Lost Arts studio

A lot of the fiber arts I enjoy are things like tatting, netmaking, chair caning, and even weaving, where people will come up to me when I demonstrate and solemnly tell me, "That's a lost art."

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Location: SW Outer Nowhere, Michigan, United States

On the Internet, nobody knows you're a chicken. (With apologies to Peter Steiner.)



06 May 2009

Spring Has Its Charms

First off, oops. Yes, I did say 624 stitches, and I even had 624 written down on a piece of paper . . . but I'm not out to that row yet. Hah. Oops. It's only 432.

Last week I was ramping up for an SCA demo (Society for Creative Anachronism) at Holland, Michigan's tulip festival. This past weekend was Kinderplaats, an area set aside for children's activities.

We had a table with a chain mail shirt I borrowed from my brother to put on kids, someone painting faces, and some other armor they could try on. The chain shirt weighs 23 pounds (about 10.4 kilos), and I put it on and took it off kids many times over the two days.

Monday I was so tired that I hardly remember what I did. I know I worked -- what else? Laundry. I think.

Yesterday I know I washed laundry, because when I mowed the grass for the first time, I couldn't mow under the clothesline for fear of getting fresh juicy green grass clippings on my clean sheets.

Then we went to the library, where I soaked my head in more books, and afterwards ran some errands in town. Then we got home just in time to whisk the dry laundry off the line as it started to sprinkle with rain.

Christel has been sitting around for a few days. I knitted off a needle and counted only 33 stitches where I knew there should be 36. I couldn't find my mistake, so I let Christel sit until I had time to figure out where the error might be.

A couple of nights ago, my brain went *Ding ding ding* and offered up a possible mistake:

Today I sat down and checked, and sure enough, I had done the "YO, SKP" twice and missed out a "YO, K3" in there. So now that it's fixed I can work on Christel and knit out to that 624 stitch row.

My name is Ajax and I approve this post.

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7 Comments:

Blogger TinkingBell said...

Beautiful spring photos. It seems far away at the moment - but we have had a gorgeous autumn.

I'm glad Ajax approves - the SCA meeting sound like a heap of weightlifting fun!

2:34 AM  
Blogger amy said...

I am reading between the lines but it sounds like maybe homeschooling is working out? I love the "we." We went to the library, and you buried yourself in books. Sounds like there is a balance there. :)

10:22 AM  
Blogger Donna Lee said...

That chain mail shirt must have weighed more than the kids!

I think you were just being optimistic when you wrote down 624. Optimism isn't necessarily a bad thing, unless you leave off 300 stitches! (that is such a lot of stitches!)

10:48 AM  
Blogger Knitting Linguist said...

That's a lot of heavy lifting! It sounds like it was fun, though :) I may be in the same sort of position soon -- my younger daughter's second-grade teacher has asked me to come and demonstrate spinning for her students who are working on their "Fundamental Needs of Man" unit (my daughter mentioned that I had spinning wheels when the clothing part came up). I'm thinking we'll make spindles with cds and dowels, if I can just figure out how.

And I'm glad you figured out the knitting problem; good luck getting through those longer and longer rows.

4:04 PM  
Blogger Marguerite said...

This seems to be a busy time of year for everyone. Lots of activities and meetings and the yard and garden screaming for attention.

The flower pictures are gorgeous.

4:58 PM  
Blogger roxie said...

Twenty three pounds of chain mail, and this was the "lightweight" body armor. The mind boggles. And your shoulders must have screamed with fatigue! You are SUCH a trooper!!

Great photos. Thanks.

10:21 AM  
Blogger Bells said...

oh spring has come!! How gorgeous. Ajax is such a good looking dog.

4:45 AM  

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