New Year, New Spin on Things

I'm going to be honest with y'all-- I'm a much bigger fan of New Year celebrations than I am all the hoopla that comes in December. I find the final frenzied push of the last month of the year to be rather overwhelming, especially with shorter days. The way I counter the rush rush rush is to spend as much time as possible at home, knitting with the dogs. I'm just now wrapping up a black Manos K2P2 scarf, a totally simple and meditative affair. Actually, this is my second one in a row. Now is not the time for complicated. Now is the time for the steady steady steady rhythm of familiar projects.

But come January, I am all over New Knitting. I am super psyched that earlier this month I scored, for an outrageous steal of a price, the Louet spinning wheel you see pictured above. Guess what? I have NO IDEA HOW TO USE IT!! Hahaha! Well, okay, actually I did have one spinning lesson, sometime ago. But any attempt to apply that to this wheel has been fruitless so far. And that's just fine. Because every year my list of resolutions always includes something fiber-related. For 2012 I vowed to teach myself a Pi Shawl and I did it! For 2013, I'm going to take more spinning lessons. Hopefully for 2014 I'll be vowing to move to a sheep farm. (Just kidding. Sort of.)

What about y'all-- do you make knit-related goals and promises? Do tell.

Speaking of goals, promises, and holidays... To me, the annual Knitting and Yoga Adventures Retreat to Monhegan Island is truly a holiday week for me, far more than this twinkly lights in December stuff. I block out the week of the retreat on my calendar the way other people block out Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just don't want to miss time on the island, ever. If you've already been, you know what I'm talking about. If not, here's hoping you'll join us and find out.

Lisa has just updated the Knitting and Yoga Adventures website. You'll find info including dates & rates for the Monhegan Island Retreat in September, featuring guest designer Teva Durham,  and the Queechee, Vermonth Retreat in November, featuring guest designer Cathy Payson.

Registration for both retreats opens on January 1, 2013. Be sure to sign up before all the spots sell out!

Happy New Year, Y'all!!
Spike & Lisa & the Whole Knitting & Yoga Adventures Gang

I Love Finishing Things!

I love finishing things! I don't mean that the way some of you might-- those of you with a keen sense of detail and an ability to, pardon the pun, seamlessly do seams and zippers on more complicated garments. I just mean, I like getting stuff done and crossed off the project list. There's the sense of accomplishment and also the promise of getting to start a new project.

This past week, I spent several days on Galveston Island. There, I finished a simple but lovely K2P2 black scarf in Manos. Above, Melvin the Cat models it and below, my friend Jay models it. I made the scarf for my son, Henry, for his upcoming 22nd birthday. It's his first birthday that we'll not be spending together-- he moved to NYC. I hope the scarf is a reasonable substitute for my warm, wooly love for him.

While I was in Galveston, I also finished a book I've been working on which is, in large part, about a trip I took to Monhegan Island in 2011. It felt good and poetic to finish the book on an island since so much of the story takes place on an island. Down below you'll see an image of the front cover. The book will be out next week-- I'm publishing it myself after having my six previous books published more traditionally. I have to say that any trepidation I had about self-publishing has disappeared. I'm getting as much satisfaction with this hands-on approach as I get from knitting my own garments.

I also finished up the very silly hat you see below. That's supposed to be the Reddit Robot. My friend and webmaster is really into Reddit and he asked if I might make him a hat reflecting this love. I actually wound up making two-- the first was too short. This hat was a pretty big challenge for me. I sort of made it up as I went along. I did chart it out a bit on graph paper, but I had to play around with the math and ultimately some winging it occurred. I used a mashup combo of intarsia and Fair Isle and, as you can probably see, my tension wasn't spectacular. But hey, I learned a lot along the way and my friend loves his hat.

