She Knits By The Seashore

On Persevering

I am really beginning to hate this word.

Fresh with inspiration after finishing my purple tweed sweater, I dug out the blue yarn and pattern directions for Paloma, which was so challenging that two summers ago, I abandoned it to Ravelry's "hibernating" project category. A few weeks ago, I knit the first couple of rows, and got stuck on PRB, a lifted increase. After a few weeks, I found help with that hurdle, and knit some more rows. These rows don't line up. Back to the beginning.

Leaving that aside, I eagerly swatched for the Summer Flies shawl. Gauge is 4" = 12 stitches, for a DK or worsted yarn, on a size 8 needle. Huh??!! I went up to a size 11 needle, still with two stitches too many. I posted a question on Ravelry, and someone suggested this was the blocked gauge, though no one was sure if it was for stockinette or the eyelet pattern. I then read through all 41 pages of posts for the KAL last summer, and a number of knitters remarked that the shawl came out smaller than the pattern's suggested sizes, which I want to avoid. I emailed the designer, who was very friendly, and said that the gauge doesn't matter because of the blocking, but that still doesn't really help me...I'm going to go with 10s, which still seem too loose, and hope for the best.

 

But knitting is not the only area of my life right now where the theme of perseverance keeps recurring.

* I went to a meeting at a labor agency hoping for ideas for other companies or career paths that use my writing and editing skills. After looking over my resumes and cover letters, and being told by the agent there was nothing he would recommend I change, that he didn't have anything else to offer me, he ended by saying, "be persistent...it will come."

* I attended a workshop called "Design Your Dreams" for women entrepreneurs, to learn more about goal-setting and promoting business. The exercises were fun -- vision boards are similar to the magazine collages I loved to make in art class -- and the dreaded networking was not so bad. (I am an introverted person, and networking is a painful but necessary process I have resigned myself to embrace). The speakers' main message, advice for achieving goals and dreams? Perseverance.

 

On break, before we start collaging. Yes, I chose the pink paper.

* Two weeks ago, I bought a copy of Ride Your Way Lean by Selene Yeager. I needed a cycling training plan to help build strength and endurance (a cousin of the p-word) while also helping me to lose some weight. Week one was tough -- the rainy weather meant I spent many hours riding indoors on the stationary trainer which is mind-numbing, even with my Rosemary & Thyme DVDs. And week two? One workout in, and my hip/IT band is screaming in pain. Too many miles too fast. I'm doing ice and ibuprofen and trying not to get frustrated that I can't ride until the inflammation calms down. I feel like it's an uphill battle to get past this part of the training plan where the weak muscles will get stronger, to persevere until I can see results. Ack.

I am tired of persevering. I long for the "lucky break," the synchronicity where something positive will come together more easily and stick around for a while, to encourage me to keep persevering with all the other things for which I've been working so hard. Don't you feel that way sometimes too? I saw a sign in the labor agent's office that said something like, "So many people give up, not knowing that success was just around the corner." I sure hope I turn that corner soon!

P.S. I watched the Royal Wedding this morning, and thought Kate made such a lovely bride. I hope her simple, elegant style will have a great influence on fashion, as my favorite Grace Kelly's did so many years ago. I wish her and William the best for a long, happy marriage. With all the tragedy in the world lately, it was nice to share a little bit in their joy.

The Great Rhody Yarn and Bike Crawl

I had such a fun time!

At first, I couldn't decide whether or not to go. It's not like I need any yarn or patterns. But what I wanted was energy and inspiration and the camaraderie of other knitters, and there was more of that than I could have hoped for. Chris and I were in the mood for a road trip, despite the gloomy New England weather we've been having, and so we started off to Westerly on Saturday morning for our first stops on the yarn and bike crawl.

