Robin & Marion --- 33 Years Later

I LOVED this movie... it's on now... I'll get back to you:

Okay, I lied --- I didn't get back to you. But I'll try to make up for that. Last night I discovered that the 1976 movie, Robin and Marion, was available on Netflix's Watch Instantly. I loved that movie when it first came out and, over the years, I've watched it several more times but last night was the first time that I really, really understood it --- I guess that's what happens when you get older.

The story, for anyone who does not know, is a take-off on the Robin Hood legends but in this version quite a few years have gone by and the wild impulsiveness of youth has been tempered by experience --- and it sort of sucks. Robin and John, played by Sean Connery and Nicol Williamson, one of my favorite actors, have been away at the crusades fighting with Richard Lionheart, flamboyantly portrayed by the late Richard Harris who is just plain wonderful. They are battle-weary and disgusted so when Richard takes an arrow in the neck and keels over while threatening to have them both executed (again), they decide to return to Sherwood Forest. But Sherwood Forest ain't what it used to be. Most of their men have scattered and the only ones left are Friar Tuck and Will Scarlet, played by the always wonderful Denholm Elliot. They also learn that when Robin marched off to war without so much as a good-bye, Marion joined the convent and is now the Mother Abbess. Audrey Hepburn as Marion is just absolutely exquisite --- well, she's exquisite in everything but especially in this film as the delicate but fiery counter-point to a crew of scruffy, crusty, smelly warriors, she is like a flower in a pile of rocks.

When Robin finds her she is about to be arrested by the Sheriff of Nottingham, devilishly played by Robert Shaw, another of my very favorite actors. He's still the Sheriff and has had enough of all these crazy fools trying to rouse the rabble to fight King John, also deliciously portrayed by Ian Holm. The rest of the movie is a brilliant adventure in craziness, the unfortunate interference of human frailty that comes with age, and heart-breaking sweetness.

Though I loved this movie thirty years ago, now, as I am dealing with my own confrontations with age and its insults, as well as having lost someone I love, the movie affected me in a whole new way. Naturally it was delicious seeing all those wonderful faces again --- Robin and Marion has nothing if not a spectacular cast. But there were moments in which I felt as if my heart was breaking along with the characters. When Little John tells Marion, who is trying to convince him to prevent Robin from getting into another battle, that “if you were mine, I'd never have gone (off to the Crusades)”, I was stunned that I had never paid attention to that scene before. And finally, when things have gone badly, Marion steps aside so it is Little John --- who has spent all those many years fighting beside Robin in the Holy Land --- who is closest to him at the end.

It's a beautiful, deeply moving movie. Marion's love for Robin is at the heart of it but Robin's love for Little John, for his men and the people he spent his life fighting for, and even for King Richard, is given equal weight and it touched me deeply and made me think about that. We live in a culture that idolizes romantic love and romantic love is a beautiful thing. But there is so much more love than just the love between a man and woman in the world. I guess I loved this movie for portraying that so well.

It's just all this getting older stuff. It comes with so many disappointments and limitations and confrontations with one's own short-comings. But it also provides an opportunity to look at our lives without the “glamor” (in the fairy-sense) of romance and realize that, despite what has passed from our lives, there is also this legacy of all this stuff we have had --- and will always have.

I'm glad I saw it again and this time with a wealth of experience that lends itself to appreciation. I'm not real crazy about this growing older business --- but it certainly has been well-earned and achieved through much that is good.

Thanks for reading.

Down to the Sea: 4. Mermaids

Mermaids are a treasured part of maritime lore. Stories of mermaids exist in seafaring cultures going back a thousand years before Christ. Though most cultures allow that there may be mermen as well, few have much mythology around them --- probably because the maritime trade was practiced mostly by men. Men alone at sea for long weeks, months, years longed for women and it is not surprising that they fantasized about them being available at sea.

Psychologically the mermaid has long represented the wild, untamed sexuality of women --- women who are free and unbound by the constraints of society. Is it any wonder that men fantasize about them and women long to be them?

