searsport market bag: it's beachknitting time!

There once was a girl on a beach
She liked her knitting within reach
On the sand or a boat
She desired a tote
Mary Lou designed it, as sweet as a peach...*

Here in the US it is the official start of beach knitting season, the best season of all. That is not just my opinion. 
It is the truth. :-)
 Some knitters think of knitting as a winter/cold weather sport. Not me. I am happiest taking a good long swim, then plopping into my beach chair and knitting by the water. 

 I've always thought of  the  Searsport Market Bag in our book as a Kick Off the Summer knit:  first you make the stretchy bag, then you spend the rest of the summer carrying your Important Things (towel, knitting, swim goggles, beverage) to the beach in it. It's a pretty relaxing knit, which is good for this time of year.

It is quite roomy when the simple stitch pattern stretches, which is a desirable trait, although not everyone wants to rock the super slouchy look. If you prefer a more stable shape , here's a simple tutorial of ways to line a knit bag.  I particularly like the suggestion of attaching a lining with buttons.
This instructional has photos of every step to sew in a lining.

While brainstorming for our book's No Sheep at the Shore chapter, we wanted only patterns you'd knit out of non-wool, non-fuzzy yarn.  Our other requirement was the designs  should be pieces you'd use or wear while at the beach. That's how Mary Lou Egan came up with the pattern. She named it after the Maine coast town where us three authors were staying while we were developing the ideas for the book. And same place, a year later, gave it a final edit. We always called it The Beach Bag until it was dubbed the Searsport.

During the  photo shoot for the book, I shot our model Josephine carrying  it while wearing a sundress.  When I look at it, I want a Seasrport Market Bag to use as a summer everyday purse, for my non- beach life. Maybe in the lightest off white shade of Berroco Indigo, and line it with flowery summer fabric.

*When Mary Lou Egan, Kirsten Kapur and I decided to try to take turns blogging about the patterns, this year, in our collaborative book Drop Dead Easy Knits, we jokingly (or so they thought) considered doing so in limerick. I'm going to give it a try.

short beach days saturday: sept post 3

We do not actually rest on Labor Day weekend around here. It is Short Beach Days. And that means constant motion.

I'm one of the judges of the Sand Castle Contest. I kind of loved this crabby crab. His face expresses how I feel about summer ending. 
By the time I was judging this afternoon, we'd had breakfast in the park, watched Zoe race and broadjump , tested a tart recipe, and hauled 40 yards of fabric to a friend's porch for parade costume production. 

By 6 pm, as we left to watch the Lip Synch contest, I'd made a second tart, and we'd fabricated 10 slinky costumes.  The float is a little under-prepared but there's tomorrow for that. The tarts I tested were a Plum Blackberry Almond in Gingerbread Crust  and a Chocolate Peanut Butter.  The fruit tart looked way prettier but the gingersnap crust totally overpowered the filling, so it looks like I'll make another Chocolate Peanut Butter for the contest, tomorrow. Credit to  Smitten Kitchen recipe.  So you know it is delicious. 

 I love every minute of this constant motion and have spent the last 25 years choosing to whip myself in a frenzy with my friends every Labor Day weekend. I've got all winter to sit inside on a sofa, right?  

Enthusiasm levels running high. Tomorrow there's the egg toss contest. the tug of war, the awards ceremony for the races.... plus, once the judging is over, we get to taste all 25 of  the contest pies....

yo-ho-ho (cruise and a FO)

What better place than  the 2nd Non-Annual Thimble Islands Knitting Boat Trip to show my finished Wave on Wave Shawl?

* More about my shawl below.  Let's get right to the the knitting cruise, shall we?  Cap'n Bob can now say that his vessel not only flies the pirate flag (local tradition) but had yarn handspun on it, thanks to wonderful Dayna of MadWool, center column, 2nd from top. Also, in the colorful hair department, you can see Katy knitting a Pop Spots shawl that totally matches her black & fuschia/purple 'do, on the right..

Despite the dock sign, we were on the Volsunga. Not the Sea Mist. Stony Creek dock sharing.

I love my knitting community- and special shout out to Linda- (photo upper left), June  & Julia of Knit New Haven , whose open table policy sets the vibe for this kind of adventure.
It was lovely- cool sea breeze on a warm day, great company, lots of food & drink & spying into the island houses, some knitting. I love putting together things like this. Want a cruise in your neck of the woods? I'll do it . Now there's a niche-- knitting cruise events coordinator.  But, why not, you know my policy: " is it illegal? No? I'll try it!"

