AnotherPurl :: a knitter's life

Ardenwood 2013

Life at Squam is idyllic and beautiful even when it rains. While I had my iPad with me, I didn't take any pictures. I just immersed myself in craft, beauty and the feeling of nature all around.

(Picture taken by Cal Patch, who was an excellent teacher)

This was the first year I could really say that I worked past my comfort zone. For the past two years I've taken knitting and embroidery, but I wouldn't say that the classes I took were mentally challenging. The challenge was just in being at Squam and meeting new people and being open to meeting people. Last year my cabinmates were both stronger at sewing and as a group we decided to expand past our comfort zones.

This year instead of knitting I took Card Weaving with John Mullarkey and Squam Smock with Cal Patch. Now, I have done weaving before on the rigid heddle, but I have been reading about tablet and card weaving for a few years now and thinking that the online instructions were a bit hard to understand. So, card weaving wasn't quite as far outside my comfort zone. I mean, it is still playing with string.

But sewing? For me even with a good teacher I don't always feel comfortable seeing the next step, and so I spend a lot of time confirming that the thing I am pretty sure I am supposed to do next is really the thing I'm supposed to do.

Squam Smock wasn't really that much different in that regard, but I was able to move a bit past asking about everything and to just do some of the things. My only regret is that I didn't have the time to trace out the pattern so I could make another one.

The pattern is easy and flexible enough (without the pockets) that I think I can make it again without feeling like I need hand holding. And well, it is definitely roomy enough to take me through pregnancy and not-maternity enough to wear afterwards without feeling like I am in a moomoo.

I did combine a few things together this year. I embroidered my fabric, to draw on my skills from last year. I am also hoping to card weave a band to sew onto the bottom. It would be nice to be able to wear it to Squam next year (I hope I'll be able to go) and see the different elements all together as a single whole.

Oh, and yes, the sweater is my Breezy Cardigan, which I finished only a few days before Squam. It still needs a separate reveal, but it worked well in the mixed weather of Squam Lake in the spring.

4 repeats and a bit...

I'm working on Color Affection, the most recent craze to hit the knitting world. I cast on within moments of sewing on the last button on my new sweater (which also needs its own blog post), and it was my primary project at Squam. Unlike the blanket from last year, this one has a deadline, because it is a Camp Loopy project. 

I'm in short row land, though that is feeling increasingly like a misnomer as my short rows are steadily marching along the rows, eating up the territory in their path. I'm on repeat 7 of 10 (or until it feels done presumably). I'm hoping for this weekend, but as the rows get longer, they also take longer. At the Art Fair, I bought 3 more skeins of yarn for a second one, which I will probably make in late 2012. it was funny seeing how popular this pattern was. I didn't see anyone wearing it at Squam, but at the Art Fair people were buying sock yarns in groups of 3. It was all sorts of hilarious to me even though I was no better than the rest of us knitterly sheep. Garter stitch in 3 colors with short rows keeps this from being a brain numbing project to one that entertains, and worked on largish (for sock yarn) needles means that it is quick! Though don't ask me how quick it is when I am plowing my way through the last rows.

PS. Gosh I miss Squam. I hate that I sound kind of meh in some of my posts, but the entire experience is wonderfully idyllic while being mind bendingly creative and energizing. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around it, so I tend to focus on the minutia. Stupid minutia.

recapping squam (part 2: everything else)

People
My cabinmates were awesome. We chatted long into the night, drank cider (Woodchuck) and wine and showed resourcefulness in making tables and opening bottles. It was wonderful to learn so much about each person. There was Amber, Viviane and Wanda. I made coffee in the wee hours and tended the fire, and generally talked to way more people than I do in the normal matter of course.

The meals were a little more bedlam than normal. We were a large group, and when you have 10 knitters together (or really 10 of anybody) the conversation can get rowdy. We were loud. The food was excellent and the coffee was mostly fine (I brought my own in a pinch, but drank the decaf with grounds anyway, because it was convenient and not that different from a french press). Bonnie and I had a banana split night, when we decided that nothing would be better than to take scoops of ice cream and top with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and nuts. And bananas of course.

The entertainment included a very poignant (tearjerkingly so) performance by Jonatha Brooke about dealing with her mom's descent into dementia. This was followed by a book talk the next night, which included Maya Donenfeld's new book, Reinvention (on my short list till paycheck day). Opening night was a rather calming introduction to all of the teachers, rather than a more involved affair as we had all traveled.

