She Knits By The Seashore

Autumn Brings a New Lousia Harding Project

I started to write the following post about two weeks ago, and since that time, we had a freak snowstorm last Saturday that left hundreds of thousands of people in CT without power again. Thankfully my tiny corner of CT escaped the storm with maybe an inch of snow and no outages, but our inland friends had a foot of snow, and many are still shivering at home. We're all wondering what's going on at the power companies...

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After our last taste of summer, autumn has arrived at the seashore. Because of Hurricane Irene, our leaves are not as colorful as those inland. Apparently all the salt spray in the high winds took the vibrancy out. If you've read my posts for any length of time, you know that I'm not a big fan of fall, so it doesn't much matter to me...if I can keep warm and keep my allergies somewhat under control, it's good.

Still, Chris is in high excitement for *his* favorite season, so we've been taking some road trips to cider mills, a book crawl with our friends Hobgoblin and Dorothy, and a rail trail ride this past weekend in the beautiful hilly farmlands of Hudson Valley in NY.

 

We also did a corn maze. They remind me so much of the English mazes I've read about, and the trivia questions to help guide you through the maze were a blast.

Rosie surveys the blocking process

Since we've been logging some serious car miles, I've finished the Summer Flies shawl, and it's blocking. I had a delicious few days deciding what project to start next.

Two years ago, I went on a Louisa Harding spree, finding many of the unique, colorful yarns her patterns require that aren't readily available. I have felt guilty that the yarn has been sitting in the bags, waiting to be knit. I've also received numerous pleading messages through Ravelry, from knitters desperate for the discontinued Thalia, a tape-style yarn that isn't easily substituted. Since both colors I have were chosen for specific projects, I turned their offers down, but decided it was time to start at least one of them, and so I chose the quicker knit, the Rose scarf.

 

It seems odd that there are so few knitters who knit her patterns, maybe because her yarns are not readily available? The Rose scarf page shows only fifteen projects on Ravelry. Only her free patterns, like the Juliet scarf, have many finished projects. It's such a shame, because her projects are so pretty.

A closeup of the yarn, which has four strands of wool connected by nearly invisible filaments.

The scarf is knitting up fast, but I then have 48 little roses to knit with button centers that are attached all over the scarf. Can I finish this before spring??

Birthday Road Trip & Knitted Shawl

Last Saturday, Chris and I went to Rhode Island for a birthday road trip. Having a winter birthday when you are a summer girl at heart is one huge compromise. I'm never going to have an afternoon lying on the beach with a book without a head-to-toe parka or birthday dinner on the patio unless I eat with mittens on unless I travel very far south, like, the Caribbean. So, I try to plan a day where I get a taste of my favorite summer things to come.

We spend a lot of time on Cape Cod and in Rhode Island in the summer. Not only are there great biking roads, and book and yarn shops, but there's a summery state of mind there that I don't feel at home, even though our own beach is five minutes away and we have tourists here too. They have managed to keep the big box stores and chain restaurants away and maintain a village feel, with little clothing boutiques and coffee shops that give their towns a special charm. There is also something about the light -- maybe it's because they are surrounded by so much ocean, but the sunlight there has a shimmery quality to it that makes me feel alive.

Since a trip to the Caribbean was out, I planned a day in Rhode Island to visit some of my favorite places, starting in Westerly:

 

There are a couple of shops here like Seaport Downtown and Christina's, which have little sister shops in Watch Hill during the warmer months. Those shops, in fact, the entire commercial Bay Street of Watch Hill, were completely boarded up when we drove past!! They won't open until April, so visiting the main stores in Westerly had to suffice.

 
At Seaport Downtown, I found this pretty beaded necklace, and a plaque that has one of my many life mantras. I take these things to heart and try very hard to live them out, so it's a sweet reminder.

After Westerly, we drove up to East Greenwich. In my state, Greenwich is a very wealthy, New York-like suburb, and I try to stay away from that part of the state as much as possible. But in Rhode Island, Greenwich is a little town that is undergoing a revival, with indy clothing shops, antique shops, restaurants, and coffee shops like Main Street Coffee. In the warmer weather, the front windows are open, and there are little tables and chairs where you can sit outside and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea and their incredible pastries. They have colorful window boxes and vine-like plants, and it reminds me of the cafes in France. This was an inside visit. :)

 
Click here to see it in all its summer glory!!! Our winter photo doesn't begin to show you its character.

