Blog Play

Three young alpaca, minus their fleece, after their May shearing. From Gore Mountain Farm in Weverville, New York.

About Blog Construction and Knitting, Of Course

Well, it's high time I started to whip this blog into shape. I have no links yet, no photos either. What it takes is time and some mental space. Managing the time is an easier feat at this point than summoning the cognitive powers. I'm overwhelmed with home developments of an unkind nature, which puts me in a less than energetic place.

The rest of the vacation was very relaxing. As I'm sure I mentioned I'm still working on the Fortissima Colori blue-tones socks. And, for the second time I ripped out the back of the pullover sweater I'm making that's in the three-block pattern. It's the gauge that has had me so impossibly messed up.

When I started knitting it, I hadn't been knitting in over twenty years. My stitches were fairly loose, so I had to go down two sizes in needles to compensate. Yet, wouldn't you know, as I've done more and more knitting, my stitches have tightened up, and with it, the need to change needles again. Rip, rip, rip. The other problem is that my body size fits in between the women's small and medium. Small is bust size 32-34, and medium is 36-38. I'm just a hair under 35. So, this may be irrational reasoning, but I have decided to knit the women's small using size 7 needles, the needles the pattern calls for. I'm going to try it. If I have to rip it out again, I will give up the ghost.

I am dying to buy a skein of Skacel Trekking "Crazy" yarn in one of the new fall colors labeled #28. It's a mixture of burgundy, royal blue, burnt sienna, olive green, and one other color. One skein averages about $13.00, and I hate shelling out the shipping costs. Yet the only store I've found that has #28 is online, where I must pay a $7 shipping charge. Maybe I should try calling all the yarn stores in the Boston area and see if one has it.

I realize that so far I'm the only one reading this blog. Must pretty it up before I try to gather in readers.

Good Afternoon from Raquette Lake

Today is Ken's birthday and we're having a wee adventure driving around the Adirondacks. We stopped for coffee and pastry in Long Lake and wondered whether to post from a cybercafe there, of all things. But it was five dollars for 15 minutes, and I decided not to. So now I'm in Raquette Lake for the first time--what a huge, gorgeous lake and lo and behold, we stumbled upon a small library.

We're going to have dinner at Ken's favorite Adirondacks restaurant, Chili Nights, in Indian Lake.

I knit the second sock like crazy yesterday and will be doing the heel tonight.

Our most exciting adventure yesterday was a visit to Gore Mountain Farm, an alpaca farm, in Wevertown. We had a delightful, long visit with all the alpacas, which are such beautiful animals. Long, strong, furry necks. The fleece is so soft! I bought several skeins of a light brown yarn made from their own fleece. Maybe it will make a hat or mittens.

Adventures in the North Country

Last night I finished my very first sock! And, miracle of miracles, it fits my foot beautifully. By some accident of fate, it is a custom fit. Ken suggested that I start knitting the other sock right away before I forget how to turn the heel and knit the gusset. So last night I started right in, and horror of horrors, I'm now knitting much, much tighter than when I began the first sock. Would ripping it out and starting again on size three needles instead of size two help? Would ripping it out and consciously trying to knit more loosely help? Who knows? There are too many variables here. Anyway, the finished sock is going to be a terrific boot sock. I wish I had a way to load a photo of it today, but being far from home makes this impossible. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I used the sport-weight Reggia multi-colored yarn--reds, pinks, navy blue, magenta, and lavender. A little strange, but I love crazy socks.

So how did I learn to turn the heel? David, the owner of Morningside Camps and Cottages, suggested that I visit Betty in Olmstedville, which I did on Sunday. Her shop was full and she was very busy, so she called her friend Diane McNally down the road. Diane asked me to come over and I did. Such hospitality among knitters! She interrupted her lawn mowing to show me how to do it and I was extremely grateful. Diane is a fifth grade teacher and a veteran knitter. She says she finds knitting a great way to relax. In the evenings, she has her knitting and her husband has his remote, she says.

I'm dying to visit an alpaca farm nearby in Wevertown. Evidently they sell yarn and clothing made from the wool of their alpaca herd.

I've been having an incredible time paddling on the lake. Yesterday was probably the most beautiful morning since we've arrived. I luxuriated in the warm sun and paddled and meditated in glorious solitude. Perfection!

Hello from North Creek

Well, we made it! At this moment, I don't know what the date of my previous post is, but it should be September 8, the day we left for the North Country. Since we arrived, it has been raining, but fortunately this morning the rain had stopped, and now it is sunny. Yippee! I want to take the Hornbeck boat out this afternoon on the lake.

And yes, through all the rain I've been knitting away. I have become hopelessly stuck on my very first sock. Yes, the owner of Black Sheep Knitting Company showed me the way, but now that I'm on my own, I'm lost again. I need to be shown again--one more time. Rats! I hear that Betty at Lemon Potpourri in Olmstedville sells yarn and knows how to knit. Perhaps I should call on her soon.

In the meantime, I'm knitting the Berrocco Medley yarn, the scrumptious red and brown multi-colored stuff, into a scarf. I've done about seven inches on size 11 needles and it's going to be beautiful. That settles my angst about the sock some.

We're Off!

Ken and I will be launched to the Adirondacks by nine this morning. I can't wait to be there. North Country Public Radio says it's going to rain up there today and tomorrow, but it looks like we'll have sun on Friday. We'll curl up with books on Thursday then and visit North Creek to buy the food we didn't bring with us.

I visited Black Sheep Knitting Company in Needham, Massachusetts, yesterday morning in between scads of errands. I love it there, despite the fact it's a small shop. Great atmosphere, lots of women knitting away toward the back of the store, and very well-organized, which I appreciate. The owner of the shop helped me out by showing me how to turn the heel of my very first sock. I reciprocated by buying yarn for a scarf to go with my favorite item of clothing--the brown leather jacket that Ken bought me for Valentine's Day. The yarn is a mixture of autumn colors--orange reds, greens, brown, with traces of blue, gold, reds, and purples. (Berroco Medley) Color #8924. I can't wait to knit it up! I also appreciated that the store had all the latest fall knitting magazines. I couldn't resist buying Interweave Knits and Knitter's News.

I hope to post while I'm on vacation by finding my way to the public library in the North Creek area. So stay tuned!

Return to Knitsville

On a Saturday in early August, Ken and I wandered into the Starbucks that's a stone's throw from our gym for our post-workout ritual tazo chai latte (me) and Java Chip Frappucino (Ken). There on the big, comfy sofa were two women companionably knitting away.
It was a Eureka! moment. Suddenly I knew what I desperately needed and wanted. After a 25-year hiatus, I needed to knit! Within a few days, I was on my way to The Snow Goose in East Milton, Massachusetts, to find a project. I settled on a sweater featured in Sally Melville's The Knitting Experience: Book 2--The Purl Stitch. Called "To-the-Cottage Pullover," I selected a Reynolds Lopi slate-gray yarn and I was off and knitting.