Isles of Shoals

Star Island is just one of the Isles of Shoals, near Portsmouth, NH, USA.

I want to share a few tidbits about some of the other islands in the group. After this post, I promise to move on to other topics!


Celia Thaxter was a famous Shoaler in the 1800's. She was a writer, poet and painter who spent many years on Appledore Island.

John Appleton Brown painted this view from her front porch on Appledore Island.


Celia Thaxter's house and gardens were between the windmill and the grey house on Appledore Island today.

Volunteers recreate the gardens each year. Shoals Marine Laboratory, operated by Cornell University and the University of New Hampshire sponsors garden tours through Portsmouth Harbor Cruises.


We sailed on the MV Thomas Laighton, named after Celia Thaxter's father who was an innkeeper on the Isles of Shoals. The Isles of Shoals Steamship Company operates this boat - which I like because it's big - so I'm less likely to get seasick. (I always take bonine or dramamine too - I'm definitely prone to seasickness!)

As the ship left Gosport Harbor, it passed in front of several privately owned homes on Appledore Island.

The Smuttynose Rangers visit Smuttynose Island each summer to maintain the trails on the island. Smuttynose, named for a black rock at the end of the island, was home to fishermen and their families.

A murder in March 1863 was was dramatized in a book and movie.

Plus, Smuttynose Beer is a local favorite.

White Island (with the lighthouse) and neighboring Seavey Island as seen from Star Island.

White Island Light

Seavey Island is home to the Tern Restoration Project, where the NH Fish & Game, NH Audubon and other groups are restoring the breeding population of arctic, common and roseate terns in NH.

Winter ice lasted longer than usual to the north of us, so more birds are nesting on Seavey Island than in years past. Recent counts estimate 2400 nesting pairs of terns.

In June, the colony was almost abandoned due to an immature snowy owl on the island. The owl was captured and relocated to northern NH so the terns would have a chance to nest.



Heading back toward Portsmouth, Mt. Agamenticus is a prominent landmark. It's a small mountain, but it has been used by sailor's as a landmark for finding Portsmouth Harbor for many years.

Smooth Sailing!

Our trip to Star Island was wonderful...but being back on the mainland is wonderful too!

Related posts:
Cruising Portsmouth Harbor
Star Island

Portsmouth Harbor (NH)

On our trip to Star Island, we left from Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire, USA.

Overhead onboard: "Portsmouth really looks a lot like Portsmouth, England."

We cruised down the Piscataqua River, which divides New Hampshire from Maine. The Piscataqua has very fast current and is an important harbor because it does not freeze.

Tugboats and Ceres St Shops & Restaurants

Here's a map of the route that we followed leaving the harbor.

View Portsmouth Harbor Cruise in a larger map



Tugboats

Prescott Park

Several historic buildings in Prescott Park were originally used for ship building.

Strawbery Banke, a great museum, is right across the street.

This summer, Grease is performed outdoors on the blue stage as part of the Prescott Park Arts Festival. (There are lots of other musical performances too!)

Commercial Fishing Pier

Naval Prison

The naval prison hasn't been used since the 1940's, but there are tons of rumors and stories that swirl about this building. During the real estate boom, plans were made to renovate the prison and turn it into offices. Maybe during the next boom!

Fort McClary

Fort Constitution

Closer look at Fort Constitution

Wood Island Life Saving Station

Whaleback Lighthouse

The two lighthouses mark the edge of the harbor. Now we're in the open ocean headed directly toward Star Island or beyond!

Related Posts:
Star Island
Isles of Shoals

Wishing on a Star

Star Island, that is.





7 miles out to sea from Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire.

Through the turnstile to the undeveloped side of the island.

We almost stepped on this gull with her chicks.

Baby gulls grow quickly!

A world away.

The Art Barn

Evidence of Fiber Arts

What could be better than knitting on this great front porch?




Even on our day trip to the island, we felt ourselves slip into an island frame of mind.

Related Posts:
Isles of Shoals
Cruising Portsmouth Harbor

The Haul

I know I told you my purchasing theme at NEWS was gadgets. The gadgets stuck in my mind more than the yarn I guess....because there is substantial yarn!


