Nash Island, 2013

photo by Gale Zucker (c) 2013

I've been on a trip, a trip so full and grounding that it is challenging to put into words.  So whatever I say here, magnify it if you will, please.  And fill in the gaps to make the story more wonderful, because it is.  My host for the weekend was Jani Estell of Starcroft Fiber.  My travel companions were the delightful photographer/designer Gale Zucker, and ever-fun knit designers Mary Jane Mucklestone and Ysolda Teague.

MJ and Ysolda with MJ's trusty gazeteer

We've been to Roundup on Nash Island, an island of sheep way way up in DownEast Maine.  Here is my post from the same event last year.

This year the flock numbers eighty one ladies, two gentlemen, one sort of in-betweener, and almost a hundred lambs. The sheep have lovely fleeces, cleaned by the bright sun and sea breezes.  I did not take my camera or my phone onto the island (sorry, I regret this), so the photos here are from the mainland, some taken by me, others by Gale Zucker. 

Once a year the flock is carefully rounded up by a herd of gentle people, and corralled into sea worn pens there on the island. The lambs are lifted over the fencing into waiting arms and shuttled into the lamb pen, a  chaotic musical chairs transaction with squirming and bleating, and folks with their feet stuck in the mud (well, me at least).  Alfie Wakeman, an island steward and shepherd, examines and treats each lamb with preventative meds, gives a friendly scratch, and then sets them loose.

Each adult sheep is shorn by one of three women - Donna, Gerri, or Eleni.  Watching these three women work all day long, doubled over at the waist, respectfully rolling and nudging the plump sheep and freeing them of their wool - well, it is empowering.  If they can do that, surely I can get the lid off the jar, dammit.

The weather this year was picture perfect (again, regretting the camera decision).  The warm sun helped to dry the dewy fleeces and burned the spots we missed with sunscreen.  One brave young gal went for a swim in the cold ocean.  Even if the weather had not been so clear, the workers for this event all maintain bright and sunny faces, no matter.

The wool is stuffed in burlap sacks and hoisted onto the waiting boats, shipped back to the mainland, and trucked to Jani's new mill, where I set up my cot and slept like a baby.  Bucket list item: Sleep in fiber mill, Check.

Jani's Wool Wagon

Ysolda and Grant weighing the wool

Nash Island Light samples, in the new mill

This, my friends, is the way wool is made.  With loyalty, tradition, team work, thoughtfulness, and really really hard work.  I love this wool.

Mary Rebecca, photo by GZ (c) 2013

photo by Gale Zucker (c) 2013

Dress + Cardigan: Installment 4

When I started posting here on blogger I promised myself I would never punish myself for gaps in posting, for it would be self defeating.  This is me, telling myself it is okay to have experienced a gap, not really convincing myself that it is okay.

Moving on ...

Dress no. 4 is complete.  Worn here by the lovely Spongecake, a newcomer to my dressform collection.  The pattern is self drafted.

The front button band is flanked by three lines of double needle stitching.

I have included three snaps in the skirt area to make it easier to slip the dress over my head.  If I had it to do again (which I do - there are two more of these cut), I would either add three more buttons or continue the buttons to the hem. Glad I tried, now I know.

And here is installment 4 of 12 in my Dress + Cardigan project (8 more by February 2 ... that's doable, yes?)  This is Sarah Ann, built for my daughter.  This one is knit in a superwash by WEBS.  The rooflike texture is a modification of a Barbara Walker stitch pattern.  Pattern to follow this summer.

Dolly has arms now, made with Romex, duct tape and pipe insulation (remind me to replace the pipe insulation I pilfered from the hot water pipes in the basement, will you?).  She is posing like one of the fellows from Monty Python.

I've been going places lately, doing things.  Here's a shot from last weekend - a blueberry barren way, way up in Maine.  Can you guess where I've been?

More Stitches

Here's what I have on the needles, but not for much longer.  I have about a third of a ball of this Valley Yarn Superwash left, so I'm going to knit until I can't knit any longer.  The fabric will be worked into a shirt dress with some pin tucks and gathers, suitable for this sweater, which I'm hoping is appropriate for the office and over a nighty.