In art mermaids have long provided an inspiration. During the Pre-Raphaelite period they were particularly popular among artists including Frederick Lord Leighton whose lovely “The Siren and the Fisherman” (right) probably epitomizes the fantasies of the men who dreamed up mermids in the first place. One of my favorite mermaid paintings is by Rockport artist Christine Mosher (left). So, an exhibition of mermaid art is definitely called for.

Mermaids have, fairly accidentally, become a theme in my life. My first novel, The Old Mermaid's Tale, was named that because the waterfront tavern that inspired the book was called The Mermaid Tavern. As a kid in Erie, PA, I was fascinated by it and, as an adult, my imaginings resulted in a romantic story based in the maritime lore of the Great Lakes. Later I designed a shawl that I named The Mermaid Shawl. That turned into a book of knitting designs and on and on it went.

For our proposed festival I an imagining mermaids having a prominent place in art and crafts. Coney Island has long been the home of a notorious Mermaid Parade which has a reputation for being more than a little risqué. But I think a Sailors and Mermaids Ball might be quite in order.

And, because children love mermaids we should include a Mer-Party for the little ones, too. Actually, I'm hoping to have quite a lot of activities for children --- including a paper maché Sea-Serpent event but more about that in another blog.

I've heard from a number of people since I started posting about this and all the comments have been positive and encouraging. There are two big events planned for 2010 in Gloucester but the Down To The Sea Festival may emerge as a natural outgrowth of one of them. In 2010 Gloucester is planning to host a Whale Festival. Many of the local whale-watch businesses are working on this and it will, of course, include the Maritime Heritage Center.

The other event being planned is The 100^th Anniversary of poet Charles Olsen being planned for October.

Some great suggestions and ideas have come from people who are enthusiastic about a Down To The Sea Festival --- everything from a chowder cook-off to a lobsterboat drag race. Keep the ideas coming --- they are all good.

Thanks for reading.

Down to the Sea: 3. Fisherman's Sweaters and Seaman's Scarves

Continuing with my fantasy of a Down-to-the-Sea Festival in Gloucester, let me add that my idea for the festival is a celebration of many diverse maritime related traditions, whether they were practiced locally or not. This festival celebrates the rich heritage of maritime culture. So let's talk about the famous fisherman's sweaters that originated in the island fishing communities of Ireland and Scotland.

In the photo below is a collection of historic photos of fishermen, sealers, and mariners (and one female knitter) all sporting their traditional fisherman sweaters. Some are in the Aran fashion and some in the Guensey. The traditional sweaters were knit in untreated lambs wool which is rich in lanolin so it adds to the warmth and the water-resistant features so important for men who earned their living working the sea. The patterns, particularly in the Aran sweaters, add to the thickness, and thus the warmth of the sweaters. There are hundreds of patterns in both fashions, Aran (which is thicker and features cables) and Guensey (which is flatter and patterned with stitches in combinations of knit and purl to form the design.)

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

There is a legend that the patterns are particular to families and/or villages and this may or may not be true. The knitters of a village may have created a particular design but it was likely copied in short order by other knitters. Often the name or the initials of the sweater's owner was knit in to the hem. There is also a story that drown mariners were identified by their sweaters. This idea was used by Irish writer John Millington Synge in his play, “Riders to the Sea” in which a woman identifies her drowned son by the design of his sweater.

These sweaters are wonderful for knitters to make. The patterns are so varied and many have religious or symbolic meanings. When I first moved to New England I placed an ad in Yankee Magazine and traded my hand-knit fishermen sweaters for weekends in guest houses up and down the coast. It was a great way to explore my new home.

So, for our festival, we can have fisherman sweaters for sale, exhibits of historic sweaters and workshops for knitters to learn how to knit them. Knitting is closely tied to maritime cultures probably because it is so close to net mending --- but more about that later.

Seaman's Scarves are a traditional short, thick scarf that is knit with ribbing in the middle section to make them less bulky while wrapping around the neck but with patterned ends that cross over the chest for added warmth. They are short so as not to get in the way of equipment. The lovely knitter Myrna Stahman is known throughout the knitting community for her beautiful Seaman's Scarves. One of the most beautiful (at left) was designed in memory of Matthew Shepard. The pattern is free and downloadable online.

