Newly discovered

Gentle knitters,
I'm one of those people who deliberately limits input of information either because learning curves for new tech programs, tech gizmos, relationships, handicrafts (e.g. crochet, weaving), and pieces of music are so exhaustively extensive, or because I fear the accretion of new knowledge will displace/ permanently remove important stuff already at the edges of my brain bank. For example, I sometimes ponder why I'm unable to teach myself (or be taught) three or four additional useful methods of casting on knitting stitches, or innovative bind-offs, until I remember how my mental space is limited, and that if I foray into the realm of New Knowledge something good and still marginally accessible might permanently disappear.

This could be a false assumption, but it feels true. Plus the nature of technology these days is that if you can breathe, have one working finger to swipe or push a button, and partial vision, you can send messages, talk to people, and take photos in a manner that profoundly conceals your limitations. Just as I believe in the Winnicottian concept of the good enough parent, I also believe in the good enough knitter, computer user, photographer, musician, etc. Perhaps this is no revelation to you, mes amis, but for a recovering Type-A such as I am, it's an essential fact that needs to be placed daily at the fore of consciousness:  Repeat twenty-five times to self:  Good enough is okay.  Good enough is okay.

Recently, in the company of dear buddy Casapinka, I sashayed into the hinterlands of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, and was introduced to a beautiful LYS, Love to Knit (or Love2Knit). There are many things to enjoy about this shop, (which I'd heard of for ages but never had the gumption to visit, as I feared information overload), though its two most outstanding features, at first glance, are the high level of friendliness generated by Ann and Gayle, the super-personable proprietors, and the excellent selection of yarns for sale.

It was Love2Knit that introduced me to a really superb fingering weight yarn, Jaggerspun of Springvale, Maine, that's super squishy, strong, and comes in the most beeyootiful colors. How is it that their products, made in New England, eluded me for this long? This company has been in business since the 1880s! I immediately purchased two skeins of red, as with all the endless snow this winter (as I write this, we are being bombarded by yet another storm), I need need need hot colors. (NB: Besides Jaggerspun, the shop carries really interesting indie-dyed yarns, a good selection of standards and luxuries, and has excellent prices on skeins of Swans Island.)

So...it was a good thing that I was able to reach out beyond my comfort zone and discover Love2Knit. And Jaggerspun. I'm now about to hunker down for a period of heavy knitting while I convalesce from surgery slated for Tuesday. The big question: Will I be able to finish all of the forty projects I've assembled for my recuperative entertainment during my period of confinement?

Here Ann kindly winds the Jaggerspun fingering into two cupcakes for me

All the fun of the fair

The Fleece Tent under a lowering sky.

The last time we attended the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine, was 2004, and the weather was quite a lot better than on our most recent visit, September 20th. Nonetheless, it was pretty much as I recalled--roots, shoots, face-painting, tribal elders, excellent food, fiber animals, hand-dyed yarns, textiles, border collie demos, twangy music, home-made soap, scythes, horse-drawn ploughs....Get the picture?

The only non-knitting-related event I attended was a workshop on Shape-Note Singing. That was mainly so I could sit in a tent and get warm. I broke down and bought a Polarfleece cap, since it seemed heretical, not to mention counterproductive, to buy a woolen hat I could knit myself.

Herewith, some postcards:

 Everything you ever wanted to know about felting, taught by Andrée Bella of Board Landing Farm in Belfast, Maine.  

Replica of 19th century toy.

Alongside the Fiber Tent were individual yarn vendors.

Sad and stoic.

Girl kissing her pet fiber bunny.

MMMMMMMmmmmmm....cashmere!  I longed for the cobalt skeins.

Source of afore-mentioned cashmere.

Imprisoned bunnies 

Goldengrove unleaving...

Gentle knitters,
We're back after a theoretically restorative break. It was a break, certainly. Specifically my left foot, which was decidedly unsupportive when I, blithely navigating the pavements of Portland, Maine, tripped and fractured it. "I am such a klutz," I told Casapinka. She avouched that this particular injury is known in the medical world as a "ballerina fracture," since it's a common dance-inflicted malady. So it goes....I am a ballerina in klutz clothing. I was following my inner ballerina. I could have danced all night...(NOT).

