Improving On The Truth

As I have been working on the knitting book I realize that what I really love the most --- more than knitting or writing or nearly anything --- is working with images. Designing. Pulling various element together to create something new. It is my favorite part of working on anything from designing web sites to shawls to books to a salad. So yesterday I spent a good part of the afternoon indulging in some whimsy. As I have been photographing the garments for this book I've tried to pick interesting settings. I photographed Jane in her front yard overlooking Ten Pound Island with the Thomas E. Lannon sailing by. I photographed Connie on her back deck which overlooks Thacher Island with its twin lighthouses and for Clare we went out to the Bishop's Palace. All of those made perfect settings for the shawls but, never content to let good be good enough, yesterday I started thinking "what if..."

Photoshop is a splendid invention. I use it everyday for my web design work and also for my own projects. So yesterday I decided to add a little extra spice to the photographs for the knitting book. When Clare and I were out shooting I really wanted to get a picture of her with the stone towers of the Bishop's Palace in the background but, since it is privately owned, I had to settle for the iron gate and the stone arch by the lake which are accessible. So I got to thinking what would Lady Clare look like in a proper setting with her castle in the background and this is the result:

The picture of the castle was taken by our good friend Jay Albert and I hope he will forgive me for borrowing his photo but doesn't she look perfect in this setting?

So, with that in mind I decided to try putting Jane out on Thacher Island. I had a photo of the North Tower I took a few years ago when I was out there and, well, what do you think?

She fits right in with the gulls, doesn't she? So next I decided to put Connie in a wintery setting with waves behind her. I loved this photo of her because she looks like she is trying to stay warm and the light was coming from the right direction, too. So:

I decided to try one more with Jane, this time using a photograph I took of Good Harbor Beach with the Thacher Island Lighthouses in the background:
Pretty interesting, huh?

Well, I'm not sure it makes any difference to the book itself but it sure was fun to do. More of the photos are here.

Okay, back to writing...........

Thanks for reading.

My Coveted Scarf

In my last post I talked about the yarn I bought at Coveted Yarn and the scarf I started. Well, it is finished and the results are lovely, I think. So, since it was such a simple thing to knit, I thought I'd post my pattern here. I used one 375-yard hank of Blue Heron's textured yarn and knit ti on #9 needles.

Before I start I want to show you something. See that little tail in the photo below? That's all the yarn I had left. Talk about barely making it - but I did something sort of strange that made that possible.

Before beginning to wind the ball, I measured 6 yards of yarn and placed a small, loose slip-knot at the six yard mark. Then I wound as usual. I cast on 36 stitches and worked 6 rows of garter stitch. Then place markers after the eleventh stitch and the 25th stitch on the right-side row and knit according to the following chart:


The elongated D is the only stitch that is unusual. On WS rows slip that stitch from the left needle to the right and at the same time make a yarn-over, then continue to work in pattern. On the RS row, when you come to that stitch work the slipped stitch and the YO as one K stitch.

That's all there is to it. The pattern that emerges is a sort of lacy braid --- very easy to memorize and very pretty when it is finished. Continue to work in pattern until you finish a row closest to the slip-knot. Now start knitting in garter stitch until you have one yard left. Use that to bind off and I guarantee you that you won't have much yarn left over!

So, there you have it. Get yourself to Coveted Yarns today and pick up a hank and knit yourself a Coveted Scarf.

As Christmas approaches it is time to think about the knitters in your life. My dear friend, jeweler Leslie Wind, has developed a new line of products called "tewelery" --- jewelry that are also tools for knitters. All are available through her web site: www.LeslieWind.com or in her Folly Cove shop. My favorite is her beautiful sterling silver yarn needles (below). What a luxurious gift for a knitter!

Her Cable Needle Necklace has gained a following among knitters and now she has designed a matching bracelet that doubles as a place to store your stitch markers as you work! Is she clever or what?

So, have fun. Visit Coveted Yarns and Leslie Wind and be good to you. Happy knitting!!!

Thanks for reading.

Coveting Yarns

As anyone who knits, crochets, or weaves knows there is no such thing as too much yarn. The news that a new yarn shop has moved into town can send us fiber-philes into paroxysms of joy almost as intense as those of a chocoholic who suddenly wakes up in Belgium. That's why when I heard about a new yarn shop in Gloucester --- oh boy!!!