The art fair on Saturday was awesome as always, with blocks of lake ice lighting the path with candles inside. It still feels magical to see that. The vendors were awesome, and enough of them took cash only that I didn't overspend (I only brought a card and was being very careful). I came home with some additional treasures, and a short list for another book (waves at Ysolda).

Too soon it was over.

Outside of the entertainment and the classes, there were empty spots in the schedule. Like the legal books with notices "this page left intentionally blank," these spots were surprisingly happy interstices to the weekend. Some people used these to continue working on projects from the classes, but for me this was the push to do some of the things available on Squam Lake that I hadn't tried the previous year. I went swimming on Saturday, grateful that I had brought my swim suit and not caring if the water was warm or cold. Later that same afternoon, Amber, Viviane and I went hiking up Pasture Trail (which was marked as easy and to my out of shape body felt anything but) and found both a geocache and a luna moth along the trail.

It was great to do things that I don't normally do. The empty spots provided a feeling of calm and relaxation that are really not part of a class. I needed those spots, because life has been full of rough patches. It was a great idea which I came into Squam being highly skeptical of, but without those spots I would have forgone the walking and the swimming and probably just sat in the cabin stitching. I'm such a homebody for those kinds of things.

I cannot wait to go back!

recapping Squam (part 1: classes)

I got back from Squam on Sunday, because from Massachusetts it is only about 2.5 hours driving. The traffic was light, the day was warm, and we were all talking about our classes and experiences over the weekend. A lot of what we discussed was from the perspective of having been to Squam Art Workshops multiple times as this was my second time and Jenn's 4th. The class mix still has sewing, printing, photography, embroidery and knitting, but at least to Jenn (I'm not quite experienced enough to be sure yet) it felt like more of the non-knitting classes were a bit basic. It's not completely a surprise. The range of people attending Squam is huge, and a large number of people are working on things that are outside their general comfort zones, so a photography class will have to spend some time going over the basics, the sewing class might involve a bit of discussion on machine basics, and the embroidery classes definitely spend some time going over making the basic stitches. That is not a bad thing, because it makes the classes accessible to a wider range of people and a good teacher can expand their teaching for the students who are already more advanced than the basic level of the class.

The knitting classes at least in the spring Squam tend to be less basic at least to my mind, because so many of the attendees already knit and knit fairly well. The only class that might be appropriate for a true knitting beginner (someone who is still learning how to knit, purl, cast on and cast off) is probably the knitting salon, but I'm not sure that is the best forum for that either. Like any physical skill it takes both time and practice. For many people, it is just not possible to learn to knit in a weekend.

So, that said, I took 2.5 classes (the half class was something called a Squam extra, which was lower key than the other classes). I took Knitting as Meditation with Fiona Ellis (not Mediation as someone kept reading), Community Blanket with Natalie Selles, and Custom Monogram with Jessica Marquez. The classes were excellent. Let me reiterate this: my comments below might make it sound like I didn't have fun and learn in the classes. I did. These are just my comments to explain things that might make it either even better or help someone on the fence about what classes they want to take if they are offered again.

Somewhere along the line in the past couple of years I have progressed from an intermediate to advanced knitter. This makes a difference in a class like Knitting as Meditation. In this class, we were given different exercises that were knitting analogs to poses and theories of yoga. We had exercises that challenged us to be more aware, to focus on the soothing meditative qualities of knitting, to stretch past our comfort zone and to work on balance and trust. The value of these exercises were easier to achieve if you had to think less about knitting and could thus devote a larger portion of your mental space to the sensations and awareness that surrounds the knitting. For something that sounded so new agey, I had a wonderful time and have incorporated a couple of the exercises into my general repetoire.

Community Blanket was a hoot. Most blankets are separate squares that are then sewn together by one individual or a small group of individuals, which takes a group project and makes it surprisingly solitary and usually not cohesive. That is fine, but if you have a large group of knitters, you can make a community blanket where 4 people are knitting on the blanket at the same time in an endless spiral. It is fun and full of camaraderie. Natalie did an excellent job in explaining what needed to happen given that the flip board she requested didn't arrive until almost 40 minutes into the class. We also got to knit outside in the sunshine. Double win!

