I hated to leave...

The last few years I stayed on Nantucket through Thanksgiving. I love it when the crowds leave and the island quiets down.

It's nice being back in Maryland and still see fall leaves on the trees. Now I need to get ready to teach a basket class in a few weeks. Then I plan to dress the loom for an overshot project.

While on Nantucket I did manage to knit a couple of chemotherapy caps to be donated at our November guild meeting. I also made some bracelets from small scraps of antique ivory and parachute cord. They are comfortable to wear and the paracord is very durable. For closures I use either a bead or a toggle made out of scrap whale bone.
I'm having fun learning new knots from Ashley's Book of Knots. It was first published in 1944 and documents over 3,800 knots. It's certainly not the easiest book to learn how to tie knots from. You can now get new reprints of the book but comparing the new with the old, the older version is much better. The print and pictures are much more clear and crisp in the original version of the book. Other knotting books I like are The Arts of the Sailor and The Marlinspike Sailor.

I made some of these little guys. The one on the left has a lanyard knot and a 4 strand square sinnet. On the right is a lanyard knot and king cobra stitch.
Cleaning up the yard before leaving I snipped off all the blooms from the hydrangea bushes and tree. Piled up they were so beautiful I had to snap a picture.
This came from our hydrangea tree. The blooms are large and plentiful.
I really enjoyed scalloping and digging for clams this year. Nantucket Bay scallops are different from any other type of scallop. They are smaller (half the size of sea scallops) and more tender and sweet.Shucking (opening) scallops is hard work but well worth the effort.
Nantucketers call hard-shelled clams quahogs (CO-hogs) but they can be subdivided by size. The smallest, little necks, are ~ 1-inch thick. The largest, chowders or quahogs, are 3 or more inches in diameter and cherrystones are in between.
Steamers ~ Soft-Shell Clams ~ Long Necks must be dug by hand at low tide. A short handled "fork" with long, thin tines is used to excavate them. The thin shells are very delicate.
I froze a lot of the meat and will be enjoying it over the winter. Yummy!