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Signs of Spring

We are starting to see the signs of Spring. 1. In January the raccoons come out of hibernation. Some believe they never really go into hibernation, but the naturalists who write their columns, swear that there is a month or so when they are not knocking over our garbage cans, exposing our secrets to the […]

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To A Poet On His Birthday

January 25 is Robbie Burns (1759-1793) Day. It will be the 247 celebration of his birthday! This is the day we serve Haggis – or a more palatable substitute (read sausage and mash with neeps – turnip.) We read: To A Mouse, To A Louse (has nothing to do with dead beat husbands) and address

unicorns

On skiing and sleeping in the snow….

My daughter went camping last weekend. It was the 20th of a somewhat mild January but still the forcast was for -5 degrees C. She slept outside – under canvas with snow in the forecast. There are other ways to wait for Spring, then knitting. One could, simply, wear the garments knit for them and

gardening

Knitting and “the Force,” in Winter

There are things that those who live in the North do to make believe that Spring is just a snow drift away. We plant Spring flowers – indoors, of course. We plant paperwhites in January. We marvel at the speed at which their roots appear and their green shoots sprout. We inhale the smell of

Art, knitting

Tea and Empathy

I know that the title of the film is Tea and Sympathy. It is one of the few films that I have seen. I have a weakness for films about schools. “Goodbye Mr. Chips” is one of my favourites. Actually one of my regrets in life (along with never having dated Robert Redford) is never

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Wicked Wikipedia

I just visited Wikipedia to-day. I know I should have done it ages ago and in deed I have been meaning to ever since I read about it in a business article. The article was actually a comparison between Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Wikipedia, it is a

words

On folk music from the fold

Robyn Gallimore of Red Bird Knits sent me an e-mail with this picture. It is one of her sock of the month patterns – Scarborough Fair – with the comment, “Since you like fold(folk) songs, here’s one for you!” I replied, saying that she had been knitting and spinning too much – I liked “folk”

Art, knitting

The Artist Among Us

I have just sent an e-mail to Debbie New via Philosopher’s Wool. Over the years and several hard drive failures I have lost her e-mail address. I have talked about the strawberry hat and Debbie’s knitted teacups as a way of beginning or at least as how I began in knitting as a first love

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In Prayse of the Needle

Somehow I felt that the coracle posting needed a poem. I googled up “knitting poetry” and came across Jean Moss’ site http://www.jeanmoss.com I think that the muse may be very close at hand here. Take a look, if you have a minute. I also found this poem, which is old and charming and probably very

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