Major Knitter

Summer Reading

Ah summer.  I love you.  I love summer camp, warm weather, the swimming pool, the rest and relaxation, the garden, and the summer reading.  I'm kicking off this summer with a new release by local Westport author Jane Green.  I can't tell you much about it yet as I just downloaded it on my Kindle, but given all of other Jane's work, I know this won't dissapoint.  I just love how her characters are real people with real issues, just going through life.

So if you're ready to start your summer off on the right foot, order your copy of Family Pictures today.  I know you'll be glad you did.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day to all who gave their lives for our country; to all who served; and to all who are currently serving.  

 

Please remember them this Memorial Day.

Urban Abacus Quilt - Almost Ready to Go

This is really coming together.  I laid out my squares and arranged the myriad squares in a random basis to try to keep the design even.  Then I went to cut the stems and I almost lost it.

While I appreciate that absolutely zero material is wasted, I'm not that experienced of a quilter to not make mistakes.  I accidentally cut the first section of stems 8 1/2 inches (instead of 8 inches) and therefore will run out of material (by a mere half inch).  The store where I bought this material is about an hour away, so it doesn't really make sense to run up there again just for 1/4 yard of fabric.  I have a crazy week so will likely go to my local Textile Store sometime Thursday or Friday to buy a new solid colored material for the stems.  This time I will buy a little bit extra... just to be safe.

Despite my error, I am really pleased with the placement and overall look of my blocks.  I can hardly wait until next weekend which is the first chance I'll have to devote more time to my quilt.  

Urban Abacus Quilt Blocks

It's a rainy, cold, dreary Memorial Day weekend.  I decided to spend the morning cutting and sewing the remainder of my Urban Abacus quilt blocks.  It was great fun and I managed to finish sewing all 72 squares.  I only need 68 for the quilt.  The remaining four will become a pillow (I think).

Now I just need to make the six end pieces, join the blocks into strips, then sew the strips together and my quilt top will be done.  I wonder if I have enough time to finish this tonight.  Hmmmm.

 

Pretty Pink Socks

I'm happy to announce that after several years of sitting on my shelf, the gorgeous Vintage Purls sock yarn in the JOY colorway has finally been turned into one very happy pair of socks.

I haven't taken them off since I finished them last night.  

Thanks James for such a wonderful gift.  I really love the depth of this hand-dyed yarn.  It's got character and interest and is not stripy at all.  I'm so happy to have these socks in my collection.

Pot Holders

I'm teaching the Textile Merit Badge to my Troop this month, so I'm trying to get a lot of items prepared as samples.  I pulled out my potholder loom and made a few potholders

I picked out colors that would match my kitchen (you know... for after the class)

Then I followed the instructions in the Harrisville Designs booklet for a houndstooth pattern.  It's just 2x2 alternating colors for the warp and the weft.  Who knew it was so easy?  I certainly didn't.  And houndstooth is one of my favorite patterns.  This is such a wonderful discovery for me.

So there you have it.  The potholder is alive and well.  You'll probably see me make more of these in the future.  They're so quick and fun and bring back such wonderful childhood memories.

 

Best Camporee Ever

This weekend we had a wonderful Spring Camporee entitled "A Day at the Range".  The Scouts got the chance to learn about safety, and then try their hands at archery, rifle shooting, tomahawk throwing, slingshots, paint guns, bb guns, shotguns and knife throwing.  

Wilma heard about the great fun planned and tried to hide in my car with all the Troop gear.  Sorry Girly Girl - No Dogs Allowed!

We also brought our fun Carpetball table and there was some frisbee, too, for those who weren't as excited about shooting sports.  The boys declared it the Best Camporee Ever.  It really helped that Trailblazers - U.S. Sportsman Alliance (USSA) - helped sponsor the event.  Thanks Trailblazers!

We had great fun (my phone died so I didn't get any action shots).

Here's the adult dinner - London Broil, roasted onions and peppers, sauteed red potatoes and garden salad.  Not bad for a campout!

