Talking of life in stitches

May 12 was a sunny spring day, perfect for a drive to Castine. Forsythia, azaleas, tulips and daffodils were in bloom, the landscape reminding me of samplers embroidered in silk. The Penobscot Narrows Bridge gleamed silver in the sun. The water of the bay was inky blue.

I was on my way to be a guest of the Witherle Library knitting group.

I met the group at the library, the perfect place to sit in a circle surrounded by the interior beauty of the room – graceful Ionic columns, fireplaces, shelves of books, the ponderous oak reading table and the cabinet with vintage paper dolls on display.

The women of the group ranged in age from teenager to eightysomething. Socks were one of the woolly topics that morning, although the season for wool socks is about over – though maybe not quite yet when a chill breeze is blowing off the water toward the coastal town.

One woman in the group proudly showed off the first

pair of socks she had ever knit. They were beauties, too, done in a self-patterning yarn of cream and shades of blue.

Another woman was knitting baby socks on tiny needles. The yarn was finely spun in variegated shades of yellow. She talked about needing volunteers to knit warm hats, mittens and scarves for international students who attend a local school. These students, she said, often arrive without realizing how cold it gets in Maine.

Other group members drew from their tote bags the scarves, shawls or other items they were knitting. Some simply sat and conversed, the knitting left aside just this once – but not for long. The Trinitarian Congregational Church fair is coming up Saturday, June 28, and work is afoot in the homes of Castine – getting ready.

At the house across the street from the library, tote bags with sturdy straps and many pockets, sewn of batik print cotton fabric in beautiful colors, were being manufactured in the living room. And in an upstairs bedroom of the same house, pieces for applique wall hanging kits were being assembled before being “farmed out” to willing seamstresses to construct. The tote bags and the wall hangings will be among the many items available at the church fair.

I saw these lovely items after I was asked to step across the street to take a look at a vintage crocheted tablecloth that had damaged areas its owner wanted to repair. We determined that it was a pineapple pattern done in squares crocheted together and that most of the damage could be repaired with a few chain stitches. We thought the worst patch of damage would require needle and thread to stabilize the frayed ends before reattaching that section to the body of the tablecloth.

The teenager who attended the knitting group meeting with her mom was knitting a square in a chunky yarn of many bright colors. A home-schooled student, she also is interested in making dolls. She was quite taken with the sawdust-filled doll, made in primitive mode, I brought for show and tell. I feel certain this young lady soon will make a doll of her own. Maybe she will make one to donate to the church fair.

Another woman at the meeting reported that her shawl ministry knitting group has made, blessed and bestowed more than 300 shawls since the group began its knitting mission four years ago.

And suddenly, it was noon. We had talked knitting and stitching for nearly two hours. Sure, we all had other things we needed to do. But for that morning, anyway, our lives were in stitches and that was just fine with everyone.

Snippets

Henry the cat, owned by fiber artist Anita McCormick of Bangor, is a fiber artist, too. He creates his one-of-a-kind wall hangings by sharpening his claws on the carpeting squares McCormick hangs on the wall of her home for him. Examples of Henry’s work, along with that of McCormick, are on display through the summer months in the reading room of the Bangor Public Library. Henry’s work has been displayed at home for several years, but this is his first public exhibit.

The winners of the viewer’s choice voting at the Bears Paws and Orono Quilters show held April 25-26 in Orono are Mary Lou Drake for her There was a Crooked House quilt, first place; Pat Cody, One Cat, second place; and Jean Campbell, Vern’s Garden Party, third place.

Antique textile preservation will be the topic from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, May 30, at the Page Farm and Home Museum, University of Maine. The talk is free and part of the museum’s brown bag lunch series. Susan Smith, registrar at the museum, will talk about environment, light, temperature, humidity, cleaning, handling, display, storage of textiles and when to consult a textile conservator.

Dana Lippitt, curator of the Bangor Museum and History Center, will give a demonstration on how to make padded hangers used for displaying antique textiles.

For more information, call the museum at 581-4100.

ahamlin@bangordailynews.net

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