Also in East Greenwich is this yarn shop. I'll be honest -- I was surprised at how much it's changed since my last visit. There was minimal yarn or pattern selection, no more knitting books or their formerly enticing displays that I could see. Mostly, it was a big table and chairs in the middle of the shop for the local knitting group, with some yarn on both sides of the walls. I did, however, see this:

 

Summer Flies. I've been looking for a shawl that doesn't have the vertical row of yarnovers down the middle of the back. I don't know why, exactly, but I don't like that. This shawl is a circular design, so doesn't have that. It's just smaller than what I'd like, doesn't fully cover the arms, so if I knit it one day, I'm going to have to figure out some math to enlarge it. UGH. The saleswoman tried to explain it to me, but I couldn't follow her for the life of me. She gave me a copy of the free pattern, which you can download from Ravelry.

 

The copy of the pattern I received had very bleached out, black and white photos, so I asked permission to take my own photos of their sample. I need to see the stitch patterns up close when I start a new project.

After E. Greenwich, we went to Cranston, to Garden City. It's an outdoor mall; Chris pointed out that they've removed their white metal awnings since we'd last been there, which is why it looks different to me. One of the main reasons I wanted to go there was to check out the opening of the new Anthropologie store. I don't think I've ever been in one, and so many bloggers love it that I wanted to see it for myself. As much as I love vintage, there wasn't anything in the store that I fell in love with. If you love Anthropologie, maybe you can share your favorite things that I might have missed?

 

I bought a T-shirt top and scarf at Loft, and then we headed home for dinner. Since I didn't splurge on clothes at Garden City, I treated myself to these pillowcases:

 

Lilly started her shop in the 1960s in West Palm Beach, Florida, which is why she used such bright, cheerful colors and patterns. And though I am very far from West Palm Beach, geographically and temperature-wise, having a little Lilly is one of the best birthday gifts and antidotes to winter I can find. Maybe one day, I can spend my birthday in West Palm Beach.

 

Susan Undulating Waves Scarf

 The Seashore Scarf is finished at last!

 

Pattern: Susan Undulating Waves Scarf by Laura Nelkin

Yarn: Fleece Artist Woolie Silk 3 ply in Seashore, 1 skein

Needles: Size 6

Approx. size: 7" x 56"

Three packages of beads

 

I'm embarrassed to admit it took me a little less than two years to finish this scarf. It was my only beaded project besides the knitted ornaments, and at first, following the chart was slow-going. After the pattern clicked, I didn't need the chart anymore, and so the project became a little tedious. I put it aside to work on other things...you know how that goes.

Knitting this scarf taught me that I prefer reversible patterns. Even though I have 17 pattern repeats instead of 14, the scarf is not long enough to loop around the neck, as in the first photo. The backside is going to show at some point. If you knit this, make sure you have enough yarn for the length of scarf you prefer. For those that are sensitive to things like this, I should note that the beads may make the scarf heavy around your neck. For these reasons, I'm not sure how much wear this scarf will actually get, but I did learn a lot during the process.

And now, to the next UFOs on my list! Have a great weekend!

 

Beaded Seashore Scarf

Thank you all for your kind comments on my last post. Some projects are just a bear, aren't they?!

Next in line for finishing is the Susan Undulating Waves scarf by Laura Nelkin. I started this last year, right around this time, but for some reason, lost interest in it. The pale colors of spring have caught my attention once again, and it would be great to finish and wear this before it gets too warm. As if!

Last week, I finished reading Pride & Prejudice. So much has been written and filmed about this story that any review I'd write would pale in comparison. I'll say simply that I enjoyed it more than I expected; Jane Austen's characters were rich and complex to the point that I felt some of them really needed to have a carriage accident to leave Elizabeth, Jane, and their gentlemen a little peace and quiet! Reminding me of some 21st century "characters" we've all met in our own lives makes her book so much more than just the "pretty dress drama" I thought it was that stopped me from reading it up until now. I can't wait to see the Colin Firth DVD version I've heard so much about.