So Sunday my friend Clare and I headed out East Main Street to Coveted Yarns, the new yarn store owned by Rob and Lauren Porter. They started an online store awhile ago and, because inventory was building up in their house, decided they needed an outlet. It is a much appreciated addition to the Gloucester knitting community.

Now God knows I don't need another skein of yarn. If I knitted for a couple hours every day (which I frequently do) I would be all set for a good long time. Because of the book I am working on I find myself spending hours trying out new stitches and new techniques just so I can write about them with some authority. Awhile back I had started a very luxurious scarf/stole knitting with 2 strands of fingering weight silk from ColourmartUK held together. One strand is blue, the other violet and the result is gorgeous. Well, I've torn it out and restarted it half a dozen times but I think I've finally hit on the pattern design I want:

It's hard to see but you can click on the image to enlarge it. Three panels of a lovely lace pattern that appears woven separated by insert lace rows. It will make a beautiful gift for someone.

I also received four skeins of yarn that I ordered awhile back from KnitPicks. It is a laceweight fiber called Gloss that is merino wool and silk in a gorgeous color called, coincidentally, Mermaid. For years I have tried to master the lace pattern called Rose Trellis and it has always defeated me but this time I think I've got it.
I plan to make one of my rectangular shawls, as described in the book, with a Rose Trellis center panel and a border adapted from Marianne Kinzel's Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting from a pattern she calls "Lilac Time". I have it in my head --- now I just have to get it on to the needles.

So anyway, purchasing yarn right now seems a bit foolish BUT.................... for one thing Coveted Yarn carries Blue Heron Yarn, one of my longtime favorite brands. In my stash there are several big hanks of their silk noil and several more of a fine rayon chenille purchased years ago. The violet Sampler Shawl shown in a previous post is made with a strand of Blue Heron silk and a strand of Ironstone mohair knit together. So I succumbed. I came home, wound and began knitting:
Is that pretty or what? I forgot to ask what the fiber is but I suspect a cotton/rayon blend from the feel and drape of it. The colorway is called "Lilac" --- of course.

So yarn lovers, rejoice! There's a new shop in town and it is gorgeous. Stop by and pick up a hank today --- knit yourself something pretty. And come to their Grand Opening this weekend! All day Saturday and Sunday. They are also sponsoring a knit-in every other Sunday evening from 6 to 9 at the Congregational Church on Middle Street. Come and learn how to knit. It's free and it will begin a life-long passion. Trust me.

Thanks for reading.

What I Learned from Amosandra...

Now that a day has passed and nothing has changed I can openly breathe a sigh of relief that the election is over and that it turned out the way it did. What a long two years of campaigning this has been! Throughout the whole thing I have been completely befuddled. The truth is, our country is in such a mess I didn't know what to think.

When I was a little girl back in th Fifties I lived in a town with no black people in it. At that time all the little girls in our neighborhood played with their Betsy-Wetsy dolls. All of them except me. I didn't have a Betsy-Wetsy doll because my father --- remember my father, the guy who made me a family tree that had me convinced that Jean Lafitte the Pirate was my great-great-great grandfather? --- well, that same father bought me an Amosandra doll. I remember the day he gave it to me. He brought it home from work in his lunch bucket. I ran to get his lunch bucket as I usually did and there, when I opened it was this darling little black baby doll. She was round and plump with a sweet face and curly hair and she did everything a Betsy-Wetsy did. She just did it being black.

Thus began my career, at the age of four, of being the mother of a black child. I loved her with all my heart and kept her for years and years but, let me tell you, it wasn't easy being her mother. To this day I remember some of the remarks made about my baby --- not by my friends but by their parents and older siblings. I could never understand it. My baby did everything that my friends' babies did and she was a whole lot cuter in my opinion.

I think I was about 9 or 10 the first time I ever saw a black person. I was visiting my godmother, my dear Aunt Rosie, in Erie, PA and we were at a playground near her house and there were some black-skinned children there. I was very excited because, of course, they looked like my baby doll. I knew about black people, of course. We'd studied the Civil War in school and the nuns had talked a lot about how cruel people had been to the blacks --- well, back then we called them “Negroes” --- and how that was wrong. That they were just as much God's children as we were.

