Longer than I have known her, my wife Maureen has been knitting. I remember when I got to the museum 20 years ago…every staff meeting would be punctuated by clicking of needles. All these women were knitting away constantly.
When the cold weather hit here recently, out came sweaters, scarfs (or scarves) hats – all knitted by Maureen. What could be better than handmade clothing? My favorite sweater even appeared in the joint stool book, the back part where Schwarz said we needed head shots…
My friend Bill Coperthwaite wrote about knitting in his book A Handmade Life, calling “hand knitting one of the most efficient methods of production ever developed” I won’t copy it all here, you can read it, pp. 97, 98. He talks about the portability of the craft, the ability to knit while visiting. talking, etc – “it is quiet work and does not interfere with conversation.” And “the quality of timelessness adds to the knitting’s incomparable, unquantifiable beauty.”
When our kids were very young, there was not much time for knitting, but Maureen has taken it up steadily again, and it’s great to see. These days the items are small-scale; part of being a full-time mom cutting into available time for larger projects like sweaters. As I mentioned recently, she was part of a craft sale in Plymouth. Now that’s over, so her Etsy site has gone up and is ready for visitors. It’s cutting it close for Xmas presents, but with some quick shipping it’s still possible. But her site will continue past the season, and she plans to keep on knitting & felting. So if you know someone interested in these crafts and items, please send them the link. http://www.etsy.com/shop/MaureensFiberArts
These felted bowls are something new to me, I really like them. Lousy for breakfast, but a great tactile thing. Not yet on the site, but soon:
I can hear “click, click, click” upstairs now…
PETER FOLLANSBEE: JOINER’S NOTES 
Is it because the cereal gets soggy before you’re done eating it?
For a while I had to travel a lot for work and I got into cross stitching and knitting as a way to pass the time on long flights. Some passengers would look at me like I had 2 heads being a guy doing that on the plane. The flight attendants on the other hand would usually come by to compare notes or show what project they were working on themselves. Since I couldn’t woodwork on the plane it was a nice hobby to keep busy. Your wife’s work looks great.
Started knitting a few years back. Had my mother teach me and she has been knitting for 70 years. It is amazing how relaxing it can be. And mistakes are fairly eay to fix. Nice sweater you are a lucky man to have it
Yeah, I admire that sweater a lot, too. Peter, if you ever shave off your beard it will be interesting to see what kind of sweater design she can come up with to match your new essence the way this one does.
Tico – now you’re just talking crazy – shaving off my beard indeed.
PF
Thanks for the suggestion Peter, I was able to grab up that wonderful scarf as my final present for the wife! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and happy new year~
JAkers