Visiting Claremont, New Hampshire

Early last December I stayed overnight in Claremont, NH.  It might not have been the ideal time of year.  The week before there had been over a foot of snow, but all that was left by the time I got there was one dirty snow drift in the motel parking lot.

Finding the motel was a trip.  The directions told me to keep on the highway through the center of town.  I did it correctly but thought I was lost.  I had to drive through the center, turn right and drive through the parking lot, then turn left. 

Following Routes 12 and 103 through Claremont, NH.  City Hall is on the left.

Feeling lost, I parked in front of the library and went inside for help, which I kindly received.  The streets in the center of town revolve a small parking lot.  There are five different turns you can make.  I had to make the third turn to reach the motel.

This used to be the Hotel Claremont. I've found it listed elsewhere as the "Historic Moody Building."  The cars are in the parking lot mentioned.

The motel was old and the room was small, but it was very clean and had everything that I wanted.  The one problem is that the HVAC unit was under a small window in the back wall.  The drapes on the window were too long and the air went right up under them.  I held down the bottom of the drapes by holding it down on the window sill with my shoes.  Then it got warm inside.

I woke up in the morning to a bright blue sky and crisp, clean air. 

I was within walking distance to downtown so I walked there to find a place to have breakfast.  I had no idea what place was best, so I picked the most interesting looking place, the Java Cup.  It didn’t seem likely that they would have breakfast food, but they did. The window had a white Christmas tree decorated with fairies.  Inside were walls hung with local artwork and tables decorated with displays for sale.   Breakfast was very good and so was the pastry that I bought to eat on my way home.  The people were very friendly.  They were the type of people who didn’t mind if you made a comment as they decorated the little café for the holidays.

The holiday tree displayed in one of the Java Cup's windows.

Inside the Java Cup

The Java Cup on Pleasant Street in Claremont, NH

On my way into town the previous day, I had seen a scrapbooking store:  Scrapaholics... Scrapbooking, Stamping and More.  I had a close encounter with scrapbooking last year.  Having difficulty finding what I wanted, I sometimes wondered if scrapbooking stores existed anywhere.  The owner did a very good job of choosing materials that I hadn’t seen elsewhere.  The salesclerk was very friendly and helpful.  I no longer want to do the project I had in mind, but I can’t help thinking there are other things in my life that deserve commemoration. 

Outside the scrapbooking store

The large holiday display.  This isn't all of it.  There were shelves with paper on the right.

Inside Scrapaholics... Scrapbooking, Stamping and More

Here are a two more photos of downtown Claremont.  It was a lovely morning and a nice place to walk around.  People were very friendly, which is not so common these days.  It looks like downtown Claremont's struggling to keep alive, like too many other places that I know.

I’ve discovered that I’m not that different from my friends in my ambivalence towards housework and organization, but it must be done.  When I’m at the point when I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished, I can think about what I want to commemorate.  Maybe a clean and organized apartment!  (Ha, ha, ha laughs the crafter and the historian.) 

At least I have an argument against learning to spin.  I find that spinners are always willing to convince other people they want to spin.  Currently I have no room for roving or a spinning wheel.  I have to do something about my yarn stash first.

Cat Scarf

This is a knitting chart I need help with.  I'm supposed to add multiple stitches at the end of each row every row.  I really don't see how it's going to work.

It's for this scarf pattern I bought on ebay:

The pattern was intended for a child so I had to lengthen the body.  I bought an extra ball of yarn over six years ago, but I'm not sure if I have enough.  I may have to shorten the body a bit.

What Part of a Family is a House?

My childhood home burned down today.  Thanks to the web I can watch it over and over in three different places if I want.  I couldn't even finish watching the first video.
Here's one:

Here's our house when I lived in it.  You can see the rock wall in the video.  My parents were the second owners.  The builder and first owner was Jake Dexheimer.  My parents bought it from his heirs.  We moved there when I was in first grade.  My father replaced the wiring and the plumbing, put in the half bath downstairs and added the room onto the back.  He planted most of the trees and shrubs.  He also built the fireplace and the stone walls.

 I lived there 19 years.  Even though I haven't lived there since 1985, I feel like I lost someone.  What part of a family is a house?  I never really wanted to move away.  There wasn't much in the way of employment there.  Jobs were either low paying with no benefits or required specialized degrees and you had to be able to do everything.  I lived briefly in the house that my mother rented in nearby Hudson after my parents divorced, but I really didn't like it there.  It was so different, so urban.  I haven't really liked anywhere I've lived since.

