Fall Has Arrived

Seems like fall has finally arrived. Morning temperatures are dipping and the leaves are changing colors and/or dropping.  The trees in the yard are beautiful. with very vivid colors this year. Must be caused by draught we had for much of the summer.

 Even the poison oak looks delightful with its deep red leaves. Guess what we will be doing tomorrow? 

It looks like it might be a cold winter though as all the bushes have big bright berries on them. Mother Nature is storing food for the birds and squirrels.

I did find one last geranium desperately holding on. 

Time to get going on hats, mittens and scarves!

Stash Enhancement

Just a peek at some of the recent stash enhancement following SAFF.

From:

Wolle’s Yarn Creations Color Changing Cotton - Summer Harvest

Shawl Pattern - Masrche Viete by Rachel Valente

Cozy Rabbit Farm - 100% Angora - Handpainted and Handspun  I forget the owner’s name but she lives in the same town that my husband’s parents are from.

McMatley Alpacas - 100% Alpaca - Fontine and Lucian and a blend of brown and beige fleeces. Just gotta love yarn named after the animal.  Great job, Ernie and Cliff

Stony Hill Fiber Arts - Organic Cotton and Bamboo and 100% Organic Island Cotton. Fingerless mitten pattern and cabled hat pattern.

Whirlwind Ranch - Classic Alpaca and Paca de Seda

From The Sassy Knitter - Baby Bunny

Now to find a place to put it all!

Mountain Getaway and SAFF

Spent a relaxing few days with friends in the North Carolina mountains before heading to SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair). The opportunity to relax and rest for even a day and a half was well needed. 

Shortly after I arrived to their house way up in the woods, we headed to town to meet with Lisa’s Knitting group. What an absolutely delightful group of women (Richard was absent). They were so welcoming and sharing. We spent time knitting, sharing ideas, patterns and projects. The group keeps picture albums of their completed projects. What fun to see how all the beautiful things they have knitted over the years. It was also interesting to see how each knitter put her own touch on the projects.

We left the group and headed to Lisa’s church. A quaint, little mountain church that was built from a Sears and Roebuck kit at the turn of the last century. I loved it!

We headed back to the house, enjoying the changing color of the leaves and the rarified mountain air. 

Jim met us with a scrumptious grilled chicken dinner. He even made twice baked potatoes with caramelized onions. What a treat!

I slept so well in the guest room that I want to go back soon. 

On Friday, we headed down to Black Mountain to the Yarn Shop. I now have another destination when we head to this area. The owner was warm and welcoming and invited us back soon. 

We, then, headed to SAFF. What an experience. Animals, fiber, yarn, food, friends and knitted wear galore!  We had a great time and I plan to go again next year. Maybe for more than one day!

I’ll show all my loot in a later blog.

Hats and Scarves

Went to Knitting Fest at our LYS on Saturday. It was a great Meet, Eat and Greet event where a dozen or so knitters got together to knit, exchange project ideas and ask for and get help on projects. What a lively group!

I am please to say I have converted at least one knitter to socks and we are working on the second. Mary Anne’s second pair of socks look like she has been knitting socks forever. The stripes even match!  Come on Irma, you can do it too!

While I was there, I started a Gamecock Hat on Cascade Yarns Baby Alpaca Chunky in garnet with black and white colorwork designs. I cheated a little by using a black and white marled yarn for the patterns. I am used Elizabeth Zimmerman’s pattern from The Knitting Workshop book. It is only my second attempt at knitting continental style with the left hand and English style with the right to keep the colors separate. Not too bad if I say so myself. I finished the hat when I got home as Tom was out of town camping with the scouts at a Diocesan Camporee.

I say my second attempt, because earlier in the week, I finished a gold and green hat using the same technique and same pattern in a worsted weight acrylic. Well, almost the same pattern. The gold and green hat followed the patterns in the book. On the Gamecock Hat I was doing the patterns from memory. 

I will be making more of these as this hat pattern is very easy. 

Now on to scarves. I received a text from our daughter who has moved to New York. She has put in a request (not a very subtle one) for warm scarves. Her color choices are black or gray. Not my favorite colors to knit, but she is our only daughter. ;~P

So, I headed to the stash and found a beautiful Cascade Yarns Baby Alpaca Chunky in the inspiring colorway of #600. It is a marled black and gray. Just what the biomedical engineer ordered. Sorry, no doctors in the family!

I have started the scarf. I am using the Super Yak Scarf pattern from One Skein Wonders - 101 Yarn Shop Favorites. It uses an unusual technique of a “make 7”. The scarf also has a ruffle on each end. I hope she will like it. It should be very warm as alpaca is so much warmer than wool. 

Maybe if I make her a few in black and/or gray, I can then ease her into more interesting colors. Who knows by summer she may be ready for  “Summer Flies” or “Baktus” or “Clapotis” in summer colors. 

We’ll see!

Lace Pottery

When I was at TKGA Knit and Crochet Show last month, I met artist, Maggie Weldon. Her pottery is beautiful.  She takes knitted, crocheted or tatted lace and impresses pottery with it. 

Maggie uses this as a way to save and/or share prized pieces of lace that have been handed down for generations or as a way to show off new designs. She makes new heirlooms each with a certificate of authenticity.

Many of her customers send her a lace piece that they found when going through their loved one's estate after they passed on. Everyone in the family wants the same piece of lace as a remembrance. 

Maggie takes the lace and makes trays, dishes, ornaments, bowls, etc. That way everyone in the family can enjoy the beautiful work and has an item that is very useful. 

Maggie also finds laces and makes unique designed pottery to show off the lace pattern. I was able to purchase a few from her.

Enjoy!

Temptations

The days are cooler. This should make me want to knit all the time gearing up for winter. However, it just makes me want to search patterns and start new things. There are so many new books and magazines tempting me. 

I am trying to be good and ignore start-itis. Get behind me, Satan!

The Log Cabin Garter Stitch Baby Blanket is getting close to completion.  I have to finish the two brown sections, then knit the two lavender sections and then I will knit an inch of blue border around the entire blanket. Should end up about 36 inches (91 cm) square. 

I finished one of the “He Who Must Not Be Named” sports weight socks (Lorna’s Laces Honor yarn) and have cast on the toe of the second sock. Should be finished by Halloween. The alpaca/silk yarn is so soft but so strong. Great combo!

One sock down! Bag is from Piddleloop.

Wonderful Wendy Johnson heel

I am working on a swatch in Araucania Yarns Tolhauca Multy. 

I would like this to be a cotton garter stitch sideways knit jacket. I am having some trouble getting the proper guage. It is knitting a much larger stitch gauge than suggested. I may have to just adjust the pattern. I really like the fabric using the size US 5 (3.75 mm). It almost looks woven. 

I am also using this cotton yarn to make the Noro Keyhole Scarf as part of the Quickie KAL  on Fibernymph’s Podcast. It is a great ribbed scarf. Loving it!

Writing about all these projects makes me want to grab my needles, so i will post this and give in to the temptation for a little while.