My current book is Delight by J.B. Priestley. I saw it mentioned on a British blog some months ago and was intrigued by this collection of short essays that celebrate the author's favorite things and experiences. Priestley was a British author who wrote during and after the world wars, but I don't believe he is very well known in America. This made tracking down a copy of the book difficult, but Book Depository delighted me with their free and quick shipping. My favorite essays so far are "Reading Dectective Stories in Bed" and "Shopping in Small Stores." Some pleasures, across time, place, and even gender, never change!

Seashore Scarf: The First Repeat

The first repeat of the beaded scarf is done. I need to pay careful attention to placing of the beads on the yarnovers, in order to make sure they end up in the right spot when I knit the next row.

 

 Daphne is finished and blocking! She only needs fringe.

 

The last few days I've been knitting on Breton Girl from last summer, while watching the Giro d'Italia (the Italian Tour de France). I have wound the yarn for the Paloma top in the French Girl Knits book. I switch back and forth between reading and knitting it seems, and this week I guess I've been more in the mood for the latter.

I've also been working with my mother on a secret project I can now reveal. My friends M & B are getting married on Saturday, and for part of their wedding present, we made them a scrapbook with photos that tells the story of how they met and places they've visited together. This was my first scrapbook project, but my very talented mom has a great eye for color and page design, and I'm very happy with the finished gift. M & B loved it too! I'll finish the book with pages of their wedding photos once they are married. Here is the first page:

 

Since we were both a little sad at having finished the present, I'm now working on a larger scrapbook with photos of Chris' and my trip to England and France from 2004. We had 13 packets of photos we never look at in a box, and now they'll have a new life in a book we can flip through from time to time or share with friends. And then there's the photos from the trip to Bermuda...

Seashore Scarf

While watching Audrey Hepburn share the history of tulips in the Gardens of the World series (my artist's date for this week), I strung an enormous amount of beads on yarn, and began the seashore scarf. This is the Undulating Waves pattern by Laura Nelkin, through Schaefer Yarn.

I usually don't like to have so many WIPs at once, but the essay in the Spring '09 Interweave Knits -- The Thinking Knitter: Start as Many New Projects as You Can by Vicki Square -- struck a chord with me. We'll see how this goes.

Reading-wise, I finished Miss Seeton Plants Suspicion, a Heron Carvic mystery in the English cozy tradition. The series began in 1968, and with three different authors, ended some time in the late 1990s. Miss Seeton, a retired art teacher, is a Miss Marple-type who helps solve mysteries by drawing sketches with clues, without really knowing what she's drawing and why. The local detectives ask to look at her sketches and see clues in them, while she has no idea of the true nature of the crime, or even that there is one! This is one of those books I really wanted to like, so I could collect and read the whole series. But I found I was very impatient that Miss Seeton (as sweet as she is) is so ignorant of what is going on around her, unlike Miss Marple, who is so quick-minded and intelligent. It is a similar concept to the Mrs. Jeffries series by Emily Brightwell, where the bumbling Inspector gets all the credit for solving a mystery, while it is really Mrs. Jeffries who works hard at the solution and spares her boss' reputation. Maybe I am missing something?

Continuing with the garden theme, I have started Gardener's Nightcap by Muriel Stuart, a Persephone book. I'm also reading High Marks for Murder, the first of a new mystery series by Rebecca Kent.

Chris had his first bike races this weekend, with an unusually warm 50-60F. I've not yet taken my bike outside, being a cold-weather wimp. Now that the racing season has started, and daylight savings has begun, we have evidence that spring is finally here!!

Trellis Lace Scarf & Hollywood Regency Style

 

Pattern: Trellis Lace Scarf by Oasis Farms
Yarn: Classic Bunny, Plum, 1 skein
Needles: Size 8
Finished Size: 5 1/2" x 54"

The lace pattern is simple and easily memorized, making this the perfect travel knitting project. The yarn has angora in it, which makes it so soft and cozy! The only drawback to this project is that the finished scarf is not reversible. I also wish that it were longer, but that could easily be solved by purchasing two skeins of yarn (or having more yardage of another wool) if I were to knit it again.

