'tis the season

With the summertime romping in full swing, there's a steady stream of options of good places to be and good folks to hang with. When I toss an extra 15 hours or more of work into the mix for the week, it keeps me on my toes during those hours and spills over into the weekend for some catch-up scrambling, especially when the calendar offers plans from morning to night. Still, I wouldn't have it any other way.

After spending much of Friday in a client's office, then doing some of my regular work at home, and then spending a while talking to a potential new client (who is now a definite new client -- yeah!), Leah and I headed out for a knit night at Creative Fibers. We only make it there on occasion, but this was the last such gathering until fall and there are four other knitters working on the same sweater as Leah, the February Lady Sweater, so we definitely wanted to see them.

A portion of the crew in a surprisingly serious-appearing moment in between laughing, cheering, drooling over pretties, and feasting on berry tart and other goodies.

Our friend, Allison, borrowed one of our drop spindles. Under Karen's guidance, she had a practice run of spinning scrap fiber into the yarny equivalent of cat puke, as with all new drop spindlers. She was originally reluctant to take up the spindle, but she received some roving as a gift and figured she might as well try, with the caveat that Leah or any number of other spinners would be willing to spin her roving into yarn if she wanted them to. You see her concentration and determination in photo 1 above? It paid off! By the end of the evening, she was getting the hang of it and her yarn was getting thinner and more consistent. She began pre-drafting her gift roving and went home with the spindle, ready to make yarn! Allison is a new doctor who recently relocated to CT from a warmer place and is psyched about all the knitterly things she can make for winters here.

I spent much of yesterday rushing to catch up on work for pay and work around the house while Scott was out helping a friend with a heavy project and then getting a little fishing in. Even though it was muggy out, Leah was willing to model her newest FO, a neckwarmer in the My So Called Scarf stitch pattern, using Manos del Uruguay yarn and glass buttons made by her dad. We think it comes in handy for knitters to have a resident bead- and button-maker!

Out to see a performance with friends in the afternoon. We know a few people who were involved in this play and have enjoyed their performances immensely in the past, and the productions are growing in every way with each passing year. The shows happen on the lovely property of some of the most gracious hosts I've ever met, a homeschooling family who seems to pull off with ease (with the help of many friends) coordinating a play with 60+ children in it and having a couple hundred guests roaming the property for the party afterwards. Between the fantastic play, the potluck feast, the friendly folks, and the chickens and sheep to visit, it couldn't have been a more pleasant afternoon. Before and during the show, I worked a bit on my current Undulating Waves scarf, in Alpaca Sox yarn from Creative Fibers.

They do a raffle fundraiser to help with the costs associated with putting on this event, so we donated a bracelet made w/ Scott's beads, two handknit hats, and a handknit baby sweater. It was fun to chat with the enthusiastic and appreciative people who won them! Leah won something in the raffle too, so smiles all around.

We had another stop to make and, by the time we got home, at almost 10:00 p.m., having been on the go since 4:00 a.m. (Note to our feathered friends: we share your enthusiasm for these long summer days, but if you could hold off on the joyful songfest for another hour or so in the morning, we would very much appreciate it. Thankyouverymuch.), we realized that we totally forgot about a beach party at a friend's lakeside house, planned for the same evening -- yikes! We hadn't made firm plans with them, so that's why it wasn't on the calendar and slipped our minds, but drat. Will get in touch with them later today to reschedule. But first, there are friends to pick up for the day, a farmer's market festival to enjoy, a cookout in the works, and a certain somebody wants me to help her make some sort of decorative clasp with lampwork beads to hold her silk scarf-as-belt in place.