Here, again, for our festival I envision scarves for sale, knitting classes, and historic displays. It could be expanded to include seaman's watch caps and fingerless gloves.

Years ago I even knit myself a fisherman (above right) using Guensey-style stitches. He sits on top of my desk and keeps an eye on me as I work. Maybe someday I'll knit him a mermaid. Which brings us to the subject of my next entry, mermaids.

Thanks for reading.

In Memory: The Edmund Fitzgerald

I forgot to post this yesterday, thirty- four years ago, November 10, 1975.........

And, in honor of Veteran's Day, My 2005 Veteran's Day Blog.

Thanks for reading.

Come to the Wearable Arts Show & Sale, Dec. 11-12

I'm happy to tell you that I will be part of this year's Wearable Arts Show & Sale which is part of the annual Middle Street Walk here in Gloucester. I'll be selling my book and giving demonstrations on knitting lace:

3^rd Annual seARTS Wearable Arts Show & Sale

Captivating, Colorful, & Collectible!

Building on two successful shows, the seARTS Wearable Arts group is preparing for its 3^rd annual show to coincide with Gloucester’s Middle Street Walk, December 12^th, with a Friday night, December 11th open house. The Wearable Arts Show provides a unique opportunity to showcase local jewelers and fiber artists and at the same time benefits the Sawyer Free Library and seARTS. The group continues to diversify and distinguish itself on the North Shore by expanding on the wearable arts theme and attracting new artists each year.

Returning jewelry artists include Meredith Anderson, Lee Cunningham, Jo-Ann Demetra, Jacqueline-Ganim-DeFalco, Candy Marshall, Beth Williams, Jan Weinshanker & Judy Wright. Jan and Judy, good friends for many years, combine their 30 year backgrounds in the arts to create jewelry using semi precious stones and old trade beads from places all around the world. Beth Williams will re-locate her downtown studio just for Friday night in order to share her “kaleidoscopic collection of unique earrings, necklaces, bracelets and other items made from handmade glass beads” while Lee Cunningham will share her growing “bold” collection of necklaces that showcase “the strength, color and design of the materials she uses.” Jacqueline Ganim-DeFalco has continued to build on colorful combinations of historic pottery and shards of sea glass to her collection of hair accessories and jewelry.   Jacqueline, one of the organizers comments, “We should all be inspired by the daring icon of style, Iris Apfel,” whose collection is currently on exhibit at the PEM, “I hope that our show gives everyone of us a chance to become an architect of fashion and wear accessories in new and exciting ways!”

New additions include Susan Kenna who creates with felt and Becky Williams, a talented jeweler and vocalist. Margaret Derby will return with her scent-filled sachets and velvet scarves while Camilla MacFadyen will blanket the room with her marvelous seaweed block prints designed into scarves and T-shirts. New fiber artists include Diana Savin of Essex and Nina Lapchyk of Winchester. Diana creates shawls, vests, and jackets from fabrics she has treated with various techniques including shibori, silk screening, and snow dying. Nina comments that “fabric and thread speak directly to and about domestic, and also about the history of women.” Kathleen Valentine will engage visitors with her lace knitting demonstration throughout the show! The common theme for all of the artists is that no two pieces are alike.

The event will begin on Friday evening, kicking off at 5PM with an opening night reception and a chance to mingle and munch until 8PM. The show will re-open on Saturday at 9AM and close at 5PM. Throughout the day, the Library will give tours of the murals in the Saunders House where the show is located.

seARTS members, show participants, and other organizations have donated gift certificates or a piece of their work to be used in a corollary Library fundraiser. Tickets $2 or 3 for $5 will be sold by each artist or at the Library desk from November 16^th through December 12^th. The Wearable Arts show is organized and supported by the artist members of seARTS. seARTS is a coalition of artists, art lovers, cultural institutions, businesses, and municipal organizations, all working together to improve the economic base for the arts and the larger Cape Ann community.  seARTS is partially funded through grants from the Mass Cultural Council and Bruce J. Anderson Foundation.

