Major Surgery

I had a great day teaching at Knit One today. All my students were exceptional and I enjoyed everyone. But the end of the afternoon was special. (Unfortunately, I have no photos, don't usually photograph my students) Elizabeth was a lovely woman who brought in a beautiful, simple mens crew neck sweater she had knit five years ago and was unhappy with. She also brought in her husband, Joe, the intended recipient. He was a wonderful fellow. Turns out the sweater never fit him, it was just too short. She had knit the sweater from the hem up and wanted to lengthen the body but didn't want to tear out all her hard work. We tried it on Joe and determined the exact length he wanted. He left the shop and we scrubbed for surgery.


I have done this procedure in the past but it still takes your breathe away when you take scissors to knitting, especially someone else's knitting. Yes, I cut the ribbing off the bottom of her sweater and then we pulled out all the little pieces of wool and gently found all the stitches and slowly placed them on a new needle. I did run a lifeline about 2" up from the cut edge, which luckily was not really necessary, but made me feel more confident. It worked and she was thrilled.

This is knitting mojo at the Phd. level, and it looked great when we were finished.

But what was astounding were all the life connections we discovered while I cut her sweater apart. She worked with Fred Rogers for 30 years. Mr. Rogers is considered a saint in our town, where he grew up, graduating with my husband's uncle. His presence is felt every day by the students in our schools and everyone in our community. We swim at the McFeeley-Rogers Pool. The high school includes an unparalleled art collection funded with significant donations from the McFeeley-Rogers Foundation. Many good works. His sister "Lady Elaine" still lives here.

Elizabeth grew up in the town in Massachusetts where I went to boarding school, just down the street to be exact. Her brother and sister went to the same small college as our youngest. Her sister owns a house on Martha's Vineyard, arch rivals and next door neighbors of Nantucket, my home. We decided we were destined to meet one day as we seemed to have zero degrees of separation.

Elizabeth is a true lady, full of calm and grace. It was a treat to spend this afternoon with her.


Wish I had pictures of the surgery, you would have been impressed.

Here We Go

I have been scolded by both daughters to write a new post, so here we go. (The fact that the Steelers are in the Superbowl and everywhere in Steeler Nation you hear refrains of "Here We Go Steelers, Here we Go" maybe on my mind).

I have been knitting, but many are stealth projects which must not be spoken of. Makes the blog sooo boring. And we have had mountains of snow so the garden is a little laconic and equally boring.

Christmas seems ages ago but there was a little knitting for DD#1.

 The first two shots were taken by my architect daughter and her well instructed fiance. Notice the arty pose. And yes, she worked on the lighting.

 These last two were taken by me Christmas morning. Let's just say there was bed head and low lighting, but you get the idea.

Pattern: Dark & Stormy by Babycocktails

Yarn: MadelineTosh Vintage, color, Twig

Needles; #7 circs.

Worked top down. Mods: None. Love this pattern and worked it exactly as written. She loves it and  shares the many compliments she receives at work. A complete success.

I loved this one so much I made one for myself. I made mine a little longer and changed up the cable patterns. I ran a Saxony Cable down the back book-ended between symmetrical 4 st snake cables on either side. On the front I added a more complex A-symmetrical cable with the snake cables on either side of the front button bands. I would show mine, but because I lengthened it I ran out of yarn. I have ordered more. It is in MadelineTosh Vintange, Well Water. another gorgeous color of MadelineTosh.

Before Christmas I knit a pair of cashmere socks(Sorry, looks like Carol at Black Bunny Fibers is out of the Cashmere/wool blend. But there many other yummy yarns in her shop. Go ahead, have a look, I'll wait.) for my biking buddy and a ski cap for her husband out of the new Jared Flood Shelter yarn. The socks have not had their close-up yet, but the hat saw a little camera action.

Pattern: My own design

Yarn: Shelter, various colors. Lined with alpaca from stash.

I ride all summer with Kelly and her husband George does all our bike mechanics. It is important to keep George happy and warm. He wears this hat all the time so I think it is a hit. Always warms the cockles of a knitters heart to see her woolies worn.

It is very late and I have a running date early tomorrow morning, so this will have to do for now...

Knitting through Anxiety

 To paraphrase Elizabeth Zimmermen just a tad, I have been knitting like crazy and for a very good reason...

The Yarn Harlot recently posted about her daughter Sam going away for a while, where it was cold and so she, The Harlot, is knitting lots of warm woolies to wrap her loved one. Our youngest, Macy, has joined the Peace Corps and has been posted to Paraquay. Unfortunately with a climate very similar to Florida she won't be needing any knits from mom, but that doesn't mean I won't knit to get ME through her service. It is a 27 month commitment, so she won't be home until Dec. 2012. And yes, that is a very long time to be away from her family.

