Quiddity

Still Knitting

And a little spinning, too.  Saturday was the monthly Spinning Guild meeting, and after not being able to attend for quite a while, it was fun to see everyone.  The day started with lunch at a local Mexican restaurant with Claudia, Sandy, and Regan.  Then it was on to Guild where we engaged in spinning, visiting, and just generally relaxing.   I did more of the last two, and so don't have much yarn to show, but it was a great day.

Now, before posting photos of my latest finishes, I want to show off a new knitting bag I acquired.  

Outside:

Inside:

Isn't that cute!  Not only reversible, but it has that clever little handle that keeps the yarn safely inside, and can also loop over your wrist for easy carrying.  This bag was made by my friend Olivia.  She has an Etsy shop where you can get one of your very own.  As I compose this post, there is only one bag left, but she tells me she's hard at work on many more, so keep checking back.  You are sure to find one you must have!

Ok, on to the knitting.  First up is the Shetland shawl shown a few days ago, only now it is blocked.

It's not very big - just shoulder size - but it will be lovely around a black turtleneck this coming winter.

And, of course, socks.

• Charade Socks.  I've used this pattern before, and enjoy both the knitting and the wearing.
• The yarn is from Knit Witch.  It's her Celestial sock yarn in the Mars colorway.  Mr & Ms Knit Witch hosted a dinner after Stitches South this Spring, and this was one of the door prizes.  Wasn't I lucky?  I love the yarn and the color. 

Also just finished is another small shawl.  I'll try to block it this evening, and get it up on the blog before week's end.

Our hot weather seems to be moderating just a bit, but it's still steamy out there.  I think I'll just continue to stay inside with my yarn.  Yup, that's a plan!

 

Extinction Event

Back in the early 1970's, Jim and I took a camping trip in the Smoky Mountains.  We stopped at an overlook to take some pictures, and another visitor kindly snapped ours.  I still have it sitting on a bookcase - two hippies on vacation.  In the background you can see the ridges covered with pines and hemlocks.  Hemlocks and balsams are my two favorite trees, and we were saddened to learn then that the hemlocks were under attack by aphids.  Over the years, the subject has come to our attention again, and although it was of concern because of our love for the mountains and their greenery, it wasn't something that held our attention.  Until yesterday.  

For Father's Day, Jim wanted to drive up to our property to see if there was anything that needed doing in the way of clearing limbs, etc.  As we drove into the forest, we were astonished to see that there were literally thousands of dead and dying trees.  Since we had been there just a few months ago, we were stunned and wondered what could have caused such a huge, and apparently sudden, die off.  After clearing some debris, Jim hiked through the woods down to the waterfall at the base of our land.  He came back almost in tears.  Guarding either side of the waterfall's top were two huge hemlocks, easily hundreds of years old.  And both were dead.  So many others in the area were as well, that Jim said it changed the secluded and shaded feel of the little glen.  When we came home, he immediately went to the internet to see if he could learn what had happened.  He found out.  The culprit - the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid.  The very same aphid we'd first learned about so long ago.  (For those who might be interested in learning more, here is a journal article Jim found on the topic.)

It seems the pest first entered the area of North Carolina where our property is about 2003.  Since then, they've infested hundreds of thousands of trees.  And there is no cost effective way to eliminate them.  What we are witnessing is a full-scale extinction event.  All of the trees will die.  There will be no more hemlocks in our woods.  In their place, the mountain laurel and rhododendrons will thrive.  The dead trees will become food source and habitat for a variety of creatures, and when they fall, the same to others. Eventually, they will return to the earth and the life cycle will begin again as they nurture the growth of other trees and plants.  Nevertheless, it's sad to be witness to their passing.

I took a photo of one of the dead trees, and although I think it's a bit hard to make out exactly how it looks, I'd like to include it here.

Goodbye little hemlock.  

But on a happier note, there were many little flowers still blooming.  In fact, it was a lovely day to be in the mountains.  Here at home, the temperature was in the mid-90's, with a heat index well above 100.  But we arrived just after a storm, and it was 72 degrees with a nice breeze.  Perfect for taking a walk and enjoying the flowers.  This is one of my favorite photos from the day.

I always love it when I catch little bugs on the flowers (I just hope it's not one of those nasty hemlock aphids!)

One of the reasons I've been missing from the blog for a while is that I've been knitting like crazy again.  It's so darn hot out, it's difficult to want to do more than stay inside and knit.  While I haven't finished the pretty orange socks started at John C. Campbell, there are other things.