 

Knitwits is a small shop packed with amazing choices, and there were so many knitters exploring the yarn when I arrived that I could hardly move! Hannah's Farm brought two alpacas that were so adorable; I heard one person say that they had four inches of wool to be shorn for new yarn soon. The staff here were so kind, and excited to see the response for the event. They gave out Knitwit totebags and raffle tickets for either sample sweaters or book sets. Although I really wanted the La Boheme yarn in this gorgeous maroon and pink color, Plum Pudding, I remembered I had a similar color combo for the Louisa Harding yarn in my stash, and settled for the new summer issue of Knitscene.

For the cycling minded, Westerly has Brumble Bikes. They are not usually open on the weekend, so if you are planning a visit, you might want to call ahead. They happened to be open when Chris stopped by. They seem to have a strong bike team, which we saw on Sunday at the Ninigret Races in Charlestown.

On the way to our next knitting shop, we stopped at the East Providence bike shop, where Chris found a black base layer top, and I stood envying the ad for the women-only group rides. I somehow miscalculated here and missed Fresh Purls entirely, which I've never visited, but I hope to get there sometime this summer.

Stop #2 was in Warren, for Bella Yarns.

 

I had taken along the Summer Flies shawl pattern, which I'd discovered at another yarn shop last month. Since then, I'd been debating what color to use; as much as I love pink and ocean blue, I have so many accessories knitted in those colors. Do you usually knit in the same colors? The night before the crawl, I had an inspiration: lime neon spring green. So different and summery. I could pair it with navy blue, which is dear to my preppy, new wave heart. After entering a raffle for a gorgeous sweater kit, I was off to find green yarn.

Enter Naomi, the shop's co-owner. She is absolutely amazing. Not only did she help me find the shawl yarn (see photo below!), but on a whim, I asked if she had a moment to explain that PRB stitch I asked about in my previous post. It turns out that she has been swatching for the same project! She sat down with me on their cozy sofa, looked at the pattern instructions, picked up some scrap yarn, and showed me what to do. Now I can work on Paloma again. She and the staff are SO friendly and excited about knitting, that I want to go back again and again. There will be shorter time between my visits there for sure.

After Bella Yarns, we stopped by one of our favorite little restaurants, Leo's Ristorante, for lunch. We had to eat inside, but soon it will be time to sit at the sidewalk tables and admire the gardens during lunch.

 
 

Chris navigated time and distance for our trip; after lunch, we went to Tiverton, to Sakonnet Purls.

 
 They had the prettiest flower pots.

 

Here is the store cat, Lucy. I was so excited to finally meet her!

 

Though tempted by a sale on Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, to eventually make the Beltane Tee, I settled on a pattern, All Ruffled Up, by Champagne Maker. It's a small cape that I thought might be a great summer cover-up for bare arms in overly air-conditioned buildings. Oddly enough, the cape in the project photo shows the same lime green yarn I bought for the shawl. I don't have any particular color in mind for this cape, and since I'm not likely to start it this summer, I have time to figure that out.

After leaving Tiverton, one of my favorite places in the entire world, we stopped at Caster's, a very awesome bike shop in Warwick. Then, I was desperate for tea, and since we were sort of in the neighborhood, we went back to Main Street Coffee in East Greenwich. We'd been there for my birthday about a month and a half ago, and I was heartened to see that the tables and chairs are outside now, if not the flowers. Progress! I love their almond tarts.

  

By now, it was after 5pm, and though I could have visited The Mermaid's Purl as planned, I was on yarn overload. Since we were going back to RI the next day for Chris' bike race at Ninigret, it seemed best to go home and rest up and enjoy my new purchases. Here they are: 

  

I can't wait to start the shawl. After a sunny day yesterday (Sunday), we're back to gloom, but knitting this color has got to bring summer here faster. :)

A big thank you to those who organized this amazing event. I am already looking forward to next year. If you missed the RI crawl, there is an I-91 Shop Hop planned for June 24-26, with stops from Vermont to the CT Shoreline. 

I hope you are enjoying sun, leaves, flowers, and great spring bike rides!

