does life imitate knitting- or does knitting imitate life

Has it happened to you?

Life is sailing along, no worries, things unfolding according to plan, no bumps~

There are days, when life can be as smooth as a strand of silk coming from a center pull ball -then suddenly- things just seem to get messed up. Stuff happens. You have hit a giant snag.

You don't know how, you don't know why...(winding the center-pull didn't indicate that there would be any problems)....nonetheless, the snag remains... And you are left to sort it all out. And it is such a big snag that you cannot move along with your project until you do something about it.

Which do you do?

a. reach for the scissors immediately --cut your losses and move on

b. try to patiently untangle the mess, but then reach for the scissors cut your losses and move on

c. patiently and with determination --with a "no matter how long it takes attitude", untie the snarl and try to move on with your project that will forever show a portion of yarn that looks worse for the wear, reminding you of the snag

d. stuff the entire project in a bag to marinate until you decide what to do...

and then there is always...none of the above...

I wonder if my methods of smoothing out snags in knitting reflect my methods of smoothing out the snarls and problems I face in the day to day world. Maybe it is the other way around, and knitting has taught me a few ways to untangle some issues that need to be addressed. One thing is for certain, I hardly ever reach for the scissors. (And in real life, the options aren't always as clear.)

ps...I normally choose "c" or "none of the above".

phenological events 7/09

phenological events

July 2009

1st- Cage Tomatoes
harvesting broccoli
harvesting currants
3rd- lightening bugs
mushrooms everywhere!
5th- clip Angora Lakota
16th- planting carrots
18th- planting turnips
19th- weed WEEDING weedest
tick removed from arm
20th- harvesting potatoes
21st- late blight appears
26th- late blight destroys tomato
crop, lessens potato yields

a shetland saga

There is an area in my garden- where there grows a small collection of plants that have been gifts from friends of mine who are spinners. Wandering down to that section yesterday, I finally caught a glimpse of the first bloom from a daylily that Cathy gave me last fall. I had missed the first bloom, the second had fallen off in a bad storm, and this third bloom was worth waiting for. Beautiful!

Cathy has been generous in sharing other things with me... fiber type things, Shetland things...for which I am very grateful.

Over a period of a year or more, I have worked with these samples...on and off..when time allows.... It has been a wonderful education for me. There are so many nuances within this breed.. the samples show the differences of color, texture, crimp, staple length and structure...I could go on.

So, in my hands, a wealth of information passes over and between my fingertips. Knowledge for my fingers to absorb, and retain. There is much to be gained by an exercise like this.

It has also been fun to read what Cathy and Leigh have written about the same fibers. Time spent reading their archives, adds to my experience. Their notations and thoughts about a sample are always insightful. For example: in 2007, Cathy had this to say about "Korny"...and Leigh writes and photographs her notes on the same "Korny"

I'm spinning Korny now...two years later! I save a little bit of each sample lock, and a few yards of spun yarn...I tuck them together on a tag with my notes to save for future use.

The sample skeins are starting to collect. I haven't had time to organize my photographs and notes, and I'm in awe of Leigh's talent in this area.

What will become of these samples...I wonder...(the saga continues)

trying to keep current with currants

Elizabeth over at trailing yarn sent me an interesting link to an article about currants.

I was happy to read that black currants are being offered for sale in NY...and I liked the thought of the sorbet made out of my red currant harvest...(thanks for the heads up Elizabeth!)

I didn't get much of a harvest this year. This has been a very busy summer, and when the currants were prime for the picking, I was not able to get out there. Most of them were lost to the catbirds. Next year, I will be more determined, and bird netting will have to be placed over the bushes again.

As I picked currants, I noticed that the walking onions and Stella Dora Lily are competing for space. .. they need to be divided. I hear them complaining. But other tasks await, and dividing plants will not happen for several months yet. I try to ignore their whining and leave them to duke it out themselves.

