At The Museum

Stephanie wrote:

Our departure for Stitches West is right around the corner. After we finished our fall shows the end of February seemed so far away - plenty of time to get everything ready. Even with all that time I know I'll be working up until the last minute.

Some of the last minute details I'm working on are actually quite fun. I've made time to sit and work on Cité. The body is done.

I'm making my way along the hem edge, knitting it to the body as I go.

Lovely little stitches that add a soft, feminine touch.

Be warned - photo tour ahead. I recently made a trip to the American Textile History Museum. The Museum had been renovated, and I was eager to see it. During the Industrial Revolution New England was home to many textile factories. The American Textile History Museum strives to preserve that history through exhibits and educational programs.

This open space contains some of the big, bulky equipment that was used to make textiles. I was intrigued by the engineering and scale of the equipment. The noise and fiber dust in the factories must have been incredible.

And of course this exhibit caught my eye.

The Charm of Color - what a clever title.

One display case housed these gloves.

I would have loved to examine them more closely to see how the beads were attached.

And then I spied this pair of gloves.

I like the colorful details, and they look so warm and cozy.

I couldn't pass up this exhibit.

Aprons: Fifties Functional Fashion

This exhibit brought back a flood of memories. My mother and her sisters wearing aprons. My apron-clad grandma cooking Sunday dinner.

The walls were covered with aprons - aprons in different colors and styles, aprons with themes, aprons for various holidays.

I admit I have a thing for aprons, and I wear one every day. I'm messy in the kitchen so aprons serve a very practical function. They save me from wearing my cooking and are a pleasant reminder of days gone by.

Being a baseball fan I had to investigate this exhibit.

Do you know the answer? Wool. The baseball core is wrapped in wool yarn, a blend of 85% wool and 15% synthetic fiber to be exact. The wool helps the ball keep its shape after being hit.

And who could resist this scarecrow?

Meet Purl. Purl's scarf was made with the help of a computer program. The scarf contains 90 squares. The computer generated design made sure that no squares of the same color touched. It also made sure that the color sequences of each row were never repeated.

And it wouldn't be a textile museum without sheep.

From a distance these almost look like the real thing.

We had a bit of wintry weather this past week.

The snow was wet and heavy. The branches on my neighbor's tree were almost touching the ground.

It made for a beautiful winter wonderland.

Snow and ice.

And a visitor.

I was out and about early, but someone else was first to walk in the new snow.