No Tidy Studios Here and French Faux Pas

At the risk of belaboring the time space issue, a cool thing about blogging is that you can adjust the time hence space of a post. I was in Northern Europe last year. But what with one thing and another. Oh yes, taking French was another time impingement. In preparation for the next trip – I thought I’d better wake up my brain and try to dredge up some of that high school and college French. I want to be able to get from place to place via the train without too many mishaps. There are so many mishaps waiting to happen when one studies languages.

I made a presentation to my French class, on various textile endeavors, including felting. In fact I went to great lengths describing the knitting and felting process. The thing is, the word for felt is feutre – just a vowel away from a common “f” word expression. This was our last day at class and it seemed a useful expression to all of us – to put down any annoying hangers-on. I doubt I will have this problem in any case.



Shifting gears, some people have asked about my studios. Formerly I had only one, but as space is freed up, more studios popped up. The largest space is a weaving studio. This holds three looms that are set up, and that doesn't count a workshop loom and and two upright rug looms. It also holds a sewing machine and the computer to help run one of the looms. This space looked very spacious when I had only one loom. Something happened - wonderful and terrible. And then there is the knitting studio. Still, boundaries are not rigid in this house...textiles seep into every corner.



I am semi-seriously working on eliminating some stuff. This includes a fabulous 24 shaft Woolhouse table loom. I think it is the primo table loom. I bought it when I was having serious back problems. At that point my legs didn't work too well, and I couldn't use the 24 shaft AVL computer assisted loom, so thought this was the next best thing. It is. I love it. But I must have more space. So if you are interested in a scarcely used jewel, let me know. The image below is not a loom. It is a creel which carries the yarn to the back of the AVL.



These are my feet in Turkish carpet slippers. I feel like Sherlock Holmes. Do you think he might like to wear my scotty dog pajamas?



I will save the knitting studio for another day.

Monkeys and Zen

One of the things about knitting – it allows me transcend time and place – this happens especially when commuting to work by bus – under the ipod with a knitting project in hand. I become younger, much younger – to some place of passion brought by the music – then instantly traverse a decade to pregnancy and homebirth – then another decade or two to the present. It is not so much memory when knitting, more like a time and space curve and intersection. The past, present and different geographical locales are all now. Physics and zen and knitting.

Travel interrupted this blog. Then a new job. And what else? I am going to try to go back in time to get present.




Check out these three monkeys – Estonian, Finnish and a ship monkey. I want to knit roomfuls of monkeys. Instead, I have just started one. It is a slow going monkey since blankets, sweaters, socks, weaving, surface design and weeds take precedence. The monkeys were encountered on a knitting cruise to Northern Europe. More about the northern esthetic later.



It turns out some of these monkeys have appeared here before. I guess that's how it is with monkeys.