Happy Happy! Craftsy is having a SALE!!!! A Valentine’s sweetheart of a sale.
Follow this SweetHeart♥ for your sweetheart of a deal!
PS: how do you like my Valentine Vine? I’m still a little shaky…and I’d like to add Ella Fitzgerald singing My Funny Valentine…you’ll have to imagine her.
But hey! I managed to embed the video…improvement!
Events
I Live In Maine
And we had a storm you might have heard about. A blizzard. I love a good blizzard.
You have some time on your hands so you join things like Vine…I’m Mary Jane Mucklestone on there for anyone who wants to follow my feeble attempts at 6 second movies.
OK so you have to click that word “storm” at the top, to make the moving picture appear, so here is the still shot:
That was my first try. I didn’t quite make it to 6 seconds.
This is try two (remember to click “INsideOUTside” to make the moving picture work) The snowplows and the fire…ooooooooooooo!
I’m sure there is a way to embed these things but I don’t know how yet. These are my first forays into the moving picture industry.
Workshop with Lana Chucao
Once ashore in Puerto Montt, were whisked away to a beautiful suburb of where the talented ladies of Lana Chucao treated our crew to a fantastic day of dyeing, spinning weaving and of course, shopping. Lana Chucao makes fantastic artisan yarns with 100% Chilean wool in amazing colors, in both novelty and plain.
Chucao novelty yarn
The neighborhood center where the Chucao Workshop was held.
Spinning: Noelle showing how it's done.
Cynthia concentrating on the dye process
The method
Hair? Yarn? It's all same colors!
Weaving: Helen in action!
Thank You Ladies!
And as a Thank You to you dear readers, Craftsy is having a HUGE holiday sale and you’re among the first to know! Of course I’d like you all to sign up for my class, The Fair Isle Vest Stranded and Steeked, but there are amazing offerings, Nancy Marchant’s Brioche Stitch, Carol Feller’s Celtic Cables – don’t get me started – you can learn canning and even cheesemaking!!!!! Follow THIS LINK to take you away to adventure!
I did buy some yarn and set to work immediately – mittens for the lower temperatures as we travel further south. Thanks Noelle for the picture!
Adventure Around the Cape
If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get a Craft Cruise for Christmas!
All Aboard!: Cynthia LeCount Samaké, MJM, Alexis LeCount
I’ve been dreadfully silent here on the blog since my return from the Southern Hemisphere. I have so much to share but other responsibilities – including lots and lots of knitting – have held me back. I have so much to tell, so many great people to introduce you to, fantastic yarn makers and knitters and shop keepers! There are so many interesting places to tell you about I don’t want to skim over any of them!
Knowing myself, I simply have to wait a bit until I can devote enough time to do a proper job of it.
In the meantime….I’ll give you some visuals from my South American adventure every day till the new year.
Happy Holidays!
The Scale of Things: MS Veendam, in port, Valparaiso Chile.
Bon Voyage: On deck several stories up!
I’m Thankful
I’m thankful that I’ve been lucky enough to make a career out of my love of textiles particularly knitting. I’ve been able to meet and make friends with so many of my long-time idols and many many new rising stars of the knitting universe! And I’ve been lucky to travel literally to the ends of the earth to teach and share what I’ve learned about knitting. I’m writing this post from Buenos Aires, in a cafe while it pours rain outside.
In this picture, I am giddy and tongue tied, meeting Barbara Walker. She is thinking, oh god, another of these vapid fan-girl-knitters. I met Barbara Walker while I was teaching at Interweave Knitting Lab in Manchester New Hampshire this fall, where she gave a great keynote speech. Here are the notes I took:
Does not wear wool
Entertained by knitting Barbie clothing
Must be precise with Barbie bosom shaping
Knits doll clothes top down
Heads stay on
Not just Barbie: Superman, Cher, Brooke Shields dolls
Barbie is a sexy flake and so are her costumes
Prefers plastic needles
Arrow
Partied her way through college
Bright young cub reporter
Small stash
Says not good at jokes
Walked thru blizzards to school
Was a waitress
Married a scientist
Minerals
Designed a tarot deck
Likes spiders
If you have the chance to attend Knitting Lab in Manchester, do it! It is a twin-treat for fiber and food. Manchester has a great variety of really good restaurants all within walking distance of the venue. The marketplace is just the right size in my opinion, small, manageable and jam-packed with great stuff, lots of it local. Yay for shopping local!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Where did the days go?
Last we met, we were wandering the coast of Maine looking for locations….next – a photoshoot occurred with a fantastic team! I can’t show you pictures because I didn’t have a moment to take any. Can you imagine? Not. One. Picture…sigh…But here’s a treat, Sophie on the scouting trip enjoying Owl’s Head. The shoot was for my book Fair Isle Style which will be out in Fall 2013, featuring a passel of talented designers!
3 days later found me on Cape Cod for the Berroco Spring 2013 shoot. I love working for Norah Gaughn. I love being part of the wonderful team she puts together. We have a lot of fun. The designs are SO GREAT! I’m usually not thrilled by spring/summer knits…I can take them or leave them. This time…wow. I just wanted to STOP EVERYTHING and knit. Really. And my favorite yarn? An acrylic blend. I know. But see if you don’t like it too. BERROCO VINTAGE. It comes in DK too. In these pictures I’ve had to blur out the knits…you’ll have to wait till next spring to see them.
That beautiful girl, alone on a windswept beach….is actually surrounded – make-up artist dashing in to touch up, stylist -that’s me- going in to tape or tug a garment, the designer making sure the item is looking it’s best, and a bunch of assistants each with their own special job to do, especially Amanda, who keeps it all together!