The boys made our Troop favorite - homemade Chicken Dumpling Soup (my Grandma Grace's recipe).  They were very lucky as we had adult dinner for 11 people... but only six of us stayed for dinner so the boys quickly ate up all our leftover London Broil.

At night we had a wonderful campfire and a beautiful flag retirement ceremony which was done with such respect and dignity.  It was the perfect ending to the best camporee ever.

But back at the campsite, a campout wouldn't be complete without a Major Knitter tent self portrait:

I finally learned how to use the flash on my phone.  My favorite part is that two of my Scouting friends posted similar photos on Facebook labeling them "Jacksonesque Poses"  Awwww!

And my sock pose is showing off my new favorite knee-high Boy Scout socks.  Since they changed the uniform in 2010, knee highs have not been available until now.  I'm a very happy camper!

And here's a shot of my handknit socks as a WIP.  They're nearly done.  And they're the perfect backdrop for the Spring Camporee (aka The Best Camporee EVER).

So there you have it.  No action shots of the actual Camporee activities, but lots of campsite pictures.  It was great fun.  Thanks Dan, Dave, and Bill for organizing such a wonderful event for our Scouts.  A special thank you to all the volunteers who helped supervise each station.  The boys really loved it.

 

 

 

 

New York Mets - Stitch & Pitch

Last weekend was Stitch & Pitch day at Citi Field.  Since BF and I are huge Mets fans, we bought four tickets for the group seating and made plans to attend the big day.  Excited about Stitch & Pitch day, the plans got even better when we discovered it was also going to be Banner Day.

After dinner the night before the game, BF asked me about the banner I was going to make.  Feeling like a son had told me about a needed costume for school the next day, I quickly assembled a banner. Primogeniture even helped me make the blue i-cord on my French Knitting Spool.  Fortunately, I had some special printer paper for making iron-on transfers.  I copied pictures of Gary, Keith and Ron... and the judge Kevin and labeled them "A Tight Knit Group."  

 

The best part of Banner Day is getting to go on the field to be judged.  It was great fun!

Well, going on the field was the best part for any baseball fan.  For the knitting fans, getting the special giveaway was the best part.

It was a Mr. Met bobblehead - KNITTING!

Then we went to our seats in the Stitch & Pitch section to knit and watch the game.  OK - I knit and the guys watched the game.  Unfortunately, the Mets only advertised this event to regular Mets fans so there were only ten knitters/stitchers in attendance as far as I could tell.  The rest of the fans were there for the bobblehead (which appears to be selling on ebay for $100 already).  He's pretty cute, so I can see why they'd want to get one.

I knit my pink socks and made great progress.  Our seats were in the nosebleed section, and I'm afraid of heights, so I focused mostly on the knitting in my lap rather than watching the game far down below.

It was very fun.  Next year, if they host Stitch & Pitch again, I'll post about it earlier so we can get a larger representation attend.  Let's Go Mets!

 

Cephalopod Trunk Show

Today, Saturday, May 11th, my LYS Westport Yarns is having a Cephalopod Trunk Show.  Woohoo!  I couldn't make it so I went yesterday and bought two lovely skeins of fingering weight yarn for socks.

I bought Skinny Bugga - which is a mix of merino wool, cashmere and nylon.  It looks scrumptious!  This fits the category of yarn too pretty to knit, but I promise to knit it up into something very special.

Westport Yarns    
Saturday, May 11th
11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Meet Sarah Eyre, Owner/Dyer
Cephalopod Yarns

I hope you can make it.  If you do, say hello for me! 

Top of the Stairs

Primogeniture snapped this picture of Wilma lying down at the top of the stairs facing downstairs.  

She often tries to protect the whole house this way when the boys are upstairs and BF and I are downstairs.  Sometimes she's perched at the top of the stairs like this - and sometimes she sits on a step halfway down the stairs.  I always think it's hilarious how she's torn between the two.  Awwww, Girly Girl - you're the best.

Keep It Simple

Thanks for all your suggestions for what to do with my pretty pink yarn.  In the end, I came up with my second favorite go-to sock pattern so I would have a little bit of intrigue while knitting and yet still show off the beauty of this great yarn.

