Long Weekend Yarn Play

Boy oh boy, there is a lot to write about this week.

I like to visualize and image events before they happen.  It helps me to prepare and is part of how I look forward to events.  Most of the time the event turns out nothing like what I imagined.  Usually neither better or worse than imagined, just different. Sometimes worse.  But every once in a while an event is not only just the way I imagined it to be but also so much better.  That is what this weekend was like.  This story starts almost 100 years ago but I will try to be brief.

Hubby's great aunt, his paternal grandfather's twin sister Alma married Ben. Ben was American and Alma was Canadian.  They spent their married life living in Detroit Michigan. They had no children.  Ben died first when Hubby was about 5 years old.   Alma died a few years later when Hubby was about 10.  His father inherited Alma's household items and when her house was emptied, her goods were put into their family's basement.  Soon after the basement flooded and everything was wet and ruined; fit only for the garbage.  Hubby found a can floating in the basement and took it.  Inside was a rolled up pad of paper.  Hubby did not really know what he had but was fascinated with the idea of a book in a can.  He kept it.

The canister rusted from being wet but it was the can that protected the pad inside from damage.  For years the canister was stored in a box of Hubby's childhood treasures.  His mother moved it from house to house each time his parents moved.  Hubby found the box when his mother passed away and rediscovered the canister.  Now as an adult he recognized what he had.

His great uncle Ben had been a member of a special unit during the First World War.  He was living in the US and became a part of the Polar Bears.  This unit consisted of 5,000 Americans and another 5,000 international allied troops including British, Canadians and Scots.  They were sent to Russia to support the Imperialist troops.  What Hubby had was Corporal Ben's diary from his army service.

For years, Hubby debated what he wanted to do with the diary.  We have no children to pass it down to.  Hubby's brothers would not care about the diary.  It was a dilemma.  He considered donating it to a Canadian museum but would a Canadian museum care about an American soldier serving with an American contingent.  Over a year ago he contacted a university in Michigan that maintained some material on this unit in their archives.  However the response he received was far less than enthusiastic.

This year, he contacted the president of the historical association for this unit in Michigan.  It started a dialogue.  Hubby learned that while Ben may have lived in Detroit, he was born in Toronto Ontario.  He learned other things he did not know.  This dialogue led to Hubby learning about the Michigan's Military and Space Heroes Museum.  They maintain an exhibit for the Polar Bears, an archive and are involved in education with respect to this unit.  They were excited about the diary.  Ben was part of Company D and they had very few artifacts from that company.

On Friday, Canada Day, Hubby and I went to Frankenmuth Michigan to donate the diary to this Michigan museum.  I imagined that we would be welcomed, thanked and offered a tour of the museum.  All that happened but it was so much more than just that.  Hubby and I had assumed that the can and pad were standard army issue.  The two fit together so perfectly they had to have been a set.  We figured that that since each soldier received one, the museum would have lots of them.  We were wrong.

The canister and pad were not army issue.  The museum staff thinks the can was probably a bread can.  The pad looks army.  It was Dominion Paper and had Expeditionary Force printed on it.  Not American.  It could be British or Canadian.  Ben probably scooped the can because it fit the pad rolled up and offered protection from the rain, cold and snow.  The museum we learned had maybe a dozen diaries but none like this one.  This one was unique.  Ben wrote in detail what happened to him but only twice wrote anything that could be interpreted as a complaint.  He rarely mentions a name, certainly not Alma's so we suspect that Alma did not enter his life until after the war.  He also drew maps in the diary.  You could see that our hosts were just itching to read through the diary.  This was going to mean so much to the collection.

We had our picture taken with the canister and diary.  We received Polar Bear pins. Before our visit, we felt that donating the diary to this museum was the right thing to do.  We now feel that it was the perfect thing to do.  One day we hope to be watching a documentary on this part of WWI and hear someone reading Ben's words. I know we will cry.

Some of you reading this will wonder why I am writing the above when this is a blog about knitting.  Well for me everything is somehow related to knitting.  When Hubby showed me a map of Frankenmuth so we could locate the museum I laughed and said I knew exactly where it was.  It was next door to the Zeilinger Wool Co.  Well almost next door.  There is a motel between the two.