Toe-Up Sock Project

In 2012 I am determined to finish the knitting projects I started in 2011. 

One is the lapel vest.  I think it’ll be fine now.  I decided to knit the vest in one piece using a circular needle.  My shoulder muscles are no longer as built up as they were when I was working in an office, so I find my shoulders get tired.  However, knitting should help me strengthen them again.

The other project is my sock, knit from the toe up.  At the time I started it, the only method of knitting the toe I could understand was the figure eight, so it’s still a figure eight toe.  Last year I decided I had to alternate strands of yarn.  I have no idea why.  I tinked it back to the end of the toe and started knitting the  foot again with one strand.  It looks fine.  For the foot I’ve followed Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts’ directions in Simple Socks Plain and Fancy. 

The big stumbling block up to now has been the short row heel.  I realized that I have to plan the next step.  I had come across directions to tailor the width of the leg, and that’s why I started the toe-up sock to begin with. I’ve always had trouble finding knee socks that fit.  When I was growing up, the store-bought ones always seemed to be made for more slender legs and fit sometimes too tightly.  I think my calf might start curving out farther down than other people’s.  Since I’m short that would make sense. 

My ultimate goal is custom-fit wool knee socks to wear in cold weather.  Buying decent knee socks in the stores was always hit or miss, and forget about pretty colors.   I decided a long time ago to wear bright, pretty colors because life could get depressing enough.  I wear knee highs and sweater tights as much as possible when I wear skirts, and I prefer skirts over trousers.  My jeans of course are mostly neutral colors.  I have store-bought heavy cotton and wool socks that have lost heels and toes and need to be replaced.  The wool ones seem very coarse next to the merino sock yarn I’ve been knitting.  I suspect the color selections offered are still pretty drab as well. 

I thought I’d gotten directions on tailoring the sock leg from Ravelry, but didn’t find any when I looked for them.  I’m not sure what I read.  I remember two magazine articles and possibly there might be something in a book.  A long time ago I bought a booklet of knee sock patterns from a German company but I think they were all traditional top down.  It’ll be interesting to see where I find the directions and who they’re by.

 

Molly finds knitting rather boring.  She tries to get my attention because she wants to play.

Cat Sweater

One of my cats is always trying to steal the heated cat bed from her sister cat who has arthritis.  This cat doesn't have a undercoat like other cats.  At one time she crept into a vest I was knitting to take a nap.  I wonder if she'd like her own sweater.

Knitting and Stress

Knitting is not always good for stress.  Sometime last year, maybe in the spring, I unraveled a vest I started knitting out of Peace Fleece's Blueberry Borscht several years ago to use for Jean Suzuki's Lapel Wrap Vest.  I like the design very much.  I think it's very feminine and stylish.  About this same time I began to feel uncomfortable in the job that I had.    I remember when I came to the lapel increase I was very confused, and that's completely unlike me.  My first sweater and first pair of socks were Irish knit! 

I've lost track of how many times I've ripped this vest back.  The first time I had trouble with the increases, the second time with the bind offs for the armholes (I decided to knit it all in one piece).  Another time I didn't like the way the decreases were looking.  This last time I decided to take it all the way back to where the increases began.  I'm glad I did because I'd done them completely wrong!  At the same time my job went from bad to worse and I lost it the middle of December. 

Another project on needles this year was a sock I was knitting out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in the colorway Hawaii.  I used a few different instructions to create my toe-up pattern.  Sometime last year I decided I didn't like the way the color pooled so I decided to alternate strands of yarn.  I'd also put off figuring out how to knit the short row heel.  I did it successfully over 30 years ago but I had trouble last year.  The sock seemed to pivot around and around the same stitch.

This week I decided I didn't like the ridge from alternating the yarns in the sock so I pulled it out until I got to the toe where I started doing it.  I started to reknit the body last night.  After knitting a inch or so I found that there's a strange hole near the beginning.  It looks like I either created an unintentional yarnover or knit one in the row below.  Since the knitting is so easy I'll unravel it and start over. 

*Sigh*  I guess I have trouble following directions when I'm very stressed out.  I'll be very glad when I get both these projects done.

Blocked Shawl

I finally finished AND blocked a shawl. The yarn was a skein of Fannie's Fingering sock yarn in Kaleidescope.  The pattern was the Cherry Surprise Shawl designed by Preita Salyer from Ravelry.  I wanted to wear the shawl on a short trip the end of June. It was an instant cat magnet.  Molly did not want to get off it.  I received several compliments when I wore the shawl.