Wick (Thos McKay): Weeks 21-24 – 25 November

Well, here we are again. I’ve returned to the cool damp climes of Britain, and apologise for the long break in entries, time slips away quickly when on holiday.  

Now where were we . . . Ah yes, Woodstock. After Woodstock, I travelled east to Massachusetts to visit new acquaintances. We drove around central Massachusetts searching for elusive autumn colour one day. The colour wasn’t spectacular this year, but even without flaming red maples, there were muted tones of yellow, gold, and maroon. Another day, we went to the local spinning group, where we knit while the rest span on everything from drop spindles to tiny portable electric wheels.

The visit after this was to two friends in Connecticut, both of whom I met through another hobby, bamboo pipes. We took advantage of the sunny weather and picked apples at a nearby orchard. On another day, we played Christmas music on our pipes with one friend’s small, dedicated group of pipers. Over the dinner table, there were long, stimulating conversations.  And if we weren’t doing piping or chatting, I was showing my friend how to use her first smartphone.

From central Connecticut, I travelled north into Vermont to visit another friend. We knitted and chatted as we watched old movies. Given that it was election season, we watched the movie ‘Dave’ one evening. The next evening, we watched two classic Frank Capra movies from the 1930s – ‘You Can’t Take It With You’ and ‘It Happened One Night’. It was a quiet visit; as well as knitting, I spent copious amounts of time working on an overdue newsletter. We went on an outing was to visit the longest covered bridge in Vermont. We drove over and back, then strolled down to the riverside to have a look. We also had a drive-by look at Rudyard Kipling’s house, Nilaqua.

The final visit was to long-time friend in western Massachusetts. She had just returned from a month-long trip to Norway, cruising the Arctic Circle on an artists’ residency. Highlights included seeing walruses and glaciers but alas no polar bears. During my visit, we drove to various viewpoints to see the scenery – there’s a lot of it about in western Massachusetts – and hiked up one hill to the viewing tower at the top. We also took in fabric and yarn shops, and one store that sold all things maple.  One evening, we attended the local light opera company’s production of The Mikado, with a twist – it was set in Scotland, and re-titled ‘The McAdo’.

Finally, the last stop was in Cape Cod for a few days before getting the bus to the airport. The flight was slightly bumpy but uneventful. I had hoped to get lots of knitting done, but because it was a night flight the cabin lights were dimmed too much to knit.

I have made erratic but steady progress on the gansey. The first sleeve is finished, and I’ve just started the cuff on the second sleeve. The first sleeve doesn’t exactly match the first. There was a miscount of stitches on the first sleeve, and I tried to match that number on the second. This means that the decreases have variable numbers of rows between them. But once it’s blocked, I am hoping it won’t be obvious.