And just down below, pictured before I blocked it, is my Pi Shawl, which just thrilled me to finish. You know, I don't even wear shawls-- ha! But the process was amazing for me. I'm going to go ahead and say that 2012 was a super learning year for me as I tackled lace and the aforementioned intarsia and Fair Isle. (Actually, I picked up intarsia from Lisa on my first Monhegan retreat.)

And finally... The latest Interweave  KNITS came out recently and I'm happy to say that I've got a story in there. I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristen TenDyke, whose got a great new book out. So please, check out the interview. That was fun to finish, too, like knocking out a last-minute gift-- I had about four days to do the entire article, from phone interview to final copy. I'm better with writing deadlines than knitting deadlines, so it worked out okay.

Happy December, y'all. Stay Warm!

I How I Love Visiting Knit Shops!

Cape May, NJ

 

Prior to my annual trip to Monhegan Island this year, I had the great fortune of taking a road trip that took me from Austin, TX -- where I live, and where you can find Hill Country Weavers, one of the best knit shops in the country-- all the way to New Brunswick, Canada. All told, I drove around 5,000 miles in three weeks. Yes, it was exhausting, but I am all about rewards along the way. And for me, nothing makes a better reward than more yarn for my stash and making friends with other knitters. And so, herewith, some shops I visited along the way. I get to add these to a growing list that includes shops visited in Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Paris, Israel, and all over the U.S. How about you-- what are some far flung shops you've been to?

Here I am in Montreal-- a really, really great city! 

Inside Espace Tricot in Montreal.

Besides the thrill of talking yarn, another perk visiting yarn shops in other cities is that I can get some good info from the locals. And invariably, I find myself saying, "Come visit Austin! You can stay with me!" I mean that.

Cricket Cove is in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, where we went to go whale watching, but I also had a good hunch there'd be great yarn in Canada. I was right!

On the bench outside of Cricket Cove, there's a scarf in progress. All comers are invited to knit a few rows. All completed scarves go to those in need. I LOVE this project!

Tired of making socks? Not ready to take on a sweater project? How about knitting a nativity scene?

Another lovely young knitter, and yes, I invited her to visit Austin.

Cottage Craft is also in St. Andrews and really, you have got to visit this place.  

Cottage Craft was started by Grace Helen Mowat in 1915. It was the first Canadian Cottage Industry, allowing women to use their skills to make some income. 

Some vintage wool work at Cottage Craft.

Michelle Ross co-owns Cottage Craft now. Her husband's family bought it from  Grace Helen in 1946. 

Loom at Cottage Craft.

You can buy pre-made stuff at Cottage Craft-- it's still made by locals. I never, ever buy hats EXCEPT the hats here were so amazing I broke my don't-buy-hats rule and bought one. 

I also bought some good, old fashioned scratchy Made-in-Canada yarn.

Back at Cricket Cove I picked up this local yarn. That's something else I love to do-- buy local grown/spun and/or dyed yarn as a souvenir I can actually use.

The Lancaster Yarn shop is actually in Intercourse, PA. We had SUCH a good time here.  

Arghhh! I can't find the name of the wonderful owner of  Lancaster Yarn Shop! Dang it. Well, here's a link to her blog. She is super nice. She gave me a tip-- at a nearby Amish shop, I could find scarves knitted by a 100+ year old blind Amish man. 

Here they are! For some reason, the Amish don't knit much, and when they do they like to use acrylic.  

This is not a yarn shop. It's a shoelace making shop inside of the City Museum in St. Louis, one of the most amazing museums in the world. You should visit it. I was fascinated by this textile process.

Finished shoelaces. 

Knitorious is a GLORIOUS knit shop in St. Louis. Amazing!

This is Sandy, who owns Knitorious. She's holding up a shawl she knitted from a pattern book put out by my personal LYS-- Hill Country Weavers. Sandy is a hoot. We talked for a really long time about all things knitting AND Leonard Cohen. Her store is huge and super well-stocked. 

Cozy Knitting Corner at Knitorious.

Local St. Louis yarn.

Storm Schtorm! Weekend Weather's Looking Good!

