Tag: New Hampshire

Cowl Knitting Project Discovered at Harrisville Designs

During my trip to New Hampshire I of course wanted to visit Harrisville Designs. It is where my daughter chose this cowl knitting project for me to make for her!

My daughter took me to the shop, and even though she does not knit, she always enjoys the ambiance of the old mill store.

She lives close enough to go to Harrisville whenever she wants, and she even used to have a job in that town. Now, we try to make it a tradition to make the short trip whenever I visit from Florida.

While we browsed the shelves of yarn and knitwear created from patterns, she pointed out the Night and Day Cowl, by Andrea Mowry, as something she liked and would wear. It was constructed from Harrisville Designs wool yarn; Daylights and Nightshades. Basically it is a black and white (or 2 contrasting colors) checkered pattern that is knit flat and then seamed up the short side.

I figured I could handle that, so we planned for me to make it for her. I didn’t have space in my suitcase for skeins of yarn, so I couldn’t buy it from the HD shop. I did buy a little notions case and some stitch markers, as I needed both. I couldn’t leave the store empty handed!

Sunskaara pouch, knitting notions bag and stitch markers by cocoknits

A Fun Story

Everyone who works at Harrisville Designs probably knits a lot. I mean wouldn’t only knitters or yarn crafters apply to work at a yarn shop? Anyway, the three ladies who were at the registers were all wearing beautiful, hand-crafted sweaters.

I wore my Simple Stripes sweater that day, and the woman waiting on me complimented me on it. She was especially interested in the cat pattern colorwork on one sleeve. In fact she asked if she could take a photo of my sleeve!

Simple stripes sweater knitting project
Simple Stripes

Pascuali Yarn and Colors

Because I couldn’t take yarn home with me, I shopped with my daughter online and found some DK weight yarn by Pascuali. My daughter wears a lot of alpaca clothing that is not hand-knit, so I thought she might like something from alpacas or llamas.

The Pascuali Sayama yarn is a half and half mix of baby llama and wool. It is DK weight and she chose black and glacier (a light gray-blue) colors online at Wool and Company. I ordered it, and it was already at my house in Florida when I arrived back home.

Pascuali Sayama yarn skeins in Glacier and black colors
Pascuali Sayama

Wool and Company will wind your yarn for free, so I asked for winding one of each color. This way I am ready to knit once I go through the pattern and decide on a size and knit a gauge swatch. Yes, I am knitting a swatch. I have plenty of extra yarn and I want to match gauge if possible. It will give me a chance to practice the pattern also.

This cowl is knit flat, back and forth, making increases and decreases along the edges. Once finished, two ends are stitched together to complete the cowl.

Once I begin the project I will write a page all about how things went. Along with this knitting project I will be trying to finish up my Knus Light Top which has been in the works for over a year!

It was sad to say good-bye to New Hampshire. I long to live there again, but I’ll take the visits when I can afford to go. I breathed in the beautiful, fresh air, I went hiking and enjoyed visiting my kids. If you want to read more about my quick visit, I wrote about my vacation here.

Harrisville, NH with brick buildings
Harrisville, NH general store

More knitting happening here…

The Appeal of a Corn Maze

The first I’d ever heard of doing a corn maze in autumn was when I lived in New Hampshire. For a short time I lived near Concord, and often visited Beech Hill Farm. I think this was the first corn maze I ever did.

By googling the “history of corn mazes” I have discovered that it is a fairly new endeavor. In the early 1990’s the first maze appeared in Pennsylvania.

So what is the purpose of a corn maze? To aggravate the heck out of you! Haha.. really, they are fun, until you can’t find your way out. This has not happened to me, but I’ve heard stories of people actually calling for rescue from the maze!

Now, with nearly everyone having access to some sort of GPS on their smartphone, getting lost is unlikely. Traveling the maze means finding some unique and fun “gifts” along the way. Some mazes are like a scavenger hunt. Often maps will be provided so adults can help kids find the fun spots.

For more fun facts about corn mazes, read this insightful article at Cornbelly’s site.

Sample Corn Maze Banner Ready to Customize

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A Nomads Life, Places I Have Lived

Reminiscing about all my moves while in New Hampshire

One of the reasons I have kept this blog even though I no longer live in New England is that I have shared some of my favorite photos here.  Now I use this blog to share my knitting adventures and dream that one day I will be able to write again from a New Hampshire location.

All photography on this page is my own and is copyright protected.

When I moved from Florida to New Hampshire I had a nice house where I expected to stay for a very long time – maybe forever. I have to laugh at that. Silly me.

It didn’t turn out that way. I moved, and moved, and moved some more. I rented at four different places and lived in one house of my own before high expenses and lack of income forced me to head back to Florida.

frozen lake ice skating
Life by the lake, my son skating in the cold

My first, third and fourth homes in New Hampshire were near Gregg Lake in Antrim. I loved this area. The lake is small enough that it never gets crowded and it’s very quiet when the summer people have gone. New Hampshire doesn’t change very quickly, and I love that. After living in Florida where there are really no small towns, being part of one was a welcome change.

winter sunrise
Light at the end of the tunnel?

My first rental house was in Hopkinton and I snapped this photo of the sun rising just at the top of the hill. I lived here for a year but rent was too expensive so I moved (almost) into a condo.

