Our dear friend and fellow knitter, Betsey Brighton, passed away earlier this month. She was in an unfortunate accident. She will be missed by all of us who had the pleasure of knowing Betsey. Her bright smile and dynamic personality were radiant and contagious.

During Betsey’s retirement from being a teacher and school administrator, she quilted, knit, worked for the census and traveled, among the many other activities she participated. I looked over her knitting history and noticed that she took 15 classes at Wild Purls. She was a life long learner, indeed.

We spent a glorious evening this past September at the Brighton’s home in Red Lodge. Betsey welcomed the Wild Purls crew and any enthusiastic Red Lodge knitters into her home for a night of yarn tasting. From that evening, a group of Red Lodge knitters continue to gather on Mondays to knit. Because of her kindness as hostess, Betsey helped to get the ball rolling for this group.

When I spoke to her daughter, Libby, earlier in the week, she expressed that Betsey did not want a funeral but rather when we plant our gardens this spring and summer, think of her. I will be going to my favorite garden in Billings, Tina’s Iris Garden, and choosing just the right iris. My favorite perinial flower is the iris and I’m certain I can find the perfect one to honor Betsey. Each year when it blooms, I will think of her.

God speed Betsey and the entire Brighton family!

Beautiful Betsey is second from the left.

 

This morning when I came to the shop, my friend Becky arrived carrying a box. I had no idea what she might have inside this box, but I knew it couldn’t be very big. Now, before we go on, you must know a thing or two about Becky. First, she is the true definition of a renaissance woman. She is a sheep rancher, a business woman, a weaver, a spinner and a knitter, to mention just a few points. She and husband Mike own Valley Creek Ranch, in Park City, MT. Her latest project is a square, lace shawl, knit with Alpaca with a Twist, Fino. And yes, she really knit this in between feeding her flock and weaving.

And she knit these socks too.

And these “Hypnosis” socks from The Eclectic Sole.

Now, I don’t know if you can see the box that the book is propped upon but it has our visitor, which I mentioned at the beginning of the breath taking post.

Would you like to see what’s inside?

Take a breath and get ready…

A baby lamb, born about 7am this morning. She was the runt at only 2pounds 2oz. and was rejected by her mama.

She found four human mamas at Wild Purls. I have not seen so many women swoon this much since a new box of yarn arrived.

We then swooned some more over Becky’s shawl.

But Purl (yes we named her Purl) would have none of that. She needed to let us know that she was hungry and tired and needed her mama. She bleated and bumped the box until she was picked up and fed.

Suddenly, all was well with the world.

A little food and a hug make everyone’s day just a little better.

 

Do we knitters ever take a stitch for granted? Could this be the case with garter stitch? I love the simplicity of knitting every stitch. The finished product is predictable, uniform and flat. Yes, I did say flat. Dear old stockinette stitch is a curly affair. Many a new knitter feels distressed when, after doing all the right stitches…knit a row, purl a row, knit a row, (you know the rest), they discover that their piece curls. It just won’t lie flat.

This brings me back to garter stitch. I have heard some knitters proclaim that garter stitch is amateurish looking. These knitters never say that they are “above” garter stitch, but I can see it in their eyes. Thank goodness that Elizabeth Zimmermann, or Sally Melville never felt that garter stitch was beneath them. In fact, the lovely Tomten jacket or the Einstein coat show off the sophistication of garter stitch.

Sometimes, doing things in their simplest form can give the most sophisticated results. Three cheers for garter stitch and all the friendships it forms!

 

On my way to work today, I spied something under the forsythia bush that is blooming in my front yard. It is officially spring!

 

The paper bag. A bag to hold things. A utilitarian object. Quite practical and never really pretty. Until now.
Wild Purls recently received in a new “yarn”. You can barely call it yarn because it truly is paper. What used to be plain and brown is now pretty and colorful. It’s a “yarn” from a Spanish vendor, Katia, most aptly, called “Paper” (yes, this is washable).

Our first thought was, “Wow, what are we going to knit with that?” That thinking lasted only a second before our brains started spinning.
I said a bag, Connie said a hat, Julia said a table runner! And that is exactly what we did!

I knit a bag (a paper bag . . . and completely lined!)

Connie crocheted a hat (complete with bow),

and Julia is knitting a table runner! (uncompleted, but lots of promise!)

Now, if Julia could drink more caffeine and thrive on less sleep, this could be done tomorrow!