Hi Everybody!
Well for those of you joining us on the Vermont retreat, this is the big week. Probably you're wondering about Hurricane Sandy and her impact on the retreat. Well Sandy ought to have tapered off just in time for us to commence our group knitting. Here's the Seven Day Forecast for Quechee and it looks like we have some sunshine on the way. Sure, it's going to be chilly, but what better weather to inspire wool work than a little brrrr in the air.

For those of you new to our retreats, we are so excited to have you! The most important thing to pack is a relaxed attitude. We are just going to chill and knit and eat and laugh. For those of you trying to decide on a project to bring to work on in the evenings with the group, consider this satellite image as a possible Fair Isle challenge.

See you on Thursday! Can't wait!

Of Chapeaus and Leftover Yarn-- Send Me Yours!

Bon Jour Y'all,
Do you like my chapeau? As you can probably tell-- unless you are willing to suspend your disbelief (which I hope you are)-- this photo wasn't really taken in Paris. It was taken in my office using Mac Photo Booth Effects. Still, tres magnifique, no? I wanted to show off, to full effect, the great beret I knitted up in no time using some yarn I picked up at Halcyon on our way back to Portland. Halcyon has a signature line-- this is their angora (made in Italy by Plymouth Yarn). It took three skeins, and I even had a little leftover. Not enough to make anything, so perhaps I'll use the small remainder ball as an excuse to get a kitten....

So I don't have to tell you folks about the wonders of having a fiber passion. But I do want to tell you about my wonderful friend Ann Woodall. In addition to being a terrific fiber artist, photographer and painter -- check out her work here-- she is also passionate about sharing her love of fiber with others. Every week she volunteers time at the Helping Hand Home in Austin, teaching girls to knit and crochet. Her young charges have been through a lot in their lives, and are at HHH recovering from trauma. I am always on the prowl for yarn for the girls-- I give them as much as I can collect and they go whipping through it.

So if you have a stash that could use some weeding out, will you please send me your spare yarn? I'll pass it along to Ann and the girls and we will all be SO grateful. You can send it to:

Spike Gillespie
PO Box 4843
Austin, TX 78765

Merci y'all (as they say in Paris, Texas),
Spike

Waa! I Want My Island Back!

Lisa made re-entry a little easier by taking those of us in the van to Halcyon in Bath, ME.

Hey Y'all!

I meant to write a catch-up note sooner to see how you were all settling back into reality but then, le sigh, reality caught up with me. Actually, I had so much fun and relaxed so much on the island that when I first got back I was able to carry over that chill-vibe for a few days. Alas, as I was faux-chillin' the work was a-pilin' up behind my back. And now here I am, on a Monday that is feeling very much like a Monday. 

But I'm interrupting my work routine to take this moment to reminisce with y'all. WASN'T IT GREAT ON THE ISLAND?! I'm already counting the days til next year (347 I think). I hope all is well with you and that wherever you are you are knitting up a storm. Here are a few more pics to jog your memory when you are hoping to revisit Monhegan Island in your mind, until we can get there in person again.

Thanks again for making the week so fun. 

Cheers,
Spike

Holden is clinging to me like Velcro. He cannot bear to see me go. 

I got my flowers to throw in the water to guarantee I return. I also got my chocolate chip cayenne scone -- another guarantee I will be back. 

It was a dark and stormy morning.

BFF! 

I like the red ticket better!

Holden toasts our departure. Nothing like a Dos XX at 9 am! Way to go, Holden!

In the van.

View from the front seat of the van.

We stopped at Swans Island. There wer no swans and it's not an island but we still managed to shop, which is the important part.

I see a blanket looming in my future! 

For those of you worried I wouldn't get it done, you can relax-- I finished Ori's Happy Face Hat with Arms on the plane, and greeted him at the airport with it. Tres sophisticated, no?

I also finished my Pi Shawl. I am SO PSYCHED!! Now I have to block the dang thing.