Mary Jane

When I heard that Cat Bordhi would be in Blue Hill Maine, I knew I had to go, deadlines be damned! So last Saturday found me happily knitting along with other sock enthusiasts, making our own Personal Footprint socks. Cat in an Adventurous Sock Goddess, figuring out innovative ways to approach the age old structure of socks. She is a wonderful teacher – I urge you to sign up quick if she is ever in your neck of the woods. She has a great way of making complex directions understandable, in a storytelling kind of way. This class is worth it for the cast on alone, but there are lots of other gems she shares, that get the imagination percolating! It was delightful just to bask in her presence.

Our hostesses were Karen and Tanis of String Theory, purveyors of beautiful String Theory Yarns, and owners of the fantastic Yarn Shop of the same name, housed in a charming, brightly painted Victorian house. Defiantly worth the trip Down East.

I had to get a fan-girl picture of Cat and me, thanks Linda!

It is raining cats and dogs outside. Our power went out. I huddle by the woodstove with my unattractive bin, filled with yarn, charts, needles and notions; surrounded by dog and daughter. All of us warm and cozy, happy to be on the inside.

Today’s reading? My favorite – Karen Magazine – filled with the ordinary…a fox…wishbones…and I learned it took 11 days for Gran to finish knitting her pink scarf.

I’ve been knitting so much, I almost forgot to add this hat to the store. I thank those of you who emailed to remind me. It’s  a fun  knit, a wee bit challenging for those unaccustomed to knitting corrugated ribbing, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. My  fantastic students at Halcyon Yarn last week caught on fast.

After the ribbing are two fair isle strips, which are the same border pattern, only with the colors reversed.

For your convenience or confusion, My Chart has 3 versions of the 16 stitch pattern repeat; one full color, one full color with the pattern motif stitches identified with a black dot, and the background stitches left plain, and the final version in just black and white, to differentiate the pattern motif stitches from the background stitches, which are simply empty squares. I use the last one myself, the most like the old fashioned Shetland charts, and tape snips of the yarn colors next to the chart. I’ll admit this configuration puzzled a couple of students, so they just folded the page, so only the chart they preferred showed.

I’ve whipped up a little 7 stitch chart as an example. What do you think?

It’s not all knitting here at Chez Mary Jane. This week saw some nice weather, perfect for stacking wood. A bit late in the season, and maybe not as tidy as woodpiles past, but the height! Lordy…perhaps a wee bit unwise, but there you go. They fit under two unattractive tarps that we tell ourselves, look like freshly fallen snow….which then reminds us of lovely toasty mittens and mufflers…

And hats! There is still some room in my Fair Isle Hat Class at Halcyon tomorrow!