halloween eve

tomorrow we're off to the fiber fest of new england and i had one thing left to finish.
the sample sock of longmeadow farms 'sock-it-to-me' yarn. sandy mailed this to me earlier in the week and i've been knitting away. i found a cute ravelry pattern for a youth sock ( even i knew that i couldn't crank out an adult sock) with some patterning and straight stockinette. such a good friend, she made sure the colorway would be one i loved ( i did, i really did). i was ready to finish the toe just as the trick-or-treaters arrived.....

not a one commented on my stitching.... it was all about the candy. and the pumpkins!

baby gift done

ever since i first saw the 'dream in color' tulip baby sweater, i knew i had to make one. several years ago, i purchased the pattern in a kit. it has sat in my basket waiting. the colors in the kit are blues and greens... with the tag of "water". i mainly got it for the pattern, so i've been slowly collecting the dream in color yarn. the recipe calls for 8 different colors,  and with a price tag of $20/skein, i do mean slowly.
i have another family member expecting a babe this winter, so i seized the opportunity to finally knit this.

the pattern is simple, the yarn is delightful. the biggest challenge is carting around all those hanks of yarn and keeping them in the correct order. this morning i wove in all the ends and blocked it....

how dear is that???? after careful thought, i chose to make this in the 12-18 month size. fresh little ones really don't need a hand knit sweater and how cute will this be with a pair of jeans! knit in just over a week, i may have to make some more to have on hand. i can mix the colors up and add in some new ones and i've got tons of yarn left.

rhinebeck 2013

after trudging through the crowds last year, i proclaimed that i was not going to go to rhinebeck this year. the festival was crowded, overwhelming and exhausting.
well, i'm glad i didn't follow my own decree! one afternoon when i was helping amythefibergoddess with her dyeing, she asked if i had thought about going to rhinebeck this year. it had floated across my mind, but i let it go. we looked at each other and agreed to give it a go. maybe. lots of life things had to come together to make it happen, so i wasn't sure we were going until i was sitting in the car!

we took her car and i was able to get a great start on my newest project. i'm finally knitting a tulip sweater as a shower gift. the drive down was lovely, the leaves were in full autumn. i was grateful that we took amy's suv, we were already filling it up after a stop at the vera outlet!

as we made our way to the festival we worked out our plan of attack! stick together, buy it if you want it, follow the plan. it worked like a charm! we hit the first buildings (that usually are the busiest) as soon as it opened. we wandered through the fleeces, visited more vendors..... i was in heaven!

i had a pick-up to make for sandy ( yarn bowls for her booth at new england ) so i had a lovely visit with sue and picked out pottery. the day got very warm, but the crowds seemed manageable. as we made our way into the sheep barn, we found more fiber friends. holly was working at a sheep display and soon introduced us to martin and joy from shepherds lane farm before i knew it, i was out in the vendor parking area meeting four lovely gotland ewes and buying fleeces....

we touched, fondled, oooohhh and aaahhhed...... we were like addicts making a score! we left with four fleeces and lots of great information.we closed the festival and finally were on our way home at 5:30. i now have lots of spinning and knitting projects to keep me busy.

finishing up

the vest is finally dry from blocking. it seemed that all the damp, cool, cloudy days started as soon as i wet that sucker! i carefully seemed the sides, and bound-off the shoulders.

i have no idea what came over me, but i decided that i would have the future owner try it on to make sure it fit BEFORE i secured the seems and added the finishing stitches. it fit. now i just need lots of good light to put this project in the done pile.
it's been difficult to stay focused on the vest as i was working on this.....

i wanted a fall scarf/wrap and as hard as it is to believe...... i didn't have anything in autumn colors. this is lovely malabrigo worsted that i got forever ago and had the good sense to buy two hanks. i used them both, making this about 6 ft long and 1 foot wide. it was super fun to knit and i want to do another in lighter weight yarn.
i've a new project on the horizon that is going to need to be finished in a timely fashion. as soon as i've got it sorted out, i'll post.

knitting catch-up

way back when, so far ago that i can't actually remember the date, i started another vest. i bought the yarn, found a pattern,  even had a chunk of it knitted. it must have gotten warmer (no need to keep knitting on a wool vest) or an emergency knitting project came along (birthday shawl and then sample knitting ( right lines ) so as i was do some fall cleaning, guess what i found.

it didn't take long to finish the back, and i was so inspired that i even tweaked the cable on the front. it just needs to be stitched together, toss some edging on the neck and arms...... just in time for the cool weather.

just a ride

i have always loved bike riding. the freedom of hopping on and being able to go..... fast or slow it didn't matter. we bought really nice bikes ages ago and found that it was something we loved to do as a couple. even when the kids came along, we got the seats to have them with us. but it became less fun as we worried about getting hit on the road or finding the time to travel to a bike path to ride in safety. it seemed that the bikes just spent most of their time hanging in the garage. until this year....

my cousin was here for a visit and needed a place to go running. i had heard about this great new pathway in the community, but hadn't gotten there. she enjoyed it and raved that it was one of the nicer path's she had been on. after giving it a go, i realized what a gift was in my back yard! ( really it's just about a quarter of a mile away, but close enough :)
the  manchester gateway trail has become my almost daily obsession.

i've seen all sorts of creatures, and can usually find the perfect time of day to travel the 3 miles alone.

sometimes....... i even take the herd with me ;)

Finger Lakes Fiber Festival - 2013

i'm not sure that i have completely recovered from the festival. i have so many words to describe the event and i really just want to get to see it all again.
set-up began on friday afternoon. it was a hot, sunny day and it would just figure that it was the last nice day of the season! my car was full, i didn't forget a thing. we were able to get the signs all up and guild display organized in good time.
saturday dawned warm, but with clouds threatening. sure enough, rain started falling by late morning and the temps plummeted. even with that weather, over 1000 hearty fiber folk made their way to visit us. my job has become the parking gate person. i have been blessed to work with the most amazing volunteers and this year was no exception. these folks stood in the pouring rain and happily greeted each car. i met the crazy sheep lady  in the flesh. i've been following her blog for quite a while, and i know i made a fool of myself trying to make the connection.... in the rain.... in the parking lot. she has posted some great photo's on her blog ( hint- go take a look).
on a quick break, i made my way to see that amythefibergoddess was doing really well and longmeadow farms was staying dry. lots of beautiful stuff in each booth, and by the end of the festival they were pretty empty!

so, the guild display~ one of the nicest ever.

last years 'viewers choice' winners were prominently displayed....

there were 19 bags on display for festival goers to choose their favorite....

since the festival falls on -world wide spin in public day' we even had an area set up for folks to 'give it a whirl :)....

there are lots of votes for me to sort through, i'll get to it soon.

by sunday the rain had stopped, and little bits of sun shone down... but we were wading in mud...

i'm happy to say, with a bit a quick thinking we kept the cars from getting stuck. it made for longer walks for our patrons, but they could easily get out. the yarn  harlot was on the grounds sunday for her lecture and to shop. i didn't get a chance to meet her, but we could hear the laughter of the crowd out in the field.
monday she provided a class on knitting for speed and i was beyond excited to finally get to meet her and be a student. she did not disappoint! i'm committed to learning a new skill and invest the time to make it work. i took pages and pages of notes.... and had a fantastic time.