My last class was Custom Monogram, an embroidery class taught by Jessica Marquez. This class was a little different from what I was expecting. We learned about a half dozen basic stitches (backstitch, satin, chain, stem, split, fishbone) and then we applied them as we wished to a template that Jessica provided (that's the custom part). For some reason, I was expecting the class to be a little more about how to place elements and design a piece. I learned some truly useful things that I had been putting off (like how to transfer designs and a couple of stitches were new to me). It was an excellent class, tons of fun, but a little bit easier than I was expecting. No biggie.

I'm hoping that next year's classes will build on these, so we can move to more advanced skills. It would be great to learn with more of a design focus. Some of the knitting classes I didn't get into were like that, as were the sewing classes, so one of my goals for the year is to become more comfortable with sewing in general and my machine in particular that I can take one of the classes without feeling like I'm monopolizing the instructor's time and detracting from the other students.

A general takeaway for those who are considering Squam or any other craft-based retreat is to consider the class descriptions carefully, be prepared to ask questions, and be open to new experiences. Even the classes that were too easy for me contained things I happily learned, or provided opportunities for me to learn more about myself. Like LARPing, sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get the perfect mix of learning, comfort and fun. I'm learning that I need a bit more learning and a lot less comfort.

reentry

Now there is a word that feels like it needs a hyphen. I'm back from Squam, and not quite ready to talk all about it. I'll probably give myself another day to digest and see if I took any good photos (the answer is most likely no), and then write about it (hi Mom!).

The short answer is that it was a wonderful experience. I love the camraderie, and the fiber crafts and the feeling of learning among like minded individuals, but it is more than that.

Of course, I'm making myself coffee now and have folded my laundry (wash and dry was the first order of business). I only about about 15 minutes left before I have to get ready for work. It's a beautiful morning and when I was away my strawberries started to get red (maybe another week before I can start picking them at the absolute most).

Have a beautiful day!

sometimes there is a cookie fail

Helene (of Tartelette) is teaching food styling/photography at Squam. It is one of the many classes I wanted to get into. Helene is one of the two food bloggers I read who I would call a queen of macaron.

I decided I'd make macaron. Not just any macaron. Her peanut butter and jelly macaron. Unlike my previous experiences with macaron, this time I wasn't using almond flour (I was out and decided not to replace with hazelnut flour) but almonds and peanuts. Suffice to say I didn't grind them fine enough. My mixture was too chunky to pass through my tip (which probably was also the wrong size). Now, once the nuts are mixed into the stiff egg whites, there really is no going back. So, I used my mini cookie scoop (about 1 inch cookies/mini ice cream scoops) to put the batter out.

It's mostly the right size. It's even mostly the right shape. It's developing a foot. But the bite and the crunch will not be quite the same.

I'm telling myself that as long as they are tasty it doesn't quite matter. Unfortunately macaron aren't just a flavor, but they are a visual experience.

My other batch of cookies will be baked tomorrow.

not quite speed knitting

I'm rapidly reaching the finish line on Cria, which I started for the Loopy Ewe Q2 challenge (knit something with cotton in it). I have wanted to use Riveting, Kollage's yarn line made out of recycled blue jeans, pretty much ever since I saw it, so this was a great opportunity.

Of course, because I didn't modify Cria for length, I won't be machine washing and drying the finished sweater. Machine washing and drying is supposed to shrink up the row gauge, much like you see in other denim yarns (I thought it would be different, because it was recycled and theoretically had been washed and dried many times, but according to Kollage not so much). Not a big whoopsie, but if I use this yarn I'll keep it in mind if I want to try out the machine washing and drying!

As I near that finish line, I am thinking about my next project. I'm bringing Color Affection (my Camp Loopy project 1) with me to Squam which is in just under a week. I can hardly wait. This weekend will be packing and making cookies and doing all sorts of prep work. I will admit that I'm looking forward to a few days off from work. You'd think the holiday weekend would make that feel less awesome, but Squam Art Workshops is such a great experience. Even more than going to knitting (which I've missed for fun reasons for the past couple of weeks), this is a group of "my people."

Tonight is Pints & Purls at Gather Here, which is the perfect spot for finishing my sleeve (last one) and doing the pockets. I'm putting fabric buttons on my Cria even though there are (at last calculation) 19 buttons. I think that the dusky grey blue fabric needs a little enlivening up. I'm not sure if I want to pick a brighter fabric, or maybe make my buttons out of a softer more feminine fabric. I could see making them with lace and a light gauzy lining fabric. There are tons of options!