Knit Poetry

Madge McKeithen wrote
_The Blue Peninsula_.

Premise:
Poetry has saved her
life...

McKeithen chronicles
her journey through a
bizzare landscape
in which her teenaged son
deteriorates from
an unnamed illness.

Scraps of poetry
anchor her daily.

Natlie Goldberg wrote the essay:
"How Poetry Saved My Life."

The essay credits poetry
with saving grace...
enabling NG to endure
Minnesota winter and
the bleakness of divorce.

Posit:
Knitting is poetry
Knitting is life saving

K1, Pl, K1,
Phrase, pattern, rhytmn
all there

Recited: a rosary, a prayer, a mantra

Center:
Knit one row...
Circle...
Knit another...

Knit through darkness...
Knit through pain...
Circle the inexplicable

Make prayer rug...
A talisman...
to tide one
through difficult days

Pattern grace
Be peace

Knit poetry
Save your life

You Can't Make Just One

The potato chip commercial
always purported that you
couldn't eat just one.

I identify.
Often I can't stop
with making just one...
sweater, hat, pair of socks.

Recently I dug out
a dog-earred
Leisure Arts onesie pattern

And binged:
a total of six yoked
baby sweaters in
cream, green, and blue
for first grandbaby gifts.

Lion Brand Cotton-Ease
produces a lovely tension.
(I'm all about tension.)

Twelve years ago I
knitted Mr. Kyle
a pale yellow onsie
following the pattern
but moving up the scale
to worsted weight yarn.

And was rewarded
with an amazing photo
of Kyle howling... not happy to
be a knitting poster child.

Seven years ago
I adapted the pattern
to knit Miss Grace
her first knitted dress
using a sport weight
baby pink yarn.

An aside:
the dress was short,
I mean quite short,
Nana decided it required
fancy pants ( ruffled
rubber pants, sixties vintage).

The tween sales girls
manning the counters at
the children's stores
produced vacant stares
and condescending smiles.

What is with this old woman?
was clearly present in one
young lady's eye roll.

Persistence is my middle name
when bent on a true need...
grandchild and knitting related.

Finally at Sears,
a youngster had
a revealation.

I wanted party pants...
see infant's wear.
Found: one pair
of ruffled rubber pants
with a tiny pink ribbon
accent bow.

The photo of Grace
in pink dress and party pants
pleases me and tickles
my funny bone.

I'm already planning
that the pattern will morph
into a ballet shrug
to compliment Frances
leotard and tights.

Frances will not be
reluctant to pose
for a photo op.

I will probably need
to make more than
one.

My binges tend toward
the old Irish magic number...
three.

2005-Year of the Socks

"Family Circle Easy Knitting"
two page spread Step-By-Step
five needle socks instruction
grabbed me by the scruff of the neck
and said now.

For years I'd watched Mary Frances
knit socks and mittens on four
needles without even the benefit of a pattern.

But the naysayer in my head always said,
tricky... that join as you change needles
would produce a run (like the run in
the nylon stockings we wore in the 40's)
and turning a heel, now I mean, talk
about trouble.

Mary Frances knitting needles and patterns
came to live in our house when the family
home was sold.

Those needles kept jabbing me.
Knitting socks with four needles,
... a wise knitting crone would make.

My mind set shifted
when I saw the magazine.
Bought it, added # 6 double pointed needles,
(larger than the 2's and 3's MF used)
and self stripping yarn.

To show the strength of my craziness,
I taught myself to knit on five needles
while careening around Washington DC
on our way to Florida.

With one eye on the map to make sure we
didn't miss our 95 South turn and the other
on the magazine layout I had a go at it.

I produced one gorgeous quite oversized
sock. Never did the second one to make a pair.

But I was hooked. I spent a whole winter
knitting socks... pairs, from patterns garnered
on the web.

I always chuckle when the image of myself
learning to knit with five needles pops up.
(I've switched to four needles by the way,
much easier to manage.)

And wonder why it took me so long to take
the plunge and why I charted the most difficult
learning situation imaginable.

Audry Asked

"Why did you start a blog?"

To chronicle my continuous
dialogue with Jame about:
patterns, stitch variations, new yarns...