I have been sewing.  This linen dress has been on heavy rotation, as evidenced by the wrinkles.

Good gracious, sewing is satisfying.  Below is a video of my electric rotary cutter, which spins a large octagonal blade.  I am cutting a pile of six sleeves.  Like butter.

Four of those sleeves are now completed shirts (yep, shirts not dresses, I didn't have enough fabric for dresses - that's okay, shirts are handy, too).

I'll be wearing the red one tonight at Sonya Philip's reception at Gather Here in Cambridge, and I'll bring my last incomplete shirt for some hand stitching.  It has shaped up to be a week full of visits with friends, and for that I am thankful.

Hello, my name is Kitty

My dog's name is Katharine Murray Mason, but we call her Kitty. Lots of Katharines are called Kitty. My Mother's second-hand cat came with the name Cinnamon, but it did not suit her or stick. By default, she was also named Kitty. Kitty and Kitty go to the same vet, who happens to be my husband's brother. They are on the same account. And they always go together, which makes for a little confusion, and lots of snickers and sheepish smiles.

After our appointment this week, we went to my brother-in-law's farm, Riverbank Farm, a stock dog training facility with "dog broke” livestock, including Cheviot sheep and llamas.

These are a few of the new lambs. MacAusland’s Woollen Mill of Prince Edward Island custom spins their hardy fleeces along with a touch of llama. The resulting yarn is not for the fussy or faint of heart - it is down home, sticky and practical. Nothing luxury about it, just like me. Perfect for the kind of sweater I reach for every day.

eesh.

Riverbank Farm also fosters rescue stock dogs that have not succeeded as pets. Many thrive when to able satisfy their instincts to herd. But they were all napping when we were there. And the Kittys waited patiently in the car.

For years the running family joke was a comparison of mouths to feed at the farm versus engines to keep running at our place.  Happy to say there are way more mouths than engines nowadays.

From Me to You

Dress + Cardigan: Confessions

I am (a little too) far ahead in the dress sewing part of my Dress + Cardigan Project.   I am nervous that I will somehow lose track of what I have sewn and when, and so I have put together a tidy little system, as follows:

I cut out swatches of the fabric used to identify the dresses.  I worked on CorelDraw making these darling little sticker labels with perfectly aligned descriptors and lines that mimic a 3 by 5 card.  They are little masterpieces, yes?  Yes.

Now, lest you feel a twinge of inadequacy due to my mastery of organization, listen up:  The sticker paper has lost its sticky - might be due to its creation dating back to the dark ages.

It is after 2:00 and I am still in my pajamas.  The dishes are still waiting to be washed.  I had other goals for this day that made way more sense.

And so I am quickly re-evaluating and making a panicky to-do list of shame, that includes suitable clothing, dishes, sweater math, a delicious supper plan that makes me look like SuperMom,

... and reprinting those darling labels onto cardstock and sewing them onto the swatches!

Dress + Cardigan: Installment 3

It seems smock lovers are coming out of hiding these days, confessing their adoration for the smock's simple and timeless styling, its versatility and charm.  And let's face it, a smock is some-kind-of wearable.

Dress no.3 was cut from an inexpensive quilter's cotton using New Look 6871.  I lengthened the body, omitted the notch in the yoke, and added a little more fullness at the gathers.  I also chose to narrow the sleeves and finish them with a fixed band instead of elastic.

My Joan Fuller cardigan is complete, and the pattern will go out for a quick testing next week.  At 16 stitches per inch, this sweater knits up swiftly!

I do believe I am getting closer to the stuff I can wear on an everyday basis - to the post office, the grocery, out to school functions.  This outfit will be completed with a vintage pin, a scarf, cheerful socks and a new pair of Lime Lites (the carrot at the end of my yardstick).

Why Lime Lites?  New England Footwear, the company that makes them, is local to me and special to me. Their mission is to bring shoe manufacture back to New England as soon as humanly possible. Also, the technology of the shoe is very thoughtful.  The grippy teeth on the sole are soft; they absorb the bumps in terrain so one's feet don't have to.