Er, I was on assignment for Interweave Knits, and had just concluded a long interview with an amazing yarn personage whom you will read about next spring in the pages of the afore-mentioned magazine. The next morning I returned to the interviewee's dyeing studio to do the photography. My foot was swollen and painful, but like the intrepid postman who braves punishing weather, I got the job done, gentle knitters! And then H and I drove three hours to University Foot and Ankle Center in Providence, RI, had the x-rays, learned the awful truth. A cast for at least six weeks.

Alfie graciously accommodates my injured foot.

Fortunately my favorite activities are sedentary:  knitting, writing, music. I began a series of personal, knitting-centric essays, collected under the rubric "Unwindings" on Lion Brand Yarn's website (this link is command central of LB's Internet presence and will take you in many interesting directions) and Facebook page. You can read numero uno here.  Another will appear fairly soon, and then another. This is going to be a monthly thing. Just like the fiction I write for Lion Brand's Pattern Journal. You can subscribe to this for free, simply by clicking the orange letters on the website that say "click here."

***

Well, enough about me. I'm happy to report that last month's book giveaway, 60 Quick Luxury Knits from Sixth and Spring Publishing, went to Carol in San Ramon, CA. She's a displaced New Englander, so we like her extra much. There will be another book review and giveaway, most probably before the end of the month. Stay tuned and participate! These bestowals are genuine, not some kind of PCH gimmick.

Also before the end of the month, H and I will beeline to the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Run by the Maine Organic Farmers Association annually on the third weekend of September, it's a dream experience for knitters and fiber people. There's a Fiber Marketplace, a Fleece Tent, and a panoply of organic activities, critters (e.g. pygora goats, alpacas, angora bunnies), and demonstrations (Border Collies rule!). Plus, the food options are excellent. I shall report, natch, but hope you can go on your own.

In the meanwhile, enjoy the golden September days. Late summer into autumn--the most beautiful time of year in New England, I humbly opine.

Partial portrait: H's tomatoes, my messed-up feet partly shielded by messy knitting bag, Lola.

The Rain in Maine Fell Plainly on My Brain

Gentle readers, I did it!  I went to Maine for knitting-related business and pleasure. This means that in the two-plus years I've been blogging, I've finally reported about every New England state.  Whew!

Welcoming sign on exterior wall of Camden, Maine restaurant.

Admittedly, the southern three states have been granted the lion's share of coverage by moi. That has to do with proximity and my dislike of driving (I was obviously born in the wrong century). Fortunately, many factors conspired to make this northernmost trip possible, such as that H--my comrade, helpmate, and frequent chauffeur--really loves to visit the state of Maine and was more than happy to fetch us both to Camden and back. And, that I'm writing an article covering the wonderful organic yarn produced by Swans Island, about twelve miles north of Camden.

Swans Island headquarters, an 18th century farmhouse in North Fairport, Maine. Its name comes from an earlier incarnation of the company.

So, more about this estimable fiber-based company when the article appears some months hence. (I'll be tooting my horn when that happens, and you'll know.) For now, more about the knitting aspects of my trip.

First off, let it be said that five+ hours (each way) in the car can be highly productive, knitting-wise. At the start of our drive, I began one sock and finished it; on the way back, started another.

Hidden pictures:  Find the half-completed socks!

And whilst in Camden, I scoped out the one yarn store in town:  The Cashmere Goat. Here's the news: it's a very nice place.  The shop itself is airy and spacious; the two ladies minding the store were friendly yet unobtrusive; the selection of yarns (including Swans Island) is choice.

Though probably not apparent from these photos, most of the time we were in Maine it rained steadily--the sun really only coming out sporadically on our day of departure. It was English weather, actually, where you were dodging showers and couldn't leave shelter without a raincoat and umbrella. Maine had had an extraordinary accumulation of rain during the previous week--some towns recording more than eight inches; and there was a great deal of local flooding.  Herewith some dramatic weather shots:

River water rushing into Camden harbor.

Coastal islands viewed from atop Mt. Battie.  On the left, rain over the ocean.  On the right, clear skies.

On the drive home, we meandered through Damariscotta, Maine, another beautiful seaside hamlet. It was there, surrounded by the loveliest of spring gardens, that I discovered Pine Tree Yarns...which was (sigh) closed.

Note reads:  Open/When the flag is out/Or by appointment./ Call 563-5003./ I might be away in/ Nova Scotia, be/patient. I will return soon with some yarn.

 Oh well...another time. (As if I needed a reason to return....)

Meanwhile, catch my latest article, on the Green Mountain Spinnery in Putney, Vermont, in the just-released issue of Knitscene Accessories.