So far, my favorite purchase is from ProChem. Their booth in the vendor area had displays of the various colorways of their Rainbow Gradation Dyeing Kit. The one I selected, Earthy Blend, is on the yarn and the long swatch of cotton fabric on the left in the photo.


With this kit, even an inexperienced dyer like me can get 30 1/2 oz skeins of yarn dyed in this rainbow of colors.

I hope I don't go mad winding the skeins!

One of the projects I really want to sink my teeth into is weaving some throws for my chilly house. I want 2 each for the living room, sunroom and porch. So far I haven't found yarn that matches the fabrics in those rooms. Dyeing could solve that problem for me.

A great thing about Pro Chem is that if I mail them swatches or paint chips of the colors I want to create, they'll give me the info I need to get very close to those colors with their dyes. They assured me that if I can follow instructions, I can successfully dye yarn.


While I was poking around the ProChem booth I also found this tiny scale. It weighs up to a pound. It will be useful for small amounts of dye or yarn.

I actually have a nutritional reason for wanting to weigh small amounts of food.....so I'll probably use it mostly for that. I love that it can sit unobtrusively on the table. My current kitchen scale is giant!


I finally have my very own McMorran Yarn Balance!!! I've wanted one for the longest time.

You know that I constantly purchase mystery yarn. This will help me figure out yards per pound, and by weighing the yarn I can figure out how much yarn I have. Plus the balance is like magic when you see it in use.

I always imagined that they were giant....but it's really about 6 inches tall. They're available in English or metric units.


I also snagged this magnifier directly from a weaver in the Halcyon booth. I wanted it for my fabric analysis class.

It's cool because it folds up so the lens is protected, but it can also sit on your fabric and help you count picks. I count picks more than I want to sometimes!


Here are the gadgets....there are some arrow pegs for my Toika and a pamphlet of yarn requirements for knitting so that I can more accurately judge how much I need when I'm impulsively yarn shopping.


On to the yarn.....

These two big cones are cotton. I'm splitting them with a friend - so I'll take them to visit one of my weaving friends who has a cone winder to I can divide them in half.

They'd actually be excellent colors to use together for shadow weave!


Rounding out the weaving yarns, I added 5 cones of rayon....in an odd assortment of colors I'll admit.

Plus two small cones of blue cotton. Price in the WEBS warehouse were really good. I couldn't pass up these yarns.


I showed you these two red yarns for projects for my nieces. The alpaca on the left is for a scarf for my niece, and the red yarn is for my second knitted lobster. I was a little bit frugal because both of these yarns were discounted in the warehouse also.

Lobster status report: 3 weeks left to finish both lobsters, and I'm working on the second claw of lobster 1.


Halcyon Yarn had free shipping on anything ordered at the conference. I wish I'd known ahead of time because I would have arrived armed with a list!! I did place a small order with them also - so some quills should find their way to my house soon!

Yes, I see now why it was hard to squeeze our luggage and third carpooler into the car on the way home!! (I wasn't the only shopper involved either!)

Shadow Weave

Now we don't have to wonder what project I'll do next!


One of our guild members wasn't able to attend NEWS at the last minute for health reasons. I want to send her a card.

She does a lot of incredible work with shadow weave, so I decided to try my very first bit of shadow weave.


Using some tricks I learned in my computer design class, and some paper weaving supplies from class on Sunday, I got set to weave a small portion of a shadow weave design in paper.

Using the article "Six Unique Towels in Shadow Weave" by Vicki Tardy in Handwoven Nov/Dec 2007 pg. 44-48, I chose a tiny bit of the draft for towel 3.

I glued the tops of the warp paper to the backing, and wove my very first shadow weave!


Oddly enough, in person I couldn't see the diamond pattern unless I was standing across the room from the piece. Up close it just looks like woven paper - the diamond doesn't show up.


It's kind of big for a card....but I'm still going to pack it up and hope it doesn't get too bent out of shape in mailing!!