But...

On another level
the blog highlights
my knitting personna.

The type A achiever
in conflict with the intuitive
knitter.

The impulse yarn shopper
in confrontation with the depression
child economist.

The mindless knitter vs
the Irish knit knitter...


Prompts questions:

Why am I a minimalist?
I only knit miniknits.

Why do I love round
bamboo needles?

Why don't I do fun projects
more often?
Silly vests for teddy bears...

When did the Law of Attraction set in?
For weeks new subjects for blog
entries pop up daily.

Why blog?
An Irish grandmother's
path to enlightment...

Wouldn't that give
the old Irish mavens
a girdle twist?

A moment of mirth, don't you think?

Let's get real:
untangle those skeins,
knit another round
bless the day...

"Tis a good day for knitting...

Le Girls' Portraits

Le girls will be
feted and photograhed today...
yearly portraits.

Serena, art photographer extraordinaire
captures the essence of each child's beauty:

Grace in a handknit sweater and hat
Frances cuddling a teddy bear
Both girls poised for a tea party.

Last year the coup de the' a tre...
sundresses designed and executed
by Nana.

A photo of the sisters
holding hands setting off
on a journey into the magical
kingdom is a must see.

Still Booking

Reading _Knitting Yarns and Spinning Tales_.

"How to Read A Pattern"
By Laura Billings

Billings essay resonated with me.
She had to decide between
book group and knitting circle.

Such a choice.
She chose the book group
but relented and rejoined her
knitting circle.

She used her knitting books
to substitute for her reading loss.

She says, "As you might guess,
my literary tastes run toward,
Henry James, Edith Wharton, Jane Austen,..."

Amen!

And she adds,
"When I need a comforting yarn,
I now know how to spin one
for myself."

What a delightful idea!
Imaginative play for grownups.

Let's begin,
"Once upon a time..."

Booking

Mid-Hudson Library System
in NY has 700+ books on
knitting for loan.

Borrowed _The Beatrix Potter Knitting Book_
by Pat Menchini. Photographer: Tony Boase.

Peter Rabbit was published in 1902.
Menchini ( a Brit) loved the Potter books.
When Menchini's daughter determined
that a hare motiff was Peter Rabbit
the idea for the book was born.

We all know the joy
of an idea conceived
in its own time.

Beatrix Potter in later life
became a farmer. She introduced
and promoted Herdwick sheep.
They produce long coarse hair
in browns and neutrals. The yarn
with proper handling is quite
weatherproof.

The patterns have character motifs
and evoke the feeling of the Lake District.

The photos were taken at properties
that Potter owned (Hill Top) her
first and favourite farm for one
and other properties she trusted to
National Trust.

Tony Boase's photographs
take you there.

For me it was
de'-ja vu.

I'm sure I've
lived there.
Well, almost sure.

Anyway.

Lovely book.

Ta, ta. Off to knit
a hare.

Journal Entries

Frances Ingraham:

1975

2/20
Had quite a time teaching
Margaret Mary to crochet.
She did real well,
she is left handed and
I'm right was why it was hardl

7/9
Went to Joyce and Luis' this afternoon.
She and the girls came down
and I helped her learn
to make a new afghan pattern.

10/21
Took my rose & pineapple bed spread
up to school to
"show and tell" for Peggy.


1976

10/25
I finished winding the yarn
Jimmie got for me in Mass.
( Huge box of tangled yarn
bought at Uxbridge yarn mill).
Gidget (the dog) would sit
on the yarn and Grandpa
would laugh.

11/19
Marvette called
wants another pair of socks
3 prs. $15

1977

4/14
* She went to Jack and Parma's house.
Put (rose and pineapple bedspread)
on Cindy's bed.

Seamless Garment

Bamboo circular needle # 6
my choice for best loved
knitting implement.

Cast on.

Join stitches
Carefully... don't twist
And you are off to
creating a tube.

A sweater, a hat,
no bulky seam...

In the 1970's
in my weaving years
I made both a poncho
and a plaid- yes plaid- afghan
woven in two layers
(at the same time)

Difficult to visualize?
Yes!
Difficult to do?
Yes!

