favorite movies

Here is the famous picture of Cary Grant knitting in the movie "Mr. Lucky", which I have not seen (why?). Cary couldn't knit, but Katherine Hepburn was a famous knitter. Here is a link to a wonderful list of novels, movies and television shows with knitting in them: hipforums.com.

Last month some friends and I were sitting and waiting for two husbands to return from the mountains driving a slightly wonky car so we were a bit nervous, and we started talking about movies, which ones were our favorites, and all of a sudden two hours went by and the husbands walked in safe and sound. I have the full list, but I want to organize it, so for now here are my (not in any particular order) top ten (for right now):

1. Fanny and Alexander
2. Jaws
3. Lion in Winter
4. Strictly Ballroom
5. La Nuit de Varennes
6. Dead Again
7. Red Beard
8. Seven Samuri
9. Year of Living Dangerously
10. North By Northwest
11. My Man Godfrey
12. Babette's Feast
13. Secret of Roan Inish
14. Waking Ned Devine
15. Thirty-Nine Steps
16. Witness
17. Room with a View
18. Sabrina
19. Breakfast at Tiffany's
20. Murder She Said
21. Diva
22. Harvey

Okay top twenty-two. These are movies I have seen many times and will continue to watch for the rest of my life. "Murder She Said", and all the Miss Marple movies with Margaret Rutherford, are my comfort movies (to watch when sick, sad, missing a traveling family member, sleepless, snowed in). As is the BBC tv Pride and Prejudice. Do you have movies you watch over and over? Or comfort movies?

Now for something completely different.
My husband and I spent the day transcribing a group of letters written during the Civil War by a soldier in a Connecticut regiment. We are both interested in history, and started out saying we were only going to do one or two of the letters (he reading, I typing). We did twelve of the thirty or so letters. We just couldn't stop. This guy was at Gettysburg. He had dinner with a rebel family whose son was in the Confederate Army. They marched to Tennessee. It was so hot men dropped dead of the heat. They were starving on half rations. And on and on, we finally stopped at the end of 1863.

What I have been meaning to blog about is my daughter's high school graduation last month, what she knit (and drew - she's going to art school) during her childhood, what I knit for her, and am knitting for her now to take with her to college (not that she needs it). This is big this going away from home, this ending of childhood, this starting up of a brand new exciting chapter. Anyway, that's coming up.
-Kathy

Anne Shayne Describes The Recording Experience

From Katherine Jane:

Back in 2009, Ann Shayne blogged on Mason-Dixon about recording for us in a Nashville studio. Apparently this was a lifelong goal for her--something to check off the bucket list! See Ann's full post here:

http://www.masondixonknitting.com/archives/2009_02.html#002613

Although we have fun with all our books, recording Mason-Dixon's Knitting Outside The Lines was especially entertaining: at some points they had to re-record, because Kathy was laughing so hard that you could hear her in the background!

You can find the audiobook here.

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Katherine Jane Arathoon lives in New York City and occasionally guest blogs for Knitting Out Loud. She also blogs at Between Ewe And Me.

Notes from New York: Plushtashes!

From Katherine Jane:


A couple weeks ago I went to the MoCCA festival--a yearly event hosted by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. While wandering around the tables my eye was caught by this lovely lady and her adorable crocheted mustaches, or "plushstaches:"

The artist's name is Shannon Gerard, and she also crochets small anatomically-correct hearts. We chatted for a while about the differences between knitting and crochet, and how it's rare to find someone who doesn't heavily prefer one to the other (she falls in the crochet camp, I fall in the knitting camp, though we both wish we were more ambidextrous). Ms. Gerard also noted that she sees a strong tendency for her knitting friends to be good bakers. I've never noticed that correlation before, but I guess it makes sense--knitters tend to be good at following patterns precisely, so maybe they're also good at following recipes.

My friend Evan bought one of those plushstaches and we found it a thoroughly entertaining item to have around:

friend Jesse gives it a spin

Evan is just covered in mustaches these days

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Katherine Jane Arathoon lives in New York City and occasionally guest blogs for Knitting Out Loud. She also blogs at Between Ewe And Me.

Father's Day

My husband, Scott Moore, is a landscape painter. The above painting is "June Evening Sears Island". We have been taking walks on this island for twenty years.

Today we went to Bar Harbor for a small exhibit of paintings from Argosy Gallery. We arrived early and took a walk around town. There is my husband with my daughter and her boyfriend waking towards the water.

We took the cliff path, along the ocean. There are mansions and inns along the path.
And some lovely gardens.

There is something wrong with my camera and it won't adjust for sun. Scott kept asking me, "Do you have the manual?" Of course I have the manual, somewhere.


I love the precision and symmetry of this house.
And the asymmetry and cottage-y feeling of this one.
This faux Tudor house has been converted into a restaurant.
A garden shop.
Outdoor restaurant.
It was a lovely day. Bar Harbor is a tourist destination, but also a charming town, and it was full of visitors. You can tell they are father and daughter even from the back.

The exhibit was hosted by Galyn's Restaurant, who catered delicious food, very artistically displayed. My daughter pointed out the mice radishes.

Scott had two night paintings on display.


And a blueberry barren.

We came home, Scott made pasta allacarbonara, and we watched Kenneth Branagh's movie "Love's Labour's Lost".

Yesterday, to celebrate Knit in Public Day, I knit with some lovely ladies and gave my Stories of Knitting talk at the Milford, Connecticut public library. It was a six hour drive, and we spent the night in a beautiful condo overlooking Long Island Sound. On the way down and back we listened to the audiobook "The Shadow of the Wind" which takes place in Barcelona and I knit a blanket for my daughter who graduated from high school this month.

Happy Father's Day!

Notes from New York: Yarnbombing

From Katherine Jane:

Yarnbombing seems to be coming up a lot recently in conversation, but until recently I had never seen it in the wild. Then new friend Ben organized a field trip to explore the Lower East Side, and we came across an art gallery that had all its windows covered in camouflage crochet:


They had also covered a bicycle that was resting outside, right down to the kickstand:


Later we find ourselves in a crammed-full candy store. The store also had little knicknacks, and a variety of little piggy banks, including these two:


Which made me wonder: would be possible to be a rock star knitter?
-Katherine Jane

From Kathy: Katherine Jane, we have yarnbombing right here in Maine!

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Katherine Jane Arathoon lives in New York City and occasionally guest blogs for Knitting Out Loud. She also blogs at Between Ewe And Me.

My garden in May and Maine Fiber Frolic 2010

Looking toward the orchard. We have pear, peach and plum trees. I love gardening (read "weeding". Well, I do get to plant things too). It is my little paradise.
The bearded iris are just starting to bloom. With polygonum bistorta, lamb's ears and ranunculus.
Looking towards the garden.

Siberian iris.
I love lemon daylilies.
And poppies.

The edge of the porch. We grow rosemary.
We had great fun at Maine Fiber Frolic last weekend! In addition to sheep, goats, rabbits, fleece, yarn, spinning wheels and a million other wonderful things, they had a "Make It with Fiber In Maine" competition.
Here are some of the wonderful entries.
This is a felted painting.




It was a great fiber festival!
See you all at TKGA's Knit and Crochet Show, Manchester, New Hampshire July 9 and 10.
- Kathy