I think this pattern fits both my requirements.  It lives up to its name as it is a J.O.Y. to knit with.

• Charlene Schurch's Garter Rib Sock pattern
• Cast on 60 sts
• US Size 1 needles
• Vintage Purls Sock yarn in the JOY colorway

Now that's happy knitting.

A Fear of Pretty Yarn

There should be a name for this condition.  I have so many wonderful yarns yet for some reason I find it difficult to knit my very pretty yarn.  This is generally a condition that manifests itself when I receive a gift of yarn from a friend, or hand-dye my own yarn, or buy an especially expensive skein of yarn.

Here's the perfect example.  I've had this gorgeous skein of pink yarn from James's store J.O.Y. (Joy of Yarn) in New Zealand for quite some time.  It's been sitting on my shelf making me happy every time I look at it.  But I wanted to be sure to knit something very special out of it - not just a plain stockinette sock.  So it sits.  I give my pretty yarn too much power over me.  I look at sock patterns and find them unworthy of the yarn.  So insted of knitting my pretty yarn, I grab something that is less inspiring (e.g. that meets the qualifications for a simple stockinette sock).

But today I am conquering that inertia.  I wound the Vintage Purls yarn in the JOY colorway and cast on for a pair of socks.  I don't know if I'll make stockinette or decide on a pattern, but at least I've started.  This yarn is simply too pretty to sit on my shelf.  

How about you?  Do you have souvenir yarn or yarn that is simply too precious to knit?

 

Traveling Socks

With all my travels this past week, I managed to finish another pair of socks.

I thought it would be a good pair to make for one of my nephews.  But while I was home - it snowed - on May 1st of all things.  When I got cold and asked my sister to borrow a sweatshirt and socks, she brought out a pair of handknit socks identical to this pair.  Apparently I had already knit socks with this yarn for one of my nephews.  Ha! 

So instead, I decided to make a men's size 13 sock for Secundogeniture.  I just kept knitting, and knitting, and knitting, and...

Blanket Donations Delivered

This week was my first trip home since you all donated so many wonderful blankets and hats for the Jackson Recovery Center's Women and Children's Center (JRC WCC) Auxiliary.  I took a huge duffel bag filled with your donations home to Iowa with me.  It was perfect timing, because we had the JRC WCC's annual auxiliary luncheon

I delivered the blankets and everyone was in awe of the kindness of knitters, sewers and crafters.  I told them that most of the blankets were donated by readers of my blog.  They were truly touched and in awe of your generosity. My SIL Priscilla saw the huge duffel bag and thought it was a hockey bag (it was that big!) While I didn't get a good picture of the blankets being delivered, I did snap a lovely photos of this year's Executive Board for the Auxiliary.

These lovely ladies do so much for the women and children in Siouxland.  In fact, our guest speaker Michelle gave a very moving testimony of her story from addiction to sobriety to success.  She is now learning to be a mother to her children, she's been sober for two years, and is going to school and getting straight As.  Guess what she's studying?  She is studying to be an addiction counselor so she can give back and help others like she was helped.  I really can't relay in my words the touching heartfelt story she shared with us.  But trust me, we need to make one of these success stories every single day.

I can't thank you enough for all your generosity with your blanket and hat donations for the infants, babies, toddlers, children and even teens who come to treatment with their mothers.  The whole family gets healthy together.

Thank you!

Textile Merit Badge - Day Two - Be Prepared to Dye!

What a joy it is to have such an eager group of students who are excited to learn a new subject.  Day Two of the Textile Merit Badge involved dyeing two pieces or swatches of fabric with homemade natural dyes.

We soaked the onion skins and the chopped spinach overnight (OK - technically two nights).  I do not recommend this as the spinach was very stinky!  Then we boiled the natural dye with two tablespoons of salt in pots specifically designated for dyeing.  You don't want to cook with a pot once you've used it for dyeing.  After our natural dye had cooked properly, we strained the foodstuff and returned our liquid dye to its pot.  

Here's the video we watched and followed for dyeing our fabric.