First, a pair of socks finished before leaving for the Folk School.  These were a birthday present for my friend, Brett.  He saw me knitting them, commented on how much he liked them, and even tried on the one I had finished.  When I saw they fit, it was a done deal that they would be his.

• Ringwood Socks - from Nancy Bush's "Knitting Vintage Socks."  A fun and easy pattern.
• Mountain Colors Bearfoot in "Wildflower"  This is the first time I've used Bearfoot.  It makes a lovely soft and warm sock.   

The next project is actually in the sink soaking right now, so all I can show  is the pre-blocking shot.

• Shetland Triangle Shawl from "Wrap Style"  This pattern is so fast and easy that I would not hesitate to recommend it for a first-time lace project.  
• Blue Sky Alpaca 100% baby alpaca in sportweight.    

Finally,  a scarf. 

Here's a closeup.

• The Cream of Spinach Scarf.  Another delightful knit.  In fact, I like it so much, I'm going to adapt the pattern for wristwarmers so I can use up the yarn I had left over.  
• One strand Blue Sky Alpaca alpaca/silk held with one strand of Rowan Kid Silk Haze.  Soft, fuzzy, and WARM!

 While I've been writing this post, it has turned from a hot, sunny day into a stormy, rainy one.  No doubt it will clear soon, but in the meantime, I'm off to finish my socks.  Back soon with more photos, for sure! 

 
  

Look What Followed Me Home

Of course, the best thing I brought back from John C. Campbell was the memories.  Not just of what I learned in the class, but also what occurred outside of those hours.  While everyone who attends JCC is interested in crafts, they also comprise a great diversity of experience and other interests.  For example, there were 42 men there working to cut timbers for the new timber frame structure that will be going up this weekend.  These are men who enjoy working with wood, cutting huge pieces of it into the beams that will eventually be the supports of a big building.  The morning after we watched the Border Morris dancers practice, one of them asked us how we enjoyed their performance.  A friend said, "very much," and then then asked if anyone knew where Morris dancing came from.  Imagine my surprise as this big, burly man launched into a dissertation about it's origins!  As it turned out, he is a history professor at the University of North Carolina.  Lots of depths to be plumbed all over the school, it seems.  Fabulous.

But there were also some more tangible items to be brought home, as well.  The second day of class, we took a field trip into Murphy, NC to visit the Yarn Circle.  This is a wonderful little shop, full of things for knitting, spinning, and weaving.  One of the owners teaches at the Folk School, keeps a flock of sheep (including our dear Hazel, whose fleece we spun,) and is a member of both the Garland and Border Morris dancers.  In addition to a pattern book, I fell for some beautiful laceweight yarn.

I actually have a pattern in mind for this, but even if I didn't, how could you resist that amazing blue?

The Folk School has a lovely craft shop, and I found several things there to bring home.  The first were some animals created by the Brasstown Carvers.  I should have put a dime in the photos for scale, as they are very tiny.  The cat and fox are for my son and his girlfriend, and the sheep just for me.

Another handmade item is this spindle, from one of the Folk School blacksmiths.

Lightweight it is not, but isn't it a pretty thing?

And how could I return without some John C. Campbell tee shirts!

In the classroom, there were several big boxes of handspun yarn and rovings, which we were allowed to sort through to see if there was anything we'd like.  I know these things had belonged to someone very special, and I'm thrilled to have all of this beautiful handspun yarn.  It will be getting a nice bath soon, and then I'll decide what to knit with it.  

Obsessed as I was with the Appalachian shawl, I did do some other knitting and spinning.  

This is from roving that was a special project of the Peachtree Handspinners Guild.  Last summer, they asked that we bring in any amount of natural roving.  It was all then sent to a mill where it was carded together and returned to us.  I have about 9 ounces of the stuff, and although I have no idea exactly what is in it, my contribution was some white California Variegated Mutant (CVM).  There is surely quite a few different sheep breeds in there, as well as alpaca and perhaps some silk.  The idea was to spin and knit (crochet/weave) it into something by the January 2009 meeting.  I think Sandy is the only one to have actually done that, however.  Anyway, I brought it along and managed to spin about half a bobbin full.

I'm enjoying the process of working with this roving very much, and plan to spend some time this week doing some more.

As for knitting, I got a good start on one sock -

And a teeny start on another.

