Fiber Gathering

Kathy Mack from Pink Chalk Studio (blog) hosted a great giveaway last week. And I won. I didn't quite believe it, even after we exchanged e-mails. But then I received the book, Fiber Gathering: Knit, Crochet, Spin, and Dye More than 20 Projects Inspired by America's Festivals by Joanne Seiff, in the mail over the weekend and I knew it had to be true. Fiber Gathering reminds me a lot of a cookbook on my shelf, Local Flavors by Deborah Madison.

Both books take you from coast-to-coast showcasing the best fiber festivals and farmer's markets (respectively) in the United States. I love that I can open each book and travel immediately to another part of the country - and learn a tremendous amount along the way. Included in Fiber Gathering are a host of patterns and how-to tutorials for dyeing, spinning and other assorted fibers skills. I'm excited to give both dyeing and spinning a try some day, and this will be my go-to book when I am ready.

Cheers to the wonderful blogosphere and the way that unique, talented and supportive individuals reach out to others; to encourage creativity in every aspect of our lives. You can be sure I will pay it forward soon.

Deep in the Forest Mittens: The saga continues

Remember this post? Well, here is my progress. I decided to forgo the thumb for the moment and just cast on for the second mitten. They are so lovely and I'm excited to see them develop. I can finally see the forest for the trees. You, however, can find the pattern for these mittens here.

What worked? I found my magic combination: size 1 needles, with worsted weight yarn (Cascade 220 for these). For whatever reason, I needed something more substantial to do stranded color work properly. Fingering weight just wasn't cutting it for me. Luckily they are not coming out too big - a worry with thicker yarn and hence more sts/inch - and with a wee bit of felting in the sink they should fit well enough. I didn't wind up modifying the pattern at all, with the exception of the cuff. I added a picot edge, which I fell in love with here. Although the mittens are not lined, the underside of the cuff is a lovely heather purple.

I hope to finish them before fall comes. Funny to be saying that when it's only May (hence spring in my neck of the woods), but the pattern does require a lot of attention to detail and that is hard to come by in our household. Especially during the summer months when we want to be outside and digging in the dirt, not inside reading a knitting chart. On that note, I've been busy outside. In addition to our usual vegetable and herb gardens, we added blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and cranberries to our yard this spring! Combined with the established apple tree, sour cherry tree and rhubarb we've got quite an operation going.

May birthday present

These lovely socks are going in the mail to a lifelong friend for her birthday. I finally finished them and am really happy with how they turned out. I think the hand painted yarn is gorgeous with this pattern. She still has a pair of socks I knit her from three years ago; and she still wears them - no darning needed. I remember they were one of the first pairs of socks I ever knit and I'm so happy they are being put to good use. These have a bit more character (brighter, more texture) then her last pair, but I hope she likes them just as much.

We come like trees

When the twins turned one I made each of them a book with photos of the immediate family members. Madeline's first year came and went. I realized I hadn't made her book. So I am technically making it for her second birthday, but will give it to her early.

They are simple books: embroidered felt covers with construction paper pages that are laminated with the photos. I punched three holes along one side and placed binder rings to keep them together. I also wrote in peoples names and their relationship to each girl.

I love these books for many reasons. Early on the girls used them to learn the names of family members that live far away. They are also a photographic record of our family and its changes over time. In the years since I made the books for the twins we've sadly lost some family members. But, with great joy we've also added a few too. There is also a quote, by Maya Angelou, that opens each book. It reads:

No one comes from the earth like grass
We come like trees
We all have roots

We do not practice or explore religion/spirituality in a formal, organized manner - this saying does, however, come very close to what I consider to be my faith. My faith that life and spirit endure; they were present before we were and will persist after we are gone. The saying is superimposed over a black and white photo of the gigantic catalpa tree that my husband and I were married under.

I've never kept baby books, not really even a record of things like first steps, first words or first foods. I feel badly about this, but hope that some of the other things that I've done for my kids during their first years of life will make up for this. One thing I do is take photos - lots of them - and I hope that they will fill in where memories fade.