Land of Counterpane

19 Thursday Nov 2009

Posted by Katherine in Knitting, Thoughts

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.

[Robert Louis Stevenson]

A counterpane is a bedspread. Heirloom versions were sometimes knit using white cotton thread and looked quite elegant. I’m in the process of designing a colorful, woolen version. The image above is really one block duplicated three times and arranged to show how the finished counterpane will look. This is for a class being offered at Sarah Jane’s Yarn Shoppe after the first of the year.

Love Blanket finished

15 Sunday Nov 2009

Posted by Katherine in Knitting, Thoughts

≈ 6 Comments

Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness.
[Richard Bach]

love_blanket

HOT OFF THE NEEDLES—(many needles) Fifteen friends knit the blocks for this love blanket as a thank you gift for Gloria who invites us to the annual New Harmony knitting retreat. The center block is a mosaic-style design that is a square version of the labyrinth in New Harmony. I set the blocks together and plan to give the blanket to Gloria on Monday at the Dayton Knitting Guild meeting.

This is similar to knitting a prayer shawl. My mother knit small blankets for people and called them Love Blankets. Thanks to all who helped.

Photographer Friends

04 Wednesday Nov 2009

Posted by Katherine in Favorite Things, Photography, Thoughts

≈ 2 Comments

There are always [at least] two people in every picture:
the photographer and the viewer.
[Ansel Adams]

Fort Wayne Rose Garden photographed by Robert Pence

I admire good photography. I am the viewer in the quotation by Ansel Adams. I took several photography courses in college and soon realized that I’d never devote the time and attention to the art of photography to become really good at it. Therefore, I take the role in photography that I do in music—I am the appreciative audience.

The photo above and the new masthead were photographed by Robert Pence. He photographs many urban scenes as well, and has a natural eye for geometric composition that I admire. I’ve added two new links to his photography online. See Urban Indiana and Robert Pence Images in the column at the right.

This week’s fun

02 Monday Nov 2009

Posted by Katherine in Favorite Things, Knitting, Ongoing Projects, Thoughts

≈ 3 Comments

When you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’
Then get busy and find out how to do it.
[Theodore Roosevelt]
week_projects

The leaves and the year might be almost gone, but there is still time to have fun. My calendar for this week is full of fun stuff.

1. Beginning Blogging: This is the last week for the 8-week course that I teach on the internet under the auspices of the Story Circle Network. I enjoy this so much that I’m writing a proposal for the winter session that starts after Christmas. My course covers the technical aspects of setting up and managing a blog.

2. Birthdays: We are gathering at the Texas Roadhouse tonight to celebrate two family birthdays—mother and daughter who were born the same day but 25 years apart. That makes it easy to remember. Gifts are wrapped.

3. Curves: I am maintaining a decent weight but need to go exercise more (at least 3 times this week). It gives me energy and keeps me agile.

4. Knitting classes: Tomorrow is the last class for the vest, Wednesday is the last class for the stranded sock class, and Saturday is the first class for another group knitting stranded socks. I offer these classes at Sarah Jane’s Yarn Shoppe. I have a variety of sock patterns so each class member may choose the one she likes best.

3. Portuguese Style Knitting: My day job is as a graphic artist. One facet of that is preparing books for publication. I’m so excited about my current job—assembling a book on Portuguese-style knitting for Andrea Wong. She attended Cat Bordhi’s Visionary Retreat, and is working on getting her book ready to self publish.

4. Lifewriting Online: Blogging for the Faint of Heart: I’m composing a presentation to use as a skeleton for the 90-minute workshop I’m planning to facilitate at the Story Circle Network’s Fifth National Women’s Memoir Conference in Austin, Texas next February. This is an ongoing job for me but it is such fun and I’m making progress.

NOTE: The new masthead (now retired to masthead page) is the same view as the last one but later in the fall—the field is golden and the light has changed. When I retire a masthead, I put it on the Masthead page in the tab above.

The End—Saturn

15 Thursday Oct 2009

Posted by Katherine in Favorite Things, Thoughts

≈ 4 Comments

If you want a happy ending,
that depends, of course,
on where you stop your story.
[Orson Welles]

Saturn
Close to twenty years ago, I bought the first Saturn sold in Fort Wayne. It was the most reliable car I’d ever owned. Finally, I’d found a car that didn’t require a TO FIX list when it was new. This photo shows the fourth Saturn I’ve bought—I’ve had it more than a year.