The first is Charade in Knit Witch Celestial "Mars."  The second is a Cookie A. pattern - Devon from her book "Sock Innovation."  The yarn is Miss Babs "BFF."  The story behind this is that I bought the yarn while at Stitches South, and then the next day, Claudia came and bought the same thing.  She had no idea that we both had the same yarn until she saw it on my blog.  Since we are going to Sock Summit together, we decided to knit the same sock with it, and show off to Ms. Cookie.  Why yes, we are geeks!  

If you'd like to see the photos I took around the School, visit my Flickr page.  It's a beautiful place, and so I'm glad to have some photos to remember it by.

I hope you enjoyed the story of my visit.  I'm looking forward to going again - and next time I think I'll take blacksmithing!!  A girl can't spend all her time knitting and spinning, right?

What A Week!

It was fabulous!  This was my first time at John C. Campbell Folk School, but it definitely won't be my last.  From start to finish, it was pretty much perfect.  From the accomodations to the food to the classes to the people, there was nothing to fault.  And most of all, I had a wonderful time with Claudia.  She's the perfect traveling companion and roomate.  She also has the patience of Job, putting up with my obsessed shawl knitting, and translating what everyone said to me, due to my inability to hear (I'm suffering from a bit of ear infection.)  Thanks for a great trip, Claudia!  

She is also witness to the fact that I got up EVERY DAY at 6:20 A.M.  A feat never before accomplished by me!  But there is so much going on, that staying in bed is just not the best idea.  We began each morning either by attending Morning Song or just sitting and knitting on the back porch of Keith House until breakfast (promptly at 8:15.)  Class ran from 9:00 to 12:00, and then from 1:30 to 4:30.  We spend our afternoons relaxing, walking the property taking pictures, and knitting, of course.  After dinner, there was always interesting entertainment.  We saw cloggers, participated in the square dance (well, at least I did - Claudia has the photographic proof,) saw garland dancers and border Morris dancers practice, and listened to wonderful music.  

But the core of the experience was our class:  Appalachian Shawl:  From Pasture to Pattern.  The instructor was a friend from our local spinning guild, and she was the primary reason we signed up.  We knew she would be not only an excellent teacher, but also be the source of a lot of fun. We were right on both counts.  

Annie told us that, "An Applachian shawl is an item of clothing that a woman would take OFF before having her picture taken."  This calls to mind something simple, made with the wool or cotton at hand, and worked on late in the evening after the chores were done and the children in bed.  Lace and fancy edgings would not be the order of the day.

We started with a raw fleece, from a sheep named Hazel.

We washed the fleece and set it outside to dry in the hot sun.

When it was ready, we set to work carding it.  These are some of my first rolags.

While I somewhat enjoyed the combing process, I did not like dealing with the dirty fleece.  I'd rather pay a bit more to buy prepared roving, and spend my time spinning, but I'm glad I learned the process.

Next, it was time to spin.  This is what I ended up with before deciding to use something else for my shawl.

You can see portions of it lack twist.  Despite the washing, there was a lot of lanolin left in the fiber, which made (for me at least) difficult spinning.  At this point, I knew I'd never spin enough for even the small, doll-size shawls we were to make, so I pulled out some of my own plied handspun from a year or so ago.

I was frankly amazed at how much better this was than I expected.  Since I had about 800 yards, I decided to go ahead and knit a full-size shawl.  There began the obsession.  I knit and knit and knit some more.  Finally, the evening before our last full day, I finished the body of the shawl.  It turned out to be a bit smaller than I'd hoped, but I wanted to save enough for a bit of a border.  Thankfully, I was able to do that, and finished with just an hour to spare before we had to prepare for the class presentation.  Here is my Appalachian shawl.

It's not blocked because I'm going to either find some comparable commercial yarn or find someone to dye some roving for me so I can add more border.  But overall, I'm very pleased with it.  Well, tickled pink would be more like it.  My rustic handspun turned out to be the perfect medium for making this shawl, and I was literally bouncing in my chair as I was knitting.  Such a simple thing, but it made me very, very happy.

The last night of classes, everyone assembles in the common room to set up displays of their work.  This week, in addition to our class, there was pottery, basketry, blacksmithing, wood carving, wood turning, quilting, art metal jewelry, bookmaking, watercolor, weaving, and handmade Windsor chairs.  Everything was amazing!  Here is our exhibit (apologies for the photos - it was dark in there.)

The pretty purple shawl on top is Claudia's.

I had such a wonderful time!  The week flew too fast, and before I was ready it was time to come home.  I brought home wonderful memories, but also some swag.  Come back tomorrow to see the goodies I found!