Spindling silk continues...here and there..while I spindle...I spend time adoring the roses, soaking in the color of July, and listening to the sounds of the river. This natural silk will have lots of summer goodness locked into it.

who are you?

The moisture in the woods has called the toadstools up.

Some have been nibbled.

I came upon this caterpiller, near the river.

At least he wasn't sitting on a toadstool!

....but he did inspire me to pick up my old and tattered copy of Alice's Adventures...

one of my favorite books to read and reread...

Caterpillar: Who are YOU?

Alice: This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. I -- I hardly know, sir, just at present -- at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.

advice from a caterpiller or chapter 5

....(YOU ARE OLD FATHER WILLIAM)

...takes on new meaning for me these days....

shine

The sun has not been shining much on the riverrim, but the skies opened up over the weekend..and ....oh my...

Fresh cool breezes made time in the garden very pleasurable. The broccoli and currants are keeping me busy. In the late afternoon, the wheel is taken out to the deck and I'm glad to sit down for a few moments and ply the singles that I spun on the CPW...the bobbin turned out 196 yards of 18 wpi 2ply of Allspice alpaca. The luster is surprising!

A new project has been started for Paco Fino. Two strands of the alpaca are carried over size 11 needles...

the pattern is still under construction in my mind and I have come to a junction where I need to stop and put the pattern onto paper ~ it requires math. And while I pause to contemplate and tabulate...my fingers find a spindle and silk, and a third thread is destined to become part of this stole.

In an attempt to keep ahead of myself, I've been spinning the next batch of Allspice on the Great Wheel. I load the quills to about 100 yards so the cops are not too heavy. I've been plying off from the makeshift lazy kate and onto the Ashford...I'm pleased with the results, but have not photographed them yet.

bees eye view

The daylilies are putting on a big show with a fabulous burst of color in the garden. My kind of fireworks!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July !!!

raven

I'm mostly certain that this raven has a fairy in its mouth. What I'm not certain about is why. You don't think it is going to eat the fairy, do you? I've seen these types of fairies by the river before, usually they are kind that rides on the back of the dragonflies. You don't believe me, do you?

Moments in the morning are spent prepping Alpaca for the evening spin. I've been filling the handcards and dizzing off of them.

This basket usually takes two hours worth of spinning to empty and fills two of the CPW bobbins halfway--which is perfect because when I ply, the third bobbin is filled to the max.

phenological events June 2009

June 2009

1st- harvesting rhubarb
radish & lettuce
3rd- hellgramites morph
8th- plant beans
9th- big rain & thunder
12th- harvesting rabe
15th- apples size of golf balls
17th- second planting of corn
beans and lettuce
20th- roses bloom
24th- elders bloom
26th- currents ripen
27th- harvesting peas
28th- blackberries bloom

peas please

The peas are starting to come in now. It is a good year for peas..I eat most of them fresh, along with the tendrils...in salads. They are tender and taste so good! These are dwarf snap that I planted in April. I also have a row of Norli that I planted for my seed bank. They are only about 2 inches high right now. Yesterday afternoon I picked peas. Some of them make it into the steamer, and taste delicious lightly steamed.

The rest of the garden is growing fast with all of the rain we have been having. Take a look at the difference...this photo of the tomato bed was taken a few weeks ago...

And this photo was taken yesterday...

I have some of them in cages, but still need to stake the rest of them. We didn't use the trellis this year, so we are trying something a little different. Trellising works well for early ripe tomatoes in a climate that stays cool for the most part. I hope these will be ready before September! Most of them are showing flower. I mulched them heavily with the grass clippings from the mower...

This is the broccoli bed..I have brussel sprouts in the foreground.

They have really taken off. I haven't grown brussel sprouts in years, and I am pleased to have gotten these off to an early start. Brussel Sprouts require a fairly long growing season, but thankfully, they can take a few frosts...

