Fiber Arts in Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year and not just because the weather is still mild and without the humidity and not only because the leaves are turning the most beautiful colors, especially here in the Hudson Valley, but also there is a little chill in the air, just enough to get out your sweaters and keep warm with all that woolen loveliness.

The area where I live is most famous among knitters and other fiber artists for its annual Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY, often referred to simply as RHINEBECK.

This year one local library, the Morton Memorial Library in Rhinecliff (right on the Hudson) organized an early kick-off to get into the swing of things with a Fiber Arts Show with knitted, crocheted, woven, quilted , felted, embroidered, cross stitched,...you name it, it's there....pieces from library patrons.  

Yours truly dropped off a shawl.

So, hurry on over to get inspired.  the show will last until the end of the month.

For those of you who are not living in or planning to visit this area, I also started a seven day challenge of sharing your creations on-line on my facebook page.  I started by sharing a different sweater and shawl each day and I hope others will join in with the fun and share any fiber creation.

Dropping off a shawl with Sandy at the Morton Memorial Library in Rhinecliff

Someone else dropping off a beautiful sweater

You are greeted by two felted cats at the library

Check out my facebook page Knit With Doris/ Discover Your Inner Knitter and join in the fun of sharing your creations.

My ( almost) Rhinebeck Sweater

It all started so well:  

• I fell in love with this pattern, Helenium by Amanda Scheuzger, and bought the yarn, Kenzie by Hikoo Skacel, which just happened to be in the clearance bin at the yarn shop where I work, The Knitting Garage in Rhinebeck.

And it got better:  

• There was not enough yarn in the color I liked best from what was there, but I was able to buy more yarn off a fellow knitter on ravelry ( Juliemustknit).  And it turned out that the yarn I bought from her although bought in North Carolina rather than NY is the EXACT SAME dye lot!!!  What were the chances of that??

I started the sweater on January 16, 2019  and had so much fun that I finished the sleeves and body all the way to the point when I start knitting the brioche yoke by February 9.

I was looking forward to come back from a two week vacation in Costa Rica and finish the sweater.

BUT I broke my wrist while away and was not able to continue until a little 

over four months later, July 17, at which point I very gingerly knitted a little bit at a time

August 13, almost a month later, I finished and absolutely love this sweater.

It fits well and who knew that orange looks so good on me?!

I am really looking forward to the cooler weather when I will start wearing it.  There have been a few cool mornings already and I enjoy slipping into this sweater.

Now you may wonder why I said “almost Rhinebeck sweater”.

That’s simple :  it turns out that I will be away this year during the New York Sheep and Wool Festival.  I will be visiting family in England, but I will be sure to wear my Helenium pullover there...

.

THIS SHAWL....

i recently shared this on my Facebook page and want to post it here, too, as I know that not everyone follows me on Facebook.
It is a simple post, close to my heart about love and knitting and people and memories...
It is about this shawl: Kleio

THIS SHAWL...

It brings life and happiness to an otherwise boring outfit.

It also always makes me think of several people who mean a lot to me:

Leah as she hand-dyed the bluish yarn.

Barbara as she brought back the orange yarn from vacationing in Nova Scotia.

My sons Gerry and Richard and others who were born in August as the yarn was sold at the planetarium and named for the constellation “Leo”.

My vacation in Venice where I bought the red yarn last year on route to Croatia where Tony and I met up with my sister and her husband for two weeks.

♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Do you have any such garment which fills you up with love and memories?

Yes, I have been very quiet

The long and short of it is that I broke my left wrist. Both the distal radius and ulnar avulsion are fractured.  And yes, I am right handed, but as a Continental Knitter I use my left hand for tension...

But let me recap and start at the beginning.  That’s start at the beginning of the year.
It all started off so well with finishing five knitted gifts in January alone!

I also finished two pairs of socks in my final sock knitting class.

And I finished my Even Flow Cardigan which I had put on the back burner while working on gifts during the Holiday Season.

You could say I was on a roll.

I also finished The Boyfriend sweater in under two weeks beginning of February.

Then it was time to go on vacation and I put my Helenium sweater aside ( too much to schlepp around) and started on a pair of socks for my eldest son and a simple raglan sweater for my sister.

And then it happened.  Hiking down a steep embankment to catch the sunset on the beach, I lost my footing.  Legs went flying forward, the rest of me propelled back and I remember thinking “ I better brace myself before hitting my head”.  I did roll slightly to the left, ever protective of my right hand.  So there...hand was swollen and painful for the remainder of the vacation, which I must say I still did enjoy.  Who wouldn’t enjoy Costa Rica in Winter?!

Fast forward two weeks and back home I did get an x-ray only to find out that what I thought was ( only) a sprain is in fact ( also) a fracture ( or rather two).

So now I am sporting a pretty green cast and moping around, trying to explore and enjoy things other than knitting, cooking or baking ( I don’t mind so much that I can’t clean 😉). I am also looking at this time as a test in patience.
The cast did come off yesterday and I now have a custom fitted hot pink brace for the next four weeks.  The nice thing about this is that I can take it off to shower.

There are lots of ideas and well meant suggestions such as loom knit, crochet, use a knitting belt....but somehow I am just too stubborn for now, trying to ride it out until I can knit again properly and with both hands.  Especially for those pieces which are half way done I need to make sure that I get the same tension and gauge.
I did start to crochet a simple dishcloth/ washcloth, but it is slow going and more frustrating than it is worth it.

But anybody who knows me, knows that I will bounce back and that in the meantime I don’t think about it too much, but rather use my time to explore other things I can do such as read a book, take a walk, visit with friends, play Scrabble. Oh, and how can I forget?! I still do give knitting lessons.  I have been giving everyone the choice to reschedule, but everyone (so far) has been very kind and has me talk them through their projects rather than demonstrating 😍🧶
Life is Good.