Chris and I had a wonderful day in RI yesterday, which I'll tell you about in my next post. But for now, since it's a rainy, dreary Sunday, I'll share some new films I've discovered that you might like to see too!

In my previous post I mentioned a book called Regency Redux, which is a vibrant coffee table-sized book documenting the history of Regency style in interior design. Though it has roots in Napoleon's time, the Regency style morphed with other influences and had several interpretations, one called Hollywood Regency. If you have ever seen those black and white films of the 1930s and 1940s, often starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, you will have an idea of the style: lots of black and white contrast, art deco designs and streamlined shapes in furniture, home accessories, and automobiles.

There is a whole chapter devoted to Hollywood Regency in the book, with still shots from films illustrating that style. Although some are not yet available on DVD (Our Dancing Daughters; Transatlantic; No More Ladies; A Woman of Affairs; Tom, Dick and Harry; Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round; The Night is Young; Week-end at the Waldorf), here are a few that we can rent or borrow from the library:

Dancing Lady with Joan Crawford

Roberta with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (also Top Hat, which I have seen)

Grand Hotel with Greta Garbo

The Gang's All Here with Alice Faye and Carmen Miranda

Picture of Dorian Gray with Hurd Hatfield

and

Dinner at Eight with Billie Burke and Jean Harlow.

These films are all new to me, and I can't wait to see them. Aside from a good story, I love seeing the fashion, interior, and garden designs. Occasionally I will spot some great knitting too, or see inspiration for designs like the Retro Redux shrug. Here's hoping you enjoy a little bit of glamour in your day.

New Year, New Blog

I've wanted to redesign my blog for a long time now, using this photo that Chris took on our first bicycle ride after we moved to our new house last summer. And the blog really needed some pink to cheer up the winter grays! Is it just me, or do you want to sleep all the time too?

In need of an easy car/stress knitting project, I pulled out the plum Classic Bunny wool and Trellis Lace Scarf pattern that I found at the Oasis Farm booth at Rhinebeck.

 

Here is a closeup of the pattern. I don't believe it's available on Ravelry.

In the spirit of EZ and my "knit to the next level" goal, I'm struggling with modifying the sole of this slipper to fit due to wonky gauge. First, it was too narrow, so I went up two needle sizes. Now it's too long...

 

Taking a break from mysteries, I started this novel, found in an antique shop, around Christmastime.

 

I had not heard of Berta Ruck before, but apparently she was a prolific Welsh novelist in the early to mid 1900s. This volume was published in the U.S by Triangle Books. I love, love, love the vintage illustrations for these books, even if the stories are simplistic by today's standards (aka comfort reading). The main character in this story, Jill, is a quiet young woman who loves animals and wants to be a writer. Chris saw it and thought I might like it! Next up are more J.D. Robb mysteries from birthday girl-knitter MrsSDC, and the Barbara Pym I found months ago.

Speaking of books, another friend introduced me to Book Mooch. It's essentially a book trading website -- you send your unwanted books to those who have them on a wish list, and then you select wanted books from others, to send to you. You can limit to the U.S., or send internationally. I'm about to send out my first books, and will probably choose some Hamish MacBeth mysteries in exchange. It's not a site for books you want right away, and it doesn't offer very many art/design/knitting books, but if you are a prolific reader it could save you a lot of money and shelf space. You also get books in the mail!

Last but not least, a certain blog photographer, racer, and husband celebrated his 40th birthday last Friday. Happy Birthday honey!

P.S. I really didn't intend to coordinate my new projects with the new blog color scheme.

Cat's Paw Scarf & A Visit with Edith Wharton

  My girl Rainy

Pattern: Cat's Paw Scarf

Yarn: 1 skein Lace Malabrigo, Tuareg 98, awarded as a prize from a blog contest by Karen (thank you!). There is enough left over to make a second scarf.