Details are as follows:

Time: Friday, December 11^th 5-8PM and Saturday, December 12^th, 9-5PM

Location: Saunders House @ the Sawyer Free Library,Middle Street & Dale Avenue

More Information: www.searts.org – Events Calendar

Free and open to the public. 15% of sales to seARTS

Cash & checks preferred. Credit cards only if offered by the individual artist

Down to the Sea: 2. Household Items Carved At Sea

As mentioned in the previous blog, I have this notion that we could construct a pretty interesting festival based in maritime arts and traditions here in Gloucester so, for the time being anyway, I'm going to blog such a festival and see how many more ideas I can come up with. In the last blog I talked about Sailor's Valentines. Because mariners were often at sea for weeks, months, even years, they spent a lot of time thinking about home. Those who worked on whaling ships often had an ample supply of whale bone to carve with and they spent their time carving useful items to present to their beloveds on their return.

One of the most popular items was a pastry crimper used to trim the edge of pie crusts from the pie. The story goes that if a young man presented a young lady with such a crimper she was obliged to make a pie for him. These are a few 19th century pastry crimpers carved from bone:

 

Other household items included utensils like this fork:

 

Letter openers:

 

And busks which are used in the construction of mi'lady's corset:

 

Some of the most frequently created items were for a lady's sewing/knitting basket. These items are so beautiful and, though we no longer can carve from whale bone, there are synthetic substances available that re used by contemporary artisans to simulate the look. Below is a gorgeous and elaborate swift for winding balls of yarn:

 

A pair of knitting needles and clothes pins:

 

A bodkin --- there hundreds of variations on these and most seamstresses today still use them:

 

And a spool rack:

 

So those are just a few of the carved objects in my virtual arts of the sea festival. Those who currently practice these arts can, of course, come and show their work, sell their wares, teach classes --- when I get this festival all worked out.

And, since this post contained examples of tools for knitters, in my next Down-to-the Sea blog I'll talk about fishermen's sweaters and seamen's scarves.

Thanks for reading.   

Down to the Sea: 1. Sailor's Valentines

or some time now I have had this bright idea that I would like to see my beloved hometown-of- choice, Gloucester, begin hosting an annual festival which I want to call the "Down to the Sea" Festival. Lots of tourist towns seek to extend their season by sponsoring a festival either early in the season or late. Newburyport's Literary Arts Festival is already a great success and it is only in its fourth year

So, since the sea has such a rich, rich collection of arts and lore, I think it would be a natural for Gloucester. I even designed  logo for it, see:

The festival would combine arts, crafts, skills, competitions, challenges, etc. It could encompass everything from sea-chantie sing-offs to story telling (ghost stories especially --- wouldn't that be great? a competition to see who could tell the best sea-ghost story???) There could be forums for writers who write about the sea (maybe Mark Kurlanski can host!) and exhibitions of maritime art by our many, many diverse artists (Paul Frontiero, where arrrrre you?) And, of course, there will be exhibits and sales of the crafts associated with the sea. I'm going to talk about those in up-coming blogs and today I'll start with Sailor's Valentines.

The story goes that when men were aboard ship for months at a time they would collect shells and other sea treasures along their travels. Then, with the help of  ship's carpenter, they would fashion a box (the tradition is in the shape of an octagon) and they would spend the long hours aboard-ship fashioning designs inside the box to present to their sweethearts or wives. The piece would be finished with a piece of glass fitted on the top and it would be presented to their beloved upon their return.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum has a lovely collection of Sailor's Valentines. My favorite is this one constructed of all white shells.

Sometimes the natural color of shells were used to create the pattern.

In Nantucket Whaling Museum has this treasure, a double Valentine:

 

Sailor's Valentine

Probable Date:
19th Century

Artist or Maker:
Tracy, Captain Jared Wentworth

Materials:
Shell, wood, glass

Distinguishing Marks:
One side of octagon is very loose.

