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Tinking Turtle Raverly

Handmade vs. “Just Passing”: the Story of my Lace Souvenirs

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My family and I spent the last two weeks in the Mediterranean.  It was my first time going, and it was a wonderful time.  Perhaps one of the things I’m most excited about is the additions I made to my lace collection.  There’s 4 pieces total, one crochet, and one Burano traditional needle lace.

The crochet my parents got for me in Dubrovnik, Croatia.  It features Fillet crochet
and pineapple motifs.
The other pieces I acquired was in Florence, on the island of Burano, which is known for it’s colored houses, and it’s lace.  I fell completely in love with Florence, and especially Burano.
Shopping for lace in Burano was an interesting experience.  The shops we went into on the main drag were – frustrating for me.  I was told as I walked in that all lace was “handmade.”  I found this a frustrating experience, because I can te

ll the difference between handworked and machine (at least when it came to this example of embroidery).  I’m afraid I got a very angry look on my face and dragged my brother, who was with me, out of the store.

He then very patiently listened as I ranted for about 10 minutes, and cooled off.  After that we were much more selective in the stores we went into, until I found one that was authentic.
It was worth it to wait.  I got to meet the owner, who spoke maybe 10 words of English.  I spoke about 5 words of Italian, and enough Spanish (which linguistically, is similar enough that I could limp along) to make my interests known.  Once I pulled out the knitting, she understood that I knew about the work that went into the lace, and she started pulling out the “good stuff.”

The lace was full of traditional motifs and beautiful embroidery and work.  I ended up getting 3 different sized doilies, and I couldn’t be happier.

For me, it was important to know that the crafts and the lace were the real thing – because I hate when something that isn’t handworked is “passed.”  In an age where most people are unfamiliar with the traditional crafts, it’s important to me that people’s hard work be appreciated for what it is.

Packing: in which I try to balance clothes and yarn. Spoiler: Yarn Wins.

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I’m getting ready to wrap things up before I leave tomorrow, again.  This time it isn’t for work – I’m going on a cruise, to the Mediterranean with my family.  Mr. Turtle, who has run out of vacation days, will not be coming along.  So if you get in touch with Tinking Turtle in the next 2-ish weeks or so, you’ll have to make do with him.

I, meanwhile, am in the middle of a very sort of contained chaos, a carefully crafted tornado of productivity.  I know this pace can’t be maintained for long (and I wouldn’t want it to be, frankly), but I wanted to get a few designs that are due the days after I get home off now, so I don’t have to worry about them on the cruise.  I also want room to bring home souvenirs, so the bag I’m working on for an issue of Annie’s that is due to be mailed off the day I get home is getting done before I leave, darnit.

As I mentioned before, my hands may very well fall off.

A separate matter, from the general packing, is how much yarn I need to bring and in what quantities.  Normally this is a source of much angst, but my options this time are rather naturally limited by the upcoming designs I need to work on: namely, a lot.  The yarn list reads as a sort of “yarn superstar” of the knitting world.

I have the Knitting Boutique’s new superwash yarn line in a couple of different weights, for two different designs due this fall.  I have a half-finished project in Dragonfly Fibers, for a collaboration I’ve also got due this fall.  I have two different sock weight yarns: one by Anzula (the blue and the gold) and the other by Hedgehog Fibers (the grey and the rust) – both yarns for Sockupied designs that are due the end of August-ish.  Also are some extra skeins, also from Anzula, for a design I’m working on in my (heh) spare time.  I also am considering one other quick project… which I know is just crazy because I already have more than enough to keep my occupied even if I was home and NOT on a cruise.

I think I might give The Yarn Harlot a run for her money when it comes to overpacking yarn.  And somehow, I still need to fit clothes.

I guess it’s the cost of being self employed: I’ll be bringing my work with me.  You can see how torn up about it I am.  *grins*

If you’ve got any burning questions for notes for before I leave, you’ve got until about 11 tomorrow (Saturday) to get them to me.  After that, I’ll be on a plane, and then a boat, happily taking a break before life becomes crazy again.

Got any advice for packing?  I’d love to know your strategies!

Stories from Sunburst

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Most of the work I did on making the Sunburst sample was while I was on a cruise with my grandmother back in October.  My paternal Grandmother loves traveling on cruises, but isn’t quite able to do it on her own.  So she gets her grandchildren to come with her, and we have a grand old time.  Grandma and I had decided on a cruise through the Panama Canal, from Florida to California.

Sunburst was the perfect project to do on a cruise.  Easily memorize-able, and with simple motifs, it was light enough to be on my lap as we sat outside and watched the water go by.

On one of the first nights we went to see a comedy show after dinner, and because we were nearly late getting there, the only seats were in the front.  Naturally we got singled out by the comedian, who saw that I was crocheting while he was performing.  After asking after us and what I was doing, he ragged on us a little before moving on.  From then on everyone one board the cruise knew me as “the young girl that knits/crochets.”  (It doesn’t help that I was dressed in vacation clothes, which make me look like I’m a teenager.)

It was a wonderful thing, actually, to be singled out, because it brought crafters out of the woodwork on the cruise.  So many knitters and crocheters made an effort to find me during the cruise, and we’d talk shop, knit or crochet, and admire each other’s projects.

Since Sunburst requires a set of circular knitting needles in addition to my hook, I took to sticking the circular knitting needle into my ponytail when I wasn’t using it.  It was the perfect place for it, because I wouldn’t forget to pick it up when I went to go somewhere else with my grandmother.  However, it did have the habit of making me look quite strange, with two pieces of wood connected by a plastic strand making a halo over my head.  Grandma liked to give me a hard time, teasing me about my “halo” or laughing when I got the needles caught on something because I forgot they were up there.

By the end of the cruise many of the people had watched the shawl form over the two weeks while I was there.  Many couldn’t quite imagine what it would look like when all the ends were woven in and it was blocked.

So, for any of you Holland America Cruisers out there who were aboard the Statendam with me, here’s the finished product.  I told you it would look better when it was done.

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