Knitting for Others November 28, 2007

If you follow  this link  you will find a wonderful picture – the the cover photo of Life magazine for November 24, 1941, shortly before Pearl Harbour which catapulted America into the Second World War.  At this time of year when we are talking of knitting for others and also we are getting requests for knitting for American soldiers serving in Iraq, I find this photo particularly striking.  My grandmother knit for U.S. soldiers serving in World War I and then again for American soldiers serving in World War II.  Now here we are again, being asked to knit for U.S. soldiers serving overseas.  There is nothing quite like hand knitting. 

I found an item on the internet which prompted this entry.  Read the following if you want to learn more.  Apart from the knitting history, note the price on the cover of that magazine – 10 cents!

A Cultural Weekend November 26, 2007

A few highlights from our weekend -  

an art exhibition at my lawn bowling club for one.  In the photo are the sketches and paintings I submitted.  There were probably well over 50 paintings from the various members of the club.  And it was great fun to see each person’s distinctive style.  A very enjoyable wine and cheese evening with art works from many members.  

Also, a recorder concert       Rather a dark photo but that’s my recorder teacher highlighted by the back window, and the three other players to complete the ensemble.  They are the recorder teachers at Newpark Music Centre where I have my music lessons.  A very enjoyable Sunday noontime concert.

I have not been idle on the knitting front.       Here are my current projects.  The blue gansey is the main project – as you can see I am now doing the yoke – I ran out of the blue yarn from my stash and I had to buy a couple of balls (200g) of another shade to continue the project.  The 2nd project is the yellow scarf from a lovely wool from Uruguay.  And the 3rd project is the start of a sock, using a green wool from my stash.  I plan to concentrate on finishing the gansey – I’m almost there.  I only started the sock because I was waiting to get to the yarn shop to get the yarn I needed to carry on with the gansey.  The scarf knitting is my plain knitting for when I am at Kilternan Market.

My Knitting Stash in Disarray November 21, 2007

 This is most of my knitting stash, with my cat in the foreground.  I have had a good time today sorting my stash and trying to put some order to it and adding pictures to Ravelry.  My Ravelry name is Kenilworth if you want to have a closer look at some of the yarn.

Now I want to sit down and finish the sleeves of the Blue Gansey so that I can get going on the yoke – the end will be in sight when I start those shoulder decreases on the yoke.

Return Trip Dublin to London November 20, 2007

There has been a great deal of discussion recently among the Online Guild members about how some people know very little about our some of our favourite topics.   On my return trip on the train from London to Holyhead, I was enjoying my knitting round and round on the blue gansey. 

  Blue gansey, body and sleeves, and yellow scarf

It was easy to listen to all the merriment of the 10 or so IT people on their way from London to Chester for 2 days of training and development.  As they got on the train and found their seats and were counted by their leader, it turned out that one man was missing.  What had happened to Andrew??  Well, pretty soon one of the mobile phones rang and a man fished it out of his pocket and answered “John speaking”.  Ah, Andrew was heard from – he had got stuck on the tube and was somewhere in Vauxhall.  He would catch a later train and meet them all at the hotel in Chester.  So the train chugged along, 2 men disappeared, a quiz was distributed, and they all worked diligently – of course I tried to participate – I love quizzes.  We clicked along and before we knew it, we were approaching Chester.  No sign of the 2 men who had disappeared.  Had they got off at Rugby?  The leader was getting concerned.  Their belongings were still in the overhead rack and sure enough the 2 men reappeared and said that they had gone elsewhere to get some peace and quiet so that they could do some work.  A likely story.   Members of this group were well dressed and I would say well educated.  As they were standing in the aisle waiting to get off, John, of “John speaking”, and I exchanged a few friendly words.  He was amazed that I was travelling to Dublin.  All that way.  When would I get there he queried.  About 5 o’clock I told him.  Oh, 5 o’clock tomorrow morning he responded.  At which the 2 London Irish women in front of me snorted and after John left they laughed at his lack of travel knowledge.  In fact, he had never been to Chester and I had the impression that going from London to the wilds of Chester was a big event.   I hope they all enjoyed their junket.   

