#169: Slip One, Knit Two, Go Live
Our virtual community, an online knitting group, what I'm reading, tune for today, and plans for 2024 multi-day in-person events.
Go Live
Three years ago I click the “Go Live” button for the first ever three-day virtual Art of the Pie Camp and hold my breath. I wonder, What will happen? Will my words be enough to guide virtual pie campers to find a dough’s sweet spot between too dry and too wet? Can we roll out dough and find the rhythm? And baking at different altitudes and time zones? Might this really work?
In each of the in-person workshops I lead before the great shut-down in 2019, I am honored to be witness to beautiful stories punctuated with laughter, hopes, fears and sometimes tears when folks gather to make pie with me. Over the hours we stand around the table, with our hands full of dough and faces and aprons brushed with flour, we become friends…a family of sorts. That’s what I really want to know. Can this kind of connection happen virtually, too?
In the first few minutes of that very first virtual session, it feels like it could. And now three years later, connections at those first virtual camps, made between campers and me, last to this day…and more connections are made in the many virtual workshops that have followed.
I love how that happens here at our newsletter, too. We’ve celebrated the 100th birthday of Barbara, one of our readers, my journey to meet my birth brother for the first time, the wedding of Duncan and Olivia, and some of you have shared your stories with me, as well. As we get to know each other, our community deepens and for that I am grateful.
Online Knitting? Really?
Knit with others online? How can one do that? Well, I’m thinking that if I can do it with pie making, knitting online might work, too. So I’m joining an online knitting group.1 Last night I begin to get ready for the first knitting project—a scarf. I look over the directions…easy…and the yarn suggestion…beautiful. On my walk home from the post office yesterday, I stop in at The Emporium for yarn advice. I am welcomed by skeins of wool, spinning wheels, looms, tables, comfy chairs, and smiles. It’s truly a gathering place for knitters, spinners and weavers. My friends there look over my pattern. We talk needles and yarn. I walk on home and go straight to the antique dresser where my needles and wool are waiting. So many needles; straight, double ended, and circular; sized from 00s, that I used to make fine socks; to 50s, that can make a cowl scarf in just an evening.
I look through my modest stash and see leftovers from sweaters, vests, socks, and hats I’ve made over decades, plus beautiful unused skeins, too. There is wool from Melissa, a local spinner who had her own sheep, cherries, apples, quince, berries and rhubarb. Once I took a group of pie campers to her orchard to pick cherries right from her trees for our pies, and her rhubarb is the biggest and best I have ever had. When she passes away, her son-in-law gives me a root of it to plant. I have no idea what variety it really is, so I call it Melissa, and in my garden she produces exceptionally well.
I pull out Melissa’s wool and make a test swatch. It’s too fine for the scarf so I rip out the rows and wind the strand back onto the ball. I have no doubt that in time it will be claimed by the perfect project. Some baby alpaca is next up but, as much as I love its soft feel, it does stretch and the gauge is way off in the test swatch. It gets ripped out, too. On to worsted weights left over from sweaters, vests, socks, and hats. I know they are too thick, but I cast on and knit just for the lovely rhythm of the needles and the feel of yarn in my fingers. I have a wonderful time working with it and yes, the test swatch measures up about double what is called for so, I let it go, too. No loss. I love this process.
The wool used when the pattern was designed…a merino/cashmere…is beautiful but pricey, but this morning I sleuth around online and find some for a fraction of the cost. It should be here in time for the first session. Until then, I’m finding the joy in the rhythm of knitting…and my brain loves it, too.
Books on Knitting
Since the 1980s I’ve recommended Elizabeth Zimmermann’s books Knitting Without Tears and Knitting Workshop to others. From Knitting Workshop I learned to double strand by making a hat, and from Knitting Without Tears I gained the confidence to make a Norwegian style sweater without a pattern. (You measure a favorite sweater, pick your wool, find your gauge, create the pattern based on the measurements of your favorite sweater, and knit.) Elizabeth gave me the confidence to make and cut a steek for a double stranded cardigan, too. Back in the 80s I rented the video series of Knitting Workshop, and I think it so clever that Bach’s Sheep May Safely Graze is its theme music.
Folk Socks: The History and Techniques of Handknitter Footwear by Nancy Bush
There are some very complex patterns in the book but my favorites are pretty simple, the Welsh County Stockings that were made on double-pointed #1s. I remember finishing one of them up on a cross-country flight. My copy is well loved.
What Else I’m Reading
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
I didn’t know much about the haenyeo, the Korean women who hold their breath and dive to great depths to harvest food. I had heard of them and seen photos but in this beautifully written book, I learn about their culture and history from the 1930s and 40s, through two wars (WWII and Korean), and into the 2000s. It’s a great read and one that explores long term friendships and family. I highly recommend.
Mad Honey by Jody Picoult and Jenniger Finnery Boylan
At 11:30PM last night, I put my knitting aside and start Mad Honey. I think that I’ll read just a few pages before turning off the light. Well, one page turns into another and, when I look at the time and see 1AM, I finally put the book down. First thing this morning, I head out to the back deck with a mug of tea and pick up right where I left off.
As the book jacket says, “Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.” There’s a bee-keeping theme that runs through its pages, too, and, when I look down on the deck, I see a fat fuzzy honey bee crawling around. I say, Hello little bee! How nice to see you! It’s the mannerly thing to do.
Tune for Today
J. S. Bach: Cantata Nº 208, 'Sheep May Safely Graze', BWV 208
The theme for music for Knitting Workshop.
Sessions Coming Up in 2023-2024
Art of the Pie Day and Multi-Day Camps
I’ve reopened to in-person workshops and there is only one spot for Sept 16 remaining.
Virtual Bake with Kate Sessions are available monthly through December.
In 2024, I will offer one multi-day in person Art of the Pie Camp. I’ll continue to offer virtual workshops and a multi-day virtual Art of the Pie Camp, too.
Pie Cottage Retreat: A Time for Us
This very special 3-day gathering at Pie Cottage will take place in the quiet time of the year, when it’s still cold enough to cuddle up near the woodstove, tell stories, make soup, drink tea, read, write, and walk. This event will be limited to only 4 women. If this sounds like something you would like to take part in, please send me an email. When dates are selected, I will send you an email invitation.
Ok, that’s all for now. Thanks for being here and if you like the post, share it, leave a comment, and click on the little ❤️ below. ⬇️
Love to all.
Kate
The knitting group is a paid perk of Back Story Serial. You can find more information about this new Substack publication here.
Thanks for the mention.
It is always a delight when you wall thru the door. You add a interesting, fun, deep piece to our eclectic community.
The Emporium
Lee & Tom
Lovely post. I crochet while listening to audio books. Still very meditative. While I learned both knitting & crochet from my paternal grandmother, it's crochet that has held my interest. Just received some beautiful hand spun yarn that seems to beg to be woven. Looking into small loom Weaving. Stay tuned!