After hours and hours
of fussy weaving:

Take a deep breath, pray,
(check your hem stitched edge)
cut free

OPEN

Hallelujah!
A miracle...
fabric double
your top layer
working width.

Like Chirst's robe
a seamless garment.

Seamless
a word to dwell
on today.

Rip it, rip it!

Mary Frances wrote,
"Made (P) a blanket
from her new yarn
she doesn't like it,
so
I'll rip it out & make it over..."

I can hear the
hue and cry.

Rip it out!

Yes, rip it out.
I"m blessed with
the same gene.

All you have lost
is time.

Name it
knitting practice.

If it doesn't work,
start over.
And with knitting
you have the yarn
to use again.

In very few instances
are you allowed
to erase
without penalty.

I am committed
to starting over.
Beginning again.

Rip it!

Treasure

A find!

A 15 cent copy book
that Grandma Richards
used to create a knitting
pattern record.

Knitted cap: size 1-4
Handwritten directions.

Mrs. Pratt's Socks

Margaret's mittens
Hand drawn pencil sketch

Allen's long socks
* Ciffford and Patrick (same as Allen)

Pony Tail Cap
Crocheted

List: 1966-67

I have made afghans for,

Margaret-1
Wilma-1-1-1
Jean-3-2-1-1
Jackie-2
Tome-1 blue
Jime-1-orange & brown
Ronnie-1 red & white
Allen-1
Julia-1 blue and orange
Hazel-1
Grandpa R. - 1
Grandpa I.-1
Us at home 1-1-1-1-1

WSCS- 2 (their yarn)
Cindy 1- from her yellow sweater
Butch-1
Barbara-1
Cathy-1
Joyce Sawyer Panecia -1
Nathan Richards-1

Made ten pair of mittens for Election
*church sale

I finished my pineapple & rose
bedspread sometime in Feb. 66
took about a year to do it.
(Cindy has it.)

Made Mary Ann a tidy set 4 pieces
for her couch.

Made Aunt Kate 4 pieces just arms for her two chairs.
(in April 66.)

Made a rug for Ruth Pasco
from the material on the spools
she gave me in April.

Made a rug
for Aunt Hazel
from strips she gave me,
wish it was
a little bigger.

This winter I made Jean
two round & one oblong
rag rugs.

Made three for myself.
Makes eight rag rugs
I have made since xmas.


Christmas Gifts: 1975

Jeff: white mittens
Lynn: white mittens
Jo Ellen: mittens (red)
Jennifer: mittens (orange)
Jame: mittens (white)
Ronnie
Virginia (afghan)
Nathan
Ann Marie: mittens (yellow) scarf red and white (hooded)
Scott: mittens (brown) cap brown

Color Me

"Color Me Blue" is
an old Peggy Lee song.

Color teases me.

Sassy Stripes knits
into a Norweigan vest look-alike
effortlessly.

Red Heart variegated yarn
produces splotches of color...
a modern art canvas
if you will.

Sirdar DK comes sprinkled
with muted flecks of color...
think ice cream cone topping.

Choose me!
Choose me!
Each skein calls
from the yarn shop bin.

Shush!
Don't tell.
I bought several skeins
of each.

And that is how
a stash comes to be.

Color me
striped, variegated, and
speckled.

Steeks

Miss Grace learned
to swim in the deep end
this summer.

Kudos, Miss Grace.

And that set Nana
to thinking.

What would be
the equivalent deep
end for Nana?

No contest.
Steeks.

Steeks:
May be defined
as the knitting process
in which a garment
is knitted in the round...

With me?

And then the knitter
cuts between a line
of reinforced stitches
to create a cardigan
or add a sleeve,
make a neckline.

That's right.
You take your
sharp pointy scissors
and incise all that
lovely knitting.

Whew!

I am
still standing
at the deep end.

Not ready
to leap.

Miss Bea/ My Next Life

Professional knitwer designer, Laura Harding,
has crafted a series of knitting books:
Miss Bea's Playtime
Miss Bea's Rainy Day
Miss Bea's Colours
Miss Bea's Seaside.

Each book contains 10 patterns
easily accessible to beginning knitters
along with a simple narrative
to entertain young children.

