Lydia Likes It

Loopy Mango, the world's puffiest yarn

Nothing is more satisfying than knitting a super-warm, super-puffy scarf, and donating it to a shelter or to someone who is living outdoors in the winter. This season I've been having fun with a new-to-me yarn called Loopy Mango and a circular size 17 knitting needle. Loopy Mango makes cotton yarn in bulky weights and soothing colors, and wool yarn in bulky and super-bulky weights in two dozen colors from hot to cool. I'm partial to Merino No. 5, super-bulky weight wool. Three skeins make a long scarf, with only 5-6 hours of work. The "pattern" I use is quick and easy: cast on 16 stitches, K every row, cast off. If you're in the Boston area, check out Gather Here in Inman Square, Cambridge, where I buy my yarn, and watch for my scarf bombing on Boston Common. Shop online, if you're not in Boston: https://loopymango.com/collections/merino-no-5-diy.

Make photo books for holiday gifts

What's more fun than a book of photos, especially photos of your family, friends, travels, occasions and celebrations? Photo books make wonderful holiday gifts, and thanks to easy technology, anyone can make a book -- softcover or hardcover -- from photos on your phone or computer. I've done at least a dozen books over the past few years: my grandson's fifth birthday adventure in pizza-making at our local pizzeria; our log house in the Rhode Island woods, indoors and outside; a day of fun and rides at the local county fair; a collection of photo greetings for my husband's 75th birthday. My favorite app is Motif, which works seamlessly and easily with Apple products. Others I've researched, but haven't tried, include Chatbooks, which works with your phone; Shutterfly, which has many style options along with designer help; and Mixbook, which features lots of layouts. You can add text and photo captions to your book, which makes each creation one of a kind. The perfect holiday gift, don't you think? (I posted about this in the Spring, but now seems like a good time to get going on a new project!)

Scarf bombing

Do you live near a great fence? Is that fence in a park, or in front of a community center or shelter or food pantry? Is there a fence around your house of worship? Now that it's officially Fall, it's time to plan some scarf bombing. Ten years ago, scarves appeared around the necks of famous statues in Ottawa, Canada, on a chilly January day. Each scarf was tagged with a note that read: “I am not lost! If you are stuck out in the cold, take this scarf to keep warm.” It was later revealed that some university students were behind the good deed. The incident went viral, and is part of a movement now known as “scarf bombing” — leaving handmade scarves in public places to warm people up during the winter months. The scarves are typically tied around fences, benches and railings, and are especially intended to support those experiencing homelessness. In downtown Boston, where I live, there are areas in Boston Common where homeless men and woman congregate, but also where lots of tourists and students walk by. I'm going to start making scarves (they might be knit or crocheted, or cut from fleece) and tying them on fences near me. If you'd like to join me, please let me know.

What Makes It Great?

Ted and I first encountered Rob Kapilow's What Makes It Great?® programs through the B.U. Celebrity Series of Boston. If you love music, and if you love learning more about some of your favorite pieces of music, going to one of Rob's presentations will blow your eyes and your mind wide open. We've seen him twice, with A Far Cry, which is one of our favorite chamber music ensembles in the Boston area. The first performance we saw was Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, a piece I have loved for many years. In the 2024/2025 season, we're booked to see Rob take on Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, and a medley of Simon & Garfunkel songs. "During each What Makes It Great?® program," Rob says, "we take a piece of great music, tear it apart, and put it back together again. We rewrite it, sing it, tap it, clap it: in short, we do everything in our power to get inside to see what makes it tick and what makes it great. Then on the second half of the program we hear the piece performed in its entirety—hopefully with a new pair of ears. If my art history class was about the difference between looking and seeing, What Makes It Great?® is about the difference between hearing and listening." Keep an eye out for What Makes It Great?® in your part of the world.

A perfect graduation, or birthday, or anniversary present

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a book of pictures could be worth, well, millions. With Motif, a free app for Macs, iPhones or tablets, you can design books (hardcover or softcover) or calendars that feature your favorite photos of your favorite graduate, or birthday celebrant, or anniversary couple. No experience necessary; the app does all the work and provides prompts when it needs you to upload photos or, if you wish, add captions or other text. I've used Motif to make books for one of Ted's "big" birthdays and our grandson's adventure in pizza making when he turned 5 (he's 20 now), a charitable event and a day at the regional fair, and to celebrate our log house in the wilds of Rhode Island. Print one copy, or ten, or as many as you'd like. Save the file on your computer, and reorder when you need more.