Later, when I was in college during the Civil Rights Movement Era, I had a few black friends --- acquaintances really --- and, though I participated in a few demonstrations, I don't think I really had much of a grasp of what we were demonstrating about. I didn't understand oppression at all.

Then I moved down South.

Nothing in all my years of experience and education prepared me for what I encountered living in the South. My first job was in the marketing department of a prestigious real estate agency with very elegant offices in the Galleria area of Houston. I had never experienced such opulence at work. One day I came in to work and it was clear something was going on --- all the agents, these well-groomed, meticulously manicured matrons, were having conniption fits. “Just go out in the lobby and see for yourself!” one ordered me. I went out. The plants in the glass enclosed atrium were lush and green, the waterfall was tinkling, all the furnishings were as lavish as always. The new receptionist was beautiful and as perfectly groomed as any of the agents. I didn't get it. I went back and said I didn't get. “Well!” the agent huffed, “what on earth are people going to think when they walk in here and the first thing they see is a Negress?” She actually said “negress”. I was absolutely gob-smacked. I had never in my life heard of such insanity. And that was just the beginning.

Later my sister Chris married a black man and gave birth to two beautiful girls, my nieces Tasha and Alicia. I adored them --- they looked like my Amosandra! When I was working at Enron I had a shelf above my desk on which I kept photographs of my family. I got used to the remarks about the two “dark” children by a few fellow workers. “Are those young'uns EYE-talian?” one woman remarked, picking up the photo to study it. “No,” I said, “their father is African-American.” The woman stared at me, hastily put the photo back on the shelf, and rushed out of my office.

These are only a few of my experiences and they really don't amount to much but through them I learned something that I had not been brought up to know --- that there are people who have an attitude about others just because their skin is a different color. Of course, now, as an adult my awareness in that area has changed substantially but those early imprints remain.

Tuesday night, when Barak Obama, accompanied by his beautiful wife and his two beautiful children, walked across that stage in Chicago as the President Elect of the United States of America one of my friends said, “I feel like I felt when I watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.” I thought he made a wonderful point. All I could think was how much I wished I still had my Amosandra doll. She would have been so happy, too.

Thanks for reading.

A Shawl of Falling Leaves and Shooting Stars

At last! It's finished. I have been working on this shawl for nearly a year and just couldn't seem to make progress on it but this week I worked really hard and it is done. I call it a Shawl of Falling Leaves and Shooting Stars because those are the names of the two main patterns. Shooting Stars is also called Frost Flowers in some books but in my old Ballantine Knitting Pattern Library it is called Shooting Stars so that's why I chose that name.

It is essentially the same design as the Mermaid Shawl and the Gypsy Shawl only uses different lace patterns and a very unique edge finish. It is all detailed in the knitting book I am working on.
As you can see in the photo above, the crocheted edge really accentuates the overall design. It took me a few tries to get it right but it was worth it. The yarn is Knit Pick's Wool of the Andes in Tulip. I used 11 skeins and the shawl is 82" wide by 41" deep. It is just luscious.
I've also decided to include a shawl I made a couple years ago in the book. I haven't thought of a name for it yet --- suggestions are welcome. It is knit with 1 strand of Ironstone's Violet Haze Mohair and 1 strand of Blue Heron's Blue-Violet Silk.

That is my lovely friend Clare Higgins doing the modeling. Clare lives across the hall from me and is a playwrite and the creator of Modern Art Cats. Doesn't she look great in shawls? While we were out I took a few shots of her in the Mermaid Shawl, too. She is an excellent model and this morning was so brilliant and light drenched it was a perfect day to photograph these pieces.

So, I better end this and get to work on the book: The Mermaid Shawl & other Beauties: Shawls, Cocoons and Wraps

Click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for reading!

Gloucester Harbor: Insuring The Future

Excellent video from Ferrini Productions:

Halloween Reflections on Salem

When I moved to Massachusetts in the late 80s I lived on Lafayette Street in Salem for awhile. I loved living in Salem with its rich history. I'd spend hours and hours walking around the streets surrounding the Common and Derby Wharf. It was the history I loved, particularly the literary history. The House of the Seven Gables soon became the focal point of my fascinations and I spent many hours in the garden there reading Hawthorne and reveling in the sheer gorgeousness of the trees overhanging the harbor as autumn approached.