As you may have guessed
Miss Bea and her playmates
are charming Brits.

Frances loved the Miss Bea books.
Easily identified with the Miss Bea
and selected favored sweaters.

*I did knit a Miss Bea sweater.
The cover sweater on
"Miss Bea's Playtime."

In my next life
(my friend B. always says,
"In my past life...")
I am going to
design knitting patterns
for little folk
and tell stories.

Knit Free

A kid in the penny candy store...
Go to knittingpatterncentral. com
Click and surf
Find a free pattern
New updates every week
Knitting instruction
Links

Now I ask you
what more could you ask?

On another note
I have knitted for 44 years
with a pattern.

Some folks follow a recipe
and some folks don't.
I have lived my knitting
life a follower.

Then I read
_The Knitting Sutra_.
And what do you know?
People knit free.

Let the yarn
tell them what it
wants to be.

Mix colors and textures
with abandon.

Go process!
Ditch project!

Hmm.
My toe is in the water
And it feels good.

Let's Knit Together

I quickly finished The Knitting Sutra. How funny that it was sitting there on my shelf all along, a gift from you Mom, waiting for my enthusiasm as you talked of Knitting Heaven and Earth. The two ideas---they seem related even---that I'm chewing on are the weavers who intentionally create a break in the pattern so the spirit of the weaver can find its way out of the piece AND the rug makers who intentionally include a mistake. But that has more to do with not putting yourself on the level of God, if I understand. Ego maybe.
The book finally jumped out at me while I searched for beginner materials to teach my first knitting lessons. Two students and a third "victim" on the horizon. Neither really needed my help mastering the knit stitch and that was all I planned for the first hour. That, and a little getting-started discussion. So we got to chat while we worked. Like me, they are both interested in everything: books, writing, quilting, gardening, etc. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where the rubber meets the road: women gathering for handwork and talk that takes us out of the day to day. Is it possible that I'm starting a knitting group?

Blogs

Mary Pipher says,
"By 2005, sixteen percent of our citizens,
or thirty-two million people,
read blogs daily,
and one out of seventeen Americans
maintains a blog.

(All these statistics are taken from
The Pew/Internet Report Buzz,
"Blogs and Beyond," May 16, 2005.)"

Whoa! We are really booking here.

I haven't explored the world of knitting blogs.YET!
I've surfed a few times. Read of lots of disclaimers.
"Don't have time to post."

My one exception is "The Knitting Wench."
Gardener, knitter, and quilter the wench keeps me hooked
with outstanding photography and breezy style.

Also, I subscribe to "The Knitter's Review."
A newsletter it keeps me updated:
Lists upcoming workshops and festivals.
Details the qualities of new yarns on the market.

Lovely way to start the day.

Hues

Over the weekend I read
_Cheaper than Therapy_
Joy, healing & life lessons in fiber.

My favorite essay was
"I Love Hue" by Catherine Kittreel.
The title caught me.

After years of knitting with Offf-white
I've been inoculated with the color bug.

Valley Yarns put out a beautiful
catalog filled with color photos.
A wish book for knitters...

Not unlike the 1940's
Sears Christmas Catalog
it sparks dreams

One photo features a long skirt...
perfect for Grace...
knitted in four inch rounds.

Longmeadow: 60% cotton and 40% microfiber
Fuschsia
Lettuce
Periwinkle
Dark Purple

Ah!
Hues worthy of an artist's palette.

The pattern can be ordered online
and downloaded.

The miracle of technology.
Hide the credit card.

I Am From

Mary Pipher in _Writing to Change the World_
opines that you should write a poem:
"I Am From."

Mention food, places, and religion.