Highlights of London Trip November 19, 2007

  I tried to put this account on my other blog Travels with Janet but somehow it ended up on this blog.  I think I know what I did wrong so that this sort of mistake won’t happen again but in the meantime I don’t know how to shift the entry over to the other blog.  So here it will stay, for the time being, on my knitting blog.

Here are a few bits about the non-knitting aspects of my recent trip to London.  My main objective was to attend the Early Music Festival at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.  It was a trip with a dual purpose though as I was able to stay with one of my sons and his family in Hampstead.  A special treat. 

On Sunday I made my way down to Greenwich on the Jubilee Line changing at Canary Wharf to the British Light Rail line.  I had not been to Canary Wharf and when I emerged from the tube I was absolutely awestruck by the beauty of the area.  Very large buildings, glimmering in the intermittent sunshine.      

On to Cutty Sark/Maritime Museum and I was there for the final day of the Festival.  It was just wonderful – I had a super time wandering around, looking at the stands, talking with people, just absorbing the atmosphere.  Harpsichords everywhere, harps, recorders, other instruments and makers from the U.K., Europe, and even the U.S.  There were over 90 stands.  Alas, I didn’t have time for everything and did not manage to attend any of the mini-concerts that were being given.  Next year, I’ll aim for attending for at least 2 if not the full 3 days of the Festival.

Shortly after I arrived at the Festival and had proceeded to one of the big halls where about half of the stands were located, the fire alarm sounded and we all had to evacuate the building.  There were about 100 of us standing around outside for about 20 minutes – this included being outside for the 2 minute silence at 11 a.m.  I was so moved to be in that location with such a rich naval tradition, a view of the Thames, and close to the Cenotaph in Whitehall.  It was a very emotional experience.

I had one other full day in London – a visit to the Early Music Shop and Howarth’s Woodwind Store across the street.  Then a visit to a museum I had bypassed many times.  But this time I went in – and I was so glad.  The Wallace Collection was astounding.  I do recommend a visit – a relatively small museum compared with the major ones in London, but I thought it was a gem.         

Two full days in London, all too short, but capped by a lovely dinner in a lower level French restaurant in Hampstead.  And of course it was so enjoyable to have time with my two youngest grandchildren.

Then the return train trip and ferry back to Dun Laoghaire in Dublin.

Miss Marple Knits on the Train November 18, 2007

I have been away for a few days on a very enjoyable trip to London.  I travelled by ferry and train – took more time than flying but I enjoy travelling that way.  The journey was part of the fun, not something to be endured when one has to fly from A to B.  One of the big advantages of travelling by ferry and train is that you can knit – and that’s what I did.  As I knit, I admired the lovely scenery of North Wales and then the route down across the Midlands and in to London.  And I could listen to all the interesting conversations swirling around me.  The return trip was the more interesting for the companions around me – a group of IT people travelling to Chester for a 2 day training and development course.  They were having a quiz and there was much merriment.  My other companions were a young mother with her youngest child, baby Joe age 5 months who was the image of my 9 month old grandson whom I had been with in London.  Baby Joe’s mum loved telling her immediate seat companion all about her large family and her husband’s large family.  I think her husband’s family was the larger – something about 55 grandchildren – it’s a whole other world out there I thought – as I knitted away.  I definitely felt like Miss Marple as I listened and knit.  Here’s a photo of my progress.

 I’m working on a blue gansey – I’m knitting the front and back on a circular needle size 3.25 mm and the 2 sleeves on bamboo straights.  I have 6 more inches to knit on the sleeves and then I can join them to the body of the sweater and knit the top yoke.

My other project is a yellow scarf in malabrigo kettle dyed pure merino wool from Uruguay.  This is being knit on U.S. size 7 steel needles.  Another few inches to go on that one.