This morning, I went to the GM dealer at the crack of dawn for a car check up. The gentleman who met me had a familiar face. He was transplanted from Saturn to serve those of us who now find ourselves orphans.

I know almost nothing about automobiles or the auto industry so my gut reaction is based upon no knowledge, authority or anything valid. All I know is that the products and service I got from Saturn in the past two decades were top drawer. It makes me sad that GM mismanaged its way into this situation.

Knitting is . . .

05 Monday Oct 2009

Posted by Katherine in Favorite Things, Knitting, Thoughts

≈ 8 Comments

Knitting is another word for love.

New Harmony, 2009—Knitting Sisters

I just spent the weekend making a major deposit into my memory bank—our knitting gathering in New Harmony, Indiana was pure joy for me. Fifteen knitters and two husbands gathered from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Oklahoma. [The new masthead photo is the view from the Barn Abby looking toward the Wabash River and across to Illinois. Previous masthead photos do not disappear into the blogging ether. Check out my MASTHEAD link above.]

Gloria and Allen Johnson (Dayton, OH) organized our stay at the Barn Abby. Allen kept us from going hungry, and Gloria taught us about the zig-zag scarf. I passed out patterns and yarn for knitted squares to assemble into a love blanket for Gloria. (I’ll post a photo when I get it set together). Marilyn Buster led us in her revised version of KNITO (similar to BINGO) — a game that Gloria un-vented several years ago for our gathering. In between, we enjoyed the sights of New Harmony, and visited Atkinson Farm Yarns in Vincennes, IN. Cheryl (the owner) treated us to a delicious luncheon. A quilting friend of hers had made lovely bags—we each received one filled with goodies. Cheryl’s generous spirit was also reflected in her shop. I’ve never seen such an ample collection of yarns and other items. I confess, I bought some yarn.

In quieter moments of joy, I observed everyone working, laughing, sharing and interacting. A list formed in my mind. Instead of a TO DO list, I call it my KNITTING IS . . . list. Here is a start:

Knitting is another word for warmth.
Knitting is a good excuse to gather with friends.
Knitting is a form of meditation.
Knitting is an ice breaker in a group of people.
Knitting is healing.
Knitting is a good part of my memory stash (Marianne from Tulsa).
Knitting is health food for the fingers and is not fattening (Jeannie).
Knitting is …

Courage

28 Monday Sep 2009

Posted by Katherine in Thoughts, Writing

≈ 5 Comments

Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.
[Clare Booth Luce]

Speaking of ladders, two rungs up are my limit. No matter what is going through my conscious mind, my knees turn into jello, blood drains from my lips, and my hands start to sweat. I can experience the same reaction while climbing steps that have no backs, seeing through cracks in floors, looking over railings, crossing bridges, looking down stairs that are longer than code allows, and riding escalators.

In the early 1950s, my parents took us to tour New York City. I recall that we climbed iron stairs up among the bells in the spire of a famous church. There were no backs on the steps and I could see bells at every level. Then the bells started to chime. I remember nothing more until I was in a room below with my mother comforting me. She said my fingers had frozen around the railing and it was all they could do to pry them loose and get me down.

During my college years, I’d just started down ten flights of wooden steps on a state park fire tower when my fingers froze around the railing. It was involuntary. One minute I was admiring southern Indiana’s autumn colors and the next, I was immobile. My boyfriend walked one step in front of me and a stranger one step behind to get me to the ground.

When I was an ensign in the Navy, I was deplaning in Charleston, South Carolina. The portable steps were shaky but I gathered all of my courage and forced myself to start down when I caught my heel in the tread, and rolled heels over hat onto the tarmac. I landed in a heap at the feet of a senior officer. I don’t know which hurt worse, my ankle or my pride.

I knew a lady with the same fears who had ridden a mule down a trail into the Grand Canyon. I asked her how she mustered the courage to do that. She replied, “I simply looked between the mule’s ears.”

Last weekend, two friends and I went shopping at a charming mercantile in a town up near Michigan. Wide wooden steps leading to the upper floors were an attractive architectural feature in the post and beam building. The backs of the steps were open. My friends took the elevator and I said I’d meet them up stairs. It was a test. Could I make it? I put one foot on a step, looked between imaginary mule’s ears, and made it to the top floor.