I AM FROM:

I am from Delia Bridget, Clare, and Helen

I am from County Clare, the West of Ireland… the poorest of the poor

And the tenements of New Jersey: their stories etched in my bones

I am from the Lewis clan: clam diggers and oyster shuckers…

The pounding of the waves on the Cliffs of Moher
and the tides of Manhasset Bay inhabit me

An Us and a Them: the Irish Catholic school
girl and the lass of Protestant stock

Born with famine memory, always hungry
Seeking sustenance… Truth

A Camelot childhood…
Until the King died too soon

I am Francie Nolan and Anne Shirley

I have been to Manderley and watched
the manor burn

I have jigged, and waltzed, and twisted

I’ve listened to Enya… longed to be a wild child

I cross fibers into cables and seed stitches

And hear old Irish women recite decades
of the rosary
in the wee hours
of the morning

But remain outside the circle

I have Irish granddaughters to carry the genes.
“May God Help Them.”

I bequeath them the patterns and the stories,
pray for their lives to become fine fabric
woven on a sturdy loom.

Harry Potter

Surfing the library website I found:
_Charmed Knits: projects for fans of Harry Potter_
by Alison Hansel.

Years ago the boys (Sean and Kyle took Nana
to one of the first Harry Potter movies.
I reciprocated by knitting Harry Potter scarves
in Hogwarts School colors (maroon and gold)
as Christmas gifts.

I have the greatest photo of Sean modeling
his scarf attired in his briefs.
(The next year Aunt Jo and Jenn
instituted a dress code. No presents
to be opened until wearing street clothes.)

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
is playing at the local theaters.
The review was tepid.
Same old, same old...

The seventh book arrives
on July 21st.
J. K. Rowling's last offering.

Annie Dunne

I just finished reading _Annie Dunne_.
What does that have to do with knitting
you might ask.

Well, it is a novel about two old women
ending out their days in rural Ireland.
And it set up the longing in me
for all things Irish,
something fierce.

So, I took a plain knit vest pattern off the web.
My grand girls are not overly fond of sleeves.
I've knitted all but three inches
for a viable prototype.

Then I dug out an Irish knit vest
Judy Chase, my friend and weaving teacher,
made for me years ago.
Since I'm not a saver
it was quite the coup to be able
to put my hand on it.

Once I ascertain that the model vest fits
I will use my Irish knit vest
to adapt the pattern to the smaller folk.

Remembering: Being Seven

I almost learned to knit in primary school.
My mother took very small needles and very fine yarn and cast on a row of stitches.
The stitches were so tight that it was difficult to wedge the needle into the stitch.
She knitted a row. The knitting was curling. She gave up in despair.

I learned again when I was a teen and much later as a mother.
Another story for another day.
It tickles me that my mother wanted no part of knitting.
I am rarely without knitting needles... a project at hand.

I was seven in 1945.

World War ll ended.
I made my first communion.
My mother almost died.
The atomic bomb was part of our reality.

I loved movies. Any movie with Margaret O'Brien.
I learned to blow bubbles with bubble gum.

Storycatcher

I am thinking Dreamcatcher.
Sedona, Arizona 1978,
I bought a metal circle and a rough pottery plate with holes in the inner edge.
In both cases you could warp the circle and create an off loom art work.

Let's create Storycatchers. Dreamcatchers are intricate designs.
I wouldn't classify them as weaving.

I found metal circles at Ben Franklin.
If I warp them and it works Miss Grace and Miss Frances could
be weavers.

Frances ll

To answer your question: Using a strand of crochet cotton and a strand of wool together to create crazy quilt pattern afghans seems to be Grandma's answer to using your stash. When the skein of wool ran out she started a new color. The cotton was always white. I have never seen a pattern that stranded those two yarns together. The shiver blankets were designed intuitively as the work progressed.

More journal entries:

1970

I bought two sweaters
+ cap, at the used
clothing place in
Warrensburg for .50
(to ravel)

I raveled the
things I bought
yesterday, had quite
a lot of yarn.

1972

I made

Rug
for Wilma + Cliff’s camp.

Long brown socks
for Christopher.

Long yellow socks
for Jo Ellen.

Red mittens
for Jennifer.

Purple cap
for Jame.

Made rug for
Jack and Parma’s camp.

