Mandy Moore's Blog, page 106

When last we left Amy, she was in Wales…

…and heartbroken to leave. So much so that within days of returning home from the big trip, she (me, actually) and Brenda had decided we needed to make our Retreat an annual thing. Date is set already: October 5-8, 2012, in Pembrokeshire, Wales. To stay in the loop and hear exactly what we're planning once we've finalized it all, sign up for the list here.

Anyway, I digress. We left off in Wales, with me making friends with Bulmer's pear cider. Which I hear I might be able to find in the liquor stores in Ontario. I will start looking.

I took a very short flight, with a painfully expensive overage charge on my luggage (£98…not kidding) because I didn't realize allowances were different for inter-UK flights. Oh well. And when I arrived in Glasgow, only just slightly tipsy from my Bulmer's, I was greeted by the nicest people in Glasgow, the staff of The Yarn Cake, led by fearless leader Antje. They took me to my hotel, and as the knee was particularly horrible right then, carried my luggage up 2 super-tall flights of stairs to my room. Service above and beyond? You bet. And they were like this all weekend, taking the best possible care of me a teacher could ever hope for. I am spoiled for life, Antje.

Here's what I found waiting for me in my room:

thistles and roses, project bag and scotch, chocolate sweeties and a fab mug

They also brought me my first Scottish meal: pie and chips. The best chips I've ever had. Was reminded tonight that it might be the lard they were cooked in. If that is true then mmmmm, lard.

The next three days were a blur unlike any I've experienced in my travels. I had a lovely lightweight tour of the city by car, since I couldn't walk more than a few steps at a time, and got to peek at the unbelievable House for an Art Lover, a house recently built based on plans drawn up by Charles Rennie Mackintosh [whose work I adore]. Here are some snaps:

This is a piano. A ridiculous piano.

I adore the rose motif

what a beautiful bit of ironwork

Paisley obelisks that look like something quite different. Ahem.

The house was fantastic, in the old sense of the world, and a little more twee than I expected. A fascinating afternoon's visit! Was quite bothered by a motif in the light fixtures that the people who built the house insisted on changing from Rennie Mackintosh's original design. Dudes, you're not him; don't redesign him. But look at this room!

the little motif in the light fixtures? not authentic. why?

End of rant.

Anyway, after this fun bit of whimsy, Antje took me, Carol Feller [!] and her fabulous staff out to The Ubiquitous Chip for an extraordinary dinner. One of my favorite memories of this trip is of four of us cuddled into fur-covered chairs near the outdoor heater, under the roof overhang so we stayed dry, looking at this view, each with a pint of something yummy at hand.

Ashton Lane, beautiful in the rain

And then inside for my first haggis [this one with venison!], and of course, the essential sidekicks: neeps and tatties.

I finished 2 of the three things on this plate. Guess which?

And my first sticky toffee pudding, but not my last. It was unbelievable. Oh, sigh. Here is a nice picture of Carol, who is not pudding, but very sweet anyway. [Oh, stop groaning. It's 1:20am as I write this. I'm punchy.]

The lovely Carol Feller in her own Killybegs sweater

After that, we got down to the business at hand, which was the Glasgow School of Yarn, an endeavour dreamed up by Antje and brought to fruition insanely professionally, especially for an event of this size and it was their first ever. Really impressed, and I heard the same from the students and vendors as well. It looked something like this:

GSoY held in a church designed by Rennie Mackintosh, of course!

That little black thing in front of my iPad? That's my new pico projector. SO COOL.

I got to use my brand-new pico projector (a Cinemin Swivel) to deliver my presentations on this trip. I've wanted something like this forEVER and now that it exists and is affordable, I jumped. It needs a very dark room and the text needs to be larger than it would on a big, expensive projector, but it works absolutely brilliantly. Everyone was stunned by the coolness of this thing.

As a bonus, it also lets you project movies, so I got to watch Lost in Austen in my room later that week. Love this thing.

