Knit One Purl One

 

WoolGathering

 

        I like the double meaning of "woolgathering" to describe my new blog.  Dictionary definitions include "to engage in fanciful daydreaming; idleness; absent-mindedness; indulgence in fancies and in daydreaming; imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake; dreamy in mood or nature."

 

       I am not sure that I live up to all those descriptors, but I do to an extent.  As for the literal meaning of wool-gathering, ie collecting wool, I do live up to that.  I may even be classified as a wool hoarder......but gathering is a much nicer word than hoarding.

 

        So I intend that my blog will be about the "fanciful daydreaming and  imaginative thoughts" as well as literal wool-gathering and its related activity of knitting and such.  I may be optimistic in suggesting my thoughts will be fanciful, imaginative and dreamy so let's just say it will be about my thoughts and observations in my rather ordinary life. 

    

       On the literal wool-gathering front, currently my focus is on mittens and I may be a little obsessed.  I have made hundreds of pairs over the last couple of years.  I make the mittens, name them, photograph them, post them and sell them.  Here is an example.

 

 

      These mittens are called Tapestry.  The photo is taken on the deck of my cottage on the St. John River.  I gave these mittens to my niece, Kimberley.  I want to make sure that I make some item for each of my nieces and nephews so that when I am old, they will remember me with fondness (maybe) and cater to my whims and wishes (maybe).  Old Age Insurance. 

 

        I called these mittens Tapestry because they are made of left-over tapestry yarn given to me by my husband's Aunt Irene.  That is another one of my obsessions or challenges.  I like to get people's scraps, ends, leftover yarns and create the mittens from them.  The challenge is to find colors and patterns to suit the scraps and to use up almost every bit of yarn.  It is partly recycling and partly cheap.

       I started naming my mittens because I was inspired by colors and sights in nature that reminded me of the colors of yarn I was using.  And vice versa---colors of wool I was using reminded me of nature.  So originally the mitten names were nature-themed such as the following....

 

Purple Violets by the Fence.....

  

Birch Woods.....

 

Snow Flurries at Night......

Smokey Mountain High...

 

Emerging Spring....

Smoky Asters off the Path...

 

Then I got a little literary. 

Evening Snow Shall Bring Such Peace....

I'm not sure if David Adams Richards knows that some little girl is wearing a pair of mittens named after his novel.

 

And a little musical with Bob Dylan mittens:

Tangled up in Blue....

 

 

Then into the movies with:

Pretty in Pink....

 

My daughters thought I had gone over the edge when I started naming the mittens.  They might say I was....

Madly off in all Directions....


 

Until next time...