Forever (and Ever) Tweed Sweater

 

 

Pattern: Forever Tweed by Wendy Bernard, Knitscene Spring 2009

Yarn: Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran in Thistle, 5 1/4 skeins

Needles: 9 & 10 circulars, 9 dpns for sleeves

Modifications: Added 2" to body because this is a cropped sweater, and I am long-waisted

This sweater took so much longer than it should have, because there is a mistake in the pattern not noted in the usual places. After finishing the collar, the directions say to increase every other row 15 times (for a total of 30 rows), and that section should measure 8” when completed (according to the schematic). However, the gauge indicates there should be approx. 45 rows, not 30 as the directions imply. I increased every third row instead of every other row, which for the Rowan yarn, worked out just fine.

I love this sweater! I became obsessed with the yarn color when I first saw it, and still adore the moody purple. The length works well, hitting at just above my hips. Most important of all, it's WARM. I may have to live in it until mid-May. :)

 

 

This is a hideous photo, but since I cannot seem to get a better one at the moment (oh Sun, where art thou?), we'll go with it. Chris took it for me after the last Bethel bike race, and the sweater is terribly wrinkled after being mashed inside my coat all afternoon. Please ignore the knotted "Bethel hair" and squinty face I get after a day in the brisk winds there. I'm only including it so you can get an idea of the sweater fit; it's a boxy 80s shape that somehow doesn't swallow me. The pattern calls for extra-long sleeves that come to about mid-palm; I like them, but you might want to roll the cuff back, or knit the sleeves shorter.

The best part about finishing this is that now I can work on spring/summer projects. I'm cranking out rows on my pink Vogue skirt, and have again picked up Paloma, abandoned out of frustration two summers ago. If you've ever heard of "Purl in the Row Below" (PRB)," or know how to do this stitch when the previous row is a K2Tog, YO row, I beg your assistance. Otherwise, I'm headed to the wonderful not-so-LYS for help night really soon.

Have a great weekend!

March Mini-Reviews (in April)

The purple tweed sweater is finished!! As soon as I can get some photos, I'll post about it. Our weather has been so gray and dark the past few days.

In the meantime, my "On the Nightstand" column is too long, so I'd better write some book notes and catch up!

Dropped Dead Stitch and Skein of the Crime by Maggie Sefton

I've been following this knitting mystery series since the first book, and enjoy each visit to the House of Lambspun in Fort Connor (Collins), Colorado, with Kelly and her friends. Dropped Dead Stitch explores the serious topic of rape, when Kelly's friend Jennifer is attacked by someone she met briefly in a bar. The knitters attend a healing spring retreat at a mountain ranch, only to discover that the ranch owner is also the rapist. He is soon found dead, with Jennifer as the prime suspect. Kelly works tirelessly to prove her friend's innocence.

Skein of the Crime turns to the equally serious issue of prescription drug abuse, when a young woman on a drug trip is found in Kelly's back yard, and eventually murdered. I thought the plot unfolded to a believable ending, but I struggled with the characters confiding so much information to Kelly. She is a CPA, not a police officer or official investigator of any kind, and yet, she walks up to complete strangers who seem more willing to share personal information or opinions with her than we might see in the real world.

For me, the strength of these last two books lies more in the relationships between Kelly and her friends than the actual mysteries. In Skein of the Crime, we see the local economy tank, and Kelly's boyfriend Steve loses construction business. He must go to work for architectural companies in order to cover his business loans, is exhausted from working 24/7, and their relationship begins to suffer, just as it has for many in real life. Sefton left us with a cliffhanger, and so I can't wait to get my hands on Unraveled, due out in June, to see how things work out for them.

Death Lights a Candle by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

The second in this 1930s Cape Cod mystery series finds a group of acquaintances stranded in a mansion in Wellfleet, snowed in by a blizzard. Their missing host Adelbert Stires shows up the night of the storm, and is found dead in his bedroom the next morning, though no one can figure out why. Asey Mayo, local handyman and sheriff, begins to put the pieces together with the help of Prue, maiden aunt and narrator, as the friends and neighbors begin to shovel out from the storm.