The yellow flowers on the right are the broccoli rabe flowers. We have been enjoying our share of the broccoli rabe, everyone has had enough, and the freezer is full. I'm letting some of the plants go to seed. This was the best crop of broccoli rabe I've ever raised. The seed came from Johnny's Select. I started some inside and transplanted them, but the ones that were direct sown, did just as well if not better. I will direct sow broccoli rabe from now on. It is such a tiny little seed, surprisingly, the plant gets pretty big. Once this seeds up, I will pull it and dry it, and plant carrots in the same place.

effeuiller la marguerite

"now gentle flower, I pray thee tell..."

"...he loves me, he loves me lots..."

"...the decision of the flower..."

wheels in my path

Over the past few weeks, I have met some interesting spinning wheels in my travels. It is of no coincidence that all of these wheels are made to spin flax. I am lately fixated with flax and flax wheels... This first one (above) was made by Enoch Slossen Williams, sometime between 1820 and 1830. It lives at the Old Mill Village Museum.

It was repaired by the late Bill Ralph, in 1996. It is an identical copy of a Farnham wheel...of Owego, NY. "From Bill Ralph's memory--The Farnham and Williams families joined when a Farnham maried E.S. Williams and he learned from Farnham how to make wheels".

I love how the water pot is tied to the mother of all.

This little flax wheel lives at the Mannings Handweaving School in East Berlin PA.

Notice the cut out shape in the bench....

This Double Flyer wheel lives above the other wheel. It is on a shelf that is up high, so I could not see it very well to examine the way it was set up. I imagine it is out of reach for a reason.

It is interesting to me because I have never seen a double flyer wheel in a saxony style. I wish I knew more about this wheel.

I tried to look under the bench for a signature but could not see anything. It appears that the top portion of the distaff is missing.

This little flax wheel is sweet and lovely..she lives at my mother's house. This wheel was also missing the top portion of the distaff, but Fred Hatton made a new one for it. You cannot see it pictured here because the flax is covering it. He made a beautiful line distaff that I managed (somehow) to dress properly.

The bobbin/flyer will eventually need to be replaced as well. Those nails have got to go! I did manage to spin some linen thread on her. I fed her some oil, tied up her treadle and cleaned off the shaft (which was really gunked up). As I was spinning, I wondered about the last time she saw flax on her bobbin...

I don't know much about the history of this wheel or the maker, if anyone has any ideas about it, please feel free to email me!

on becoming an idiom

this past weekend found me in the city. each time i visit a city, it is startling to realize how fast the overall pace of living can be there.

my senses where overwhelmed, there is so much to see and experience in the city... the sights and sounds and smells are so different from what i have become accustomed to in the country.

i did have a wonderful time seeing loved ones and celebrating-- but in the background, the landscape was a constant reminder that i was out of my element....sigh...

on the way home...

...as the landscape changes...

it is obvious... i have become the girl you can take out of the country, but...

a day with PA WAgN

little finnsheep lambs greeting the women...

The visit from the PA WAgN, (or Pennsylvania Women's Agricultural Network) went very well. We had beautiful weather, and a terrific group of people that travelled a good distance across the state of PA to come to the Hatton Farm. After the sheep presentation, it was my pleasure to introduce some of them to spinning on a Great Wheel. I was feeling very good about 2 women who never tried spinning on a Great Wheel before, but were spinning yarn on one just minutes after a quick lesson!

recently restored by Fred Hatton, this Great Wheel is easy to use- very smooth and effortless turning....

After spinning on this Great Wheel, and then trying out one of the treadle wheels, Linda remarked that the Great Wheel seemed to "spin the yarn by itself!" Well, almost....

Grace's new wheel...

In addition to the Great Wheel, there were spindles and other antique wheels that were available to test drive...

The afternoon passed too quickly, and I didn't have time to try out this beautiful distaff that Fred made--maybe another time!

Thanks to Fred and Grace Hatton, for welcoming us to the farm and sharing their knowledge and talents (and the coffee and cookies were GREAT!)