Mary Jane Mucklestone

Hand Knitting Blog & Knitting Patterns

Mary Jane

Gay Pride Parade – Reykjavik

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Hooray! Reyjkavik’s Gay Pride Parade attracts thousands of happy participants and viewers.

 The United States is right behind the Faroe Islands.

Pretty pretty!

Oh look – There’s the Mayor of Reykjavik on the “Free Pussy Riot” float. No kidding. It really is. Just in front of him is New Zealand.

Gotta Love Reykjavik!

 

Leelee is Found!

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Leelee – dog of adventure, was found trotting along a busy road more than a mile and a half from home. When a passing motorist saw her, she stopped, alarmed and afraid that the dog would get hit. Opening the door, Leelee hopped right in, always eager to make new friends.

I’d spread the word of Leelee’s disappearance, putting up LOST signs all over the area, in general stores, on telephone poles, in the vets and at the shelter. Everyone I spoke with knew about the two other missing dogs, a blind and deaf spaniel, and an elderly terrier, who are both sadly still missing. It just goes to show the value of those LOST signs.

It had been 2 nights and 3 days.

Leelee is a time-shared dog. She spends most of her time with us out in the woods, and the rest of the time with her alternate father, a lobsterman, answering to her other name Little Baby Jesus. Together they spend lots of time on a private island with no roads and just baby seals to play with. She has a job out there which she takes very seriously, keeping the deer away from the owner’s roses. She has a big crew of carpenter friends who dote on her.

Yesterday the island guys were sharing a sad and mournful lunch, discussing the terrible event of the missing Baby. Then Cade, the youngster, took a look at his phone, and there on Facebook was a picture of Leelee!  His friend Jenna posted it! CALL HER everyone said! She told him the picture hadn’t even been up for 2 minutes! Hooray! An explosion of Happiness!

I thank everyone who kept Leelee/Baby in their thoughts, sharing Facebook posts and Tweeting like mad. I think it was through all our efforts and positive thoughts that our darling dog was found safe and sound.

Hooray for the wonders of Facebook! Hooray for Leelee’s many friends!

Pretty Little Points

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Multicolored puntas edge chullos from Chinchero, Peru

Many of you have been asking  me privately how to make the sweet scalloped “punta” edging found on Peruvian men’s hats, called chullos. A hard thing to describe in an email and hard to learn without seeing someone actually make some. Well now you’ve got the next best thing.  Pick up the Fall Interweave Knits for complete instructions for one way of making them. Take it easy, go step by step and you’ll be making multi-colored points in no time. You’ll also learn to make a checkerboard edging and strings of darling popcorns. There is even a sweet wristlet pattern for your pleasure.

 I’m not a scholar, just a passionate knitter who “needs to know”. I owe most of what I’ve learned about Andean knitting to two women I consider my mentors.

Left Above: Nilda Callañaupa and Cynthia LeCount Samaké • Right Above: Phetra teaching me to make puntas, CTTC

Cynthia LeCount Samaké is author of the definitive work on Andean Knitting, Andean Folk Knitting, Traditions and Techniques from Peru and Bolivia.  She also leads textile related tours around the world with her company Behind the Scenes Adventures, traveling to Mexico, Ghana, Mali, Turkey and of course Peru and Bolivia. I’ve been lucky to go with her to Peru a couple of times, and Bolivia once. I will tell you it is an amazing experience to be guided by an expert of her caliber, and on top of that –she’s a blast– adventurous and always on the look out for new experiences. We’ll both be teaching with Craft Cruises on a cruise around South America in November.

Nilda Callañaupa, is the director of  The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, a non-profit organization founded to help preserve the the textile traditions in the Cusco area of the Andes. Many weaving, knitting and other textile techniques were in danger of disappearing, with each new generation less and less likely to learn them. The center works with nine communities in the region to preserve the techniques unique to each village. CTTC is also committed to keeping the knowledge of natural dying alive.  Nilda accompanies  us to the villages, sharing her own vast textile knowledge, and as a local and native Quechua speaker helps us to communicate when inquiring minds like mine need a little further explanation for complex techniques! She’s also the author of a beautiful book Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands, Dreaming Patterns, Weaving Memories.

Making Puntas in Pitumarca, Peru. The familiar expression of concentration is the same worldwide.

 There is nothing like learning new skills in real life. I’ll be teaching Andean Accents at Interweave Knitting Lab in Manchester  October 3-7, and fascinating Andean Intarsia at Vogue Knitting Live Chicago October 26-28.

Lost Dog

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I spent yesterday, in the muggy heat, battling to make a pretty post. To me, a post is nothing without a pretty picture. I can not upload images. I get an “internal server error” message. You may know how time just gets sucked away fussing with these things.

My little dog does not enjoy high humidity. She makes nests in the tall grass and hangs out, so I don’t really worry when she’s not right next to me, like she is on cooler days. Well I did worry at one point when I hadn’t seen her for about an hour, I called and whistled, and though she didn’t come immediately, she  did shortly, giving me a look like “please, I was enjoying my peace”.

I called the tech people, and spent hours on the phone trying different ways of trying to get pictures up. Leelee usually bugs me if we haven’t taken our walk by 4:30, I use her as my time peace, so I didn’t really look up until I noticed the light was changing, it was  after 7 – and not head nor tail of my darling girl. I drove the roads looking.

I’m going out now to drive the roads again, I’ve called all the vets and rescue places. Made a poster but I need to get ink.

: (

LOST DOG

Picture of LeeLee Here on Flickr

Small Yellow-Brown Dog

answers to

LEELEE

or

BABY

always happy

Last Seen Main Street North (Rt 131) Searsmont Maine

207-322-4240

Summer in Maine

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I’m spoiled. I get to spend every summer in Maine. The area that I live in is called the Midcoast. I’m in a little village about 6 miles away from the sea. Our nearest town is Belfast, a great little place, full of architectural gems and home of Heavenly Socks Yarns. Other nearby towns are Camden, Rockport, Rockland and Searsport. They filmed the 1957 movie Peyton Place in Camden and there are some glimpses of Belfast and Rockland too. Rockland is home of the Lobster Festival, which this year includes a contest for Maine’s Fastest Knitter, August 2, 2012.  The race begins at 3:00pm sharp, hosted by the fabulous new shop Over the Rainbow Yarns. Rockland has a great art museum, The Farnsworth, with a special Wyeth Center, the whole family represented. Heck I’m even in a huge Alex Katz painting!

I’m lucky enough to walk out my back door and down to a pond about 1/4 mile away, snacking on blueberries along the way.Today was the first day the waterlilys bloomed, adding a nice accent of white to go with the purple water hyacinth. I suggest you all come up for a visit!

If you need to plan in advance, don’t forget Fiber College! Held in  Searsport right on the shores of beautiful Penobscot Bay, with acres of woods and organic gardens. This year the dates are Thursday, September 06 – Sunday, September 09, so right after the summer rush, when we’ve got Maine to ourselves again. This year has so many great classes I’m thrilled that I get to go as an attendee! What to take? Latvian Mittens is a must, anything taught by Katharine Cobey, Kirsten Kapur is coming this year!!!! I am so excited to meet her. Gayle Zucker is Artist in Residence and sharing all her photography wizardry. Rug hooking, spinning, carving, and even slip-cover making taught by the most wonderful clever and cheerful Ellen Mason! See you then!