a simple yarn

I like stripes. I like checks. I like circles. I like squares. I do NOT like intarsia.

Well…..actually I do like intarsia, but I should say I was quite fearful of intarsia from moment I learned to knit. I knew it was lurking out there. Bright blocks of colour knitted together, yarn twisted inscrutibly in the back to prevent dreaded holes in the work, bobbins tangling in every direction. Even the name is a bit mysterious….intarsia. Sounds like a former Soviet spy or a dreaded ‘there-is-no-cure-for-it’ disease. And as I grew in my knowledge and skill of knitting, I knew that at some point I would have to take on the dreaded intarsia monster. So, I dabbled in it a bit, asked my knitting mentor to decipher and translate. Was rather unimpressed with my work.

Then, I bought this very cute book in a local Dublin shop…scoring high on the yummy scale! As I looked through it, I realised that most, if not all, of the patterns used intarsia. Rats. So, I forced myself to sit down and tame the intarsia beast!

To be able to concentrate on the colour changes, I decided to knit up another felted cafetiere cozy, so if there were holes they’d be minimised in the wash! I started with concentric circles. Doing the circles was okay, but it took alot of concentration to keep track with the pattern chart.

The cozy was too large for the cafetiere, so I’m making it into a small handbag/purse with a ‘target’ on each side.

Now, off to squares. A little simpler than circles since the blocks better follow a straight row, making it easier to track.

Here, one row of squares done with more to go on what hopefully will be a cushion cover for my living room!

I’m feeling good about myself for having conquered my fear of intarsia, but now (cue ‘Jaws’ music) I see another demon rearing its ugly head……you can’t evade the wolf in the sheep’s clothing by calling it a lovely name……oh no….it’s….fair isle!

I know I’ve turned to a well-worn trite expression in titling this one, but what else should I call a post that’s completely devoted to the colour orange?

I’d never really liked orange. OK…..as an edible fruit, it’s lovely, but as a colour to use or to wear it never appealed to me. I’m not sure why though. Overall it would be considered quite a friendly little colour! For me, I think it dredged up horrific images of the 70s when everything was seemingly centred around orange. And like the thought of polyester leisure suits, it sent shivers up and down my spine.

But you know, I’ve had to turn an attitudinal corner about orange. At first it was forced upon me with our dining room windows being draped in orange-infused IKEA-land curtains. As much as I plotted to change those curtains, I couldn’t….they went so well with the light fixture…orange and white marbelised glass from Italy. I like that light fixture and so I haven’t….nay, I couldn’t….change the curtains. Ah….the door of acceptance has been opened a crack!

Do you remember the story ‘The House that Jack Built”? I’m experiencing my own chain reaction of events…all leading me to (dare I say it?) like orange. Here is the mat made with orange yarn…to go with the dishes…that go with the photo holders…that go with the vase…that go with the curtains…that go with the light fixture…that I really like…all made with the colour orange. And it makes me glad!

Okay, as much as I’d like to think that I could live with having the same blog design as my WeaveRing neighbour, I just couldn’t do it…couldn’t be the ‘other’ anything. What’s the purpose of having a blog if it starts to become less individualised and more ‘Mc-franchised’? It would be great to say that such attention to detail is what will make me a great craftsperson someday. But to be honest…it was just a burr under my creative saddle. Sounds petty, I know…sigh. So, for now I’m living with Great-Aunt Sadie’s crazy cushion in the background. Do you think it’s too busy? Perhaps I’ll replace it at some point, but it’s a comfortable fit right now and I’m going to bed.

I’m in! O happy day! Received word that I’m a part of the WeaveRing web ring today! Yippee! Like getting voted in to the sorority…no more sleeping in the dorm! Thought I’d try it out…see how it runs. Saw the list…I’m No. 36. Clicked ‘Next’. Yep, up comes Charleen’s Fiberblog, No. 1 in the listing. Okay, go back the other way…uh oh. I…can’t…believe…it…

It’s like going to the prom and seeing someone with the exact same dress! The previous blog on the ring, Lizzie’s Yarns, is a Blogspot as well…same template design…same lower case lettering in the title…even ‘yarn’ in the name! What am I to do? And I come after her in the WeaveRing listing. Everyone will think I’m a ditto of her and pass me by! Can I change places in the queue? I’m willing to drop a few spots!

Aaaargh.

Am I being shallow? Probably. I like my chocolate brown-calico-simplicity theme though…it’s an extension of who I am and was thrilled to use it. Look how well it coordinates with my ’simple yarn’ pic! Hmmmmph.

Okay, I can either change my template or live with it. Well…I guess if an entire meat industry (US pork producers) could create an advertising campaign on being the ‘other white meat’, then I suppose I can be the ‘other brown blog.’