* So about that shawlette. The lighter green yarn was from Maine in 2012 when I visited Swan's Island "seconds" bins. I love the color, it's like spring in Maine. The darker green yarn was a putty colored beige when my son brought it to me from Peru. A very botched dying job on my part, at Ellen Mason's  mentored dye tent at Fiber College left it, as she generously put it, "sad", so she took it home and sent it to me in this mossy green shade-also like the Maine woods. I had to knit them into the same piece, right? 
Nice pattern, though not big on details. Still, it's a fun little project, written for a color changing yarn but easy enough to stripe it yourself. 
 The image of me modeling it in the upper right goes against everything I'd teach: don't wear a bright white summer shirt and straw hat to model a wooly neck accessory, don't shoot on a rolling ship.. but  thanks to Linda Young for doing an awesome job despite the challenges.I am not an easy subject.
Photo credit to Janet Hager for the view of the snack table and knitters, 2nd from the top on left.  I was too busy having fun and sipping Prosecco to get that view.

Next up: need to tell you about teaching at Gathering of Stitches in Portland Maine. More to come!

i'll be your dixie chicken

Tennessee visit, 3rd and final installment, in which we visit with Ann Shayne. Who, in the knit world, is aka  Ann of Kay & Ann,  the MasonDixon Knitting gals. Seeing as how we were at SSK , practically in her backyard, Ann had Amy Cristoffers, Susan Anderson and me over for one of the loveliest/chattiest/knittiest screen porch dinner evenings ever.

/

Nashville Author Lounges Incognito in Parking Lot..oh! look? what does that bumper sticker say?*

Then came the rest of my trip, Chez Ann. Starting in Nashville and then in Monteagle. Ann's a fabulous hostess. After staying up late surfing Ravelry, tsk tsking or applauding design trends (knit nerds! alert! ) , Ann knew  how to show this Yankee a good time.  She took me to lunch at Arnold's, a cafeteria downtown in Nashville. Meat and 3 sides. The real deal.

Lining up for lunch at Arnold's. I'd never have found it alone.

Though obviously it's no secret, the place was jumping inside. Love love love the photo wall decor.

You choose your protein, you choose three sides, you keep moving that tray along or you'll hold up the line!  Blink and you miss that sweet potato casserole. Not for the indecisive!

Fried chicken headed to a Shayne plate.

I fully intended to request the peach pie listed on the blackboard but the little meringue peaks turned my head.

My lunch: trout, mac n cheese, collard greens, cole slaw, corn cake, the pie, iced tea.

And, really nice people.
Impressive fact #1: Ann's 14 year old son was with us, and he couldn't finish his lunch. He was full. Have you spent any time eating with 14 year old boys?  Can we have a moment of silence and awe?

Even more impressive fact #2: Ann's a regular, they know her personally. (I would be too. Why don't we have cafeterias in New England? )

After that we waddled into the car and headed south, to Ann's summer community, Monteagle, where I'd been invited to give a talk. I'd been describing it as "like a Chautauqua" but it turns out, it actually IS a Chautauqua.   

Random view. It's a magical summer community, with victorian cottages, and lots of big trees and slow afternoons.

 Ann's porch.

You'd think she'd spend her summer lazing right there, knitting & reading, and sipping Southern Comfort. But no. She's involved in governance, and organizing speakers, and planning the future.....working!  While she toiled for the good of the community, I wandered around taking photos (um, duh?, what else would I do?) and swam in the First InGround Pool in Tennessee. I am considering making visits to first pools in every state as a lifetime project.

On the surface, Monteagle Assembly is the most genteel and gracious and..normal...of summer communities. But you don't have to look too far to see some quirk...I think there might beTwin Peaks potential.

detail of a mosaic-ed garden. It's Fat Ima!


and fairy gardens all over the place

Goldsworthy-esque art happening. Nature pinned to the wall outdoors. We never finished the conversation about this installation, it's larger and very cool looking.

I must really like this shot--not only did I shoot it two days in a row without realizing it, but I made the same photo (less rusty) when I was in Monteagle in 2007, shooting the book with Ann & Kay. Consistency! Gotta hand it to me. (I wanted to link to a post from then..but I'll be daaay-ummed if I can find one on either of our blogs, although I recall we all covered it).

Turns out Ann & I are very compatible in this environment.  We share deeply held belief in strong coffee to start the day, and equally strong conviction that drinking your weight in white wine, with some healthy-ish appetizers, makes an excellent dinner.  As long as there are no family members needing square meals in sight. We missed Kay though. A lot. We took her name in vain.

In 36 hours, we attended at least 3 cocktail parties (one sort of....flowed..into another).  The first was here, an official Porch Party. It was all so very relaxing, and fun, and funny.I have such good fortune to end up in a place like this as a guest speaker! One of these days I'll get caught out, surely.