My students, busily swatching for their own shawl designs

It was a great three days, though it went by so fast, and I really hope I get to go back next year. There are rumours of a return of the GSoY, and I hope they're true! I also left my new BFF Sharon there, and I owe her a pint. Or three.

I promised you Dublin as well in this post, but as it's Knitty deadline time, I think I'll have to save that for next week. Besides, it's fun to stretch this out a bit.

See you next week!

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WWW: 150-year-old Fair Isle, swaddling fruit trees, balloon airlifted socks

A generous and wonderful donation.

Amazing story from the Shetland Museum and Archives…. a hand-knitted Fair Isle hat, purchased on eBay for about $12, has been identified as being approximately 150 years old. It was found in a house in London while the owners packed for a move, and it was very nearly thrown away. Instead, a lucky impulse to put it up for sale on eBay meant that it caught the eye of Masami Yokoyama, a knitter based in London. Ms. Yokoyama identified that it was something special, and while on a trip to Shetland for Wool Week, she donated it to the Shetland Museum.

Best Fair Isle sweater ever?

The staff at the Shetland Museum were very excited by the donation, and have confirmed that the piece is definitely 19th century, and the colors used suggest that it was most likely knitted on Fair Isle. The pattern is classic OXO Fair Isle, and the colors all come from natural dyes.

In addition, the Shetland Museum hosts a wonderful online photographic library, including a small but fabulous collection of textile-related images.

Ms. McDermed and some of the more than 400 items her group contributed this past year.

A nice profile of Mary McDermed, a knitter from Homewood, Illinois, who is leading an army of volunteers to make scarves, helmet liners, neckwarmers and other warm items to ship to US Military personnel in Afghanistan. She leads a group of 45 crafters, most of whom are senior citizens. She was inspired to start the effort after reading an article in a 2009 Homewood Veterans Committee newsletter sent to her husband, Ed, a World War II veteran.

Schoolchildren in North Yorkshire have been enlisted to help knit blankets to cover fragile young fruit trees recently planted in nearby Dalby Forest.

The Guardian entertains us again with another slide show from another great knitting book: Knitlympics. Knitted replicas of famous Olympians. So very, very good.

I have to agree with Mary Mooney of the Oregonian, who alerted me to this story: although it's not about hand-knit socks, it's still pretty great: a defector from North Korea, currently living in Seoul, South Korea, is using helium balloons to send socks over the border to residents of North Korea. There's a long history of such balloon airlifts to take information pamphlets over the border, but this is the first initiative to send clothing. Winters in North Korea are bitterly cold, and Lee hopes he can help keep his countrymen warm, and perhaps help them by providing a valuable product to sell or trade for other goods.

Burberry does cables in their own fabulous way.

The New York Times' Style section weighs in on the current crop of cable knits on the runway.  The high-fashion interpretations of cable sweaters are fascinating.  The history lesson is a bit dubious, but the eye-candy is great.

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Spinning Tuesdays: Another Thing I Love About Fiber People

We love to trade.

I used to be a weaver. I have an eight harness Might Wolf that I haven't used for years. It's been hanging out at friend's house just visiting.

Then another friend got bitten by the weaving bug, big time. "What would you want for your loom?" she asks. Offering just cash is boring, we decided a combo was in order.

You know how a spinning wheel can get stuck in you heart? I don't need another wheel, but wow, this wheel waves to me, blows me kisses every time I see one.

So I tell her, "I've always wanted a Lendrum double treadle".  Cat out of bag, the words and wish set loose into the universe.

Last week she shows up at my door with a big box.

My new Lendrum

She found me a Lendrum. I don't think the old owner used her more than once or twice. It came with the jumbo plying head , the fast flyer, a carrying bag and 9 (!) bobbins.

My friend will get her loom in early December.

And my new wheel? She spins just fine.

Abstract Fiberarts, polwarth, Hopworks colorway

I love a good trade.

 

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Party in the UK, eh?

I just got back from the biggest trip of my life. Almost a month in the UK and Ireland, coinciding with a big milestone birthday.