Knitting and Stitching Show comes to Dublin November 7, 2007

  Display of the Irish Guild of Weavers Spinners & Dyers at the Knitting & Stitching Show, Dublin

Last week was very busy with the Knitting and Stitching Show occupying most of my time.  The stand of the Irish Guild of Weaver Spinners & Dyers was a hive of activity.  We had a constant stream of visitors, new friends and old.  I managed to do a little bit of shopping to add to my stash – something I shouldn’t have done, but who can resist at the K&S?

I thought I might have time to knit at the Show but we were far too busy chatting with friends, answering questions, selling various items.

 Current knitting projects – a bright yellow scarf, yarn from Uruguay – and the start of another gansey

After the Show I found time to make progress with a scarf.  The yarn is Malabrigo from Uruguay, kettle dyed pure merino wool.  I am using U. S. size 7 needles as recommended on the label.  The yarn is a joy to knit with.

  Ill-fitting gansey

The other project is the start of another gansey.  Several months ago I knit a very ill-fitting gansey – the plan is to reuse the yarn and make a gansey that will look good and will fit.

Return to the Book Fair November 4, 2007

Books are important to me.  I like to buy books, I like to read books, I like to have books on my shelves – but then a time comes when some books have been on my shelves long enough and I need to make room for more.  Then it’s time to take some to a Book Fair – and if they don’t sell, well then eventually some of them go to the Exchange Book Shop, or to charity.

 After an absence of several months I have returned to the book fair scene as an active participant.  Last weekend I took a table at the Dublin City Book Fair.       Here is a sample of the 200+ books on my table.  Sales were not huge but at least I didn’t have time to go around and buy lots of books from other people – hence, money saved!!!  And I did have a nice day meeting lots of people.  And I plan to go again when the next Book Fair is held at the end of November. 

It was interesting to observe the matches of books to buyers.  Which browser actually became a buyer?  And who  chose which book?  Here are a few samples from the day:  a man with a big hat bought a book about the origin of mathematics.  A serious looking young man bought John Mortimer’s Murderers and Other Friends.  A woman of indeterminate age bought my last paperback Nicholas Freeling detective story.  A fellow book seller made a last minute purchase of Madhur Jaffrey’s Climbing the Mangoes.  Not a very exciting sample but I can daydream little stories about my browsers and buyers.

(See my other blog Travels with Janet for a couple of earlier entries about books and Book Fairs.) 

A Knitted Ferrari November 3, 2007

I have been listening to a very interesting clip from a BBC Radio 4 Women’s Hour programme.  It was an interview with a knitter who knit a Ferrari – have a look and a listen.

Now to news of my knitting projects.         Pink and yellow scarf finished

  Eccentric blanket finished

Now for the final day at the Knitting & Stitching Show tomorrow and then I’ll blog about that.

Carrying on the tradition November 1, 2007

Many of us who knit are carrying on a tradition handed down to us by our forebears.  I did not know either of my grandmothers – one passed away when I was very young and the other lived too far away.  What I do have, however, is a little booklet of poems which my father’s mother wrote and had privately printed.  She titled this collection Late Flowers.  She wrote the poems in 1939-1944 when she was a member of a Poetry Club in Orlando Florida.  Born in 1862, she would have been in her 80’s when she had these poems printed.  In the front of the booklet is a picture of my grandmother wearing her Red Cross uniform.  This is a woman whose life spanned two World Wars.  I’m sure my grandmother wore that uniform with pride.  It was not the uniform worn by the Red Cross Angels of Mercy in hospitals and battlefields.  Rather, the uniform she is wearing in the picture only indicates that the wearer has worked one hundred hours or more in Red Cross workrooms sewing and knitting.  While I do not knit for charity as my grandmother did, I still feel she has handed down to me a love of handwork and I am proud that she served her country in the way that she did.  This was a tradition followed by many American women during both the First and Second World Wars.

This little booklet has been sitting beside my computer waiting for a blog entry but it was in reading Franklin’s recent blog about his family history that I have finally been sparked to actually write the blog about my grandmother