Till then, I'm ready to go back. Any time.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

_______________________________________

 * Bowling Avenue, Ann's novel, is now available in audio book form. She narrated it herself. That'll be some good listening ahead. I can personally testify that she uses handknits to soundproof her recording studio, so you can feel the stitches in her voice.

While you're at it, go pre-order this  Knitting Yarns, Writers on Knitting. I got to read Ann's entry in this collection and it is fabulous. She had to wrestle the book away from me I had to politely return the proof copy to her, but I am dying to get the whole volume, some of my other favorite authors are in there, too: Patchett, Kingsolver, Proulx.

___________________________
ps I still knit all the time. One of these posts, I'll share. Although it seems I rip out almost as much as I create this summer.

YO-ho ho and a bottle of eucalan

Before we get into the real story here, a quick look at my shawl.  I am in the final decrease section of this sizable mohair wrap--and I think, final color. I went rogue on the striping sequence .

Anyway, here's what I really want to tell you about:As you know if you've had a glance here in the past 7 years, I live by the beach, and I live for the beach.

 If I am in, by or on the water, all is good. Add my other must-have lifestyle-enhancing activity, knitting, and this is a no-brainer:

 1st annual Thimble Islands Charter Knitting Cruise

Tuesday evening August 14th,   7 - 9:15pm

Stony Creek (Branford) CT 

If you wish to join us from near or far, we still have some seats, see below*

I swear this is the conversation, verbatim, regarding this event.

( my phone ringing)

Capt Bob:  Hey, Gale? This is Capt Bob, got yer message. We're all set for the Thimble Islands charter on August 14th. Be at the dock with your people at 7 pm.

Me: Oh good, we're pretty psyched. I just realized it's getting dark earlier now,  do you have lights under the boat awning?

Capt Bob: Yeah, no problem, we 've got lights up.

Me: Oh I'm so glad. Otherwise it'd be hard to see our knitting,  I don't want anyone getting aggravated if they can't see their stitches after sunset.

Capt Bob: (silence for a little longer than normal in a conversation) Knitting? Did you say......knitting? You're all going to be on the boat....KNITTING??!!

Me: I thought I told you, this is a knitting cruise. We'll all be knitting, That's what we do on Tuesday nights.

Capt Bob: (little guffaw, and  sarcastic tone follows) so.. . you'll drink beer and knit?

Me: Of course. Or wine. But we were also talking mojitos and maybe margaritas...and snacks...

Capt. Bob: (silence, that I think we can interpret as...wtf ??)

Me: what? did you think knitters are a bunch of old ladies?

Capt Bob: Um,,well.ummm yah..heh heh.   THIS is a first on the Volsunga. (mutttering) A knitters cruise! Definitely a first. See you on the dock on 14th....

Thimble Islands sunset, view from the dock 

 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Come school Captain Bob in the ways of knitters.  We have about ten seats left. Lots of friendly knitters from the area will be on board.

Tuesday August 14th , meet at the Stony Creek docks at 7 pm, boat departs at 7:15 sharp, tootles around the Thimble Islands just  off the coast,   and returns at 9:15. We'll be sailing on the Volsunga.

Tickets are $ 25. in advance, by paypal to me (gzuckerATsnet.net) or message me (ezisusATsnet.net) and I'll tell you where to send a check. We'll sell tickets until we are full--or the boat leaves the dock, whichever comes first.

BYOB, BYOK(nitting) and some snacks to share, there's a large table in the center of the boat. Capt Bob provides the ice, the sound system and a guided tour.

weekend index

Disclaimer: the Hipstamatically presented images below are from 2 weekends ago--not  from the weekend under scrutiny in the text. Me running around working non-stop for two days looks nothing like this.  Have you not heard of artistic license? 

This summer I'm shooting for an institute in Vermont. It's not  crafts or knitting related, in case you were about to ask.  I'm back from the first of four trips up there there in the Green Mountains, getting it underway. It is a fabulous client to work with.  Wanna know how it went?

# of knitting projects I brought along: 1 (I am serious about finishing this shawl)

# of degrees hot , in F,  or more, almost the whole time: 90  (hello? Vermont? wtf? )

# of % humidity: 99.9999

# of times I thought maybe fine mohair wasn't that attractive to handle : 0 (Can you tell I really really want to finish the shawl)

# of people attending this institute: 1100

# of languages being spoken: 8

# of conversations or interactions I am allowed to have in English: 0

(by the end of the summer I will be able to say "No worries! I am the photographer! Please make believe I am not here and continue what you were doing!" in all eight languages.)