Here she is with everything she will need for the next 2 years!!! Now this girl knows how to pack light. She is in training in Paraquay and chomping at the bit to get posted to her final location which will happen in early December. The Peace Corps keeps them in training for three months, covering things like safety and security, working with the local culture and how to take a bucket bath, all important information. She is staying with a family outside of Ascencion, the capital city. They are very good to her and she promises me her "mom" worries that she eat enough, just like I do. Yes, mom's are universal in their belief that the amount you are loved is directly proportional to the amount of food prepared for you.

To help me cope with her being out of phone range, I have been knitting up a storm. The two pieces featured above are mittens for a class I am teaching at Knit One in Pittsburgh. "Latvian Mittens". The pink is Malabrigo Magenta and peach is something from my stash. The blue and coppery colors are Madelin Tosh Sock in color Afternoon and Malabrigo Sock in Primavera. Both were knit in the round on #1 and 2 DPNS. They both include Latvian braids. There are no thumbs because we are going to cut open the thumbs during class. I think it is a perfect use for those of us with too much sock yarn in our stashes. They are warm and silky and feel great on your hands. I'm also planning a pair of gloves to make out of Malbrigo Tiziano Red and some old kettle died sock yarn I found on my stash. These will be based on Selbuvotter  designs and techniques.

I'll keep you posted on the Peace Corps volunteer and the knitting I complete while she is saving the world.

The Lilies are coming, the lilies are coming...

Let the cavalcade begin...

Another one to check off the list

Last weekend was a very big weekend for our family. Our baby, Macy, graduated from Swarthmore College. Not only did she graduate she also was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She doesn't realize what an accomplishment this is, but I am inordinately proud of all the hard work and effort she put in to her education. She also received her certification in Biology, so she achieved quite a bit with this graduation.

Macy was fortunate to meet some fantastic young women as a freshman and they are still her best friends, supporting and loving each others as sisters. The girls traveled to the far reaches of the world their junior year and brought back all their amazing experiences to share. They will now be flung out in to the world, Maria to Korea, Apolline to NYC, Aurora to Philadelphia, and Caitlin to Vermont, and Macy to the Peace Corps(in south America, she hopes). Their futures are bright and fresh and so full of promise. It was a joy to spend time with them and their families. I was bursting with love and pride for all of them.

The girls scheduled a get together for all the families the night before graduation. They then took time to thank us for our support and let us know where they were all headed and their immediate plans. It was a lovely evening with an international flair, as Mace is the only one with American roots.

There was also time for pictures in the Big Chair, a Swarthmore icon. It sits on Parrish Beach in front of the original building and every senior takes time for photos in the Big Chair.

Another tradition at Swat is that the seniors choose a rose from the Rose Garden to wear on their gown the morning of graduation. Normally no one is allowed to pick the roses in the rose garden but the morning of graduation the volunteer staff cut mountains of roses and the seniors pick their favorite. We made a point of checking out the options the night before.


One of my favorite things about Swarthmore is that the whole campus is an arboretum so the gardener in me was always happy to make a run out to pick up the little one. I loved arriving early and just wandering the campus and learning new cultivars. The Scott Arboretum staff gives all incoming freshmen a bulb and asks them to plant it anywhere on campus and to look for it in the spring. When they graduate they are all handed a small potted shrub, Itea, along with their diplomas. Obviously, this is my kind of college.

This is part of the small Scott Arboritum garden near their offices.


Graduation is always held in the amphitheater, rain or shine. We were very fortunate to have beautiful weather.

Before Graduation...

 During...

Amazing, right?

  Patiently waiting her turn.

 Yes, the moment we have all waited for.

The Graduate

The proud parents

Macy is leaving Swarthmore with a well earned degree, an incomparable education, a lifetime of memories, the best of friends and the confidence to go into the world to make her mark. Her journey has just begun.

Wordless Wednesday, A Day Late

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

We had a lovely afternoon. Unfortunately, my little ones were away living life large, but we did the best we could. There were pretty flowers from my garden, steaks, mashed new potatoes, asparagus, beans and broccoli with shallots and a salad made with lettuce also from the garden.

The grande finale was this yummy glazed chocolate tart with graham cracker crust. I also made homemade strawberry ice cream which was a wonderful side dish to the very chocolatey tart. No pictures of the ice cream as it disappeared before documentation.

Missed you girls!!!!