A Day in Yarn Heaven

I spent yesterday at Stitches East, at the Convention Center in Hartford. I didn't go to any of the classes this year, except the free presentation by Gwen Borland about her new book on entrelac. Someday, I plan to make an entrelac scarf just to try the technique, but it's not a technique that I would feel enthusiastic about using for sweaters, hats and bags, even socks, although her designs looked great.

Of course, I forgot to take my camera so I could take photos of all the fabulous colors and textures seen in every booth. I do have pictures of what I bought - a grey mix of soft wool and 5% silk in shades of grey, to make a cowl/hoodie to wear with my red winter coat; and 2 hanks of merino in shades of pale blue just to add to the stash.

I also bought a cute pattern for a little girls ruffled top, and the designer, Suzanne Stewart, was pleasantly astonished when I asked her to sign it for me.

I have instructions for the Caps for Good, which are preemie caps for babies in African countries. A few tables with yarn and needles were set up so shoppers could rest and knit for a bit, and maybe even finish a tiny baby hat.

I brought a Christmas novel written by Debbie Macomber to Stitches - she was signing books at the Woolpack booth. This is the second book she has signed for me - the first one was at Foxwoods a couple of years ago, where she gave me a free copy of one of her pattern books and cautioned me not to tell anyone (I'm now a fan for life). She lives just a few miles from S1 Tod in Washington, in a little town called Port Orchard, where she has her own yarn shop - we've been there twice now. She also has her own brand of knitting yarn this year - I checked it out at the Universal Yarn booth, and it does seem to fit her style - pretty colors, soft and cozy, nothing too fancy - just right for settling down with a cup of tea and a muffin.

I also checked out the Craft Cruises booth - I'd love to take that cruise to Hawaii some day!

I stayed all day until the market closed, then drove through heavy traffic back home. Nice to have a Manhattan and Hubster's cooking waiting for me.

Copenhagen for a Day

Gosh, you can't go anywhere in Scandinavia without seeing Vikings, even right on the shopping streets of Copenhagen. This one looks very welcoming!

The people on the streets look like almost any other city in Europe and the US, but the architecture is strictly Danish.The central city square, with municipal buildings.

You can't walk very far in Copenhagen without finding a waterway. This is the Queen's yacht. And this is the new City Hall (I think). Friday evening in Copenhagen - the streets start getting crowded around 4:00 PM. By 7:00 PM, you can hardly walk down this street. It's full of cafes and bars, and everybody is out for Happy Hour (and maybe for the rest of the night). Had to have this picture of a vintage clothing shop.

Last Evening in Askov

Our Danish hosts at the Askov Folk School prepared a special and delicious multi-course dinner for our last evening. A little bit of entertainment, including my reading of "The Princess and the Pea" - thankfully, one of Anderson's shortest stories. Harriet gave a lovely little speech using the Danish word "hyuggely" (my phonetic spelling) - meaning something like a warm, happy and comfortable feeling with friends and family. This is the musician and teacher who led a half-hour of singing every morning before breakfast. He treated our group to several folk songs and their stories. I like to think the lady in the portrait behind him is also listening happily. In the morning, we boarded the coach for Copenhagen. On the left is Ulla, our Denmark host/leader, who always wore the most amazing and dramatic artisan silver jewelry.

Mitten Disasters

These mittens were to be Christmas presents, but life didn't work out that way. (The picture shows the first one of each pair, unseamed). After I finally got over my "second mitten syndrome" and went to work on the second of the two pairs, things didn't go well. Since the mittens were made flat and then seamed, I couldn't try them on during the knitting and the curled stockinette edge added sizing confusion. And then I inadvertently (not paying attention!) knitted the second one of the peach pair in a larger needle size than the first one, so it came out about an inch bigger, but after seaming up the larger one, I realized it was still too small for the person it was intended for. So since I had two different size mittens, and even the biggest one of the pair was too small, they ended up in the trash. (I really hated to do that, but even a rummage sale couldn't use them.)