They carry fibre for spinning plus lots more.  They also carry a small amount of wool yarn.  A number of years ago I bought some natural skeins to dye myself.  I dyed most with indigo and they were the nicest blue I ever got.

See what I picked up this time!

The cone is sock yarn.  I love the marketing idea of a washed mini-skein attached to the cone so you can see how lovely the yarn is after washing.  The copper yarn will be one of my next Fair projects if all goes according to plan.

When we arrived at the museum, we chatted with the lovely young lady at the front desk.  We talked about going to the Mill next door.  She shared her own story.  The organizer of a bus trip was arranging for the bus to stop at the museum.  However, she could not give a head count of how many would go into the museum and how many would head next door to the mill!

Frankenmuth has an abundance of interests for a wool aficionado.  Rapunzel's downtown across from the Bavarian Inn and next to Zehnder's - famous for its chicken dinners - carries lovely things including yarn and knitting supplies.  I had a stitch holder emergency - I hadn't brought any - I ended up purchasing some Clover darning needles so I could thread yarn from the next project as stitch holders.  Hubby spotted a shawl pin and pointed it out.  I just had to have it.  Apparently a local woman makes them special for this store only.   I managed to not buy yarn which for me is a major exercise of willpower.

See the pin?

I also found a bead store - Bead Haven.  I have something in mind for these - the entry for beads and knitting.  We will see if it works out later.

Here are a few random shots taken in Frankenmuth.  The day was both cloudy and sunny and changed constantly.  Sometimes in less time that it took me to set up the camera settings.  I like to take photos old school.

We spent Saturday shopping at the factory outlet mall in Birch Run.  It is Hubby's idea of shopping.  We spend one day every 2 to 3 years hitting the stores.  He gets his clothes and underwear all in one go.  While there are other big malls like this now, we still like Birch Run.  We know which stores we like.  We know where they are.  We also know that things change.  We used to stay at the Super 8 motel.  It is now an America's Best Value Inn.  We still stay there.  But this year there were too many changes for us.  The restaurant we liked to eat at is now closed.  We were sad.  We can roll with this so we headed to our second favourite restaurant - Big Boy.  Gone.  It is now Leo's Coney Island Restaurant.  Habits die hard - we went in anyway.  On the way out, Hubby told the cashier we were disappointed when we came in that it was not the Big Boy -we were no longer disappointed.

Almost all our favourite stores are still at the mall with two exceptions.  The Woolrich outlet is gone and the Bath and Body Shop.  Other stores have come and gone.  We could not remember what shops were in some of the empty stores.  We even tried out a few new ones.  They are not likely to replace our favourites.

Even though the weekend was full, there was still knitting time - sitting at the border (both ways), the car ride, the evenings and the mornings.  The vest is ready for blocking before adding the front and neck bands.

 One of the things I like about this pattern is the waist shaping.  It creates a lovely detail the way the decreases and increases flow to create the effect of a dart.

This morning I started the shopping bag.  I got a lot of knitting done sitting on the Ambassador Bridge coming back into Canada.

There were only 4 customs booths open on the last day of a long weekend for Canada and the middle of a long weekend for Americans.  We waited for more than an hour.  We had to pick Reba up from the "Spa" by noon or wait until Monday morning to fetch her.  I called the kennel and left a message that we were on our way but held up at the border.  We might be late.  We did arrive with 5 minutes to spare.  Three other families rushed in behind us.  We weren't the only ones anxious to reunite with family.

The 2016 Harrow Fair booklet is now on their site.  There is one new category this year so now there are 49 categories for knitting.  They have added a lapghan 36" by 48",  Why oh why could it not be something small?

If you want to follow the site, there is a countdown clock for the fair.  I try not to look at it.  If I do it depresses me and I can't sleep.

Quickie

This is going to be a short post.  I am heading to Niagara tomorrow to do a few things for my mother.

This week has seen a couple more items go into the finished projects drawer.  The Christmas stocking:

For weeks now I have had a Panda Hat as my choice for the Character Hat category.  I wanted a quick and easy project.  Instead I flipped the pattern over and knit the owl hat.  I really can't explain why.  Maybe it is just too adorable for words.