Given the premise of the book -- a snowed-in house party -- we don't get to see much of Cape Cod. The previous book, however, did not seem to share much local flavor either, which was disappointing. Other than mentioning Cape towns like Yarmouth or Chatham, the author doesn't describe the history or scenery or culture unique to the Cape. I truly hope as I read more of the volumes that Cape Cod will become a character in her books as well.

Having said that, I love the eccentric characters in each of her mysteries, and their witty humor, which is missing in many mysteries today. If you like The Thin Man books or films, you'll enjoy the Asey Mayo mysteries.

A Novel in a Year: From First Page to Last in 52 Weeks by Louise Doughty

Doughty wrote weekly columns on novel writing for the UK's Daily Telegraph, which were compiled into this book. On alternate weeks, exercises were given to readers, and their responses were posted on a page of the newspaper's website, as a sort of online writers' group. The early exercises encompass things like remembering a time when you were lost, or had an accident, to spark your imagination. Later exercises focus on your characters, plot development, and other techniques to help smooth out places in your story where you may have been stuck in the past.

While I didn't actually write the exercises out, just reading through them generated some ideas for a story I've been considering writing. The author also helped me to see that you don't need to write your novel chronologically; start with the scenes or chapters you are most inspired to write, or have the most material for. I don't know that you will necessarily write your novel within a year simply by following this book, but I do believe that the practical advice given will be a useful motivation tool to get you started, or get you past a stumbling block. This is a great first book to read if you are thinking of writing, and other books seem overwhelming. One little chapter a week isn't so bad, is it?

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

This has been on my "to read" list forever, and I'm so glad I finally made time to read it. Written in 1929, it takes us back to a time when women were not as welcome on university campuses, and did not have all of the opportunities to write or earn a living as they do today. Mary Gordon, who wrote the forward, points out that

"Woolf is concerned with the fate of women of genius, not with that of ordinary women; her plea is that we create a world in which Shakespeare's sister might survive her gift, not one in which a miner's wife can have her rights to property; her passion is for literature, not for universal justice."

Still, addressing the needs of women who want to write allowed them to write, and to speak out for miner's wives and all women who would otherwise not have the opportunities to "better themselves" with education and things we take for granted today. These first female writers who were given a room of their own and the finances to support themselves helped to pave the way for the many female writers, professors, doctors, and other professionals of our times, and for that, I am grateful.

One of the most powerful sections of this book for me is Woolf's observation of the dichotomy between women in history and literature. Woolf explains

Indeed, if woman had no existence save in the fiction written by men, one would imagine her a person of the utmost importance; very various; heroic and mean; splendid and sordid; infinitely beautiful and hideous in the extreme; as great as a man, some think even greater. But this is woman in fiction. In fact, as Professor Trevelyan points out, [in history] she was locked up, beaten, and flung about the room.

A very queer, composite being thus emerges. Imaginatively, she is of the highest importance; practically she is completely insignificant. She pervades poetry from cover to cover; she is all but absent from history. She dominates the lives of kings and conquerors in fiction; in fact she was the slave of any boy whose parents forced a ring upon her finger. Some of the most inspired words, some of the most profound thoughts in literature fall from her lips; in real life she could hardly read, could scarcely spell, and was the property of her husband.

I am still processing these profound truths. There is so much to say about this book, but this post is already too long...I trust if you have not read this short yet powerful book that you'll make time someday to read it too. If you do, I'd love to hear what you think. I want to read more of Woolf, perhaps To the Lighthouse or Mrs. Dalloway next.

I've finished a few other books that will wait for a future post. What have you been reading and knitting? And if you garden, I'd love to hear about your progress. We're just starting to get outside and begin cleaning up!

It Might Be Spring

even though it still feels like winter, because bike racing season has started.

 

Chris is at right, and his teammmate L is in front of him. Chris is wearing a neckwarmer, gloves, and shoe covers, but it still doesn't seem warm enough to race.

Chris and our friends have been spending Sundays in the freezing cold wind at the Bethel Spring Series. I try to walk around the course when I can, but it's been more windy than not. I've only been outside once this year to ride my bike, but I hope to get outside more often when the temperatures decide to stay at least 50F.

