summer nights

Knitting yet another mindless sock while enjoying a performance of Much Ado About Nothing on a beautiful summer evening (even though it doesn't look so nice, thanks to the hazy iPhone shot from pulling the phone out of my warm pocket into the cool evening air). Three cheers for assorted knitting projects to fit all occasions and levels of concentration!

you just never know

You just never know where you're going to bump into a knitter or someone who is interested in knitting. I got a few rounds in on a sock while waiting for screening for a blood donation. When it was my turn for the million Red Cross questions, the phlebotomist was instead all about the knitting questions!

It ends up that she knows only the very basics, wants to learn much more. She asked about the circular needles I was using, what about the "little stick ones" (DPNs), how difficult it is to follow patterns, what age Leah was when she learned, etc. It was a totally fun discussion and could have gone on for much longer, but she was working and I was squeezing this appointment into a very full workday, so I referred her to Ravelry and knittinghelp.com, and continued on with an easy peasy donation.

You also just never know when a free concert is going to knock your socks off. Like last night's show, part of the summer concert series in my town, which was almost derailed by some seriously fierce weather. But then the skies cleared for a few evening hours, we set up our vendor booth, the people came out in droves as soon as the rain ended, and the band went on stage as planned. I wouldn't have known it from the name of the band, but it ended up being four of the original members of Santana, who played a killer show while we sold pizzas and cookies almost as fast as we could.

I have just another hour and a half of work to go and then we're outta here for a fun little farmers' market on what is probably one of the most sparkling days of the year. You just never know what good stuff is out there, waiting to happen. I can't wait to see what's next!

textile design workshop

Leah spent 3 days last week in a textile design for teens workshop. As expected, she was in her element! It was a small group with an enthusiastic and knowledgeable teacher who had plenty of ideas and was open to experimentation. The fabric samples Leah made included techniques such as tie dyeing, shibori, block printing, and screen printing.

Each participant also got to make a tote bag using their favorite techniques. Leah was pretty fond of the sponge blocks she cut for block printing.

They also painted silk scarves, which were wrapped, scrunched, and tied around PVC pipes.

Hard to believe there are only two dye colors in this scarf!

Snazzy jazzy socks

"Hey, I finished a pair of socks at the jazz festival! Gonna model 'em right here!"


"Mom, you're so embarrassing."

:-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

farmers' market party

The more we are vendors at farmers' markets, the more fun it is. You get to know the customers and the other vendors, enjoy the live music and free samples out in the fresh air and (hopefully) sunshine. Relationships form and it begins to feel like a weekly party that just happens to include lots of the freshest locally grown/made food around. Watermelon salsa? Divine! And raw, so it's coming to today's music festival with me, along with a big salad made from the most enormous head of buttercrunch lettuce! Yum yum yum!

At last Sunday's market, Scott was loving the classical guitar music and the volunteer who built a big wooden train, powered by his tractor-with-locomotive-engine-makeover, to give kids rides around the field. At Wednesday's concert/market, there was a classic car show and fabulous rockabilly music.

At yesterday's market, we got a visit from my mom, back home after a few months of enjoying retirement in Florida. A customer actually squealed upon seeing the return of Scott's yummy pepperoni bread and another happy customer clutched her large special order of chocolate chip muffins that were going to the freezer of her summer home on Cape Cod so she could enjoy them for the remainder of her summer there.

Leah put her newly crocheted market bag to use, filling up on fruits and vegs that would be coming home with us.

The cotton is Valley Yarns brand from Webs. The bag pattern was improvised. Empty, this huge bag rolls up into fit-in-your-hand nothingness.

There was crocheting-for-charity going on at the booth of the radio station that was featuring the market for the day.

And we were delighted to see the woodblock print that a market volunteer made, depicting Scott and Jesse selling wood-fired pizzas and baked goods.

Isn't that awesome?!

It'll be part of a series of notecards to be sold by the local historical society. Love it!

Farmers' markets = goodness galore.

sweetness

I'm commuting to Massachusetts x 6 hrs/day 3 days this wk and helping Scott with bakery/pizza oven events 5 days this week and working my regular job in between (and being surprised with long phone calls from old friends -- hey Boom! hey Lauren!), so that doesn't leave a lot of stitching time for me right now, but I wanted to share a pic of the work of another stitcher from long ago.

This sweet sweater and bonnet were crocheted for my mom when she was a baby. They were made by my grandfather's cousin, Sister Mary. (Yeah, a nunnish sort of sister. We have quite a few of those uber-religious folks in the family. To be clear, I am not one of them. ;-) They're crocheted with peach baby wool, trimmed with angora and the most precious little embroidered flowers at the yoke and front of the bonnet, above the ribbon rosette. My Gram must've forgotten she had it when Leah was born, but when we cleared out Gram's apartment, it was found in a box with a christening outfit and a note about who made it, for whom, and a question of whether my sister or I might like it someday when we have babies. Well, we missed that chance, I guess, so I have offered it to the next most likely relatives to be able to put it to use. If they don't want it, into another cedar chest (mine) it'll go for the next generation, a handmade gift for a future baby, from someone who was herself a baby almost a century ago, and appreciated by all the generations in between.

hot fun

Edited to add: This post was written early this morning, then went kablooey when I tried to publish it. If the timing seems off, that's why.

Tis the season when we're just floating along from fun summer concert to performance to other outdoor event. Too many great options; can't keep up with them all, but we're sure trying! This week started off with jazz on Monday and blues on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Leah mentioned that she wanted to sew a bag for a reenactor friend whose current bag is too small for his daily gear. Next thing I know, she has hand sewn this fully lined bag from stuff in our stash (fabric was a freebie, also used in a dress Leah sewed for herself a few years ago; button snipped off something trash-bound).

At the Thursday farmers' market, she ran into another reenactor who agreed to model it. Just happened to match his cap perfectly!

Hey, when did she learn how to make buttonholes?!

Friday included a barbershop chorus performance and the beginning of outdoor Shakespeare season! Ooh, how we loves us some summer Shakespeare!

Midsummer Night's Dream last night, possibly will go to a diff. show this evening (after taekwondo this morning and a folk music festival in the afternoon), and then we'll have the option of 1-2 performances a week through August. Only a short bit of knitting time before the sun goes down, but such good fun!

outdoor concert season

Hot night.

Cool jazz.

Crocheted blanket.

Knitter in the shade.

eleventy bajillion Xs

Way back when, I was a hard core cross stitcher. Then I showed Scott how to do it and he got bit by the stitching bug. When his stitching won Best of Show in the Big E's competition many moons ago, he won hundreds of skeins of DMC embroidery floss. A few years later, an elderly lady we knew passed away and we inherited her cross stitch supplies. Then, this spring, my grandma passed away and we came home with her floss boxes and cross stitch stash. So when my friend Jean mentioned a cross stitch project she'll be doing as a cancer research fundraiser, using the Aida fabric I gave her from that first stash we inherited, I jumped at the chance to pass some more supplies to her. She sent a list of color #s she'd need.

Those are the pile to the left.

I'm passing the mini-mountain of skeins on the right to her too, just because I think Jean and her stitching friends will put them to use faster than we will. It might not look like much in the picture, but let me tell you, that's enough to make a whole lotta little Xs and keep a stitcher's fingers busy for many happy hours!

hey, I made something!

Lookie, I made a happy knitter!

Another Deb, who just happens to be a knitter and a homeschooling mom, stopped by our booth at the farmers' market on Sunday for a quick try-on of my sweaters that were up for grabs. And believe me, it was a hot day, so it was a quick try-on.

They fit, she likes 'em, and they went home with their new owner. Yahoo!