I knew about the Salem Witch Trials and had noticed a number of witch-related businesses around town with witchy signs and trappings but it wasn't until mid-October that it dawned on me that something strange was going on here. Laurie Cabot's Crows Haven Corner was right down the street from the Peabody-Essex Museum and I'd stopped in there a couple of times but not having a big need for herbs and amulets I never bought much of anything. Actually I had met Laurie, the Official Witch of Salem, however under non-witchy circumstances.

I had a friend who had just completed her training as an Estee Lauder consultant and was working at the North Shore Mall. She invited me to stop by for a “makeover”, something I had severe trepidations about. But I went. So there I am perched on a stool, wrapped in a flowered drape and she scrapes my hair back and removes every vestige of makeup from my face. Then her phone rings. Great. So there I was wrapped in flowers, bare-faced and slathered in some gunk, sitting in the middle of the aisle for everyone to see when who should come strolling down the aisle but Laurie Cabot in her long black gown and long black hair. As she passed she looked at me and said, with a lovely smile, “Oh, you look just fabulous.” And off she went. My friend, who had just returned from her call, and I stared at her. “Well,” my friend said, “she's a witch. She knows how you are going to look.” OK.

But Salem, beautiful bewitching Salem on the harbor, turns into something of a circus as Halloween approaches. It's sort of amazing. People start arriving from all over the country. Big purple tour buses show up disgorging folks wearing black and backpacks who pile into Fatima's Psychic Studio and Crow's Haven Corner, and all the various witch museums. I remember sitting in Brother's Deli one Halloween morning with a couple of friends. We watched the lengthening queue outside Pyramid Books as we ate scrambled eggs and toast. “What do you suppose they come here for?” someone asked. “I don't know,” I said. “But I think I'll go home and wait a few days before going out again.”

Which is what I did. But as the weeks passed and the leaves fell and the frosts came I spent dusky evenings walking around downtown and wondering what it is that draws us to these places where something once happened. I can't explain my beliefs but I do believe that the end of October and the beginning of November hold a few mysterious days when the walls between the worlds grow thin and it is possible to hold very still and listen and slip into an awareness of other lives and other realities. It is not a thing that can be forced but it is a thing one can open oneself to.

The Salem Witch Trials have been written about endlessly and analyzed endlessly and the truth is, they had very little to do with anything metaphysical at all. But they serve as a reminder that when we close ourselves off to other possibilities we invite bad things into our lives. Insular thinking breeds intolerance, and intolerance breeds bigotry and demonization, and demonization breeds atrocity. In 1992 I attended the dedication of the Witch Trials Memorial in Salem and Elie Weisel was the speaker. He is someone I had long admired and I mostly went just to see him. When he arrived he stood a few feet from me until it was time for him to speak. He is a small man and I was pleased to see how healthy and well he looked. He spoke, as only he could, about intolerance. And he said the thing that none of us dare ever to forget, is that keeping silent in the face of evil is complicity with evil.

So it is Halloween and tonight the streets of Gloucester will be filled with little ghosts and princess and pirates and dragons begging for treats. And in the old cemetery behind my house all will be quiet. And in Salem heaven only knows what craziness will be going on. And all of that is fine. We all have our own ways and we need only accept that and let one another be.

Thanks for reading.

Oh, Those Lovely Irish Lads

It is the time of year when snuggling up with some knitting and a good movie has much to recommend itself. Since I am madly knitting away on my Shawl of Falling Leaves and Shooting Stars in order to include it in the knitting book I have been spending a good bit of time in front of the television as I work. This thanks to two recent Netflix discoveries, a couple of Irish mini-series that sucked me in and kept me fascinated from beginning to end. I posted a couple days ago about Toby Stephens in Jane Eyre and I have rhapsodized here before about my appreciation for “beasts” --- those bad boys we love despite everything. Well, here are two more to add to the collection:

Liam Cunningham as Mossie Sheehan in Falling for A Dancer

Smolder? You want to talk about smolder? Mossie Sheehan is the quintessence of smoldering passion. His passion is directed toward Elizabeth, the 19 year old bride of his older cousin and neighbor Neely Scollard with whom, surprise, surprise, he has a long-standing feud. Poor Elizabeth has gotten herself in to this unwanted marriage because the little minx went and got herself knocked up by a good-for-nothing actor and in 1930s Ireland the choice was Magdalene Laundry or marry someone far way. The thing is despite his inappropriateness as a groom, Neely has four young children and Elizabeth is a sweet and loving girl. Even if she doesn't love Neely she soon grows to deeply love his children and her own when it is born.