Needles: size 8 aluminium

Finished Size: approx. 4" x 62"

Mods: cat's paw walking pattern, from the kind and generous multi-crafty.

 After blocking #2

Notes: This scarf will be donated for the upcoming silent auction at the cat shelter where I volunteer. I substituted this gentle wool for the mohair in the pattern, as the potential bidders may not like the fuzz of mohair, or find it scratchy. It is narrower than I'd intended; I'd hoped that it would block out wider, as laceweight yarn typically does. It doesn't seem to have budged an inch on either side, despite blocking twice, no, three times. So, I've made it long enough that it can be wrapped multiple times around the neck for warmth. Next time, I'd go up to a DK weight yarn for this pattern. The wool is very soft, and the pattern was easy and fun to knit. Paws crossed that it will fetch a good price for the kitties.

  The Mount, Edith Wharton's home*

On Saturday I attended a conference called Justice for Animals, about the link between animal abuse and domestic violence, and what various state officials are advocating to protect the animals. Very educational, the kinds of things you just don't read about in the newsletters. Sunday was much more fun, as six of us went to The Mount, Edith Wharton's home in Lenox, MA. Even in fall, the garden was glorious (see their website banner)! The first floor of her home has been restored, but the second still awaits restoration. She has the most gorgeous library, with her personal collection recently purchased and shipped back from England.

   One side of the library*

The museum has extended its hours through November, so I hope if you are local and haven't had a chance to visit yet, that you won't miss it. Edith, in addition to being the first woman to win a Pulitzer prize, for The Age of Innocence in 1921, also wrote important design books like "The Decoration of Houses" and "Italian Villas and their Gardens." She designed The Mount's home and landscaping based on the principles outlined in her books. I so envy her talent in all of these areas. I have to wonder, in this era of specialization, if it's possible to be so good at so many things, all at the same time? What do you think? Have you ever visited an author's home/museum, and if so, what was it like?

  The Garden, looking out the front door to the left*

  The Garden, looking out the front door to the right*

Knitting Public Service Announcement: Southern New England knitters may be interested in a meet up at Mystic River Yarns on November 8th, from 10-12pm. Please email me at scarlett22770 at yahoo dot com, or Kristen if you plan to attend, as space is limited, and we'll need to reserve an extra room if many can join us.

*taken by Chris :)

Two Finished Objects

The angora scarf is finished (but unblocked).

Pattern: Lacy Garter Stitch scarf, from a knitting teacher friend

Yarn: Naturally Sensation, Merino Angora, shade # 300, 2 skeins

Needles: Aluminium size 8

Size: approx 6" wide, 46" long

Mods: None really, just knitted 4 rows of garter instead of 5 on the borders.

The curly mohair scarf in the previous post was frogged last night. The yarn was difficult to unravel and I'm disappointed that some of the loops became undone. This yarn was not inexpensive. If you want to work with loopy mohair, I'd recommend the Color Me or Schaefer brands instead. I'm experimenting with something else for a Christmas scarf, and if it works, I'll show you a photo next time.

Kyle tagged me for the 8 weird things meme a little while ago, but since I have already done the six weird things and seven random things, I thought I'd just post the links here, and add one: I don't have a sweet tooth (ie chocolate or candy), but have become addicted to the chocolate chip cookies at Dunkin Donuts. Badly.

We're a little more than half way done removing the bathroom wallpaper. I'll try to get a progress shot soon (it's dark and rainy today). In the meantime, I've got a dining room shot for you. This room is done for now, though someday I hope to paint over the brown (my least favorite color), update my old curtains, make the room less formal, etc. It's hard when you want to do everything at once!

Rhinebeck: After much going back and forth in my mind about it, I've decided to go on Saturday. I'll wear the pink pie wedge shawl and if you see me, please say hello! I will do the same. My email is adamsdebra AT sbcglobal DOT com if you'd like to contact me, and here is a picture of me in a previous post.

We received some sad news today from our vet. The specialist said that Charlie isn't responding to the chemotherapy, and there isn't anything else they can do. We are going to just take it day by day and make him as comfortable as possible. We would very much appreciate your thoughts and prayers.