Who knew!!

Do you remember spool knitting?  When we were kids we used an empty thread spool, little nails and crochet thread....at least I did.  I don't know what I ever did with the worm I produced but I remember it was simple, mesmerizing and instant gratification.

In August PH and I went to visit FiberFest in Allegan, Michigan.  I love FiberFest.  It's such a tactile experience.  You can't help but pick up the yarn, hold a skein against your cheek to evaluate scratchiness, run your hands through a sheep. I had the bug to find a spool knitter. I wanted to get Elizabeth started on one.  We searched every vendor and found this in the very last booth. I chose this one because of that one darker colored peg.  I thought for a learner, it would mark the beginning of a round.

Elizabeth took to it immediately.  But then, she would.  She's 6, the perfect age to be able to start with one, manage the needle which in this case is a very sharply pointed stick,  and have the patience to go around and around the circle. She can focus and she sat in Grandpa's chair and worked the circle patiently and loved watching the yarn "worm" come through the bottom.   I'm having one made for her by my woodworking neighbor.

I couldn't remember how to begin threading the knobs so I turned to Google.  Who knew!!??!!  There are gobs of sites on spool knitting,  also called, I discovered,  French knitting.

After viewing some sites I went to sleep wondering what to do with a huge long yarn worm.  It came to me in the middle of the night...A garland for the Christmas tree!!   I dug through the attic and found this yarn I bought in Scotland many years ago.  I wasn't thinking when I bought it.  I went for the lush, rich cranberry red color.  It's gorgeous.  But it is also so scratchy it still has....really....pieces of straw woven through it.  The yarn could never be used for something to wear.  You'd go crazy scratching.  It would be like wearing a Middle ages hair shirt.  So those luscious balls of red (I have enough for several sweaters) sat in a bag.  I entertained rug thoughts in my head but ....those luscious balls of red sat in a bag.

Well, Sunday afternoon PH and I ran an errand that involved two hours of drive time.  I wondered if I, the poster child for car sickness, could work this in the car and thus do something with my boring ride time.  YES!  I CAN work this in the car!!  And look how much I did in two hours!!  I told PH at this rate I can do a garland for the White House Christmas tree!!  Well....at least one for ours.