Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

I've been in a recent period of yo-yo crafting. By that, I mean I move forward on something, only to discover I need to move backward to move forward again. While this is part of knitting, some days I'd like success to stick! To that end, I am creeping up on completion of a very long spinning project. This project goes all the way back to my first spinning fleece purchase at the Knit and Crochet Fall Show September 2011 in Charlotte, North Carolina. I made the mistake(?) of touching a particularly soft black alpaca fleece. In autumn of 2020, I decided this fleece had aged long enough in stash. It was time to spin it. The slowness in getting around to spinning this fleece came from multiple directions. Partly, the fleece was "precious." I wanted to do it justice. Part of it was the material. Spinning alpaca is not the same as spinning wool. I've had a surprisingly difficult time finding resources about how to spin alpaca. Even PLY Magazine , my first-choice source

Lately I've been enjoying some knitting history online! The Knitting History Forum Conference is an annual conference. It is now online, but was previously in-person in the United Kingdom. Of course, the great thing about having it online is that people from all over the world can enjoy the presentations. I attended the 2024 conference on Saturday 3 February 2024. The topics were fascinating, including research on the famous silk shirt possibly worn by Charles I to his execution . Other topics included liturgical gloves , Frances Lambert (author of one of the earliest knitting books ), Korsnäs sweaters in Finland, the effect of yarn twist and ply on knit fabric, and Fair Isle fishermans' keps (hats). The conference started at 11:15 Greenwich Mean Time, which meant 06:15 Eastern Standard Time. It was well worth the getting up early on a Saturday. If you missed the conference, no worries! You can purchase access to the recording of the 2024

Well, we are almost at the end of month #1 of 2024. I got off to a start that was both busy and slow. Busy enough to keep me from getting after things I wanted to get to, thus making it feel slow because I wasn't crossing things off the To Do list. It was the third week of the new year before I got the holiday decorations put away. So that was only 18 days behind schedule. I haven't blogged much about shows after the fact. I thought this month I'd write a little about Kanuga Knitting and Quilting Retreat. My dear friend Varian Brandon organizes this retreat. Kanuga is an Episcopal conference center and campground in the mountains in North Carolina. Their mailing address is Hendersonville, which is where my friends and I usually find a rental house for Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair. If you are driving up from Atlanta, it is about half an hour before you get to Asheville. The center was founded in 1928, so is creeping up on its centennial.

We've reached the final fortnight of 2023. I've leaned in hard on this holiday. When the calendar turned to December, I found myself being a bit paranoid. I kept thinking, "There is no logical reason for me to feel like something bad is about to happen. This is superstitious." Then I sat down and thought about the last few Decembers. 2022 My mother died . 2021 We skipped the holidays because we were packing the Maryland man cave . 2020 COVID Christmas. 2019 Not a bad Christmas, just the end to the awful change wave year. 2018 Father-in-law was in the hospital. He died a few days into the new year. 2017 Was that the one where we almost lost Vincent? 2016 Don't remember. 2015 Don't remember. 2014 Lost a fight with Concord covered bridge. Okay. Maybe I'm not being superstitious or paranoid. There's data. This year, I've been unabashed in my intentions. I bought a 9-foot artificial Christmas tree. I don't think we'v

I need to get back to knitting. I got caught in that situation where you keep thinking, "I am almost done with this project. Just let me finish it." I like mesh bags. They keep crafting supplies together. They let fibers breathe. And you can see through the bag so you know what is in it. Hence, I was rather happy when I came across a nested set of three mesh zippered bags while cleaning out the house in Pennsylvania. The set included instructions to make a Threader Keep Adornment — a fob with a pocket. This project came from Napier Needlepoint in Stockton, California. The chart has a 1998 copyright date. I am not sure how this came into my mother's stash. Maybe it wasn't even one of hers? I don't recall my mother traveling to California. Picture on the kit from Napier Needlepoint, Stockton, CA. Many options! The kit included a small piece of canvas, a chart, a needle threader, and a metal clip. The stitcher supplies the embroidery thr

Here's another post in my running series of finished items from my mother's stash. Mill Hill Buttons & Beads Autumn Series MH14-1623 "Haunted Laboratory" Image shown is 6×6 inches. This first one was completed by her. My mother was a microbiologist. She worked in a laboratory at the local hospital. For those of you who don't know, here's how stuff works. When your doctor takes a sample such as a throat culture or spinal fluid, it is sent to a laboratory. The laboratory technicians run the tests and then tell the doctors what they found. For infectious bacteria, the laboratory can run a test across a panel of wells with different antibiotics at different strengths. The results reveal where the organism is resistant (Ack! That drug won't kill it,) or sensitive (Hurray! This drug at this strength will help the patient get well.) The super-bugs that are antibiotic resistant are resistant across the entire panel — i.e. they grow