As for Mossie, well, he's younger, he's strong, he's single and he can't stop looking at her. I mean he REALLY can't stop looking at her. One of those naughty YouTube video artists created this little compilation from the series and it works fine for me. The series has stunning cinematography and I don't know why this is in black and white but it works just fine.

So there is a teaser for Mossie Sheehan to warm your cold and blustery winter evenings.

Daniel Payne as Ned Andrews in Random Passage

This 2002 Canadian miniseries is 6 hours long and I swear I loved every minute of it. Filmed in Newfoundland, the set they built for it is now a living history site where you can go and learn more about the days of cod fishing in Canada. Set in the early 1800s the story is about a group of Irish immigrants who are forced to put in to Cape Random as winter sets in. It is a small fishing station of six people and the newcomers are most unwelcome. They are all crowded, freezing and starving but their dark evenings are brightened as much as they can be by the entertaining Ned Andrews, a tall, good-natured, red-haired fellow who sings in a lovely voice, plays the penny whistle and tells wonderful stories. Of course, it is also Ned's fault that they are there in the first place because he cheated his employer and got his family kicked out of Ireland.

The first segment is a little confusing because so many stories are being set up at the same time but eventually they all converge and things get really interesting. In the first episode, when the immigrants and the residents of Cape Random are struggling to survive it reminded me a lot of the opening chapters of Joe Garland's wonderful Lone Voyager, about Gloucester seaman Howard Blackburn. The scenes of the immigrants struggling to survive by hunting seals, hauling cod from the sea and salting and drying them on fish flakes could have been set in Gloucester as easily as Newfoundland.

And through it all there is the red-haired Ned, tall and smiling and filled with stories and songs. The role was ably played by Irish musician Daniel Payne and he is irresistible in the part. How can you not love a man with hair that color? There are a number of other interesting men in the series --- all little-known actors except for Colm Meaney whom I only remembered as Chief Miles O'Brien in Star Trek. He is fascinating as a tough man with a secret that prevents him from returning the love of a woman who loves him. A fine tale for a cold winter's night --- in fact, several of them.

Thanks for reading and happy watching.

Painting the Empty Bowls

In 1990 a high school teacher came up with the idea of a fund-raiser that involved painting ceramic bowls and then serving people a simple meal of soup and bread and letting them keep the bowls as a reminder of hunger in the world. Thus began the Empty Bowl Project. Each year here in Gloucester we have an Empty Bowl Fund-raising event to benefit the local food pantry. For a few years now I have been invited to participate in the painting of the bowls that are used in that event. Yesterday was bowl painting day.

Gloucester has a lot of people who rely on the food pantry to keep from being hungry. Gloucester also has a lot of artists who are well recognized for their talents and many of those artists are endlessly generous when it comes to raising funds for all sorts of things --- community preservation projects, arts groups, and, of course, feeding the hungry. Yesterday, the painting party was held at the home and studio of Veronica Morgan. One of Gloucester's many talented artists. Her sister, Marty, is a potter and has been extremely generous in supporting the project by firing the bowls, too.

When I arrived at Veronica's there were a number of artists already at work. My dear, long-time friend Trudy Allen was painting away with NSAA artist Carole Loicano. We were joined soon by Judy Robinson-Cox, a photographer and painter I know well from endless seARTS meetings. Throughout the day other artists arrived. Betty Lou Schlemm, my watercolor teacher of a good many years, arrived. While she painted she was telling us about going to see “Harold and Maude” at Theatre in the Pines the night before. I wanted to get there --- I designed the posters for it. Judy was talking about Ocean Alliance's spectacular art show and opening at the Paint Factory which she helped organize and is participating in. Susan Erony came a bit late. She was tired from her lecture the night before on the WPA Murals at City Hall. I designed the posters for that, too. Everyone was excited about the unveiling of the renovated tower on City Hall. The scaffolding is coming down and it is beautiful!