It was a teaching trip, which meant a lot of pre-planning and arranging, and it also meant that I got to meet more knitters from places I hadn't been to before. This trip, I went to Wales, Scotland, Ireland and ended up in London. A really nice itinerary.

Let's start with Wales. Wales [specifically West Wales] is the home of my friend Brenda and her partner, Tonia. Hub and I got to know them on the Sea Socks cruise in 2008, and we've been close friends ever since. We'd even travel with them — and that says a lot.

Brenda learns to use Instagram while waiting for tea to brew

I arrived in Wales the day after my 21st anniversary with the hub, and with a bunged-up knee that [frustratingly] plagued me the rest of the trip and is still not right (a little acupuncture a few days ago is helping, though).

I spent the run-up to P3 on Brenda's couch, knitting and watching Downton Abbey right from episode 1. I fell in love with their cat, Jasper, who is now my cat, or at least Brenda allows me to believe this, which is a kindness.

Jasper, my cat who lives in Wales.

We took day trips to nearby towns where the streets are paved with cobbles and everyone is nice to you, whether they've met you before or not.

Smack dab in the middle of town, history. I love the UK.

It's true. Everyone is nice in Wales. Hub and I want to live there.

Brenda took me to Cardigan, where the opportunity for puns was rampant, but the cardigans were scarce. She took me to visit the most beautiful Castle gardens; even at the end of its season, it was exquisite:

Huge plants, with Brenda there to show they're taller than peoples!

faery ring?

I have a thing for water lilies. Water lilies in a Welsh castle pond? Swoon.

Me, being a tiny elf. (I'm not fooling anyone, am I?)

Take that, Downton!

Brenda and I had decided that, instead of me teaching a simple afternoon class in Wales, she and I should plan a lace-knitting retreat where we could both teach. So we did. We called it Plug+Play in Pembrokeshire, or P3 for short. As the week went on and the retreat was fast approaching, we had a few little loose ends to tie up. This one was the most fun: packing the goodie bags!

Brenda sorts the yarn, provided by AlishaGoesAround, Anzula and Indigodragonfly, destined for the P3 goodie bags...a delightfully challenging job!

Boxes and boxes of well-stuffed goodie bags

And then it was time to drive to Beggars Reach, home of the P3 retreat.

The view from our classroom. Not too shabby.

14 knitters joined us from the US and all over the UK in a beautiful Welsh country setting, and we had an unqualified blast.

We talked about my Plug+Play lace principle and applied it to shawl design. We brainstormed over graph paper [they call it squared over there], stitch pattern books, and lots and lots of tea.

Lian, Karen, Laurie and Kathleen, making lace magic happen at P3 (look at the backdrop for our learning environment)

Vandy sits back and examines her work in progress

We learned how to put lace into a sweater pattern without tearing your hair out. We exchanged US/UK comparisons on expressions, holidays, customs, traditions. We bonded over Downton Abbey and Doctor Who. We ate yummy foods, including a traditional Sunday dinner (at the traditional lunchtime).

Roast beef with potatoes and Yorkshire Pudding (the veg came soon after, in heaping bowls)

Pavlova for dessert. I knew I should have ordered it.

We knit a lot. We laughed even more. We had the most wonderful time.

the knitters of P3

A few accounts of what it was like from the participants' perspectives can be found at the pages of Catherine and Kathleen, and the video that Laurie took.

Leaving was hard. We were super-tired, but the good kind of tired that happens after something important goes well and you did your best. Brenda and I talked about next year the whole way back, and Tonia put up with us. She's good like that. We talked about the people and how much we'd miss them. It was a pretty fabulous first retreat.

So yeah, next year, in some form. I promise details when they are available.

After that, there was little time left in Wales for me, which started to elicit physical responses. I was already homesick for it and hadn't even left yet. So Brenda popped me back into the car and off we went to Hay-on-Wye, in search of this place. I was so surprised to have missed it last year when we were there, and was determined not to let it happen again.