The pattern is  James C. Brett JB237 Hats and Fingerless Gloves.  Both the Owl and Panda are included.  I used yarn from my stash.  This yarn is long discontinued and I fell in love with this lovely soft superwash merino the first time I knit with it.  Both Patons and Berella brands carried it.  Patons was called Country Garden and Berella was the Claire Murray Collection.  When I learned it was discontinued I bought every ball I could find.  I have a lot in my stash.  I have been using it and the amount has shrunk somewhat over the years but there are still sweater quantities of some colours.

The button eyes are out of my button tin.  I think they are perfect owl eyes.

The girl's sweater project has stalled.  I am at the point where I need to sit quietly at home and knit with the chart in front of me.  The next section is intarsia so I am trying to manage lots of yarn balls as well.  I have started the back but keep doing other projects that I can carry around and work on.

The pattern is the Snowflake Sweater - a kit from Mary Maxim.  I picked it up on Hubby's and my weekend in Paris.

I also started the Women's Vest project.  This one will be for me.

The pattern is the Button Box Vest from the 2013 Spring and Summer issue of Knitty.  My vest will have some modifications from the pattern.  I have lengthened the vest and eliminated the pockets.  I am putting the bobbles up the front only.  I will be reshaping the underarms to give the "girls" a little more coverage.   I also plan to eliminate the collar.  I am making all these alterations because this is the second time I am knitting this pattern.  While I really like the original vest I knit I think the changes will make this different enough from the first one and will fit nicely into my wardrobe.  In wearing the original, I don't use the pockets and I always seem to be tugging the vest down to make it longer.

The yarn is Cascade 220 Heathers in the colourway Ireland.  I bought it in 2013 at Mary Maxim.  I loved the colour.  Actually I loved it so much I bought more the next time I saw it.  If you remember, the Man's Vest made in the fall is the same yarn and colourway.

I have also picked out the next two project patterns and yarn.  They are sitting across the table from me taunting me to get started on them.  All in good time my pretties, all in good time.

Some Progress

The first thing I do when I am preparing for a new post to this blog is to update my excel spreadsheet for the progress made on the entries.  Most of the time there is very little to change on the worksheet and I feel let down.  I just love colouring the spaces in green to mark my progress.  Today I was tickled green as I updated the spreadsheet.  There was  lots to colour in and percentages to change.  To me this was even more amazing since I had very little knitting time these past two weeks.

Last weekend was spent dealing with family stuff.  I went to see my mother and help my brother with chores that needed to be done before my mother's house is put up for sale.  Again I came home with a car full of stuff.

I have been having bouts of diverticulitis and suffering a great deal of pain.  This week was so bad I could not go to work.  I couldn't knit either.  I ended up in emerg at the Leamington hospital which greatly sped up the time it took to get a cat-scan.  While waiting for the scan, I started a new project.  I should have realized that I was in no shape to knit on anyhing.  I failed to fully read the pattern and started the cuff of a Christmas stocking in the round.  It worked fine until I got to where there were short-rows and the colour blue added.  If I was feeling better, I might have been able to figure out how to do this in the round and have it all work out but my brain was not functioning well and I came home and ripped it all out.  I started over, this time following the pattern.  It worked just fine going back and forth.  The main sock part is knit in the round and knits up quickly.  There was only a short seam on the cuff to do.

The knitting is almost all done on this stocking.  Just the loop for hanging to add.  I am now at the fussy bits - adding the snowmen and doing the embroidery.

Here is an almost completed Christmas stocking.

The white yarn is Galway 100% wool.  I bought it at the Little Red Mitten before they stopped carrying this brand.  The blue is Paton's Classic Wool picked up at the 2014 Listowel Tent Sale.  It is in a discontinued colourway.  The red for the scarf is a bit of left over wool from my Gansey knit earlier for the Fair.  The black for the hat is just some leftover yarn from my stash.  The orange for the nose is some yarn I dyed with flowers from my garden and is left over from some project knit last year.  The stocking pattern is Winter Wonderland from a Leisure Arts book - The Stockings Were Knit.  I picked up the book in the fall on a trip to the Mary Maxim store in London (Ontario).

