The deck garden is starting its downward trend as Persephone gathers in the crops and prepares for her trip to the underworld with its short days. I love this time of year, and try to keep these plants going as long as possible, not to ward off winter, but because the flower stalks on the coleus provide the last bits of nectar for our humblebee friends.
I didn’t realize that this bee was named by Charles Darwin, who likened the buzz to a hum. It also has a Middle English root (as well as relationships to German and Dutch, but that isn’t nearly as romantic). I also didn’t know that Beatrix Potter’s character Babbitty Bumble contributed to the downfall of the use of humble, so that by the 20th century, humble had disappeared.
It’s also the day to gather the last of the fresh herbs. The dill has gone to seed, and many of the others are beginning to react to the chilly nights and turn brown. I have enough lemon thyme to dry, lots of mint to make a good strong batch of tea, and some parsley for tonight’s salad. The smell of the herbs on my hands mixes nicely with the sheepy smell from the Jämtland ram fleece I’ve been processing. My hands are incredibly soft from the lanolin in the fleece. Even after pretty thorough scouring, the fleece is still earthy smelling, and full of the natural oils. It was pretty much a pain to process because the tips were quite dirty, but the fleece came out bright white and fully soft. I spun a few yards on my Golding Ring Spindle and was able to produce a super-fine single without much effort. I love the Golding, by the way, because it spins fast and for a long time. This one was my mom’s and I’m so glad she left it to me to discover.
Fall also means time for a number of sheep and wool festivals, among which is Shetland Wool Week (which began over the weekend).
Just by coincidence, I was taking a class in Shetland Lace on Sunday from Laura Nelkin, the knitwear designer who may be best known for her inclusion of beads in many of her projects.
My best friend Suzanne drove up for the class, which gave us a chance to catch up (never enough time for that), and gave us many reminders of our trip to Shetland a number of years ago.
One of the things we talked over with Laura was our absolute amazement that while we were all able to learn a great deal from the teachers there, lace knitting seems to be embedded in Shetland DNA, and it was hard to understand the “whys” of many of the stitches. What is amazing to me is that this was knit as production work, with the knitters working as quickly as possible to produce shawls.
Here is my very inexpert version of the “bead stitch” worked in fingering weight yarn (clearly not ready for prime time in a lace-weight yarn). I wonder if working with a knitting belt and long double points would help.
June Hemmons Hiatt has a lovely post on how to use a knitting belt that I have looked at several times. The world’s fastest knitter — Hazel Tindall also has a video on knitting with a knitting belt. The belts can be found online, although at this time of year, interest always increases with the Shetland festival, and you are likely to find them currently out of stock.
Another way to support knitting needles is with a knitting sheath. I found this one in London many years ago, and bought it because I couldn’t resist the motto on the back. Like the knitting belt, this would hold the needle you are working from, and it stays stationary as you work the stitches off of that needle. A very good discussion of the sheath can be found in Viveka Hansen’s article on the IK Workshop Foundation’s website.
Knitting belt? I am always hearing and learning something new from you.
Bought my belt in 1998 from Elizabeth & Hazel’s shop. Elizabeth showed me how to use it. I never really got up to speed, but did manage to teach a workshop on the basics in Maine. I also own a belt made in WI by a leather worker, and stuffed with horsehair from a friend in Vermont. We surely had a wonderful time in 2012, didn’t we? Sad that Polly & Deb are no longer with us. Never to be forgotten. Hugs, Shelagh.