As a ’stream of consciousness’ type of girl, I thought I’d post a picture of my new (to me) loom while we’re on the topic of weaving. Bought it from a nice lady in northeast Ohio. Amazingly smooth transaction, seeing as how I’m across the Atlantic. But my little Kessenich is currently sitting in my in-laws home waiting to join me in Dublin! Wondering how much I can fit into my luggage? Would the beater fit in the overhead compartment? Hmmm…. I’m very fortunate to have a loom on loan from a fellow Guild member, but as nice as that little Dorset is, I just can’t wait to work on my very own loom!

Didn’t know much about a Kessenich before this, but I certainly had space requirements, living in an urban setting. Since our front room also doubles as our guest accommodation, I needed to be able to fold it up and store it away. As I couldn’t find a Dorset, I broadened my search and started learning about Kessenich looms. Has all the features of a Dorset which I like, but it seems to pride itself on having a sturdier beater enabling it to do rugs. Gotta like that! So, I’m waiting (not so patiently) for my sturdy little 150-pound workhorse to arrive. Owe my husband in a big way for getting it over here this summer! Love ya, sweetie! (Talkin’ to my husband, that is, not the loom!)

I’m still rather new to this blogging stuff and frankly, I’m in awe of those who can create such lovely sites with interesting posts and near-professional pics. I have to wonder whether these people have young children? I’m so thankful when I have a moment to do the actual knitting or weaving, let alone take award-winning photos of my projects or write witty prose about it! But I’m whinging now, amn’t I?

(I feel myself being pulled away from the topic again…can’t help it…distracted by Irish language….my 6-year old son regularly says, “Amn’t I?” Such as, “I’m a good bike rider, amn’t I, Mama?” It’s such an interesting contraction, I must say. Haven’t decided whether it’s correct English grammar, though. I’ve been told at our Dublin Stitch n Bitch gathering that it would come from a more literal Gaelic to English translation. It’s cute on my son, but not sure I’ll want him to say it when he’s grown. Hmmmm…..)

Back to blogging…I was wandering along the internet discovering various blogs when I came upon the WeaveRing. I think I would like to be connected to other weaving blogs. (That is, if they let me in!) Weaving blogs are a rare breed, I think. Not as grossly prolific as knitting blogs. Don’t get me wrong, I love knitting and am often inspired by knit-intensive bloggers. But there are just so many of ‘em! And I’m easily overwhelmed following link after link filled with knitted fancies!

But to take the woven blog road less traveled is more my speed…kind of like weaving itself. You can’t rush it. It’s thoughtful and contemplative. As a new student of weaving, I’m just now learning to appreciate what depth of skill a weaver has to have! So as a newbie, now off I go to read and learn from those skilled craftspeople who are sharing their thoughts and pics on their blogs…I’m riding the weave ring!

You’d think with a title like a simple yarn that there’d be more posts about knitting. And you’d think with the lack of knitted topics in recent posts that I haven’t picked up needles in yonks.

(By the way…I love the word ‘yonks’! It’s so fun to roll off the tongue! But what does it mean? Personally, I think it’s a combination of ‘donkeys years,’ meaning a very long time. Would any Irish friends care to comment on the word derivation of yonks?) Wow, I’m so easily side-tracked! Back to knitting…

One of my recently finished projects was to knit up something using all of my leftover scraps of wool from past felted projects. I’d been saving these bits and pieces for such a long time! I’d originally thought of slippers but then saw a very cute idea (in the One Skein book) for a rug. I adapted it using the I-cord technique. So, I made a very long ’snake’ of i-cord until I had no more wool, felted it, and then wound the shrunken snake around in an oval and stitched it, a la braided rug fashion. Didn’t have enough for a rug, but was pleased with the mat that’s now sitting on my kitchen table. The texture’s a little wonky, but I like the random colours. It really brightens up the place! And I feel good about having made something so cool and eco-friendly!

Other treasures, which have made the trip across the Atlantic, are my vintage patchwork quilts. How resourceful for young pioneer women (think Ma Ingalls in a little house on the prairie…) to make an ordinary household item (necessity) from bits and scraps of material (economy) creating a lovely patchwork quilt (beauty), many times in cooperation with other pioneer wives (community). How I admire them and what a great lesson for our disposable society!


When I married Will, little did I know that he came with a ‘dowry.’ (I thought that was my job!) His family, particularly his grandmother Ota, had loads of quilts, which had been handed down through the years. Ultimately they were divided among the children and grandchildren. How old they are I don’t know, but we’ve had them for 20 years! A special token of love was when Grandma Ota gave us a quilt which she had crafted for our wedding. It was one of the last few quilts she made and will be a family treasure for many years to come.