The condo flooded before I could get in, so I temporarily lived in a little “camp” near Gregg Lake. It was August and we were right on the water which was nice for the kids, but it was only temporary. The condo was taking a long time to renovate and I was desperate to find a permanent rental that was decent. I lucked out when I found the duplex (photo below), where I stayed for three years.

Deep snow

This area is so beautiful. The only thing that would have made it better was if I had really belonged by having my own place. But walking was beautiful and I enjoyed the views of woods, hills and the lake. My landlady had a black lab and I would take her for walks with me.

dirt road forest photo

I’ve always loved taking photos and I used my digital camera for all of these. I never had a nice cell phone until just before I left the state. With the change of seasons, there is always something amazing to photograph in this area. Fall and winter were favorite times to get photos. I loved to go out after a snowstorm and get photos before the wind ruined things.

Trees covered with snow after a storm
Winter Trees

Because I was feeling more like a normal person – having a home helps – my kids talked me into getting two cats. Richie and Fontana loved to sit in the front window and watch the birds.

Richie was killed by a fisher cat after I moved into my own home, but Fontana is still with me. She is about 14 years old now.

my cats Richie and Fontana
Richie and Fontana

Yay, My Own Place

The house I bought (below) needed a lot of renovating. You can read about that here. I was having siding, windows and new shutters put on when we got a freak October snowstorm which brought the work to a halt for days.

October snowfall snowstorm
October Snowfall 2011

Now I am back in Florida where I deal with heat, humidity, crowds, tourists, and hurricanes. I no longer walk in the woods and take photos of the change of seasons. I blog about seashell identification and our boating trips where we attempt to catch fish large enough to eat. I write about Florida landscaping and gardening and life in general on my Hydrangeas Blue blog.

I miss New Hampshire, but I am a nomad, and my goal is to move again… back to the Northeast.

Waterfront park in Edgewater Florida

Photos From New England, My One Good Day

Recently (October 2018) I spent a week in my old hangout around Peterborough, New Hampshire. Foliage season was winding down, but there were lots of yellow and gold colors left on the trees, with some red around the lakes.  My vacation was a good one, but the weather turned cold and rainy after this one good day.  I spent it outdoors at my favorite lake.

Fall foliage roadside in New Hampshire
Red and orange leaves by the lake

The day I arrived in New Hampshire the weather was beautiful with temps in the seventies. Unfortunately I had been up since three in the morning dealing with airports so I was a bit tired to enjoy it.

My first full day of vacation brought another beautiful, sunny day and it was the last one in the forecast for the week! I had to take advantage of it.  There were clouds, but it was beautiful weather for walking and photography.  Some of my photos are dark because the sun did not come out when it should have!

Geese on the lake
Geese family on Gregg Lake

A sweet friend, who lives on a lake, had invited me to go kayaking that afternoon. I was determined not to waste the morning hours so I headed to Gregg Lake for a walk.  Her lake was not far away, so I tried to plan it so I could walk and then kayak.  Yikes, I was horribly out of shape, and I did pay for all that exercise the following day with some sore muscles, but it was well worth the hours spent breathing in gorgeous New England air!

bright red leaves
Some bright leaves remain

Revisiting The Bridge

Most of my old, favorite Fall photographs are from the Gregg Lake area because I lived close by at one time. I’m a bit of a nomad and have lived in many spots, but my time near the lake was special.

I walked this area in all types of weather including after snowstorms, to get my photos.  Blueberry picking is good around the lake in summer and I traveled back here to do just that when I lived in Peterborough.  But my favorite season was always autumn.  The summer people and beach goers were gone and peace and quiet returned.  Each day I watched the color change on the trees and could pick the best days to get my pictures.

bridge by the lake in fall
A favorite view of the little bridge

The picture above is one of my favorite views for photography. The lake is to the left and the water in this photo is more of a shallow pond. Kayaks can go under the road bridge, which is to my left and out of view here, and travel around this small area. The bridge in the distance connects this pond area with another shallow area of water. The road is a dirt one and is good for walking, except that it was hunting season so I did not venture into the woods, or down that road.

Quite a few years ago I made my photo of this bridge into a postcard to sell in my Zazzle store. You can see it below.  That photo was taken many years ago.  If I had made my journey to New England a week earlier I may have seen these bright colors.  Beginning of October is when the color was usually best around the lake and I visited in mid-October.  A bit late, but it couldn’t be helped.

Fall foliage and wooden bridge postcard

The wooden bridge in Fall  (above)- This is an old photo taken in 2008 maybe?

Gregg Lake foliage and water
Another favorite spot to photograph

I have taken many photos from the spot shown in the photo above.  If you catch it right, the foliage, lake and wooden fence make a beautiful image.

The old wooden fence adds interest to the scene where the road stretches around the lake to show the beach area and a few houses beyond.  A red tree grows from a small island near the shore with some yellows left on the trees roadside.  This area of water is where the geese hang out and when I used this road daily, it was not unusual to have to stop my car to let the babies follow mom across the road here.

I made another postcard of this view which was taken earlier in the season.  Leaves were just beginning to change, so probably early to mid-September.  (See image below)

lake photography
End of summer lake photo

The hours I spent walking this road were some of the most peaceful in my tumultuous life.  This area will always be special to me and any time I travel back “home”, I will make a point to take in the views around Gregg Lake.  I suppose next time the view will include wind turbines.  I’ll be writing about that.

Empty road around Gregg Lake
Road at the lake