I also had a short booky wishlist: I wanted an Arnold Bennett Penguin paperback and maybe something sailing-y for the hub. Both of those were easily achieved in Richard Booth's Bookshop, a place I wanted to move in to and never leave:

This is a BOOKSHOP, people. Can you stand it?

But no one had heard of Merchant & Mills. No one. Until one sweet shopkeeper offered to use her phone (our mobiles were useless in town for some reason) and call them. Turns out, they're not in Hay-on-Wye. They're 20 miles down the road. Cough, cough. Unimpressed with this marketing tactic (labelling your shop as coming from somewhere posh when it actually isn't), we headed to the home of solace, Shepherd's. Where we had what may go down in my lifetime as one of the best lunches ever. It looked like this:

Ginger ice cream with lemon polenta cake at Shepherd's.

Brenda and I are still talking about this. Yes, ice cream, cake and coffee for lunch. What of it? (Did I mention that the ice cream was made from sheep's milk? Because it was.)

The last day in Wales was meant to be me and Brenda and Tonia booting about Cardiff, seeing Doctor Who sights. But with my knee as it was, we chose another day of relaxing on the couch, with much icing of knee, knitting and lots of Jasper love.

This was my view all afternoon. You tell me YOU could resist this cat? It's impossible.

And then off I went to the Cardiff airport, where I met my new best friend: Bulmer's Pear cider. I would spend quite a few happy evenings with a glass of this stuff as the trip went on. (I'm not much of a drinker, but I do like cider.)

Yummy. I don't usually get on planes a bit tipsy, but this time....

 And we'll leave the trip here. See you next Thursday for installment 2, which will include my next stop Scotland, and Ireland, which followed soon after!

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WWW: The Technology of Socks, NaKniSweMo, Yarnbombed Music Video

All the cool kids are doing it...

The winner of the mini messenger bag is Ellen from Katy, Texas. Thanks to Namaste for the prize!

It's November – you know what that means… NaKniSweMo. If you can't write a book for National Novel Writing Month, considering knitting a sweater for National Knit a Sweater Month. There are prizes, too! Join the Ravelry group.

The Cast On Podcast, hosted by Brenda Dayne (long-time friend of Knitty and designer of the now-classic Mrs Beeton pattern) is back, big time! Having reached the milestone of 100 podcasts, Brenda has recently rejigged her format to shorter-but-more-frequent 'casts, full of her trademark charm and warmth, wrapped in a velvet voice. And of course…lots of knitting. Listeners are glad to have her back.

Brenda is celebrating the relaunch with a brand-new page on Facebook and listeners can expect a contest soon, too, we hear.

I bet she's wearing handknit socks...

This past week, Rachel Maines, a historian at Cornell University presented a paper on the Technology of Socks and their importance during the two world wars early in the 20th century. Her presentation, "Socks at War: Trenchfoot Casualties in the American Forces in World War II," spoke about the challenges of treating and preventing trenchfoot, a debilitating condition that was due to the moist conditions in the trenches, and the role of good socks – often handknit. During World War I, 150 million pairs of socks were needed, and home knitters were pressed into service.

Dr. Maines has also authored a study on how fiber arts went from industry to hobby. "Hedonizing Technologies" is a a course at Cornell and is available as a book.

With the demand for local wool growing (you're welcome ), the American Sheep Industry Association and the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association have made an urgent call for more Ohioans to get into the sheep-herding business, and for existing producers to expand their flocks.

Watch the video – lovely sheep, lovely dogs, lovely scenery. It's a good and realistic look at the work of shepherding.

Combining knitting & TV mystery series! All my needs met!

Two excellent stories about artisans working to revive traditional textile industries…

A fabulous profile of Gudrun and Gudrun, Faroese designers who shot to fame for designing the snowflake sweater featured in the very popular Danish mystery series The Killing.