Preface
I live in Europe and I am an American. Most days I don’t feel a huge pull between those two facts. I don’t play up my Americanism, but most people know where I’m from the moment they hear my accent. (Accent? What accent?) While I don’t generally bang on an American-culture drum, I would like to take the next couple of posts to share some cool things from my mid-western upbringing.

A regular feature in most turn-of-the-century mid-western kitchens was the presence of a Hoosier cabinet. (Okay, before I go on, I’m not sure why the mid-west is called ‘mid’ or ‘west’. Technically, it’s in the eastern third of the country. Hmmmm….) Back to cabinets…generally speaking, this was a kitchen dresser, but yet it was much more than that. It was the forerunner of specialized storage! There were not just racks for dishes, but also a carousel for spice jars, a built-in sugar dispenser, flour-mill and a retractable work surface. All in one piece of furniture! They’re still a prized possession in many a country home.

As a lover of antiques, I collected a dozen or so of these Hoosier spice jar gems in my early years of marriage. And, of course, they came with me to Ireland. I love looking at the beautiful range of colours in them! It would be shameful to put a label on these lovely girls, so I’ve learned to distinguish the contents by the look and smell.

As simple, homey companions, I also have the coffee and tea canisters, which I love using every day in our home!

They’re such simple things, but I think it’s the simplest pleasures that are the best!

…for a bit of administration. It seems a bit counter-productive to desire interaction if a reader has to jump through a series of hoops just to post a comment. So, I’ve taken care of it on this end and opened wide the door to make it easier for your to share your thoughts.

Thanks, and back to our regular programming….

In our family, we desire Sunday to be a day of rest and reflection and as today is Sunday I am reflecting on how we spend our Sundays…

I love Sundays. For us, it is one day out of seven to replenish our bodies and renew our minds after we’ve been dashing about the other six. I love the intentionally slow pace…the peace…the quiet…okay, not always quiet when there are two children in the house.

Agenda-free
There is nothing to accomplish on a Sunday. Meandering, napping, listening to music, reading, sitting, pondering. It’s all about being, not doing, so whatever we are drawn to that day is where we find ourselves.

Kitchen-free
We all know where the fridge is and it’s well-stocked for foraging. And we clean up after ourselves so it’s ‘dish-free’ for me.

Squabble-free
It’s a day that is ’set apart’ out of the ordinariness of life, so we try to leave pettiness outside to enter our house another day (usually Monday morning!)

Techno-free
Mobiles off, breaking the compulsion to be ever-connected to the world.

Well, even as I reflect on how we spend our Sundays, I’m describing more the ideal of it than how it always occurs on a weekly basis. Life still happens…birthday parties, bored kids, forgotten laundry.

(I have to break in on myself here because in the constant humour of life, I’ve had to interrupt my reflections to help Kate with her newly-acquired bunny and its indoor poo-fest, unload the dishwasher as new dishes are piling up, and intervene between Kate, Alex and their DVD choices! How ironic! Ha!)

Even so, as we desire it, so we pursue it and as a family, I think, have benefited from it. And so I think I’ll finish by sharing a peaceful scene found in the National Gallery of Ireland made famous by Johannes Vermeer around 1670 for you to reflect on on this Sunday.

Any true knitter will immediately understand the experience I’m about to share.

I am standing in front of what, in normal life, is a wardrobe. For me, it’s a treasure chest…full of yarns, threads and fabric out of which I can create whatever my mind can imagine (or pattern I can follow!) I’m surrounded by boxes of wonderfully different yarns…loud and muted, outrageous and conservative, fuzzy and smooth, natural fibres and, dare I say it, acrylic. I love ‘em all! For some, I have a project in mind, just waiting for the moment when I can release them from their temporary imprisonment. But then, there are the others….

I just can’t do it.
I can’t let them go.

There are those yarns that have drawn me in by their sheer beauty and loveliness that I just have to have them, but I can’t bear to knit them into anything. It would be too common. Nothing would be good enough. And so they are reserved just for me to look at and touch and store away for another day when perhaps I’ll overcome this failing and decide to let them live in a garment or an accessory.

There is a bit of underlying guilt, keeping them locked away for my own use and amusement…well, not much guilt really…and they’re mine to have and to hold!

It’s difficult in a photo to do justice to the shades in these yarns, but the colour changes in the Manos de Uruguay are truly spectacular!

My friend, Holly, has recently learned to spin and she made these up from my request for shades of turquoise blended with a brown sheep roving. I love these cuz they’re custom-made for me!