Tag: aloisia Pollock

TurkeyTracks: This One’s For You, Nancy

Turkey Tracks:  April 22, 2012

This One’s For You, Nancy

It’s a rainy Sunday.

We are delighted!

I can’t tell you how dry it is in Maine.  And, until the past few days, way too warm for April.

The new strawberry plants (50) arrived, and I planted them the other day.  I plant the most delicious little strawberry–Sparkle.  Strawberries get planted early spring, but one pinches off all the blossoms the first year to give the plants a year to develop.  So, we won’t eat these strawberries until June 2013.  It’s ok.  I think we’ll get another year or, even, two out of the old bed.  I’m just thinking ahead.

I also planted peas, the cold frame with lettuce, and raked back the straw from the asparagus bed.  I was planning in my head to go get some cool-weather plants, like broccoli, until my better sense kicked in as it’s really way too early.  I had to water everything deeply, and my muscles are still screaming from all this different, outdoor activity.

John and I had a delightful lunch in Belfast.  And, I found some red sock yarn for my niece, Nancy Howser Gardner.  We have a deal.  She’s making me a scarf, and I’m making her some red socks.  So, Nancy, this yarn is for you.  It’s 50% wool, but has some cotton in the blend.  It’s really pretty.  See those little blue flecks in the mixture?

God knows when Nancy will get these socks.  She’s got my sweater in front of her socks.  And some socks for the kiddos from leftover yarn.  And a linen shawl.  But, I’m down to the sleeves now.  And little socks and the shawl should go fast.  And, anyway, that red yarn is really drawing me.  I think I’ll pick a Cookie A sock pattern for Nancy’s red socks.

Here’s what the sweater looks like now.   I’ve sewn the shoulder seams since I took this picture, so I can now pick up the neck stitches.  I got a circular needle of the right size (7) in Belfast to do so.  I’ve got one sleeve mostly done.  The best news is that after sewing the shoulder seams, I could try it on.  I did, and IT FIT beautifully.

To remind, this yarn comes from Kelly Corbett’s Romney Ridge Farm down in Woolwich, Maine, just south of Damariscotta.  The yarn is all hand-dyed and the colors shade in and out–you can see that in the purple diamonds.  The yarn on the ribbing is the natural color of one of Kelly’s sheep.

Aloisia Pollock designed the pattern for the sweater and the carrying color pattern and taught Giovanna McCarthy and I how to do it.  You can view the yarn balls and get all the info on both of these terrific women from earlier blog postings in the knitting category.  Giovanna chose different colors, and her sweater is gorgeous too.  You can see Giovanna’s colors on the earlier posting as well.

Turkey Tracks: Knitting Class, Carrying Yarn Color

Turkey Tracks:   February 24, 2012

Knitting Class, Carrying Yarn Color

Once we got our yarn from Kelly Corbett’s Romney Ridge Farm, the next step in Giovanna’s and my “carrying color” project was to take Aloisia Pollack’s class and to buy her pattern.  So, she invited us to come to her home in Jefferson, Maine, which is located at the western top of Damariscotta Lake.  Off we went one fine morning a few weeks ago now.

Here’s the view from Aloisia’s front windows–her rental cabins (Sunset Cabins) lie in a string alongside the lake:

Here’s Aloisia with a sweater project that uses the “carrying color” technique.

To remind, here’s the sweater we’re trying to make, but using our own color choices:

As of Saturday, the 18th, here’s what Giovanna’s sweater looks like:

And, here’s mine.  I made the bottom bands one color and wider.  Since this band gets repeated at the top of the sleeves, I’m not sure I like the wider stripes…  Giovanna tells me that this kind of band is traditional in FairIsle sweaters.

And, Giovanna’s tension is looking better than mine.   Giovanna found a widget that fits over your forefinger that helps control the two yarns–in that it keeps them from tangling and twisting so much.  We got one for me in Belfast at Heavenly Socks, and it does help a lot.  You can see it dangling from my threads; it’s orange.

We both did wider ribbing than Aloisia’s pattern…  Perhaps my band will work with the longer ribbing…  And, I’m making a cardigan, not a pullover.

Giovanna and I are both still feeling like we have clumsy, slow fingers.  But, my knit row is now faster than my purl rows…   And, as we’re doing the sweater “in the round,” that slows down the process as well.

On the way home from Belfast, on Route 52 by Megunticook Lake, we saw an eagle in the middle of the road eating some road kill.  Giovanna stopped the car, and I got this picture after the eagle flew up into the trees.  Follow the two white birch’s up, and you’ll see him/her.

Turkey Tracks: Yarn Road Trip

Turkey Tracks:  February 2, 2012

Yarn Road Trip

Giovanna McCarthy and I hit the road one day last week.  Our destination:  Romney Ridge Farm Yarn Company in Woolwich, Maine, which is about an hour south of Camden.

There is a history to this story.

Last summer I met Kelly L. Corbett, the owner of Romney Ridge Farm Yarn Company, at MOFGA’s Common Ground Fair in September.  (MOFGA is the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association, and they have a spectacular fair each year.)  Kelly had asked Aloisia Pollock, a master knitter, to make a sweater showcasing Kelly’s yarns.  Here’s the sweater–which uses a method of carrying two colors to make the little diamonds.

When I got home from MOFGA I went into our new knitting store here in Camden:  The Cashmere Goat.  They LOVED the idea of carrying Kelly’s yarns and hosting a class taught by Aloisia Pollock to make her sweater–and they have a wonderful space to take such a class.  The three groups came together, and that class will be taught in early April 2012.  The sweater is now hanging in the store, alongside some of Kelly’s yarns.

But, Giovanna and I wanted a larger yarn selection than The Cashmere Goat presently has, so we called Kelly and went down on a cold, wintry to pick out the 7 skeins we needed for this project.  We were blown away by all the colors, the possibilities.  Both of us were paralyzed for long moments.  Giovanna summed up what we were both thinking.  “How can I pick seven colors when I want every single one here!”

Here’s what I came home with–the yarn on the far right is the “natural” undyed color of the sheep’s wool.  And, the dark purple yarn above the mauve color isn’t showing up well in this picture:

I also came home with a turquoise yarn I thought would make a great scarf for my black winter coat–AND that will go with my Noro sweater and hat:

Kelly’s farm shop is easy to get to from Route 1.  She’s just below Wiscasset.  Her web site is www.romneyridgefarm.com.  She has a blog as well on that site.

Aloisia Pollock lives in Jefferson and runs the Sunset Cabins on Damariscotta Lake–www.sunsetcabinsmaine.com.

The Cashmere Goat is at 20 Bayview Street in Camden–www.thecashmeregoatknit.com.

Giovanna and I are going down to see Aloisia next Wednesday, and we can hardly wait!