Sylvia Lawrence
bought a rug,
for Steve wedding
present $5.00

Remembering Frances

Frances is nudging me lately...to crochet, to make rugs, to cut unloved garments into strips and do something! Her double pointed needles have been beckoning me from the Pringles can with the ivy wallpaper. I peeked today and found Grandpa's metal cigar tubes holding buttons, a thumb ruler for all those mittens, a piece of chalk (maybe for quilting) and a stubby pencil that I imagine her using on those little notebooks, or checkmarking patterns. She really did it all. No wonder I feel her looking over my shoulder---the date just jumped up and bit me a few days before.
Thanks for revealing the history of the shiver blanket. I always thought they were made with a marled yarn. Was mixing yarn with thread Grandma's own idea?

Commemorate: 7/7/77

Mary Frances Ingraham Richards:
a gracious lady, a lovely woman, my mother-in-law,
my children's loving grandmother, an accomplished knitter.

She kept her journals in ten cent memo pads.

She died thirty years ago today on 7/7/77
one month shy of her 77th birthday.

Frances you are remembered.

MEMO BOOK

1961

JAN 14,15.

Kate and Hazel
spent the week end
with us. Hazel took
some knitting lessons
from me (such fun)
(had pot roast for Sun.
dinner)

Feb. 5

Pat( grandson Patrick Strohmeyer) was so cute
when he was trying
to talk me into
giving him the
mittens I let him
wear because
his got wet.

(He got them)

(We had oven roast
for dinner)


1969

Sold:

Cap + mittens $2.00

Black men’s mittens $2.00

Mittens to Anna R. $2.00

White sock
to Shirley Selitirar $4.50

Mittens to Wilma $2.00
Mittens to Wilma $2.00

3 doilies to
Mary Leigh $5.00

1 rug to
stranger $5.00
1 rug, Blue Mt. Lake $10.00
*The rugs were crocheted rag strips.

Pillow, Mrs. Kellog $3.00

Boys cap, Mrs. Lorrabee, $4.00

Mittens (Nancy) $3.00

2 pr. gray socks
Mrs. Frank Pratt $8.00
(she bought the yarn)

White pony tail cap
Mrs. Kellogg $3.50

Mittens
Jean Richards $3.00

Sold Irving* (husband) a
blanket $6.00

2caps, Mrs. Larabee $4.00
(she furnished the yarn)
(I charge 4.00 each if I furnish it)

2 grey socks for
Mrs. Pratt. $10.00

Pineapple doily $3.00
Mary Durkin* (niece)

Shiver blanket
to Hazel for Audrey

*A shiver blanket was an afghan crocheted with a strand of yarn and a strand of crochet thread. One of the grandsons dubbed his afghan a shiver blanket. He liked to wrap up in it on cold Adirondack winter mornings.

Afghan to Aunt Jen
(Pat’s Aunt Jen) $15.00


1970

Temp 22 above at 7

Eclipse- not as dark
as the one we saw
at Riverside when the
children were small.

Knitting Heaven and Earth

Knitting Heaven and Earth

I just finished reading _Knitting Heaven and Earth_ by Susan Gordon
Lydon. She also wrote _The Knitting Sutra_.

Sue Bender (_Everyday Sacred_) did one of the blurbs on the back.

Lydon wrote, "What I lived informed my knitting, and what I learned from knitting informed my life."
Hmm! I rip out a lot. Knit in circles hour after hour.

Then she said, "While I am not a particularly original or even accomplished knitter, I am an impassioned knitter."
Amen. Don't you just love the word impassioned?

On the other hand as I read somewhere else this week, can't remember where, knitting is well suited to the obsessive-compulsive. Impassioned vs obsessive-compulsive... a thought for the day.

Are you getting the idea that I spend a lot of time reading?

Lydon wrote, "I want the knitter in me to be as free, wild, artistic, and creative as she has the desire to be."
I'm going to print this quote in block letters and post it.

Woodstock Wool Company

Woodstock Wool Company

Visited the Woodstock Wool Company on July 3rd.
Elegant is the only word for this knitter's heaven
Innumerable skeins of soft textured yarns beg to be touched.
The pallet of hand dyed colors is amazing.
Sample items made with the alluring fibers compliment the corresponding skeins.

A huge selection of knitting tools, baskets filled with knitting magazines,
and a choice selection of books rounds out the perfection of the place.

A must see... We'll go again.

Jame and I ended the adventure with ice cream cones.
What more could anyone ask?