This past weekend, I went to my grandniece’s baptism. How lovely it was to be able to be a part of family gatherings once again! Of course, whenever family gets together, there is lots of chatter. My grandniece does not like to be placed on her stomach as she really suffered from colic when she was a wee one. After my niece tried a number of more modern “remedies” to relieve the colic, she turned to her mom’s recommendation of gripe water, which has been around for more than 150 years. Lo and behold – this tried and true remedy worked and parents and baby were able to get a more peaceful night’s sleep.
This morning, I read a Facebook post from Maggie’s Inn about what a bountiful harvest of apples her heritage apple tree was giving her this year. She credits not only the plentiful rain we’ve had this summer but also the nutrition, most specifically potassium, that the ashes from her woodstove provided.
There is absolutely no denying that we have benefited from modern advances such as vaccines for polio, smallpox, measles and most recently Covid. Improvements in insulation techniques make our homes so much warmer in the winter months. But there are some real benefits to be found in some of the “old” ways, too! Things like companion planting (of course I’m talking about gardening with plants, not placing your best buddy in your garden), composting and canning are all trending topics that harken back to things your grandmother and great-grandmother used to do!
It’s so very important to pass on these old skills. I wish that I had paid more attention when my mom and grandmother were preserving their veggies and making jams and jellies. My one attempt at canning tomatoes ended up with a kitchen that looked like the scene of a massacre when the lids all blew off the tomato sauce! But I have hope – just a moment ago, a young girl came into the studio with her mom. They are both knitters visiting from New Brunswick and are going to be trying their first pair of socks! They were nervous about turning a heel so I suggested they check out my YouTube channel – I have already uploaded a video on how to knit a short-row heel and will be creating a video on knitting a flap heel in the very near future.
I was lucky, though, to have spent time with my grandmother while she taught me to knit and tat. I still use her tatting shuttle to this day! There is absolutely nothing like the coziness of a wool blanket or sweater or socks. And to be able to pass on the knowledge of how to make these for yourself just makes my heart sing!
(photo by Andrew Montgomery)
I always say that knitting isn’t hard to do – you just need to learn the little tricks. Some folks are great book-learners. Others rely on YouTube. Still others find that a personal lesson is just the key they need to unlock the secrets of learning a new knitting technique. If you belong to the latter group, we are happy to offer workshops for a variety of levels of knitters – from the absolute novice to the more experienced knitter.
It’s never too late to take up a new hobby or to revisit one that you may have set aside for a while. I recently picked up my guitar again after having taken a “sabbatical” for a while. I discovered that I have no calluses left on my chording hand, and my fingers couldn’t remember a lot of the picking patterns. After a hour or so, however, the muscle memory kicked in (and my fingers were pretty sore).
Happy knitting!
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