Interweave Knitting Lab

Last week I attended Interweave Knitting Lab.  I played the role of model (yes, I am a model), assistant, wrangler, handler, mule, gopher, tax accountant, time-keeper and comfort pet.  And it was a blast.  Playing a secondary role is way more fun than I expected, as the expectations are achievable:  writing a lesson plan, composing hand-outs, assembling goodies, and playing the part of engaging teacher are all way more difficult than schlepping boxes, getting coffee, and striking a pose.

And I had the opportunity, no, privilege of meeting a slew of good folks I have long admired.



Barbara Walker, my new BFF.
(don't be fooled, I gushed upon meeting her,
then went into convulsing fits of happiness)

Thank you kindly to Mary Jane Mucklestone and Gale Zucker for having me along in your classes and otherwise.   You are grand folks that I enjoy immensely.

I'm Full

I think it is really easy to run around in our day-to-day lives and forget to check the fuel level. And then run out of gas. Not broken or busted, just in need of a little fuel to get from here to there.

I have a full tank courtesy of Fiber College.  I have grand new friends.  I have the well-being that comes from the company of old friends.  I have ideas (mostly good), inspiration, and energy.  I have very few pictures.

I have been with exceptional makers.  Fiber College friends make spirited music, photos that communicate inner beauty, books to bring in bed and read with a flashlight, patterns that I adore, yarns with the best story, discoveries that open my eyes, the cutest little dresses, and they make me laugh.  And I'm pretty sure some of them can make a warm breeze.

Thank you Astrig and Steve and the staff of FC for another banner year. 

Filling Empty Nest with Yarn

My kids each bring humor, joy, and plain old fun to this household.  Parenting has been a merry ride all along, but the teen years have been especially enjoyable.

On Thursday we dropped off our middle child at the University of New Brunswick for his First Year (that's what they call it in Canada).   I am delighted that my college students have the guts to study far, far away.  But I must admit to crying on my griddlecakes on Friday.  And at the checkout at the bookstore. 

Our route home passes Briggs and Little.  I didn't cry there.  At all.  In fact, I purchased some lovely grey wool for a sweater for said boy.   Good wool, toothy and warm.  When we got home I spread a skein on me and fell asleep in front of the boob tube.

Here's a little fun we had at camp this summer, my son four wheeling a road I hadn't been on since I was a little girl.

I am Blowing my Cover

Slipcovering is a really valuable skill.  When I tell someone I know how to slipcover, they immediately follow with a list of furniture in their home that could use a good cover, and when can I start?  I tend to keep it a secret because I don't want to accidentally start a full time business.   

Dressmakers draft custom fit dress "muslins" that can be modified and sewn up many ways.  If you have experience following a sewing pattern, creating a custom slipcover pattern is a good next step. On September 7, please join me at Fiber College for Slipcover Making for a Small Chair.  Learn to make a muslin/pattern for your dining room chairs, folding chairs, even those white plastic outdoor chairs. Design a pattern that can be used again and again, and bring new life to your old chairs. 

This nappy spot is covered in inexpensive denim and is very durable.
It lives in my teenaged boys' bedroom.

This slipcover is made from a bedspread.

There is a tattered chair under here, broken in just right.

 Counting the days, please consider joining in the fun!

 

Drop in and Dye

Dyeing fiber can be super casual or super duper scientific.  One can spill Kool-aid on their shirt with wonderful results, or one can earn a Master of Science in Textile Chemistry, also with wonderful results.  The Kool-aid is relatively less expensive.

On the weekend of September 8 & 9, please join me at Fiber College for a super casual version of dyeing.   Here's how it'll go down:  Show up at the Drop in and Dye Tent during the Shopper's Boulevard hours (Sat 10:00 - 5:30, Sun 10:00 - 3:00), and bring with you a 'don't be scared' attitude and maybe some unloved natural fiber stash from home.  I'll have various yarns for sale if you already love your stash as-is. 

There will be two types of dyes available for sale in sample size portions: 'MX Reactive' dyes for plant fibers (cotton, linen, bamboo, hemp, rayon) and 'WashFast Acid' dyes for animal fibers (wool, silk, dog, angora, cashmere, llama).  There will be a simple set up and easy to follow directions so you can get your feet wet, so to speak.  And I'll be there to answer questions and cheer you on.

 

 

In the spectrum of Kool-aid Spiller to Master of Science in Textile Chemistry, my expertise leans a little to the Kool-aid end.  So there is no need to be intimidated, and also no need to ask the molecular weight of propanetricarboxylic acid because I will not have the answer (actually, it's 192.12, but I had to look it up, and I'm still probably wrong).  All dyes and dye assists will be in liquid form for ease and safety.

 

 

Stay tuned, I'll also be teaching a class on how to create a custom pattern for a simple slipcover on September 7.  I went through an extensive slipcovering phase, something I have not shared here, but I will soon!

The Boss

One item on my husband's bucket list.  Check.

Summertime Weekending

Just a few recent snapshots from my summer - I like to look back at summery photos in March and April, when the snow is black and the weather is raw.

We spent a weekend at a friend's place on Maranacook Lake in Readfield, Maine.  I had cocktail knitting with me: you know, where one can knit along without thinking.  I need to always have cocktail knitting available, not because I'm always drinking, just because I'm not always thinking.

 

We visited my Brother-in-Law Matt yesterday at a herding competition. These are his big girls, the girls that grow the wool that makes the yarn that gets dyed and knit up into the sweaters like the one above.



They call him 'Mm-AA-AA-aatt'. He does not answer.

 Have you ever dyed yarn?  I think sometimes that the science of dyeing can be intimidating, and might scare off a few folks.  Don't be scared, come give it a whirl at Fiber College.  I'll be available on Saturday and Sunday with dyepots ready, and it will be as simple as 'swish it in here, swirl it in there, wait a little spell, rinse it out, hooray!' 

 I'm no scientist, but I ain't scared of dyeing.

In other news, the drought seems to be easing up here.  Our mud crop is in full bloom.

I hope your summer is dirty fun as well.