Author Archives: Katherine

Knitting Retreat

19 Thursday Apr 2007

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We shall find peace.
We shall hear the angels, we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.
[Anton Chekhov]

Bergamo

Dayton Knitting Guild hosts a retreat every spring at the Bergamo Center in Dayton, Ohio. This is the loviest of settings for such a warm gathering of people. I am looking forward to this event with great excitement. Not only will there be workshop presentations and a yarn market, but I’ll get to visit with folks I don’t see often enough. This is one of those places I can go and let my soul catch up with my body.

Joy and Sorrow

17 Tuesday Apr 2007

Posted by in Thoughts

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From The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

THEN a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.

And he answered:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter
rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your
being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very
cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit,
the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart
and you shall find it is only that which has given
you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,
and you shall see that in truth you are weeping

for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,”
and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits alone with
you at your board, remember that the other is
asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales
between your sorrow and your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at
standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh
his gold and his silver, needs must your joy
or your sorrow rise or fall.

Civility

15 Sunday Apr 2007

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We have a choice about how we behave,
and that means we have the choice to opt for civility and grace.
[Dwight Currie]

We have only to turn on television to remind ourselves that true civility is a rare trait in the world. Civility is an expression of respect, and respect requires complex thinking coupled with grace.

The recent trend toward being politically correct is such a sham and totally useless when it it superficial — which it often seems to be. My word for that is patronizing. The trouble with that is, faking political correctness covers up the essence of the problem like wearing a clean dress over a dirty petticoat. It is as bad as saying something crude. We need to address the essence of the problem.

It is easy to open our mouths, let whatever crosses our minds come out, and never think about our biases or the effect they have on other people. The challenge is to think. What are my biases? What crosses my mind? What do I have to change at my core so that when I open my mouth I don’t have to watch what I say in order to be civil? I think all of that starts with learning to respect myself and others. I choose to opt for civility and grace.

Easter circa 1946

08 Sunday Apr 2007

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If you don’t understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly
and want to wring her neck at the same time,
then you were probably an only child.
[Linda Sunshine]

Easter

Louise Misegades (left), Katherine Misegades (right)

Easter always makes me think of this photo. Our mama made Easter into the most special of holidays. She supplied us with new hats and hand-sewn outfits. She even hand wove our Easter egg baskets. There in lies the backstory to this photo. Our mama tried to pose us for our annual Easter photo with us holding our baskets. She couldn’t snap the shutter on her Brownie before I ruined the image. After a bit of a skuffle, we shed our baskets and she caught this image. My sister, the one who looks like she could wring my neck, had just tried to explain to me why I shouldn’t toss my eggs out on the sidewalk. I think I was lucky to be a younger sister.

May Easter joy be yours.

Palm Sunday

01 Sunday Apr 2007

Posted by in Drawing, Thoughts

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The day the Lord created hope
was probably the same day He created Spring.
[Bern Williams]

jonquilThis time last month, I was trying to remember why I choose to live in a place where sub-zero temperatures soak through the walls of my house in the winter. Today is why.

Leaf buds on tree branches strike a red contrast against the April blue sky. Crowds of daffodils visit along the curb. I can almost hear their voices. I think they are singing. The sun pushes warmth through the morning chill, promising a shirt sleeve kind of day. What would life be without contrasts?

The elation I feel when I’ve completed a difficult job is enhanced by my memory of the challenges it offered—the hours when I wondered if I’d ever finish it to my satisfaction. My usual solitude is offset by the warmth I feel when I sit among my friends at the cafe and listen to them talk about nothing in particular. Grief is offset by joy; pain by respite; fear by faith; winter by spring.

I’m from the generation who read the words of Kahlil Gibran. When he spoke of joy and sorrow, he said, “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” I read that when I was 23. I’ve been reminded of it frequently ever since. Today is another reminder.

(This little drawing is one of the pencil renderings that I tinted in Photoshop.)

Taxes

28 Wednesday Mar 2007

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Unquestionably, there is progress.
The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes
as he formerly got in wages.
[H. L. Mencken]

There are times when a person has to put aside her knitting needles and tend to other things—like doing dishes, earning a living and gathering stuff for tax preparation. I am amazed that, no matter how organized I try to be, it still takes me a lot of time to get everything together once a year for tax reporting. Also, the lump in the pit of my stomach isn’t breakfast. It it the dread of finding out how much more I owe. For me, the main drawback to being self-employed is keeping up with taxes. Every year, I try to adust my witholding so it will come out even in the end. Every year, it doesn’t.

This is the time I remind myself of the assets of being self-employed. My boss is a fuzzy little fellow who lies at my feet while I work. My office is my converted dining room where I sit surrounded by my books and assorted treasures. I’m not required to attend superfluous meetings nor am I interrupted by office politics. Every day is casual Friday although I do try to change out of my night clothes before lunch.