On one of my pain days, I was unable to sit for any length of time.  So I puttered about the house to cope.  I had a bit of a blocking party.

The dresser in the background above is one I brought home from my mother's house.  The drawers are large and deep.  I had a smaller dresser in this spot for storing my knitted items in.  This one holds so much more.  The other one was full and most of my entries were being stored in a plastic tub elsewhere.  Now all my entries are in this dresser with room for still more.  This dresser was originally a gift to my father from his mother.  The gift was made in June of 1969.  I know because it is written on the back.  I feel my Babcia would be pleased to know that I have this dresser and that it is being stuffed with hand crafts.  Her crocheted doilies and embroidered dresser scarves are in the top drawer.

On Friday, I was home and not feeling up to doing much.  My pain levels are back to the normal aches and pains of a woman my age but I am still tired.  I had a finishing up day.  Four more items to go into the dresser drawers.

The button on the above hat came from my button collection.

The tea cozy doesn't quite fit any of my teapots.  I blocked the cozy using my basic round flat-topped teapot. I thought the camel pot would be a better fit but no it isn't.  A few years ago I had a party and put out tea in several teapots.  Everyone wanted to drink the tea from the camel pot.  I had to refill it several times while the other pots went untouched.  Same tea in each but the camel was the most popular.  I think I will have to make a trip to the Blimey store in Harrow soon to get a small brown betty pot for this cozy.

The Luella shawl still needs to be blocked.  The cushion requires a trip to Fabricland in Windsor to get a grey zipper and a cushion form before I can finish it.  The child's sweater is still on the needles. The Christmas stocking needs some final touches to be finished.  It is time to cast on something else.

I now have 24 complete items.  This is more than I have ever entered in the Harrow Fair before so that is an accomplishment in its own right.  2 projects are almost done.  1 is in progress.  3 are chosen but not yet started and 12 are untouched.  My gut tells me I won't finish 42 items in time but I am going to bravely carry on.  It ain't over until Wednesday August 31 when the entries have to be delivered to the Harrow Fair.

Just a reminder that the Fair starts Thursday September 1 and ends on Sunday September 4 at 5:pm.

A Tale of Two Cacti

One of the items I brought home from my mother's house is a very unusual family heirloom.  It is a Christmas cactus that we can trace to my great grandmother.  Her name was the same as mine - Mary Jane.  She went by Jane.  She passed away in 1938.  My mother inherited the plant when Jane's youngest daughter, Hazel passed away in 1977.  It did not like the spot in my mother's house where it lived.  It was yellowing and rather sad looking.  I used all my strength to lift the large clay pot it was in and put it in the passenger seat of my car.  Over the course of the trip home in the full sun in the car the plant turned a dark green again.

As soon as I could buy some new potting soil, I repotted the plant.  Here is the old one.

Over the years it had cracked.  The salts in the soil crusted over the top and were eating away at the pot.  I bought a new clay pot and here is Jane's cactus in its new home.

I like having the plant.  It feels like a living connection to a fellow knitter even though we never met.  The only memory my mother has of her grandmother is Jane's funeral.  Jane was a knitter.  I learned this when I found a copy of her obituary.  According to the newspaper, many residents of the area where she lived were the beneficiary of her knitting largesse.

 I already had my own Christmas Cactus.  It gives me a connection to my own past.  I bought a home in 1988 when I was single and starting a new job in a new city.  TD Bank held the mortgage and they sent me a collection of plants in a single pot as a thank you for signing with the Bank.  The plants soon outgrew the single pot so I separated them.  There were five.  I still have 3 of them.  One sadly had to go to make room for the new cactus.  One of the original 5 was also a Christmas Cactus.  I always thought it was doing well in my house.  It grew and bloomed each year.  It stayed a nice green.  I thought it was happy.  I don't know if plants experience jealousy but as soon as Jane's cactus arrived, mine started to drop leaves.  Not one  leaf here or there but whole branches.  It is still drooping and I am worried about it.

Here is mine.

It looks fine in the photo but it is about 2/3 the size it was two weeks ago.  I am still afraid the branch on the left may go next.