Artist Anna Coniaris Comolli joined our table. She had an idea for the next seARTS Partner With an Artist event. Veronica was there at the forum the night it opened. Other artists arrived talking about other events and projects and all the endless things we are always trying to raise money for. All of us are worried about our own ability to survive as the economy deteriorates. It was good to be among people who are so filled with energy and talent and a passion for the arts and for our community. It made me feel proud to be among them.

This is the thing --- there is a lot to do in this world. We have to feed the hungry. We want to restore our beautiful City Hall and save historic old icons like the Paint Factory. We want art to blossom and grow in Gloucester. We want the world to know we are here and what we are creating and how much this place means to us. There is a film festival going on at Gloucester Stage Company this month. Rocky Neck Art Colony is committed to supporting the Paint Factory. A lot of businesses around town have recognized that the arts bring people here --- people who patronize them. Mark Teiwes's photo exhibit is still up at Captain Joe's. He has another one online of the Paint Factory. Capt. Joe has one too on his amazing blog. There is so much to do but there are a lot of us who really want to do it.

Nobody needs me to spout doom and gloom about our economic challenges but, if anything, it makes a lot of us realize how important it is that we stay focused on what is important. I've been fed up with our entire culture of consumption and mindless entertainment for years. I hope, as people have to conserve those dollars wasted on mindless drivel, they will find new ways to occupy their time in helping others within their community. Raise money, feed the hungry, clean up parks and beaches, restore old buildings, paint bowls. The time of selfish self-gratification is past and good riddance. But life goes on and there is plenty of life going on in a town like ours. Let's all pitch in together and help out.

I painted six bowls yesterday. I painted mermaids and fish and turtles. It was just wonderful to do that while listening to all these amazing people chatter about the other projects they are working on. We can all be amazing if we want to be. I hope they will ask me back to paint more bowls --- it's a gift.

Thanks for reading.

The Seduction of Jane Eyre

I just came across this video on You Tube and all I can say is --- whew!




I love this particular version of Jane Eyre that appeared on Masterpiece Theater a few years ago. I even bought the DVD but, good golly Miss Molly, this is AMAZING.

It's a cold, rainy and windy day here in Gloucester but that certainly warmed things up!!! And now I find it has a companion video, "The Temptation of Edward Rochester":





Thanks for watching!

Latest Additions to The Mermaid Shawl Knitting Book

If you purchased Kathleen Valentine's novel The Old Mermaid's Tale and would like a freemermaid@valentine-design.com copy of the Mermaid Shawl section of the book in PDF format, please email:

was a perfect autumn day here in Gloucester and, since I had been invited to my friend Connie's house, I took advantage of the beauty of the day, the great view of Thacher's Island from her deck, and her willingness to act as model, to photograph three new additions to the knitting book I am working on. The book is really coming along well. I've made a lot of charts and diagrams and am photographing work that explains the techniques. I had three new pieces that fit perfectly in the third chapter --- Rectangular Scarves and Stoles --- and was eager to get photos for the book so today was the day.

The first is a gorgeous long, cozy stole in a merino wool from Knitpicks. The color is called "Pool" and the pattern is a stylized Tulip so I am calling it the Blue Tulip Stole. That's Connie at left wrapped up in it. Isn't she a great model?

The second one is an absolutely scrumptious rectangular stole in Knit Pick's luscious alpaca-silk. It is the softest yarn but with a lovely weight to it that makes it drape around the figure. The pattern is a curious little lace variation on tumbling blocks. I haven't really thought of a name for it yet so am just calling it Rose Alpaca-Silk Wrap.

This next one is a fun piece that was made from odds and ends leftover from other projects. I keep leftovers in zip-lock bags sorted according to color. That way, when I want to do something fun and funky, I can mix and match treasures from my leftovers bags and see what happens. This scarf, which I call Scrap Bag Scarf, is nothing more than row after row of Old Shale but the yarns changes every 4 or 6 rows. I didn't concern myself with weight, fiber or texture --- just as long as everything was a shade or rose or violet.

I also want to thank Marge Kenney for acting as my art director on the shoot. She made sure everything was just perfect.

And, finally, Rebecca sent me some photos of her in the second Mermaid Shawl I made. This one was knit specifically for the KAL in 2006. When it was finished I gave the shawl to Rebecca and she wears it a lot which makes me very happy. I had asked her if she would take a picture wearing the shawl so I'd have it for the book and she sent this one which I just love. It was shot by her boyfriend David in his boatyard. David is an artist and a boat-builder, too.