Height:
1.5"

Length:
18" open

Depth:
8.75"

Description:
Two hexagonal wood boxes joined with a single hinge. Each box contains an arrangement of shells and is glazed with glass. The left box has an anchor and flowers made out of shells. The right box has a basket and flowers made out of shells. This sailor's valentine was a gift from Capt. Jared Wentworth Tracy (1797-1864) to his wife, Mary Hussey Tracy (1809-1891). The anchor symbolized Capt. Tracy's intention to return home and "anchor" at his wife's side.

I think our festival could have an exhibit of contemporary Sailor's Valentines as well as workshops for making them, vendors selling supplies and a competition to see who could create the most beautiful one. 

So the Sailor's Valentine is my first choice for my mythical Down-To-The-Sea Festival. Next time I'll talk bout pastry crimpers.

Thanks for reading.

Jon Stewart's Best Ever!!!

Unbelievable! Stewart is a genius!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/06/jon-stewart-does-glenn-be_n_348129.html&cp

OK, I admit this is vain and petty....

..... but look who is the #3 lace book on Amazon (for the moment) and look which books it is ahead of!!! Will I ever be normal again? (Was I ever?) Since A Gathering of Lace and Victorian Lace Today are two of my very most favorite lace books I am thrilled.

Thanks for indulging me....

My Learn-To-Lace Beach Bag

The thermometer out back reads 43 degrees so, naturally, I am thinking about the beach. Well, okay, maybe that's not really true but if it was I would have the perfect bag to take with me. This is my new beach bag which I knit with a double strand of rayon from Yarntopia Treasures.

What is great about this bag is that it stretches and stretches and stretches. I can put a beach towel, a book, lotion, wallet, and assorted other necessities in it and still have room. It is pretty and extremely sturdy and, perhaps best of all, really lightweight.

The design is based on the same design I have been using for my marketing bags and, when I get them all written up, I'll make the pattern available. A lot of people tell me that they want to learn to knit lace but are intimidated by it so I got this bright idea. Since the important quality of marketing bags is that they be very stretchy and very sturdy. If you knit them up in a lace pattern that provides the stretch, and if you use a good sturdy yarn, like rayon, linen, cotton, or nylon, they will support a full load of groceries without breaking.

So I designed a basic marketing bag with a fairly wide, comfortable shoulder strap and then knit it up in five different lace patterns. My thinking is this --- each bag teaches the knitter a new, basic lace pattern. It's just a marketing bag so if you make some mistakes your groceries won't care. And by the time you have knit all five bags you will have learned five lace patterns and then you'll be hooked and confident and ready to move on to those woolen shawls and cashmere scarves you've been drooling over.

When I finished my marketing bags I had several balls of leftover yarn so I decided to make the beach bag. Because I used a double-strand it is larger and heavier than the marketing bags --- if you filled this bag with groceries you might not be able to lift it. And I worked it in Old Shale because it is one of my favorite lace patterns, is endlessly versatile, and I never get tired of it. Once you learn Old Shale you will automatically know Feather and Fan and Ostrich Plume just by varying the pattern slightly.

So this is my Learn-To-Lace Beach Bag. I'm working on the instructions now. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading.

The Feast of All Saints

Today, November 1^st, is the Feast of All Saints, a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church. For some reason this day has always been special to me. Today, All Saints Day, and tomorrow, All Souls Day, have always held a special attraction --- I guess because they honor all those souls who have passed through this world without being distinguished for any particular reason and yet they are lives that are worthy of remembrance.

Interestingly I stumbled on a movie this morning and wound up spending an hour and a half watching it while knitting lace and drinking coffee. It is a little known indie film called Into Temptation with no actors whose names I recognized and yet some absolutely gorgeous performances - especially by Jeremy Sisto and Kristin Chenowith.

Sisto plays a priest who is the pastor and only priest assigned to an urban church, The Church of Mary Magdalene (interesting name as the story unfolds). He is overworked, underpaid, tired and bored. He spends his days tending his flock: managing a shelter for alcoholic men, counseling parishioners dealing with unemployment, doubts about their Faith, realizing they are gay, etc. He sits in the confessional listening to middle-aged women go on and on about their husbands' inadequacies. He gives boring sermons to small congregations that aren't interested. He's having a tough time.

