Yes, I have returned. No, I did not want to leave Tennessee. Blue skies, golden trees, roomy homes, delicious food. Toddlers, children, old folks. Love, conversation, laughter.
Monday night my sister and brother-in-law took us bowling with some friends of theirs. The good news? I beat everybody, and I've never been a good bowler in my life. Sis was a discus and shotput throwing champion in high school, but she had rotator cuff surgery in January. The bad news? I spent the rest of the week recovering. I think I caught arthritis from my mom, too.
I am sick of knitting. I may not ever knit again. I finished Lurlene, the almost-sock without a mate, and started Purlene, her mate. I knit a counterpane square (Lanarch's Castle) from Mary Walker Phillips' book using 5-ply gansey yarn. Looks great. I started a scarf from some homespun that is working up beautifully. I have no motivation to take pictures of any of this, for I am sick of knitting. The Traveler's sock that Sue recommended is beautiful, but the shade of Koigu I was using made the patterning practically invisible, so I left that until I can find a better color. Why put all the work into it if nobody can see it?
Since returning I have been working on little miniature quilt blocks, which may turn out to be Christmas tree ornaments or may turn out to be joined in holy quiltimony in a miniature little Christmas quilt. It's the first time I've paper-pieced anything, and I think I like it.
I brought back a couple of quilts that were my grandmother's or perhaps my great-aunt's, or perhaps either one of their antecedents', to some nth degree. One is in ill repair, and I want to recreate it, or at least the essence of it. In trying to do so, I find that the fabrics are all Civil War fabrics. No wonder the quilt is falling apart.
And that is all I shall report for now. One day I might be persuaded to find the camera and post some pictures. I hope everyone had a nice relaxing holiday wherever you were.
Welcome back! Missed you and the blog!
Posted by: Ryan on December 1, 2004 09:15 AMNice to read you again !
Hope you feel less 'post holiday blah' soon,and don't you dare stop knitting !...unless you really,really want to. ;-]
Welcome back from me too! Snuggle in with the furkids for a couple of days, ease back into the NorthWest!
Posted by: marti on December 1, 2004 09:48 AMSheila, I would dearly love to see photos of your antique quilts one day. There are so many beautiful reproduction fabrics available nowadays, trying to recreate these old quilts would be so much fun!
Posted by: Linette on December 1, 2004 10:19 AMWell, go ahead--be sick of knitting for a while! There is no rule (that I know of) that says we've gotta love knitting every second of our lives.
However, there IS a rule that you've got to keep blogging. Sorry. The good news is that we're happy to hear about spinning and quilting and Mrs. Kravitz's atomic lab...
Posted by: Janine on December 1, 2004 10:41 AMDo what the Muse dictates, Sheila. If it's quiltin' time, it's quiltin' time. I had a quilting phase myself a few years ago, but knitting drew me back in before long. There's just something about historical textiles, though... a beautiful old quilt can still give me goosebumps, even though I don't want to cut and sew all those little pieces anymore!
Posted by: Beth S. on December 1, 2004 11:00 AMSheila,
Welcome back! And if you're sick of knitting, have you ever thought of writing a novel or (??) in that wonderful Southern voice? Tell us all about Tennessee, meanwhile telling us a wonderful story told to you by one of those Civil War quilts?? Just a suggestion. You might begin it in Paris ?? In other words, many of us would read your blog whether or not another single word about knitting EVER appeared...
glad you're back :-) totally agree about the koigu, it's my favorite sock yarn, so i just use a simple rib or broken rib, otherwise you lose the pattern.
Posted by: vanessa on December 2, 2004 03:39 AMWelcome back! Fret not, the knitting blahs will pass in their own time- have fun with the quilts.
Posted by: Sarah on December 2, 2004 04:50 AMGlad you're back!
I used KPM 2128, exactly as shown for the Traveler's socks, I love KPPM, I think I'm more of a collector of them, on the NE socks I'm using KPM in 2340 a pretty green, the solids are lovely for patterned socks, I think I need to order more.
Sue in cloudy FL
Posted by: Sue on December 2, 2004 05:57 AM