The long weekend was taken up by a yard sale at my mother's.

Here is what I learned at the yard sale:

1. People will buy the strangest things.   My brother and I argued about this one.  I toured the near empty back garage with him to see what else we could put out for sale.  There were two pike poles.  Just the poles.  The pike ends were missing.  My brother said they were useless -  poles without pikes.  I insisted that we should put them out anyway.  Within 5 minutes they were gone.  A lady thought they would be perfect for attaching to bird houses.  The tire chains for a long gone tractor soon followed - chain is chain.  An old rope sold and a coil of old wire soon went too.
2. It is a great way to meet the neighbours.  Over the course of the sale just about all the neighbours stopped by.  Sad to meet them now that my mother is moving.
3. Most people don't know where they are.  My mother lived on Four Mile Creek Road.  If you are driving on Four Mile Creek Road, why would you think that the body of water you are driving along is called anything other than Four Mile Creek?  I was asked numerous times what that body of water was called behind the house.
4. Sometimes a $1.00 can bring happiness.  Our happiest customer was a little girl of about 4 years of age.  She bought a box of barbie dolls with a few hand made clothes then proceeded to sit on the grass happily playing with the dolls while her father examined the rest of the items on sale.  Once he was done and she packed up the dolls, she insisted on telling all the other people at the sale about her purchase.
5. Stop accumulating Stuff. Possessions can become shackles.  Our memories are in our heads.  They should not be imbued in our things.  Stuff simply becomes a burden for someone to deal with later. (I get the irony here from my earlier comments and the ones that follow)

Following the sale, Hubby and I filled each of our cars with things from my mother's house.  Monday night we started purging our our house of stuff to make room for the stuff from my Mother's house.  We have made some progress.  There are boxes in the garage for shredding.  We took boxes of books to a used book store and sold them.  Each week I have an extra garbage bag out on the curb with things I realize I don't need or want.

I think I like the stuff I knit because if you use it then it will wear out and there should be no guilt when it is tossed.  There is irony here too.  I took two sweaters from my mother that my Aunt Irene knit.  They are now stored next to the sweater she knit for me.  Now there are three sweaters in the spare closet I can't wear.

There has been some progress on the knitting front.  I finished the cushion entry.  Finished is not quite the right word.  It still needs to be blocked, assembled and stuffed.

The pattern called for the back to be plain stockinette.  I had enough yarn so I made the back and front patterned.  That way it should wear better in use as it will be fully reversible.

The pattern is the Interlaced Cable Cushion from Hayfield's Bonus Aran Tweed #9804.  The yarn is Briggs and Little Heritage 100% wool in colourway Sheeps Grey.  Both pattern and yarn were picked up at the Little Red Mitten in St Thomas on my last visit there.

I have started the Tea Cosy.

The pattern is Sheep Carousel by Kate Davies.  I love Kate's description of it as a Jolly Tea Pot Cosy.  It starts with a provisional cast on with waste yarn, hence the orange yarn at the bottom.  I am at the second Vikkel Braid and then there is just the top shaping left to knit.  Of course it will have to be blocked, the steeks for the spout and handle cut and finished but it is almost done.  Right?

The yarn I am using is Harrisville Shetland in colourways Toffee and White.  Toffee was as close as I could come to the moorit colourway called for in her pattern.  Again, the yarn was purchased at Little Red Mitten.

I should be able to start the blocking process.  I like to block items on the double bed in the spare room.  It has been out of commission for a while as it was covered in things from my mother.  I have cleared the bed now and it is available for use again.

I decided to check my progress towards my goal of 42 items.  I ended up depressed instead.

I have:

• 19 actual completed items.  They are now stored in a lovely tall boy dresser from my mother's house.  The dresser was a gift to my father from my grandmother June 2, 1969.  At least that is what it says on the back.
• 5 items awaiting blocking and finishing.
• 1 item on the needles in progress.
• 4 projects chosen but not yet started.
• 13 items where I I haven't a clue what pattern or yarn I will use.

There are 12 weeks and 3 days left to go.