Then one day a woman comes into his confessional who tells him that she is a prostitute, is tired of the life, was molested by her step-father, and is going to commit suicide on her upcoming birthday. The rest of the movie is about Father Buerlein's attempt to find the woman before it is too late.

I found the movie disturbing in that this priest wound up going into a very steamy, depraved, ugly world --- the world of sex-for-sale --- in search of this woman. Along the way we meet some interesting characters including an old girlfriend and a hilarious, spoiled but still faithful, priest to a wealthy parish who is an old friend from their seminary days.

It's hard to explain how moving this movie was. In large part this was due to the very fine performances by Sisto as the sometimes-bumbling, often frustrated, yet still committed priest, and by Chenowith as the sad, mysterious, broken call-girl. The ending, most especially, is touching because we see, heart-breakingly, how one single act of kindness done decades before, became the one light in a dark and shattered life.

I don't know why I was so captivated by this story. Probably because the two main characters were like all the unrecognized souls that we encounter every day. Both of them chose a way of life and both of them have dealt with their choice as best they can and yet both can't stop wondering what the hell they are doing. And, in the end.... well, I won't tell you the end. But I will say that the very last scene will stay with me for a very long time.

Blessed All Saint's Day and thanks for reading.

Gram Werner's Ghost Stories

My Grandmother Werner (right, at seventeen) was a first generation American. Her parents came from Bavaria with three children and went on to create five more once they were settled in Pennsylvania. Gram loved to tell stories about the Old Country and I'm glad she did. So, since today is Halloween, this is for her.

Gram told me that her parents lived on the edge of the die Schwarzwald, the Black Forest, and her father was a blacksmith and tinker who worked on a great estate. In his free time, he made pots and pans that he took on a cart into the nearest village on market day. To do that he had to push his cart through the Schwarzwald where, he told Gram, it was so dark that the spooks and “haunts” lurked and caused trouble for lone travelers. He fashioned a chain lined with bells and clattering bits of metal that he hung over his cart so the noise would scare away the ghosts as he made his way to market.

Gram believed in witchcraft. The name “hexes” was commonly used instead of witch and Gram swore this story was true. When she was a little girl it was her job to take their cow every day up the street to the cemetery to graze. This was a common practice in St. Marys (the Pennsylvania town her family moved to) and she loved their cow. She said she was never afraid anything bad would happen when she was with the cow. There was an old woman who lived near the cemetery who people were deeply suspicious of. The rumor was she was a “Hex”. Gram's mother often warned her not to let this Hex-Woman come near her but one day when Gram (who was only 9 at the time) was walking home with the cow, the Hex-Woman stopped her. She said what a handsome cow and she petted it. This scared Gram because, of course, her mother had warned her against such things so she didn't tell her mother.

The next day the cow gave no milk. This was a terrible thing for a family of ten who relied on their cow for milk, cream, and butter. Days went by but the cow was dry and could give no milk. Gram's mother, Great-Gram whose name was Marie, was desperate so she consulted her neighbors about what to do. And they told her this: Go to the cow and squeeze out what few drops of milk you can. Put it in a silver cup and bet it with a silver spoon. While you are beating it someone will come to the door and ask for something. This will be the person who hexed the cow and you must ask her what she wants to take away the hex. So, Great-Gram Marie did this and, as she was beating the milk with a silver spoon, the Hex-Woman knocked on the kitchen door and asked to borrow a cup of sugar. Great-Gram Marie asked what she wanted to remove the hex and the Hex-Woman asked for a sack of potatoes and a loaf of bread which Great-Gram Marie gave her.

Gram swore that the next day the cow gave milk again and continued to do so for many years.

