Best Quote I Heard All Day
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.--Anna Quindlen

Can I find room in the new house for my loom? Sure. Finding room for my yarn may be another story. Bookshelves abound.

Kids and Knitting
One of the best things about moving into this house is that my daughter Corinne, her significant other Mike, and granddaughter Liz will also be moving in with us at the end of the month. Makes for cheaper living for everyone.

In the meanwhile, Liz is hanging out with me and learning what it's like to live in a house full of fiber and related equipment. For some odd reason, she thinks it's "cool."

I taught both my daughters how to knit as children, as well as Liz. Neither Jenn nor Corinne knit as adults. However, Jenn is a talented dressmaker and embroiderer with a specialty in medieval costuming and Corinne does lovely embroidery when she puts her mind to it and has the time. And she's a mean wallpaperer. Both of them inherited Jimmy's ability to draw anything.

When the girls were growing up, they lived in a house where both parents were deeply commited to creative endeavors. Jimmy built museum-quality wooden ship models and restored models for places like Mystic Seaport and nautical art galleries. I was intensely into my knitting as well as side trips into embroidery and quilting. As Jenn once said, "If you grew up in my family, you did SOMETHING."

What's important for kids is the exposure to creativity, not necessarily the immediate establishment of a singular craft devotion. It bothers me not that no one in the family other than me and my mother knits. What matters is that the kids grew up with no holds barred when it came to making things on their own. It's served them well as adults.

I never bought the girls any knitting books and I don't intend to buy Liz any of the teen knitting books currently on the market. Why? Because Liz needs the freedom to develop her knitting skills on her own, with my guidance. Once she's gotten the hang of knit and purl and played with different yarns, I will gladly buy her any book she wishes. To me, kids' knitting books are kinda like coloring books, another thing I don't believe in for children. Give 'em blank paper and crayons and they'll go off into their own creative world.

My wish for Liz is to learn to draw outside the lines. Just like her mother and aunt did.

Knitter as Photographer
I'm always behind the camera at family get-togethers and on trips. So I decided that there should be one lousy picture somewhere, for posterity, of me knitting.

Portrait of the Artist Waiting for Harrisville to
Open

Oh yeah, it's South Beach and the treadmill for me this fall, that's for sure. And then of course, there's the goofy vacation picture we all cringe at. John talked me into this. Note that I have the incorrect finger extended.

I call the hat "Hortense." Fifteen bucks at the Lobster Festival. It was fucking hot, what can I say? Do I need a haircut? You bet.

VK General Feh
I bought VK at Harrisville because I wanted a mag to read in the car on the way home. This issue is marginally better than the last 20. Marginally. I liked the lace stuff in general, particularly Meg's stole, although I'm not quite sure I cared for the color contrast. I'd make it in black so it would be completely Gothic. The article on Turkish cast-on was interesting for a nanosecond.

As far as the cover shrug is concerned, you all know I despise shrugs. So I wasn't going to like it anyway. However, I think the stitch pattern would make a hell of a knitted rug. And I'm not being sarcastic here. Using floats as a design element is not a new concept and probably using a slip-stitch pattern such as linen stitch might make a more stable fabric for a rug. However, I do think this particular stitch pattern would work best in something other than a shapeless shrug. It's quite interesting and I liked the colors.

The "classic cables" were, quite simply, bland and boring.

Here's what I'd like to see one of the magazines do: A reader-designed issue. There's a lot of latent talent out there and although the editors would probably have to wade through a pile of crap submissions, I'm betting that they'd find some new blood. The old blood is getting older by the minute.

Estonian Scarf Redux
It's still going. I can't seem to get to the end of this Morehouse quad skein, which never seems to get any smaller. But I'm enjoying the hell out of knitting this.

I'm hoping to get to Morehouse this weekend and maybe see Selma the Axe Murderess, if she's around. The Morehouse laceweight is a pleasure to knit. I think I need more.

Back to the Future
Once the Estonian is finished, which should be soon, despite the neverending ball of yarn, I'm going back to the Slainte Aran. It's simply been too hot to even consider working in a weight heavier than fingering or lace. And I suppose I will work on finishing my other projects, the Forest Path Stole and Queen Anne's Lace, both of which are growing mold in their respective bags.

Anyway, Liz should be calling soon. She'll be glad to know I found her knitting bag among all the boxes. Personally, I'm opting for the lake today. It's going to be 90ish. Screw unpacking. That's about the most unrare and unhandy business I can think of.