Tag Archives: Entertainment

Travel

Indiana Amish

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I call it a sabbatical. Sounds educational. Sounds important. For me, it is personal.

My self-prescribed sabbatical away from the familiarity of WNY, non-stop schedules, teaching, employment gigs, and pretty much anything and everything familiar to me continues. It has led me to some pretty interesting places, which of course was its intention. Currently, I am in Bedford, Indiana with MG, in a very comfortable camper complete with internet, overlooking beautiful country, adjacent to corn fields, and on a rolling road lined with pines and deciduous trees preparing themselves for winter. On this particular day, adventure was calling and its name was the Amish. On the way, anything was game.

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Travel

Knitting, step aside for barn quilts!

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Perhaps a hidden gem of a ‘field trip’ or perhaps I am the last to partake in this experience, here is an idea for you and your family, rain or shine. It is called the Wyoming County’s Barn Quilt Trail. I originally heard about it from the Rochester, NY cadre of colleagues from SME some years, ago and as we do in life, filed it away as a really neat thing to do wondering if the opportunity would ever arise. And, it did thanks to a very patient and kind CF (college friend). Think map of Wyoming County. Think quilts. Think a community who has united themselves by hanging quilts, that is barn quilts, on different structures throughout their community. Wyoming County Strong!

These structures currently include businesses, private homes, and barns. The quilts are called barn quilts in the fact that they are wood therefore can be displayed outside, sometimes painted in design, sometimes pieced. All of them are brilliantly colored and all represent traditional quilt patterns. (The names of all the quilts seen here are posted on the map at the bottom of the post. Can you make the match?)

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Travel

Spool Knitting, Anyone?

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A sweet story of perhaps a budding knitter . . .

So, of course, I feel it my mission as Grandmother (or otherwise) to encourage some sort of yarn crafting to my grandchild (or anyone else for that matter) who lives in Austin, Tx. About a year ago I sent L a box with some scrap yarn and a spool meant for spool knitting. Of course the tool came with directions and I was hoping that this might spark some sort of yarn crafting interest in her. About a week later, I was informed that no one in the house could figure out how to operate this little spool. Mind you, this is a house of very bright collegial people. :)
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Knitspiration

Making Friends with Lace

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Lace is not what I normally wear therefore it is not what I usually knit. To me, lace fabric doesn’t have body that I normally like in a garment, isn’t practical in its open-weave nature, and tends to be fashioned into shawls and/or scarves to show off its beautiful intricate patterns.

I am someone who does not wear shawls and rarely scarves mostly because I cannot seem to succeed in draping them on my body and if I do succeed, they do not stay. What I was seeing in fashion, however back in Spring/Summer 2017 of Vogue Knitting was the mixing of fabrics and styles, the mixing of fabrics traditionally used for one type of garment being used for another. And, when the unexpected happens, my attention is lit.

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Grief

Peeling Back the Layers

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This is on the topic of life after the loss of a loved one.  Not the emotional impact nor the significant life change but more-so on the items that were labeled ‘his’ that were left behind.  What I call the layers of physical reminders in and around the house.  Loss is a tricky thing and we all cope differently.  I am speaking of how I handled his ‘comforts of joy’ that I no longer desired to have around. Where to begin?  How to deal?  Well, I did what I do best.  I organized them. I organized in groupings, like layers, from easiest to most difficult in their significance to our relationship meaning the easiest to the most difficult in coping with each of his things.

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Knitspiration

Relationship of fabric to design

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Well, at this point, this project has been knitted twice.  Not by choice, of course, but to eliminate too much shelf time, aka, not be worn.  I knit to wear so if there is something about a garment that doesn’t feel right or comfortable, I know its future is doomed.   I must say, the fabric that was created by this stitch was the conundrum.

The honeycomb stitch is a type of cable that is dense, especially when using Lion Brand’s fisherman wool . .  held double.  Not so much dense in weight as the pulled stitches create a kind of air hole behind it.  Maybe, you can make this out here, but dense in body.

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Travel

Detroit, Anyone? I did not take my knitting . . .

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Yes, we chose Detroit for a little R & R.  Why, you might ask?  Here are a few reasons.

“One of the most beautiful homes on Airbnb. This is a 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom historic home in one of the most beautiful, one of a kind neighborhood of Detroit. Woodbridge is in Midtown, and a mile from most of Detroit’s finest sights, art, and stadiums. My wife and I are in Greece for at least six months helping refugees and your stay is our only revenue keeping us there. Thank you!”

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