So the book is progressing and I hope will be ready before too long. I spent the better part of the day yesterday trying to draw a diagram of the "Tricky Beginning" of the Mermaid Shawl until I realized that I had made a mistake in the original drafting of the instructions. No wonder people had problems with it! So I re-knit and re-photographed the beginning and it makes much more sense now. One thing I have discovered is that the best way to learn how to do something is to try to explain to someone else how to do it. Amazing how that works!

So, again, I want to thank Connie and Rebecca for helping with this. I think they look just beautiful and add tremendously to the book. You can see more photographs at www.MermaidShawl.com. Okay, back to work!

Thanks for reading.

Sex In A Cold Climate

On a message board I am fond of there is a discussion going on about strange places to have sex. This was prompted by a post someone made about places that people once thought it was fun to have sex but now, as we age and become more paranoid about various dangers, have second thoughts about. It's been pretty entertaining to read the responses, especially since I know a good many of the responders are approaching senescence at a pace that is too fast for comfort but, what the hell, we all have our memories.

When I was young (back in the Dark Ages), and the product of 12 years of Catholic education, I thought that sex was something you did after you were married --- the nuns did a good job. In fact, I remember a hilarious incident (well, it seems hilarious in retrospect) in which a few of us at the innocent age of 16 were talking about a girl we know who had “gotten in trouble”. One of my friends said (with utter horror), “They say she doesn't even know who the father is!” We were all speechless --- probably because we didn't know what she was implying --- until our friend Sharon said, “Well, that's easy.” “How?” we all wanted to know. “Well,” she said, “she must be secretly married --- they have to find out who her husband is.” Oh.

It seems kind of astonishing now to realize that at 16 some of us thought you couldn't actually have sex unless you were married. Like, along with the wedding ring, you got the key to the chastity belt. But, lucky for us, we mostly wised up within a few years and either got married or proceeded merrily down the road to assorted misbehaviors and sins. I think it was Robin Williams who once said that women need a reason to have sex, while all men need is a place. Let me tell you, finding a place has not always been easy.

On the message board discussion a lot of folks have been talking about cemeteries. Well, yeah, I did my share of that. In fact one of my most memorable experiences (when I tell you the story you'll know how long ago it was) took place in a cemetery. My boyfriend and I were parked in a cemetery and were having a wonderful time except for the fact that we couldn't get anything on the radio except static. A fact that was aggravating him. But youth being what it is, physical demands trumped aesthetic ones, and things proceeded as they usually do. Anyhow, by some strange voodoo, just as we were approaching that magic moment, the radio kicked in and Jim Morrison's sultry voice singing “Riders on the Storm” carried us home, so to speak. When the song (and we) ended, the radio reception crapped out again. The next day he called me, in shock, and reported that the previous night Jim Morrison had died in a hotel room in Paris. Brrr.

I suppose one could write one's autobiography in places one has had sex but I'm not at all sure they would be particularly unique. I've never done it on an airplane, in a nightclub, or a movie theater (as mentioned in the article on the message board) but I have a few intriguing memories. There was a moonlit night on the top of the Bolivar Ferry crossing the channel from Galveston with dolphins cavorting in the waves --- that was with the Australian I mentioned in an earlier post about the destruction of The Balinese Room by Hurricane Ike. And there was an unforgettable night on Playa Luperone in the Dominican Republic... sigh.

And the scene I wrote in The Old Mermaid's Tale in which Clair and Baptiste do it at the top of a lighthouse was based on first-hand knowledge (so to speak --- have you ever noticed how hard it is to talk about sex without seeming to be loading every sentence with puns?) I might have missed out on nightclubs and movie theaters but not church. And that's all I'm going to say about that (well, actually “those” --- it was more than once, or twice).

But my favorite memory was an unseasonably warm winter night not all that long ago. It was his birthday and we had just come back from having dinner in a Revolutionary War era tavern and were in a very romantic mood. He had never been to Hammond Castle so we drove down to take a look and it was beautiful and warm and mysterious. No one was around and the flash of light from Eastern Point Lighthouse was illuminating the fog. And there we were on the drawbridge.

Ah, memories!

Thanks for reading.