With the new season, I thought I should check in on my list of New Year's goals hopes and dreams. This list is mostly for me, but I hope it inspires you toward your dreams too.

1. Ride my bike 4-5 times a week, to lose some weight and also to increase my average speed so I can join the weekly group rides near my house. I also like to walk, so I'll do some indoor walking DVDs until it's warm enough for me to go outside.

In January, I did really well with this, and then in February, my hip and foot took turns acting up. Things seem better again, and the weather is slightly improving (at least the snow is gone!) so hopefully I can start riding outdoors more.

2. Try a yoga class. My muscles are tight and I worry about flexibility. I bought this DVD to try too.

Done! I've been to yoga three or four times, and I love it.

3. Finish knitting UFOs: I don't have many, but they have been sitting around for a long time. The beaded seashore scarf, the slippers from Cocoknits, the pink skirt, and the purple sweater are going to get done or else. Wisp, a stole knitted with threadlike yarn, may have to wait for a while.

The scarf is done, and the purple sweater is almost done. Working on sleeve #2 now. Then I want to finish my pink skirt so I can wear it!
 

4. Knit projects for which I already have pattern, yarn, and needles. At least one of the Noni bags.

I'm not going to start something new until I finish the skirt, though I'm thinking of giving Paloma another try, just on principle. Knitting monogamy is working for me.

 

I've been wondering; I don't know if I will actually use the Noni bags like this that I want to make. I'm not sure how they'd fit into my wardrobe,  but I can't resist the challenge of knitting them. If you've knit felted bags, do you use them?

5. Read books that have been sitting on my shelves for ages.

Finished Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, the first book on my list, which I'll review in an upcoming post, and have started on one of the Modern Library Gardening books, Old Herbaceous by Reginald Arkell.

6. Try to write at least a little, five days a week. Every author's website advises some version of this.

Eek.

7. Work on my art/drawing at least once a week.

Double Eek.

8. Clean out my email inbox.

You don't want to know.

9. Spend more time with friends. Stay in better contact. Blog more often.

I think I'm getting better at this. For a girl who grew up with a phone attached to her ear, I'm not so good at calling friends, now that we have email. It seems less intrusive, less insistent than a ringing phone: "You must drop what you are doing and talk to me Now!" I totally don't mind when friends call me though. Weird.

10. Set better boundaries. I try to be helpful and flexible and accommodating with various people in my life, and sometimes I bend too far in their direction, at my own peril.

This is somewhat of a personal goal, but I can at least share here that I'm getting better about knowing my limits with all the things that need doing for the cat shelter where I volunteer. I am practicing a "do one thing" each day philosophy, whether it's hanging a poster, writing a newspaper blurb for cat-of-the-week, or my actual volunteer shift. Once I do my one thing for the cats, I can do other things and not feel guilty or obsess about the things still undone. At least, I'm trying.

There are some other things I hope to work on, too, painting and gardening projects, another Pedal for Paws bike ride, and more employment. I was recently hired as a part-time freelance editor, but I still need either an additional job or more freelance projects to make up my former income. If you know of anyone seeking a freelance editor, writer, or consultant/tutor, I hope you will keep me in mind. My website is here.

So far, we've painted two rooms in the house, and I'm ready to start cleaning up our lawn and garden if the weather ever gets warm. I'm working on Pedal for Paws 2011, though it's still early days yet. And the job situation...I don't like to complain or be negative in my posts, but honestly, I am more discouraged than ever. My freelance job lost funding, and may not start again until July, and promising jobs have been posted and applied for, only for me to receive notice that the company changed its mind about filling positions. What I really need is a career coach, to figure out what the next smartest move should be, but without work, I can't afford one. I'm so uncomfortable with the "wandering around aimlessly" feeling. I hope to attend a "women in business" seminar soon, and maybe that will help.

On a happier note, the spring issue of Twist Collective is up. I love the Trousseau shawl. What designs do you want to add to your queue?