I’m heading out to mail a book order and pick up my finished tax forms from my accountant. This makes me feel as boyant as I do when I’ve successfully completed a big project. I just wish congress was as frugle with my money as I am.

Masterpiece

16 Friday Mar 2007

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Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.
Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.
[Samuel Johnson]

Ellen's Shawl

My daughter, Ellen, hand spun two and a half pounds of Marbled Moorit (Icelandic-Merino-Alpaca blend) roving that she purchased from Tongue River Farm. Then she knit this poncho on US size 9 needles. Pictured here with her son, Owain, Ellen is not only diligent and skillful, she also gives the word perseverence a whole new meaning. I’m proud of you, Ellen.

Love,
Mama

Flowers

12 Monday Mar 2007

Posted by in Drawing, Thoughts

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A positive attitude may not solve all your problems,
but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
[Herm Albright]

SunflowerI’ve been working on illustrations for a book that one of my clients is publishing — twelve pencil drawings of various flowers. They will be printed grayscale as pencil drawings, but I thought I’d experiment with one of them in Photoshop. After scanning it in and making it sharper and darker, I put its layer on “multiply.” On a new layer below, I eyedroppered the colors out of an actual photograph, and painted with a watercolor brush selection. This took me about ten minutes.

This is where the positive attitude thing comes in. I’ve been struggling with these illustrations. If I were doing the illustrations for a book of my own, they wouldn’t have been such a challenge. But, my client’s writing is so lovely, I wanted the drawings to be just right to go with his words. I kept redrawing flowers until I realized I was simply playing with my own mental blocks. It also didn’t help that I was trying to draw flowers while snow was falling past my window.

I knew I needed an attitude adjustment. I put away my knitting, and stacked my keyboard on top of my computer (I no longer own a drafting table). It was time to get serious. I also quit looking at sketches of old masters (da Vinci, et al) — there is as much difference between a No.2 pencil and a silver-point drawing tool as there is between me and a master. Then I gave myself my “you can do this” lecture. The flowers are finished and in the book layout. My attitude has improved and I’m sure this exercise had to have been character building.

Now, where did I put my knitting needles?

Fran’s Socks

06 Tuesday Mar 2007

Posted by in Knitting

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That which we persist in doing becomes easier,
not that the task itself has become easier,
but that our ability to perform it has improved.
[Ralph Waldo Emerson]

Frans Socks

You can imagine how excited I was when one of my blog readers knit the sock pattern I recently posted. She not only knit the pattern, but she knit BOTH socks in the past two weeks. If I could hand out prizes, I’d give her two—one for trying it out and another for knitting BOTH socks. Those of you who suffer from the “second sock syndrome” understand what I mean. She sent me these photos and wrote the following:

Well, with your wonderful example, pattern and help I finished the red and gray socks.

I realized after I completed the fist heel that you had done a 2 stitch x 2 row check and I did a 1 stitch x 2 row check… but it still worked out. I did have a problem with the two sides of the heel looking identical… on one side the gray border of the gusset is more ponounced and the red line along the short row join is more pronounced… but otherwise, it worked very well.

I’m fairly new to two color knitting, having done several hats this winter using this technique and I still struggle with tension, but it is getting better with practice and these socks were great practice with much needed plain knitting inbetween for a nice break!

I did forget to use double gray on the toe but felt it wasn’t worth redoing. I will make more socks using this idea of smaller amounts of color work mixed with some plain ribbing for a good fit.

Thanks for sharing your pattern and help. Fran

Lace

04 Sunday Mar 2007

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Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit,
and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit, either.
[Elizabeth Zimmerman]

Lace

For many years, I only knit lace. For the price of a ball of bedspread cotton, I could buy hours of fun and produce a window curtain, pillowcase edging, or a table cloth. For under five dollars, I could make a gift that would become a family heirloom. There were other assets to knitting lace. Fitting wasn’t the problem it is with knitting garments. Also, I lived in a warmer climate so I had no need for wooly mittens, breeze-busting hats or ski sweaters.

During my teen years, I knit many leprosy bandages (leprosy is now known as Hanson’s disease). These were similar to Ace bandages. They were knit 3 inches wide and 4 feet long in garter stitch using U.S. size 2 needles and a ball of white bedspread cotton. I met a fellow knitter while I worked in a nursing home. She was blind, and she knit leprosy bandages by feel. I told her I also knit bandages and she replied, “Oh, my dear, knit lace while you can see and save your bandage knitting for the time when, like me, your eyesight fails.” I took her advice and discovered I just had to add a few yarn-overs, and knit-two-togethers in strategic places to my bandage pattern in order to produce a pretty lace insertion. I’ve knit lace ever since.

My knitting friend, Jolene Treace, knit the swatch in the photo above.