First up, if you're a podcast listener like I am, I have just stumbled upon what may be the one and only machine knitting podcast (please let me know if there are others!). There are many, many hand knitting podcasts and vidcasts, but the only one that I have ever come across about machine knitting is Hand y Machine Knitting Podcast. Since I've just found it, I'm only a few episodes in, but so far I'm impressed. Podcasts are great to listen to in the car on a summer road trip, or while you're out for a walk or working in your garden. Give it a listen!
Summer is definitely a time that I catch up on my reading. For fiction, I've just finished Stephen King's 11.22.63 . If you're a Stephen King fan you've probably already read it as it's been out since 2011, but if not and you have an interest in non-linear time and the consequences of interfering with the past, or even just an interest in the Kennedy era and his assassination, all of which I would tick on my box of interests, then this book will not disappoint. The other book I recently finished was by a local (Eastern Shore) author Genevieve Graham, called Promises to Keep. This is a perfect summer read, and Genevieve is a very lovely and talented lady!
For machine knitting book recommendations, I highly recommend Susan Guagliumi's books, Hand Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters, More Hand Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters, and Hand Knits by Machine. The books are well laid out and filled with many colour photos, and include both techniques and full patterns. An upcoming episode of the podcast I mentioned above includes an interview with Susan, so I am very much looking forward to that. I say "upcoming" but it's actually an episode from February 2015 - I just have some catching up to do!
Another book that I've just recently finished (I told you - I catch up on a lot of reading in the summer!) is Julia Cameron's book It's Never Too Late to Begin Again. The focus is on a reader audience that is moving toward, or in, retirement and looking to get in touch with their creativity. Each chapter includes weekly exercises, but the book can certainly be just read for inspiration. There are many inspiring stories of people who found creativity and reignited interests that had been cast aside during their working years. There are great exercises included for re-filling your creative well. One of the best is the author's suggestion to take yourself on an Artist Date every week. This is one I've done several times, and she stresses that it doesn't have to be a visit to a museum or gallery - it could be something entirely different that could still fill the well. My most recent Artist Date was reconnecting with an old friend and seeing what creative stuff she is up to after many years in the business world.
There's nothing to say that it can't be a visit to a museum or gallery though, and I'd like to recommend that if you're in Halifax between now and July 28, go see Liza Hageraats show "Matted Tails and Felted Feathers" at Gallery Nineteen Nineteen. Liza is an acquaintance of mine and a very talented artist, and although I haven't gotten in to the city to take in the exhibit yet, it is definitely my next planned Artist Date!
Finally, if you're looking for a summer road trip, or ideas for your own Artist Dates, let me suggest Highway 7 along Eastern Shore. We have so many gems here. To name just a very few: Old Anderson House (local crafts), The Freight Shed (crafts) and Musquodoboit Harbour Railway Museum, Dobbit's Bakery, Martinique Beach, Old School Art Gallery, Uprooted Cafe, Bonita's Kitchen, Jeddore Variety (yarn and knitting needles), Webber's Store, Norse Cove Cafe, Taylor Head Provincial Park, Sober Island Brewery, Liscomb Lodge, and Sherbrooke Village. You can find most of these businesses or places on Facebook, or get more information on the Seacoast Trail website, or on the Destination Eastern and Northumberland Shores website.
Have a lovely, creative, book- and podcast- and road trip-filled summer (if that's what floats your boat like it does mine), but however you do it, refill that well!
Nancy
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