And Philadelphia-based industrial designer Andrew Dahlgren is working to resurrect the knitting industry in the once textile-dominant city of Philadelphia. ADMK, his project management and "industry design" company, is re-envisioning textile manufacturing and labor, revolutionizing the classic cottage industry model for the 21st century.

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Cozy and catchy!

The band Seventeen Evergreen has released a rather fabulously fun "yarnbombed" music video. Don't try to understand, just enjoy the sight of a mysterious yarn-covered arm stretching out from under a heap of clothes, a yarn-covered telephone, yarny Luchador masks, and a fully yarn-enrobed band dancing in a fully yarn-covered room. It seems to be equal parts crochet and knitting, but all fun!

And if you get the feeling that a lot of thrift stores were raided to make the video, you're right. Some great photos showing the making of the video…

Celebrity knitter alert: Judy Greer!

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Spinning Tuesday: 2 Ply or 3 Ply for Cables?

I'm spinning and knitting and fair amount of my holiday gifts, all accessories because I'm not completely crazy.

Right now I'm working on a scarf for my father-in-law. It will have a cable running up the center of the scarf. The same cable that will be on my mother-in-law's mittens. They will notice and they will get misty over it. I know! Just the type of folks you want to spin and knit for.

For the scarf I'm using some New Zealand gotland. It's commercially prepped roving. I want the cable to be smooth so I spun it worsted (don't faint). I want the cables to pop so I spun it 3-ply.

I've always heard and read that a 3 ply makes a nicer, more defined cable. I had some singles left after plying my 3 ply (because my bobbins never match up), so I plied the leftovers 2 ply, and knit cables with 2 ply and 3 ply yarns.

Here are the pictorial results of the, Cables: 2 ply or 3 ply ?, smackdown

The yarn:

Gotland 2ply front, 3 ply back

I was really struck by how much hairier the 2 ply is than the 3 ply. They were spun exactly the same. The 3 ply seems to trap and tame the fuzziness of the gotland.

The swatches:

I used a six stitch cable crossed every 8 rows for both swatches. I used a needle one size bigger for the 3 ply swatch.

2 ply swatch

A nice cable, fuzzy but clearly a cable that pops even with the halo.

3 ply swatch

What a difference! Even taking into account that the yarn is bigger by one ply, that is a meaty cable. The rounder yarn makes that bad boy stand up and wave.

2 ply swatch left, 3 ply swatch right

Here they are side by side. I would use the 2 ply cable for a softer look, like on a slouchy beret or a soft looking sweater, but the 3 ply is the look I want for my scarf.

2 ply and 3 ply from the side

Here they are shot from the side, the 3 ply is definitely a crisper cable.

I love experimenting and swatching. It always makes me excited all over again about spinning.

Do you have any cables in your upcoming projects?

 

 

 

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Namaste Giveaway!

I've never known a knitter who didn't love bags.  The lovely folks at Namaste have donated one of their fabulous Mini Messenger bags for a giveaway. If you'd like to add to your bag collection, this giveaway is for you. Prize Value $85.

Mini Messenger stylish and practical!

The usual rules apply for our giveaway: Leave a comment on this post before midnight, eastern time, on Sunday, November 6, 2011. A comment will be chosen at random to answer a skill testing question. If s/he answers correctly s/he will win our prize.

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WWW: Extinct birds, Bobcats and Drill Sergeants

Excellent stitchwork

The rumors have been flying for a while, and now we can confirm it: acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood is a knitter. And she's done us proud by contributing a knitted portrait of an Auk, an extinct bird, to an exhibition in London.

Ghosts of Gone Birds is a series of multimedia exhibitions and events designed to breathe artistic life back into extinct birds species. Over 120 artists, writers and musicians have contributed their work to the project, celebrating the diversity of the birds through paintings & sculpture, talks & poetry, installations & live music – and yarn.

The exhibition is based in London, but there will be events all around the UK.

Stylish and warm!

A fab profile of knitwear designer Amy Hall on the Vogue website. The slideshow of her designs is wonderful. What I like most about them is that they're stylish yet entirely wearable, and very very knittable. Much inspiration!