But my favorite of Gram's ghost stories was this one: When she was a young married woman her husband, my Grandfather was a musician who played trumpet with a band. Usually she went with him when he played but after their first daughter was born, my Aunt Jane, she couldn't do that. One night for some reason (I was never clear on this) she and Baby Jane went to spend the night with a friend named Catherine while Grandfather was out playing music. Catherine lived in a very old house that was quite foreboding. That night Gram and the baby were lying in bed and the bedroom door was open. Gram swore she saw something white and translucent flitting in and out of rooms up and down the hall. She was scared but then convinced herself she was imagining things and closed her eyes and went to sleep.

She was awakened by her bed shaking. She sat up and there at the foot of the bed stood a woman all in white with a veil over her face. Gram said she had her hands flt on the bed and was shaking it. “What do you want?” Gram asked. The lady said nothing. So Gram asked again --- still no answer. Gram was shaking but she had her rosary with her and she said, “Would you like me to pray for you?” She said she felt like the woman wanted that so she began to pray the rosary. About halfway through the apparition faded away.

The next morning Gram asked her friend Catherine about it and Catherine said, “Oh, yes, she comes and goes but if you pray for her, she goes away.”

Gram told me that sometimes when souls get stuck in Purgatory they need people to pray for them so they can move on to Heaven and, if no one remembers to pray for them, they sometimes come back to earth to get prayers. She swore this was true and, for the rest of her life, she always said extra prayers for the forgotten souls in Purgatory. And she never stayed at Catherine's house again.

Happy Halloween and thanks for reading.

Rock On...

This picture, taken in Oak Grove Cemetery on Washington Street, is strangely beautiful to me. I guess it is the juxtaposition of the intricate spire framed by the two halves of the big boulder split in half. There are a lot of these huge boulders in that cemetery and I am sure their placement was planned. The cemetery was founded in 1854 and its most famous resident is probably the American impressionist painter John Henry Twachtman.

As you can see in the picture above the boulder is split in half and rests in such a way that it seems perfectly natural but I doubt that it is. I'm just curious as heck to know how they split this rock in two.

I love this cemetery --- I don't know why, maybe it is the proximity to Halloween, but I've been enthralled with lately and have spent a lot of time there. It's a peaceful place filled with beauty --- a welcome respite in a crazy world.

Thanks for reading.

Pretty in Pink?

Recently I purchased a HUGE lot of pretty, sparkly pink cotton yarn on eBay for next to nothing. With shipping it was around $15. The yarn is reclaimed from two sweaters and is unbelievably soft and light. So I have been trying to decide what to do with it.

I came across this very pretty lace pattern and knit up a swatch in preparation for the alpaca scarf I mentioned on an earlier post. It's a fun pattern to knit and it is growing fast even though I am knitting on #4 needles. My hands are somewhat better and as long as I stick to the Bryspun needles and light, soft yarn I seem to be pretty good.

So, the big question is, since I have it this far what should I make with it? It is lightweight and has a beautiful drape and that little bit of sparkle. I was looking through Vicki Square’s Knit Kimono book and found a couple good possibilities. I think I might try the Fan Kimono only in the lace pattern I have started rather than the one she uses.

Also, since I have so much of it, I decided to try knitting a very strange pattern I came across on the internet. Look at the swatch below:

Do you believe that is knit and not crocheted? It is a modular knit that grows, scallop by scallop into this:

It is the Panda Silk DK Fan Shawl and the instructions are free here.

I found it easy to learn but I also found it didn't hold my interest for long. Still it is a beautiful design and was fun to learn.

So that is where the knitting is at these days. I'll keep you posted on the pink cotton kimono and we'll see what happens!

I finished my Learn-to-Lace Marketing Bags and Beach Bag and got them photographed this weekend, too. Now I just have to write up the pattern and get them ready to post. It's a pretty cool idea, I think. Each bag is designed in a simple, easy-to-learn lace pattern and since they are small they are quick to knit up. If you are interested in learning lace knitting but hesitnt about tackling something big, this could be a good place to start. By the time you've made all five bags you'll be an expert at five lace ptterns and ready to move on to anything! I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading.

I think that I shall never see....

...a poem as lovely as a tree.

That's what Joyce Kilmer wrote and he had never seen the trees in Oak Grove Cemetery. Some of those trees are absolutely amazing:

 

"...

A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.