# of these languages I can sort of communicate in: 2

# of times I stood looking at people dumbly, waving my hands saying um, uh, ummmm , AGGHHHHH : how high can you count?

 

# of stitches I knit: zero

# of pages I read before falling asleep, exhausted from trying to think in many languages while also concentrating on the photo shoot: : 1.5 (Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. Highly recommend! *)

# of days before I head back up there: 4

* Curiously this is the second book I've read in a row in which a flooded southern city is the major force in the action. This one is non-fiction, and in New Orleans but in some ways feels less real than Ann Shayne's engaging novel Bowling Avenue. Go figure!  But read them both.

and on and on and on

Several times this spring I was fretting about my clothes. It boiled down to " If only I had a light frothy springy kinda wrap, I'd be all put together". I know this reveals I think putting a handknit wrap on yourself is "pulling your outfit together.  Just go with me here. 

 

Then I remembered starting this shawl way back, on an impulse.

You can see me showing off its early stages on Ellen Bloom's blog, in Los Angeles in 2010. Uh, huh, two years ago, put it aside shortly after the trip. At the time I thought it was a boring knit, plus I had mucho test knitting for Craft Activism, with deadlines.

 I worked on it briefly a year ago,  I hardly remember doing so.  Horrifyingly, I started that post almost the same way as this one. (I lack brain cells as well as gossamer shawls, apparently.)

It is not too boring for me this summer, although I find the loopy fine Be Sweet mohair not quite mindless. Is high maintenance mindless a project category?  If I knit quickly without looking, I stick my points through the little loopies that are halo fibers rather than the stitches.  Also, not great beach knitting, although the colors work for the setting.

Whatever. This summer, I am sticking with it till it's done. Come next spring 2013, watch out: I will be utterly put together.

 

It matched the yard pretty well last week, didn't it?

the moral of the story is

 

Storm Cloud Shawlette by Hanna Breetz. I confess I bought Urban Silk while enchanted at  Loop & Leaf  when I was in Santa Barbara. Silk & cotton is perfect, just perfect for that charmingly temperate city, and this is my favorite shade of green. And, it was spring! Who needs wool in a world like that?  It's like buying kickass cowboy boots in Texas, they are so right when you're  there. Or big chunky turquoise & silver necklaces in New Mexico. Or shirts with flamingos on them in Florida.  Then you get home to your east coast beach neighborhood and natural toned wrinkly linen clothes and say, huh, what was I thinking?

 In this case, I was thinking I'd use it to knit Saroyan. Within a few inches I knew it wasn't working. With all the sheen and texture in the Urban Silk, the leaves disappeared into little crinkly sneezes along the edge.

So, I shifted over to the Storm Cloud, a simple semi-circle shawl.

yarn: urban Silk - 3 skeins

needles: size 9 us

modifications:  I changed it up a little, increased sooner than suggested, threw in two bands of stockinette. All good, it's a rock solid design structure and you can't really mess it up by improvising on the stitches.

my thoughts: Lovely yarn, wonderful simple pattern. But I was not truly feeling it. I'm an animal fiber kinda gal. I like wooliness. A short way in I realized it was, in essence, going to look similar to my Clapotis .  That is:  green,non-woolly, voluminous neck wrap, open stitch pattern. I lost my zip.  Until on a photo shoot for a dear friend. She loved it halfway done. I mean EL-OH-VEEE luuvvvved it and I am always thrilled to make something for her. I sped through the second half. So, happy ending, the Storm Cloud has been sent to New Jersey.  And if I can remember NO MORE shopping under the influence of geography, I'll be A-OK.

 

Although this example of shopping locally? No problem!13 pounds of August tomatoes etc bubbling away right now, to be frozen as summer sauce.

fish I around

Last heard from, I was clinging with a death grip to a steel ladder welded to the back of a fast food building scampering up to the roof of a Sonic - who says photography isn't a glamorous career ? And my Gaia shawl was getting a picot cast-off.

In the mix, I had the use of a fisheye lens for a couple of days. Fisheyes are gimmicky; they are the eyelash yarn of photography . Every once in a while, fun to play with. Before I handed it back, I turned it on Farley, who passes by at 7 every morning.

And on the battle of man v. nature at my mechanic's shop.

Sidenote: when you drive a 20 year old car, you know your mechanic and his yard decor pretty well. He's got a steampunk vibe going on.

And on late summer chaos out front.
The Gaia shawl is finished, on a slow dry over this wet chilly weekend. You can see from the fisheye shots that I ignored days of brilliant sun & dry breezes, giving it a dunk n' block as a storm moved in Friday. So....show & tell next time, I'll spare you the vision of a damp striped shawl pinned out on a bright patterned beach towel, draped over a floral sofa.