 

Then each Scout or sister put their two pieces of fabric (one neckerchief and one small swatch) into the two different pots.  Then we boiled our fabric for 45 minutes.  During this time, we continued on with the class lecture, videos and homework.

We watched a short video about industrial looms today - and compared them to our elementary cardboard looms from Day One - and my hobby Cricket Loom - while the fabrics were cooking.

We cooled the fabrics in the sink (oops!  The sink got dyed, too).  The yellow onion skins made a beautiful deep rust colored fabric.  The spinach made a very pale green and was messy to work with.  I'm not sure I'd repeat this experience with spinach.

My nephew Pierce showed off his four creations - a sample fabric board, two dyed fabrics and his weaving project.

My nephew Conor posed for a similar photo.

Grace got in on the action with her samples, too.

We had four very happy Scouts and three even happier sisters who now were experts in the basics of the Textile industry.  I can hardly wait to see what the future holds for them.

 

 

My Big Brother, the Reverend Brad Jackson

I went home to Iowa this week and got to see my whole family.  My reason for going was for my oldest brother's ordination as a minister.  I was so proud of him.  I got all choked up when I saw him on the altar with the other candidates for ordination.  My mother always thought my brother would make a wonderful minister.  She died more than 18 years ago - but I could feel her watching over the ceremony and beaming with pride!  I know I was.  By the way, Mom was right.  :D

My brother, the Reverend Bradley Jackson and family

So if you're ever in Oelwein, Iowa - please go visit his church and say hello.  Brad and his family have the most wonderful faith in God.  I've never seen miracles happen for people the way I see them happen for them.  They are truly blessed.

Congratulations Brad!

 

Textile Merit Badge - Day One

So I packed my brand new Cricket Loom and went home to Iowa.  The day I arrived I started by teaching some Scouts (and a few siblings, too) from my nephews' Troop the Textile Merit Badge.  It was great fun.  

The kids made some great weaving projects.  My scarf and my class sample are in the upper left hand corner.  The small orange sample was going to be an entire scarf, but my niece's cat decided to try her hand claws at weaving and sliced several of the warp strings.  Oops!  That's what I get for leaving my toys lying around!

Oops!  Oh well.  I needed a sample for the class anyway.

I purchased nine different types of fabric at my local fabric store - The Textile Store in Westport, CT and made a simple fabric sample board.  I also cut out miniature 1.5x1.5 inch swatches out of the same material and passed them along to each student.  In turn they stapled their swatches to a piece of paper and then had to do some investigative work to discover the fabric content for each fabric swatch.  Hint:  If they lifted the fabric on my big fabric sample board, they found the fabric content underneath the swatch.

We discussed the fabric content of each swatch and tried to master the touch and feel of each fabric and remember which fabric was which:  silk, cotton, rayon, wool, polyester and more.  We also watched some videos about spinning, knitting, and weaving.  These kids were fascinated!   We ended the first day of our class with the motto:  Be Prepared to Dye!  This slight variation on Baden-Powell's Boy Scout motto was in line for our second half of the class where we dyed fabric in natural dyes.  We used yellow onion skins and spinach.  But for the first class, all we did was prepare the dye and let it soak overnight.  Stay tuned for part two of the Textile Merit Badge.

Fly Fishing Campout

What a beautiful weekend for a campout.  One of the Dads in our Troop is an avid fisherman.  He coordinated a fabulous event where the Scouts had the opportunity to learn all about fly fishing.  

David (in the tan shirt) led the Fly Fishing merit badge class with the help of Tony - a fly fishing instructor.  It was a great day.

The boys each tied their very own fly.  Tony was such a patient instructor!

After the class for making flies, they had a second class on the technique of casting.  Finally, they had some time in the afternoon to put into practice what they learned.  While no one caught any fish this first time around, they definitely caught the bug.  Hopefully they'll take this newfound skill with them into adulthood.  What a peaceful hobby it is!

This is the sight of Deer Lake when we woke up Sunday morning.  Peace and tranquility.  What could be better?

Thanks Dave and Tony for a fabulous campout and course of instruction.