Sweet, Sweet Month of May

There are a lot of reasons why I love the month of May. The sun finally makes an appearance again and I spend as much time as I can basking in its warmth, not unlike the kitties shown above. I also love April, not only because it's the month leading up to my (our) birthday, but the month containing what seems like a bizzilion birthdays of people in my life that are super special to me. May Day (no relation to the term pilots use when their plane is nosediving... gonna have to look into how that one came about) fell on a Saturday, and I happened to be on a nice leisurely walk during which I discovered an estate sale just around the corner from our house.

I love estate sales, not only because of all the nifty and (albeit cliche these days) vintagey things I have found in the past, but also because of the fact that I am walking inside this person's house, among this person's beloved treasures that they've held onto for so many years... and carefully selecting things whose true history will remain unknown to me. It's like a little window into the person's life. The serger that I bought last summer, for instance, I found at an estate sale and this woman was extremely crafty; this old (but very sturdy) serger was in a room among three banquet tables that lined the walls, all of which were covered in pieces of fabric selling for $1/yard. I named the serger Doris in her memory, even though I have no idea what the woman's name was; I suppose that's the name that popped into my head as I was wandering around her house looking for the craft room, being very reverent as if she was still there.

I did find a few cones of brightly colored thicker thread that may or may not work out for my knitting machine; it's thinner than I'd like but might be alright if I have a proper spindle to work it from. I also found a very cool piece of upholstery which was mostly orange with chunky gold scroll-ish detailing... much prettier than it sounds in writing! I found a beautiful grape-colored goblet to add to my collection and a beach bag that will be (someday) be perfect for a trip to the coast. I also picked up a couple of old records (Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific and Sounds from the Fabulous Twenties, or something like that) just for good measure.

Knitting to My Heart's Content

That's exactly what I've been doing since my super cool new toy arrived. In March I searched "knitting" on craigslist and found quite a gem, pictured in my previous post, that is now set up in the front bedroom (aka Kim's craft room.) I had never bought anything off craigslist before, and the woman who listed it lives way the hell out in Eastern Oregon, in a town called Lone Rock. We're talking about a town of less than 100... and a retired couple who "can't drive an economy car" because they live so far out in the country. Maybe they have a really gravelly driveway. Who knows. And, she wanted me to pay for her gasoline to make the drive to meet me, even if I decided not to buy the machine.

I spent a lot of time on the internet, pouring over information about knitting machines and didn't find much at all about the Maruyama model 20. I talked it over with some close friends who pointed out the fact that if this worked out, I could make things a lot faster and sell them, and the machine may very well pay for itself. After much deliberation, I decided to take the leap of faith and sent her the cashier's check for $125 + $50 for insured shipping.

I'm not sure I wanted to meet this woman in person anyway, much less spend the gas money to get myself there; I had flashes of that old movie "Nothing But Trouble" where Demi Moore's character and her yuppie friends get trapped in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. This woman sounded like she smokes about a pack a day and talked my ear off during our initial conversation, telling me all about her knitting and how she just doesn't use the machine because she can knit a sweater in four days. She bought it from somebody "back East" about six years ago and just never used it much.

The thing (which I affectionately named "Suki") and all of its pieces + a nifty book from 1963 all about Ida Thurmans' knitting methods finally arrived in two separate packages, and it was no surprise that both of them reeked of cigarette smoke, even though there seemed to be nothing about the machine that would absorb any smell.

Once I put the thing together, my dear and patient husband helped me find various videos on how to get started, since the manual that came with my knitting machine might as well have been written in Greek! Turns out that starting a project was not near as complicated as I thought, and I practically shrieked with joy when I finally made a little 2" x 2" swatch with a sample yarn.

I did figure out where all the reddish-brown dust (and the smoky smell) was coming from - I took it apart and realized there was foam inside that was seriously deteriorated. The instruction manual also recommended oiling a few key parts, so it operated much more smoothly once that was done.

The first real item I made up was a tiny blanket (actually more of a snuggly) that turned out much skinnier than I expected. I crocheted a white border around it, embroidered a fancy cursive "M" into the corner, and gave it away almost as quickly as I'd finished it. We're still getting to know each other, and I'm starting to learn little tricks that only come to a person once they actually start the trial-and-error process that is knitting. But the question remains, if I made the item on my knitting machine, can I still say that I "knit" it?

My Future Obsession

A 1960's vintage Maruyama Princess knitting machine is now in my possession. As soon as I figure out how the thing works, I will be knitting up a storm. Hopefully in time for knitting season this fall :)

L.A. Woman

(By the Doors. Not sure if that's the official title of that song, but it's another chart-topper on my list of songs that make me want to drive way too fast. Oh and I'd like to add White Wedding by Billy Idol. )

What happened to the rest of January (not to mention the first half of February?!) since my last "to be continued" post, you ask? We decided to make the trip to Seattle that next weekend for my company's main holiday party (they are based out of Seattle) and had a lot of fun - we were long overdue for a roadtrip there because it had been 4 years since I'd been there, and about 5 or 6 years for Joey. Although our grandiose plans to see the highlights of Seattle never came to fruition, we had a lot of fun anyway!

We left Seattle before it got to be too late in Salem, where I picked up this super cool dress form I found on craigslist. It's lovely - vintage and soft pink with maroon details and a sturdy metal foundation. Even cooler, it's extremely close to my own measurements, which further proves it was destined to be mine. I see an influx of things to wear designed by yours truly in my near future!

Post-Holiday Happenings

Whew! It's been a helluva month - I took off a week or so before Christmas and had a wonderful mini-break. I was thrilled to sleep in at my leisure almost every morning. I finished up a gorgeous t-shirt quilt blanket. All the while finishing up Kel's snazzy wintery-white neck warmer that turned out just beautifully, along with a set of gloves and hat for yours truly, made from the fuzzy soft-red alpaca that I bought around Thanksgiving. And, to top it all off, I made up a super-soft brown and black men's scarf made from baby alpaca, and finished it just in time for Christmas. Onward ho!