the tone of relief she expressed for me, was profound and I was ready to hear it. In that one moment, something shifted.

The shift has meant that I now embrace a very simple concept that I somehow missed in all that noise and psychic, manic energy. Please don't laugh too loud, but I finally realized and accepted that it's simply okay to have a hobby.

That is, having a hobby is valuable in and of itself. It makes a person interesting. It adds dimension to a human existence. A person can have a job, and have hobbies and be happy and well rounded. Fulfilled. Most important for me, it is liberating. Because there isn't the pressure to earn from what I love, I can love it even more. Without that pressure I can follow any path or or branch I want. No limits, no time constraint, no worry about making it work.

I know!! DUH. Really. Seriously. DUH!! Call me a "Sunday knitter" if you wish. I won't take offense, nor do I scorn the thought. My identity is that of knitter and spinner, and maybe soon, weaver. I identify with the hobbies and have a job, too.

Thank goodness I saw the light before it was too late.

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The Tour de Fleece continues, and the yarn you see above is Hello Yarn Fiber Club, Winter Storage, 686 yards of DK/Worsted weight. It's a monster huge skein, 8 oz of fiber converted to yarn during the biggest heat wave to come along so far this year.

While I am noodling around with the notions of work, play, ego, identity and creating value from fluff, sticks and string, this showed up last week on Mason-Dixon Knitting:

I thought it was amazing timing! So I reached out to chucksmithnyc for permission to share. He graciously agreed I need to pay it forward. Renate speaks truth. Maybe I will get lucky and meet her.

Tour de Fleece

Oh my gosh! I just realized I may have forgotten to show you what my spinning plans for the Tour de Fleece! I am so sorry. Let's fix that right now:

Three pounds of fiber. The giant gray balls total 1.5 lbs of Shetland lamb roving, from a lamb named Zinnia. I love Zinnias by the way. There's also .5 lb of black Shetland roving from the same farm, Wild Apple Hill Farm in Hudson, NY.

Then the handpainted fibers are from three different clubs - we have Shetland (Double Dog Dare) from Southern Cross Fibres, South African Fine Wool (Istanbul Sunset) from Spunky Eclectic and two bumps of Finn (Winter Storage) from Hello Yarn Fiber.

My last two posts featured the singles I've already spun up, and over the course of the Tour I'll continue to post the progress!

Do You Think You Can Sell That?

Judging from the comments you all left on my last post, it looks like we are all in the same boat! Glad to have you aboard! Heh. Boy, do I know it. Bethany, you hit on the second thing I hear (we all hear) often - "You know, you could sell that." I guess it's meant to be complimentary, indicating that the project is so well done, it has monetary value. That people would actually spend money on it. They would willingly buy it. But we all know the truth - no one would pay what it's really worth, when you factor the time that went into making it.

What I want to talk about, actually to mull over, in this public forum, is work. You see, I've been thinking through lots of stuff when it comes to the idea of work. What work is, and what it means to me.

Four years ago I started knitting. I was initially attracted to the pretty colors - that's what drew me in to the local yarn store. Then it became about the tactile experience, the idea that I could make something with my hands. It was empowering! It was FUN! It was a way to channel some energy into something productive. And it represented the opposite of the tech world I live in 9 to 5.

Very quickly I also realized it was a fantastic way to shut out all the turmoil going on around me. Believe me when I tell you, there was much turmoil. Which we can maybe cover in the future, but not for now.

Throughout this time, the little voice was asking, 'Is there a way to turn this into a new career?" "How can I make money at this?" "What's the new and unique thing I can bring to market?" And I had other voices saying the same thing, "You know, you could sell that." "You should open a Yarn Store!" "Why don't you sell what you make, then at least you would be doing something."

And of course, the entire Self Help Industry is/was touting the notion that earning a living at doing the one thing that makes you happy is the key to all salvation. There is the implication in all of this that a person is somehow a lesser human being if she hasn't cracked the code on melding the passion with the money making. I recall a conversation in which a painter told me he was struggling to find a way to be a full time 'artist'. He scorned the notion of being a "Sunday painter". His identity requires he earn a living from his painting and anything less appears to be unacceptable.

You see, I had allowed myself to be convinced that if I felt as passionately about knitting and spinning and fiber then I needed to find a way to monetize it. To earn my living off it. That it can only be considered real if I could translate that passion into earning a living. And this notion got me tangled up for about three years, causing me great angst. I questioned my choices, and asked myself how can I make change, change what I do with my time.

And then I stumbled across this, which made me hit the pause button. What is work? What is fun? What if the thing I have fun doing becomes work? Would it still be fun? What is more important? Work? Ego? Identity? Fun?

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Many of you asked about the bobbin I posted yesterday. It's 4 oz. of Spunky Eclectic hand painted South African Fine wool, called Istanbul Sunset from Club offering in November 2009. I spun it up on Saturday and Sunday, and intend to Navajo ply it after it rests a bit. I like how it looks so far. And this isn't the first time that the spun singles are nicer than the fiber, to my eye at least.

What Are You Going to DO With It All?

Because of my Mom's physical proximity, she sees much of the stuff I make over the days and weeks. She often admires it politely, rarely even touches it and then invariably asks, "What in the WORLD are you going to DO with it?" This comes up most times when I show her my yarns.

There is often eye-rolling accompanying the question. I have other relatives who kind of do the same thing.

It's clear they don't understand what I am doing. They certainly do not understand that there is joy in the making. That for me, it's all that really matters. If it gets made into something else, well that's fine. But if it remains as yarn in a skein, and I had a good time making it, that's fine too.

They come from a time when everything needed a purpose. And I suppose my hobby seems frivolous to them. My Mom thinks I should be selling the yarn and knitting to make money. Otherwise, she thinks I am wasting my time.

I've arrived at a place where when the question is asked, I reply, "Oh, am I supposed to DO something with it?!"

More Bobbin Clearing

Well we are full on into the Tour de Fleece, but I did want to show you one more yarn before I go into complete overload.

This is a 3 ply yarn made from Hello Yarn Club fiber, called Parritch. The fiber is Targhee, one of my favorites because it is so squishy and bouncy. After I finished plying and put this baby into a nice warm bath it exploded into a wonderful bouncy yarn. Just like I thought it would.

There's about 344 yards of fingering/sport weight yarn here, enough for a simple pair of incredibly bouncy squwooshy socks. If I ever get back to knitting again... (not gonna think about it right now.)

Before I sign off, I want to thank you all for your comments and well wishes. I've got quite a few blog posts piling up in my head, things I've been thinking about and wanting to put out there - about life, career choices, moving forward, being centered. There are also some lovely projects that deserve some blog attention.

Alas, these will all have to wait till another day, because right now I really want to get back to spinning for the Tour.