Full Gospel
Just completed for Mary, carrying her fourth son. Her previous kids are Matthew, Mark, and Patrick.
My vote for a name this time is Jean-Luc.
How about it, Mary?
Filtering by Category: Knitting
Finnfest 2013
A week ago the kids and I returned from Finnfest 2013, held this year in Houghton, Michigan on the Keewanau peninsula of the Upper Peninsula. Finnfest is an annual gathering of Finnish nationals, expats, immigrants and those with Finnish interests. It takes place in a different place every year and has been ongoing for 30 years. This is the first year Houghton hosted, although it has met at Hancock just across the river years ago. That very northwest corner of Michigan has one of the highest concentrations of Finns outside of the Nordic lands. Many came to the States just after 1900 with the copper mining boom.
We drove the whole way, up through Chicago and Wisconsin, entering this beautiful area of Northern Michigan right around dinner time on the 19th of June. On the way up we passed over a country road named, "Rosencranz."
Sure, enough, the next town was Denmark. Seemed like a perfect place to pull over. The woman who helped us in the tourist shop did not know that Hamlet took place in Denmark. Hmmm... Something is rotten about that!
Welcome to Denmark!
Welcome to Michigan. I guess it's more pure up North.
The bay near L'Anse, Michigan, and Lake Superior beyond
Dorm, Sweet Dorm
Houghton, Michigan is home to Michigan Tech University. In fact, that is where the majority of classes, talks, and concerts were held. We pulled in and made ourselves at home in two dorm rooms. The eldest was tuckered out and went to bed, while we three lively ones went to the opening ceremonies in the main auditorium. The Secretary of State of Denmark was one of the principal speakers, as well as scores of musical groups, dancers and singers.
All week, we enjoyed Finnish classes, lectures on Finland, The Sámi, Laestidus and Finnish Lutheranism. We even did fun things like hanging out with the Moomins! These puffy, white hippopotamus-looking things reminded me of Lil' Abners Shmoos.
kiddos and the Moomins -- Finnish trolls, of sorts
Can't resist a Moomin!
All this time, I also did demonstrations with a group of crafters in a side gym. There were Finnish rag rug makers, spinners, wood carvers, and woolen quilts. Quite fun! I set up a couple tables with knitted examples, books, and pictures, then proceeded to spindle and knit, talking to the people who passed by. My uncle Charlie was persuaded to pull out his birch bark and weave some baskets, rings, and knife holsters as well.
One of the highlights of the time was being able to hear the Sápmi choir of Sámi singers from all across the Sámi homeland: the Northern parts of Norway, Finland and Sweden. I was able to meet some of the singers and the people associated with them.
All these connections are helpful, as I am planning a trip to Sápmi this September.
On other, non-knitting related topics, the four of us also competed in a Guiness Book of World Records' attempt at the most people completing a (3km) Nordic Walk. I don't believe the numbers that turned out will beat the existing record held by the Swedes, however. Earlier, we also stopped and paid tribute to George Gipp. He is best known as Notre Dame's star football player and first All-american. He played for coach Knute Rockne, and was made famous by the phrase, "Win one for the Gipper!"
Four non-Nordic folk, ready to walk like a Norwegian...
George Gipp died from a combination of pneumonia and strep in 1920.
All in all, it was a wonderful time -- very busy, and a tiring drive -- but worth it to see and celebrate the wonderful Finnish culture.
A sweater done
While in Kingston, Ontario, I worked on a cardigan made out of Kauni sweater I have had in pieces for some time. The knitting is worked in two directions: the bodice is knit side-to-side around the body, then stitches are picked up in front and back and knit up and joined at the shoulder. The arms are knit from the cuff to the shoulder and added on separately. Both the body and the sleeves have square tops.
The difficulty began in joining the pieces. The picture on the pattern had the woman happily smiling in a finished sweater, but it didn't show exactly how the square-topped arms fit into the bodice.
I put it into time out, you know, to teach it a lesson. I counted rows on the arms and armholes. The number of stitches along the top of the arm matched the number of rows along the side of the armhole on the bodice. It should have been an easy fit, but, unlike a normal drop-sleeve silhouette, these sleeves are inset. How was the armpit area to be attached to the sleeve? I could pull the sleeve top to curve around for the 1-2 inches under the arm, or, I could sew them directly in. What would I do with the underarm area?
The time out worked. I ran the scenario over in my mind and ended up keeping the bottom sleeve open, sewing the sleeve to both side of the vest, joining the armpit area to the bottom of the sleeve, and then seaming the sleeve together after that.
I really like the sweater! However, because of the way I joined the sleeve onto the arm, I have lost 1 - 2 inches off each sleeve. I now need to cut off the cuff/cast-on edge, pick up the stitches and knit down just a tad more.
Book in review
There have been a variety of reviews for What Else Would Madame Defarge Knit? going up on podcasts and websites.
I just read this one this morning:
As well, editor Heather Ordover was interviewed on the Ready Set Knit podcast for Webs, America's Yarnstore and it went live just this past Saturday. Here is a link:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/webs/Show310.mp3
She is on show 310, for those not reading this in real time. It is also accessed via iTunes podcast platform.
This week, I am finishing some braiding on Sámi mitten cuffs, taking some pictures and writing an article for BÁIKI The North American Sami Journal. Last week was enormously busy with the first week of baseball, opening day for softball, and a multiple meets for track. All three kids have their own sports for this season!
Track ends this week, and training for the sprint triathlon begins in earnest. I am so thankful the weather has been cooperating and encouraging us all to get out more!
I also finished knitting a Quetzalcoatlus dinosaur for the youngest. I (re)taught him to knit a couple weeks ago. Just days later we were at a knit shop and he spotted a Knitted Dinosaur book by Tina Barrett. How is a mom to say no to such a request? Perhaps I should have, as it quickly evolved into him telling me how and when I would knit ALL the dinosaurs for him!
I did not agree to that, but we did pick out the colors for his Quetzy, and knitted it up. It has flapped its way into his heart.
Quetzalcoatlus
fluffy wing "feathers"
Just hangin' out.
Super Quetzy!