Speaking of stylish yet knittable, we just had to share this… Knitty designer Natalie Selles blogs about her absolutely amazing Halloween costume… Coraline, complete with fully hand-made outfit for both herself and her knitted companion.

The New York Daily News brings us this profile of Marsha Spencer, a knitter and grandmother who is participating in the Occupy Wall Street protest. She is spending her days knitting hats and mittens to keep her fellow protestors warm.

On that note, the Knitty Gritty Committee, Hartford's Yarnbombing Crew, has published an open letter to the participants in the Occupy Hartford protest offering to teach the protesters how to knit and to provide them with the materials and skills to keep themselves warm.

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Getting ready for winter.

It's getting cold in Montana, so the University of Montana "Spirit the Bobcat" mascot sculpture has been given a sweater to keep him warm.

We at Knitty do enjoy reading about confused muggles encountering knitters in the wild. Actor R. Lee Ermey, best known for his role as a foul-mouthed drill sergeant in "Full Metal Jacket", was recently photographed knitting on a plane. And because the question often crops up, let us refer you to this post which outlines policies and strategies for travelling with your knitting.

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Learning to Spin

Misty Mountain Farm BFL in color Pumpkin spice.

Amy and Jillian – and many of my friends around the knitting world – are avid spinners, and it seemed inevitable that I would eventually want to give it a try.

I knew that Rhinebeck is a big spinning event, so I decided that my objective for the trip would be to learn to spindle spin.

I did some research into what to look for in a spindle and some fiber, and set myself the most excellent task of shopping.

The lovely TsockTsarina got me hooked up with a plain and simple GnomeSpun spindle, and I bought myself some gorgoeous Blue Faced Leicester roving – since the experts told me that it was easy for beginners.  I chose a color inspired by the wonderful fall foliage I was seeing around.

On the Saturday evening, I sat down with some spinning friends from the shop Shall We Knit. The fabulous Lise opened up her bag of tricks, and pulled out some green Shetland (also very beginner-friendly), and got me started.

In action, with excellent coaching from Lise.

And after a few false starts, some fumbling around, and much laughter, I was starting to get the hang of it. I was making something that looked like something you could knit with.

After an hour watching me play with the top whorl spindle, Lise quietly offered up a second spindle to try: a Jenkins Turkish Delight. I had no idea: this is the spinning equivalent of offering a learner driver the keys to a Cadillac. I was immediately hooked. Being a clever sort, Lise had bought it for me, expecting I might enjoy using it.

We worked together for a couple of evenings, me spindling, Lise providing coaching and supportive laughter, and by the end of the weekend, I had made my first yarn!

I had about 6 yards of a maybe worsted weight, slightly slubby, hand-dyed green Shetland.

I made yarn! I am a spinner!

Naturally, I wanted to knit something with it. Something I could keep and show off… spinner extraordinaire Denny suggested a leaf. It's a perfect leafy color, and I knitted it at a leafy time of year… and so…

Very proud!

my first project with my first handspun! A leaf, with a pin on the back to make it a brooch. I will be wearing it with pride on my coat this winter.

I'm saving the BFL roving until I am feeling a bit more confident. I'm going to visit my friends at Shall We Knit this weekend, and my spindles are definitely going with me.

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Obsession: Birthday Cake

Oh come on, admit it. You're obsessed with birthday cake, aren't you?

I know I am.

Jillian is.

And I know for certain that Amy is – particularly adorable  little birthday cupcakes.

And today, our lovely Amy, our editor in chief, gets to indulge her passion…

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Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you... happy birthday dear Amy, happy birthday to you!

For today it is HER BIRTHDAY!

Sending happy birthday wishes and hugs and kisses and cupcakes with extra sprinkles.

 

It's a big birthday, a decade birthday – Amy might be feeling a little like this about it

Birthday!

because turning 20 is hard. So leave her your Happy Birthday wishes in the comments!

 

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