Every year when it comes time to trim my Christmas tree, I look forward to choosing the ornaments I want to hang. Everything in the box is familiar; some of the ornaments date to my childhood, such as the white plastic reindeer with the broken leg, a green ribbon tied around its neck; and the […]
Many times in the course of the 10 years I have written the By Hand column readers have emailed asking for suggestions on how to dispose of a loved one’s collection of vintage books, magazines and booklets pertaining to needlework, and stashes of yarn and the tools of needlework such as knitting needles and crochet […]
Christine Macchi, executive director of Maine Fiberarts in Topsham, provided the following information about a new show opening at the Maine Fiberarts Gallery: Bold and painterly quilted wall assemblages by artists Dr. Donald Talbot of Lisbon Falls and Beatrice Gilbert of North Yarmouth are on display through Tuesday, Dec. 31, at Maine Fiberarts’ Gallery, 13 […]
The spirit of Penobscot basketmaking works through Pam Cunningham’s hands. It’s there when, sitting in the comfort of her kitchen in Hampden, she splits the brown ash into long strips, there when she uses handmade gauges to cut the strips into specific widths ranging from ⅟16- to 1-inch widths, and there when she tells stories […]
NEWBURGH, Maine — When Sue Hopkins of Newburgh retired last April from her job as secretary in the Hampden Academy guidance office, she had no problem figuring out what she wanted to do next. She wanted to sew. At her retirement party at the school, her colleagues, knowing of her love of sewing, showered her […]
Here it is — the first day of November. Even though Halloween in barely over and Thanksgiving is on the horizon, there is still the time to get a grip on the things you want to knit, crochet and craft as holiday gifts. To aid that endeavor, here are four books containing lots of ideas, […]
Norm Stern, 89, of Hampden received from his wife, Marie, a gift on his 75th birthday that has never left him since. Her gift was 10 painting lessons from an artist in Baltimore, where they lived at the time. “I had never painted before, I never drew anything. I still don’t draw,” he said. Stern, […]
Those will to go a few extra miles in pursuit of all this fiber may want to put the fourth annual Fiber Festival of New England in West Springfield, Mass., on the radar. Eastern States Exposition and the New England Sheep and Wool Growers Association will co-produce the event taking place 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. […]
At this time of year the urge to start more needlework projects than I can possibly keep up with always coincides with the waning light. I think it has something to do with the instinct to den up for the winter. The advent of gift-giving season is on the horizon and the urge pad my […]
There is no doubt in my mind that real men do not use to beer can koozies, at least not in public. However, some men may in the privacy of their own man caves want to protect from can sweat certain of their prized possessions, such as the green felt surface of the pool table […]
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