So then on to the green pair, which I actually made both in the same size (yay!). But they still ended up too small for the intended giftee, so this pair will be going to the next rummage sale - at least some tiny person will get some wear out of them. Several lessons learned, and it was fun to knit the different colors and the ribbed cuffs.

Danish Peasant Village Recreation

This recreation of Danish country life in the 19th century is called the Funen Village. The homes and farm buildings, which were moved here from other locations in Denmark, show the living conditions of both small farm families and more prosperous citizens. Typical construction had both the dwelling areas and the farm buildings surrounding a central courtyard.
Barns are large and half-timbered, like the houses. Most buildings have thatched roofs. I loved these colors. I think this is a tavern. The round building has a large mill-stone in the center. You can see here past the wooden gate to the courtyard behind. This is a gardening shed with a well in the front. to the right is a vegetable garden.

I love this bright mustard yellow wall.

A beautiful painted cupboard - very typical.Sleeping quarters for the children. The flax room of the weaver's barn. My great-grandparents in Sweden had a barn loom like this.

Shades of wool yarn using natural dyes.

And knitting!

Walktober: Bison and Wolf - in Connecticut!

Walktober is the name for a group of walks in the northeast corner of Connecticut, sponsored by the Last Green Valley organization. It started 20 years ago with a few weekend walks, and has grown to well over 100 throughout the month of October. The focus is to provide walkers with historical information about this area of the state, as well as an appreciation of our beautiful natural environment. This weekend I went on two of the walks. The walk on Sunday took us around the Creamery Brook Bison Farm. The first picture shows the lovely mid-1800s farmhouse (note the unusual corner columns and eaves. The farm buildings were a different story - the roof blew off the barn last year and hasn't yet been replaced. Since there are only a few cows and the bison stay in pasture outside all year, this wasn't too great a disaster.
These animals are cow-size, but not nearly as docile as cattle. We were told that moving them from one pasture to another can be tricky and involves a lot of timing with gate openings and closings. They are susceptible to a parasite which requires the animals to be wormed at least twice a year - not an easy task. Bison can run 30 miles per hour, and can jump over 6-foot fences, and they often go only where they want to go. The walk this morning was led by our state archaologist, who always has a lot of great stories. We walked in Mashomoquet State Park, on rocky and hilly trails to view the cave where Israel Putnam (Brooklyn farmer and Revolutionary War general) tracked and killed a wolf who had been killing farm animals locally. I had heard this tale since I was a teen, but had never actually seen the site, so this was a treat. We kept on the trail for about another 1/2 mile to the Indian Chair - just a rock with a natural split, on a cliff overlooking what is now forest, but once was farmland. Of course then we had to walk back over the same rocky and hilly trail to the parking lot - not an easy stroll by any means. But it was a beautiful day and I was happy to be out in our gorgeous woods for a couple of hours.

Wandering Kolding Castle

This is the Koldinghus. a medieval castle in Kolding of lovely old pink brick. It is a rough square with an interior courtyard - this photo shows only the side you approach from the parking lot. It has been partially restored (the brown area), and much of the building is a museum for Danish furniture, pottery and silver with simple white plaster walls. We have a few hours of free time in Kolding, and I spent most of mine just wandering around the castle - I think I covered every inch. The entrance is through a gate on the right side, and these are views from near the gate looking down at the river which the castle guarded.

This is the courtyard seen from the other side of the entrance gate. And this is the courtyard view as seen from one of the towers.
I love this picture - it shows the way they have incorporated modern architecture to complement the original walls. This section is behind the brown portion of the exterior (seen above), and they have not replaced the floors, so this area is three stories high.

Another view of the partial restoration, with wonderful lighting. The dungeon, way down below!

The stairs going up one of the circular towers.

Two views from the tower, looking down over the town of Kolding.

I watched a video for a while of an artisan creating a tall silver bowl, starting with a flat piece of sterling - amazing!. This was my favorite piece in the silver room of the museum. You can even see me in the reflection.