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by
every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.
You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.
[Eleanor Roosevelt]

Projects

21 Monday Sep 2009

Posted by Katherine in Thoughts

≈ 2 Comments

A project is complete when it starts working for you,
rather than you working for it.
[Scott Allen]

Some days feel like a vacation—Saturday was like that. My sister drove us to Shipshewana. I’ve lived in this part of the country for many years and have never been there before. What a delightful experience it was, and lunch was the best I’ve eaten in recent memory.

Back to the real world—my “To Do” list. I’m ticking off projects one after another. Actually, they are enjoyable so it isn’t as bad as it sounds. I do give priority to my “pay” jobs. Next comes volunteer jobs and gifts I’m making. Since I have the good fortune to work at home, I break things up with housekeeping chores. I dust while I talk on the phone. I get stair-climbing exercise while I run laundry. I stop in every room to tidy up two or three things. I’ve discovered I get more computer work done if I get up for ten minutes every hour (it is probably better for my health as well).

New Harmony 2009

17 Thursday Sep 2009

Posted by Katherine in Thoughts

≈ 2 Comments

Part of the happiness of life
consists not in fighting battles,
but in avoiding them.
A masterly retreat is in itself a victory.
[Norman Vincent Peale]

October is coming and so is our annual knitting retreat in New Harmony, Indiana. The new photo in the masthead and the photo of the Barn Abby above were both taken in New Harmony. When we are on retreat, we stay in the Barn Abby and have fun, fun, fun. I’m working on projects for that event and will share them after the retreat. (They are a surprise or else I’d share them now).

The Forrest Gump Box-of-Chocolates Award

13 Sunday Sep 2009

Posted by Katherine in Other Favorite Sites, Thoughts, Writing

≈ 5 Comments

My momma always said,
“Life was like a box of chocolates.
You never know what you’re gonna get.”
[Forrest Gump]

boxofchocolates

I just got an e-mail from Sonja saying she had received an award and was passing along to me—to also pass along if I chose. Pam (the person who started this award) says:

In my best southern accent, I would like to say that I have been thinking about a new award and what I would like it to say. People are like Forrest Gump said “Life is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you’re gonna get.” You can see this box of chocolates is filled with different and unique candies and just like the chocolates we are all different and unique people. We are the same in that we all have common ingredients that make us more a like than not. Except for the frosting, which represents our personalities, we are indeed very similar on the inside. And of course there are rules:

1. Pass this award to others if you are so inclined.

2. Link back to me if you have passed them forward.

3. Write a nice post about this award.

4. You must read this award with a southern accent. I (Pat) call it southern day where we all have to speak with a southern accent. I know that will be hard for some of you, but for the rest of us, we will be fine. So now, ya’ll just enjoy this little ol’ award and have fun with it.

5. And of course let your folks know that they have a nice award waiting for them.

I don’t speak with a southern accent since I’m a Hoosier, but I do read with one—especially since I recently finished a southern novel. Thank you for the award, Sonja. I love chocolates and the comments you often leave on my blog.

The nice thing about the decoration on the outside of some chocolates is that it gives a clue as to what is inside. One kind of swirl means there is a cream filling and another means there is a nut filling. That is kind of like people too—especially as they grow older. Their prevailing attitudes inscribe themselves on their faces. I remember a time when my life took a hard turn. I clearly remember thinking about a friend whose negative attitude had engraved itself on her face so that her beauty was imprisoned behind hard lines of bitterness. My very next thought was, “I’ve got to find a way to deal with this so that I learn and grow instead of nurturing bitterness.” Maybe the best beauty aid in the world is the process of sorting out our attitudes—cleaning the closets of our mind, so to speak.

I’d like to pass this award on to bloggers who encourage me with their comments (non-bloggers like my cousin Marilyn encourage me with their comments as well):

Marianne (who wins the prize for the most comments and who feels like a long-lost friend)

California Girl (who is a loyal blog reader and sharp wit)

Devon (who is in the midst of moving but still blogs interesting book reviews)

Marilyn (who inspires me in knitting and reading)

Ida (who “knits up the raveled sleeve of care”)

Mary Ann (who lets us share in how her garden and grandchildren grow)

Helen of Troy (who is currently knitting black pearls. She is so inventive.)

You folks are welcome to pass along this award with the notes from Pat if you wish. Or you may just choose a chocolate, sit back and savor the appreciation.