That's Life

Each time I write that there is no time for knitting during the week, I feel like I am sending out excuses why I won't make the goal of 42 items for the Harrow Fair.  Over the course of a year, lot's of events happen to derail my knitting time.  Once again LIFE interferes.  This past week, I spent with my mother sorting through her stuff.

My mother is planning on moving into a retirement community.  She is downsizing.  She is moving from a huge house with a full basement and a property that has three garages into a one bedroom with sitting room and kitchenette.  Because she had so much storage room, she has not ever done a serious purge.

My brother has been taking care of the garages and the outside items.  I went to help with the inside stuff.  We sorted the things she will take with her, what to throw out, what I was to take, what was to go to others and what was to be put into a garage sale.  There is so much stuff we put an ad in the local paper for a 3 day sale on the Victoria Day weekend.  We did not finish.  I have to go back before next weekend.

I brought a carload home with me.  I have arranged for a truck for next weekend to bring home the rest of my stuff.

I carefully packed knitting to take with me thinking - well I really don't know what I was thinking.  I collapsed every night into bed exhausted, slept for a bit and went right back to sorting, packing and pricing.  Not a stitch was done between Monday and getting back home.

I came home late on Thursday.  Hubby and I had planned a weekend getaway for this past weekend before my mother announced her plans.  Because of work commitments for each of us we have barely seen each other for the last 2 and 1/2 months.  We did not want to cancel.  Our upcoming schedules are going to be full too.

We went to Paris for the weekend.  Not that Paris.  The one in Ontario.  At least we started off in Paris.  We explored the downtown first.

Hubby, bought cheesecake.  I bought chocolates.  I browsed the John M. Hall store and picked up a new table cloth,  I recognize the irony in this.  I am bringing a selection of cloths from my mother however, she is keeping the round table and the round cloths.  The one I bought is for my round table.

Our next stop was Mary Maxim.  I picked up a sweater kit for the girl's sweater category.

We stayed over in Brantford.  We spent the evening watching old movies on the TCM station - one we do not get at home.

On Saturday we toured the Bell Museum.  We ended up with a private tour of the homestead as it was raining and we were the only tourists there.  Our tour guide was very good and we enjoyed the museum very much.

We decided to drive around Brantford just to see what we could see.  I felt we were driving aimlessly.  Hubby was playing with the cell phone.  We pulled up to the corner of West and Morton Streets when Hubby announced Len's Mill Store is on Morton.  I was in the right hand lane so we turned right.  We are driving along when I spot the store.  Hubby looking at the phone said the store should be around he..... The rest of the sentence was lost when I pulled into the parking lot at full speed.

I picked up some solid coloured sock yarn.

I asked Hubby about knowing where the store was.  I had been to the Brantford store once before many years ago but now it was in a different location.  He said I had him trained.  When you don't know what else to do, look for a yarn store.  He had just googled Brantford yarn stores and Len's Mill Store popped up at the same time as our arrival at Morton Street.

For our afternoon's entertainment we headed to the Brantford Artillery Club otherwise known as Gunners.  They hold a Saturday afternoon dance with a live band.  It seems strange until you realize the age of their members.  There was a live band - Final Edition.  They played a wide variety of music from different eras.  We danced, we bought tickets for the meat roll, 50/50 draw and the roast beef draw.  We partied with the group celebrating Eileen's 80th birthday.  We celebrated with the wedding guests from upstairs.  They came to the dance between the marriage ceremony and dinner.  The bride and groom had their first dance with us.  All in all we had a good time.  The dance ended at 6 so we went to dinner.

We finished the day again watching old movies on TCM.  This time it was comedies so we had a few good laughs.

I highly recommend Paris and Brantford for a lovely weekend getaway.

Hubby did the driving so I had a chance to do some knitting.  The booties for the three piece set are done except for the seaming.  I picked up some buttons and ribbon to finish the set at Modern Bee when my mother and I were out doing errands that needed to be done.

I finished the newborn hat and bootee set except for the seaming and the hat strap.

Sometime last Sunday, I needed some comfort knitting so I finished a pair of socks I started last summer.  All that was left to do was the last inch and ribbing of the second sock. Easy.

My delusion continues on the finished status of the knitting.  Nothing has been blocked yet.