It is so nice to sit back and knit someone else’s patterns for a change. I really enjoyed my class with Gudrun Johnson, it was a comfort to let her take the reins show us where to go! The Crofter’s Cowl showcases the simple beauty of Horseshoe lace. Two nearly identical pieces are knit joined by grafting for a mirrored effect, fluid and pointy on each end. It makes a cozy wrap to fill in  your neckline and only requires 150 yards of worsted weight yarn.

I got pretty far in the class and I knit the remainder  on my airplane journey to DC. It is a great beginning lace project as well as wonderful practice for the kitchner stitch. A Word of Warning…you may not wish to embark on joining the two pieces as you are landing, it does take a bit of time, and you don’t want to rush it. All the movement in the cabin while we were taxiing to disembark threatened to distract me…but I stayed focused and persevered…only ending up slightly blind but with my gift almost ready to give to my gracious hostess.

So don’t wait! Download your free pattern today over at The Shetland Trader!  Look at all the projects on Ravelry! I’ve finished my second cowl, with only the grafting and blocking left.

update: the yarn! Buckwheat Bridge Angoras, Hudson Valley Worsted Spinning Mill, 70% Kid Mohair 30% Cormo Wool…Yum! Produced with Solar Power!!! They’ll be at Rhinebeck!

Oh my yes, what fun was had the weekend of Fiber College 2010. I was the lucky hostess for Gudrun Johnston and her family. And I mean LUCKY, Gudrun is a fresh breeze of a person, clear and cool and dynamic – wonderful to spend time with. And her family are the dreamiest, most interesting, all round lovely people…I didn’t want them to leave! Imagine, house guests you wish would just move on in and stay the winter! They were witness to my pre-college preparations, where everything computer-related was going wrong, and as I became so wound up my head threatened spin off, their reassuring, calm, loving and lively presence, soothed everything into working order! You can read Gudrun’s story  here and see the family as mighty archers in action!

I had a great class on Saturday with a fantastic group of students, all eager to explore stranded colorwork knitting by using a hat as a sampler. A sampler-hat can be made small and dear, immediately useful for head-warming, or you can make it long and pointed for a months worth of experimental knitting, either way, you have something for someone to wear, and a piece you can refer to when designing future items. Though the participants were all at different skill level, I think we all came away, learning a little more to add to our personal arsenals of knitting skills. I saw a couple of nearly finished hats the next day and let me tell you I was impressed!

I took a little time to sit by the splendid beach, and knit ith fellow students and instructors all the while observing a far-distant sailboat race off Islesboro.

My friend Julie and I took Laurie Sim’s class Crocheted Edging for Knitters. It was great! You know, I confess to being a bit of a knitting is the superior craft snob which is STUPID! They are equal partners. Crochet is fun and you can’t beat it for an easy-to-apply edging, to tame that dastardly curly stockinette edge, making it behave! Be the boss of your knitting with crochet! Besides, it’s pretty, and in some cases…looks almost exactly like knitting. Hush you say, but it is true!

And then Gudrun’s class….but I’m saving that for later, including pictures of my finished school-work…only upon arrival here in DC…the poodles upset my camera and there was some protective uv-lens-cover smashing, so photos are on hold…but I’m remaining Johnston-Durham dreamy calm….

Spicy! There has been so much going on I’ve neglected to post. My Montreal trip was infused with color. Fresh ground paprika from my daughter’s Hungarian roommate and….Veronik Avery …. she is spicy and good! I am so fortunate.  Veronik took time out of her busy life as the creative genius behind St. Denis Yarns, to spend a day with me, so generous. I  met her and her darling husband… don’t laugh… he is! A PEACH! …at their lovely home, where cones of yarn encircle the dining room, elegantly placed like fine china only brilliant like modern art. Don’t you love a fiber zelot bold enough for this? She has a nice studio where she shared her design process with me. She is a wiz, having developed a very efficient and accurate method for this confounding process. She is officially my idol. Then, she served me killer coffee and showed me how she crochets a steek, which she learned from Jared Flood. The method is different than the way I had learned, kind of sideways.  She sold me. It is fun. I LOVE it. Forget about hauling sewing machines all over kingdom come, I’m a crocheted steek convert.

And that’s not all! We went down to her local yarn shop, picking up dee-lish take-out sandwiches on the way. Ariadne, owned by the personable Molly Ann, is a great, roomy yarn shop with a wonderful seating area right in the front, which has beautiful natural light shining through  huge windows, perfect for knitting. We had a great time talking yarn and shops, color and craft. Molly Ann and I are both from the Pacific Northwest, I’m from Seattle and she’s from Vancouver, so we had the home-town-changes chat, I get a little more homesick than she, but….am I really homesick or just nostalgic?  Ariadne has a great selection of yarns, and I finally got to see Nordique on the shelf, and how Veronik’s attention to detail, eye for color and perserverence in getting what she wants is evident. Congratulations Veronik!

So why not take a trip to Montreal, sit by the fire at Ariadne and knit a little, with Nordique naturally.

I love spending time with other knitters. Someone who gets it when you say, “three fives, two fours and end with three fives”. I had a great knit-date with Kate Gilbert, creative director of Twist Collective and designer extraordinaire.  We walked from her new apartment through changeable weather, hot and sunny, a quick downpour, a chill wind,  all in the space of our 20 minute walk through her pretty Montreal neighborhood, leading us to our trés-yum  chocolate shop destination.

Over a steaming bowl of hot chocolate and a fleur de sel brownie…we snickered at simple math that stumped us both…muttered comments like “60 is a good number isn’t it?” and “what’s wrong with purling?” She told  funny stories including one of a recent bruising hail storm she was caught in while biking her 3 year old home from school, a little alarming but her vivid description made me gasp and laugh. We swapped “how I learned to knit” stories. Kate, also self taught knitter, has an unusual style, holding her needles under her right arm, which looks vaguely Shetland-like without the needle belt. She developed this technique while she learned from a book, and found she could turn the pages without letting go of her needles. Very fast she is, silver needles flying!

You can catch a glimpse of her current project above, through the glass dimly…just a tease however…which matches the drizzle of chocolate and caramel of our brownie.

Back at Kate’s apartment I met husband Fred and their daughter- a little ray of sunshine- who is nearly four. Though my daughter used to babysit her I’d only caught a glimpse of the wee one before. Charmed! She showed me many things she was thinking of juggling, called me “Monster Mary Jane” which I took as a compliment and showed off all the great features of her new bedroom including her cool sitting area with its little table and a future tent area. I also got a look at Kate’s enviable new studio, she’s graduated from the couch: she can shut the door, there’s dress form with space around it, tree-top tall shelves and a spacious desk in front of a big beautiful window, yippee!

Thanks Kate, for taking time out of your busy life for such a fun rendezvous.

Mountains! Amber waves of grain! Beautiful Canada…..makes my heart swell!

It’s back to school time and I’m lucky to have a daughter who goes to university at McGill in Montreal, allowing us to enjoy the spectacular scenery on our way through the Eastern Townships.

Montreal the apple of my eye! Such a wonderful, vibrant city. So much to do in only 3 days.

This year instead of living downtown, Sophie is staying in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue to be close to the MacDonald campus where most of her classes are. She’s sharing a great sunny apartment right on the river, with the nicest 3 roommates you could ever imagine.

It was flurry of activity in only 3 days, still, I managed to squeeze in a couple of knit-dates… stay tuned!

Ah yes…observe the photograph….perhaps a colorway for a little piece of fair isle knitting?