since we were last together....

 I admit.... I shuddered when I saw the last blog post was July. sigh. no going back, no excuses, so just some catch-up. The endless warmth of summer carried over into fall and it took me forever to get my knitting mojo back. The Finger Lakes Fiber Festival was another wonderful event. It keeps getting better each year, and it is completely because of the volunteers who dedicate so much time and talent. The guild display was the Noro-shawl knit along. A wall full of stunning creations that festival attendees could vote for their favorite. There always is a run-away winner and this year is was amythefibergoddess. I will admit (and it's no secret) that she put a lot of thought into this project and is often the case, dragged me along! We spun the Hemlock Reserve in polworth silk for our main color and she dyed complimentary colors to match. she chose the oranger shades and I went with the greens. The top four winners were announced at the most recent guild meeting and prizes awarded. I came in a distant second to amy, but was thrilled to be in such great company!

 We made the annual trek to Rhinebeck, this year with two newbies. It was an absolute delight to travel and spend the weekend with fiber-pals. I found some great treasures-yarn from ITW (which I've never used) and their stunning roving.

We squeezed some fun during those last fall days, spending the afternoon on the Medina railroad for their wine train.

we visited the train museum and stopped at Spring lake winery on the return trip for dinner and a tasting. lots of knitting time on the train when I wasn't enjoying the stunning scenery. I still haven't finished that shawl because we've been busy with this.....

poor Etta started limping around Halloween. Wasn't sure what it was, but suspected a torn CL. The vet confirmed my suspicions and surgery was scheduled. Then she had a vicious reaction to the meds resulting in delaying the procedure. When she finally had it done, we found out that the injury was worse than we had expected with quite a bit of arthritis already in the joint. We obeyed the strict cage restrictions for two week post-op and are half-way through the extremely limited activity. Soon she can start building up that leg muscle with walks. So, our pup in training....

has been at the region coordinators. being back to two canines has been an interesting adjustment. I keep looking for miss sunbeam. The good news for fiber is that I've been knitting like a lunatic. Forced crate rest = cage sitting!

amy got me started on these 'Jolly Old Elves' and they have become my potato chips. more? you bet

I've got two more small ones in the works and then it may have run the course. Now that the holidays are here, floor space is at a premium so I've been trying to empty my looms. I completed the cotton dish towels and almost finished this scarf....

and ran out of yarn. I'm optimistic that stone edge fibers may have the other skein that I need. 

That brings me up to date so I'll try to stay there!