scorcher

Yesterday was a hot and humid scorcher of a day, but a pleasant one nonetheless. From the relative coolness of the bakery's shade tent beneath a big tree, Scott was jazzed, as usual, by the bakery's many friendly customers.

While Leah served the Nathan Hale Homestead's iced tea and baked goods, and collected the admission price for the Hugh Blumenfeld concert, I chatted with knitterfriends gathered in a shady grove.

Jesse was picked up by friend who took him for a rollicking time of tubing behind their speed boat on the lake. While exploring the bottom of the lake later, he found a pair of prescription glasses that just happened to have been lost by his friend earlier this summer and for which the friend's family was offering a reward, so good vibes all around! When back at the market later, he and the ice cream guy picked up their ongoing rocketry conversation, as the ice cream guy is a fellow rocket enthusiast.

We broke down the bakery booth in record time and were home to refresh and enjoy the jump in Glastonbury Glassworks Etsy store traffic, courtesy of Twist Collective, then Leah and I were off to western MA for a performance by the Sound of New England, an award-winning Sweet Adelines chorus with whom she has gotten involved.

This is only about 2/3 of the group and not a very good pic because of my obstructed view, but it might give a sense of the energy of these shows. They're planning to start a Young Women in Harmony group this fall, but until that takes shape, they have welcomed Leah to take part in their rehearsals. She hasn't been with them for more than a few practices so far, but she and some of the other kids (mostly daughters of members) joined the group on stage for some of the songs last night. Singing + choreographed moves = great fun and big smiles!

Thus ends a run of busy-ness, the likes of which we have never seen before and didn't think we'd survive, with a few extra surprises thrown in for good measure. Not like there's hibernation and infinite chill time to come now, but there will be breathing room and something resembling normalcy, or our version of "normal," at least. ;-)

mudskating at the market

Upon arriving at the Coventry Farmers' Market for Scott's first time as a bakery vendor on this very wet morning, the last thing we wanted to see was deep mud gullies, a van spinning its tires, and hay being scattered furiously about to help everyone traverse the field of ankle-deep muck. Oh well, we were there and had lots of yummy things that Scott and Jesse worked hard to bake yesterday and this morning, so we might as well make the best of it!

(Edited to add: You guys know Scott's a baker, right? Yeah. We have a licensed wholesale bakery in the basement of our house. The glass stuff is for the fun of it; I just talk about it more here.)

The rain had slowed to only a drizzle and the hay made all the difference in navigating the field. Die-hard fans of the farmers' market came anyway -- certainly not as many people as would have been there on a sunny day, but enough to still keep things hopping. The stuck van made its way out with three hooting and hollering people weighing down the back bumper for traction. When the coffee vendor's coffeemaker broke, I fetched a bunch of Boxes o' Joe from Dunkin Donuts, which Jesse offered to the chilly vendors in need of caffeine. Leah went into the historic Nathan Hale homestead for some warm cider and allowed herself to be mesmerized by the fire's flames.

It was 4H day at the market, so there were goats and sheep and bunnies parading around with their humans, as well as the usual dogs of all shapes and sizes. We loved the free samples of wood-fired pizza and did an enjoyable lot of swapping with other vendors.

We met new yarnie friends , other bakers in their own small businesses, and folks from our town. The conversations continued to flow as the rain stopped and the ground firmed up. People helped each other, shared freely, made the most of a less than optimal situation, and had a darn good time along the way.

When the visitors to the market had gone home and the vendors' booths were dismantled, out came the crock pots, casseroles, and desserts for a vendor potluck, a festive market community celebration. We felt privileged to be a part of it all. Man, if we can have that much fun at the farmers' market on a washout of a day, it's going to be a blast in the sunshine!

icefishermitts

Scott fishes in the summer and in the winter; on land, sea, or ice; when the weather's good and when the weather's bad; daytime and nighttime; alone and with friends. Anybody who knows Scott knows he's a Fisherman, with a capital F. In other words, he loves fishing like I love knitting. And, see, I like it when he's fishing...because then I get to knit. ;-) So when he asked me to make him a pair of convertible gloves/mittens that would keep his fingers warm and he'd still be able to tie knots and bait his hook while ice fishing, I was happy to give it a go.

I used some vintage wool that was handed down to me from my Gram, along with the Broad Street Mittens pattern, which was easy to follow for this first-time glove knitter. I didn't care for the star decrease for the mitten shell, so I used a sock toe-like decrease along the sides to keep the flap flatter. You may notice that there's a regular glove thumb on that pattern, and that's how I originally knit them, but when they were finished, Scott was busy in the bakery, so Jesse tried them on and told me they would be better for ice fishing if the thumb had a flip-top lid too.

Down to the bakery I went, where Scott agreed that a flip-top thumb would be perfect. So I pulled out the top inch or so of the thumbs and improvised a cap. The guys said they didn't think loops and buttons would be necessary for holding the flip-tops back because they'd only be flipped open for a few minutes at a time, so I omitted that part of the pattern.

Oh, he's a happy Fisherman and says these will be great when he's on the ice. I too think they turned out well, and it's a darn good thing because gloves are fiddly things to knit and I would not be excited about the idea of making another pair. I wouldn't go so far as to say hell would have to freeze over before I'd knit another pair, but if it did, you can bet Scott would be drilling a hole to see if there were any fish down there!

growing and giving

With very little input from me, the kids put the finishing touches on their Halloween costumes on Friday, then we headed out to help friends move. It was hard work, made so much easier by many helping hands. It was satisfying to see how enthusiastically the kids pitched in and how truly helpful they were able to be, now that they're bigger and stronger and so very capable.

Saturday afternoon and evening were spent volunteering at Old Sturbridge Village's Halloween event, Things That Go Bump In the Night. The forecast was awful, but after the first 20 minutes of heavy rain, the skies cleared and it was a perfect haunted evening. Luckily, it seems that most of the guests were not deterred by that cruddy forecast. Thousands of guests, most in costume (including many adults!), enjoyed a nearly full moon, 1,000 jack-o-lanterns and many torches lighting the village, smiles and shrieks galore. My big kids loved helping to provide a good time for the littler folks and Scott was a big hit as the dancing mummy seen through the fog and the red light in the cider mill.

Leah and I tidied up the yarn stash this weekend and got together a big box to send to the Knitting Ladies group at Interim House in Philadelphia. Lots of leftovers from previous projects, partial to whole skeins, many of which have been gifted to us and others that just aren't likely to be used, for one reason or another. The box is crammed full and ready to go, so we get the double benefit of a cleared out stash and good feelings from being able to help others knit.

While cleaning out, we also came across the Irish Hiking Scarf that Leah knit for charity this spring. Now that the weather is turning cold again, it'll be in the mail to the National World War II Museum's Knit Your Bit program this week.

I cast on this neckwarmer on Thursday afternoon and bound it off Sunday evening. It was my first handspun yarn, from two Grafton Fibers batts. I used the Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun Scarf stitch pattern. I worked on it during the play Thursday evening and while chatting with Scott's side of the family yesterday afternoon. Because the yarn is bulky, it knit up fast into a super thick fabric. I used almost the whole skein in this neckwarmer scarf, fastened with two of Scott's glass buttons. (They're not a perfect match, but they'll do for now. He hopes to get back to the torch soon, now that the bakery season will be winding down, and I can always replace the buttons later.) It's a little loose on Leah, but it fits me nicely. Because it's so thick, it stays up to keep the full height of my neck warm.

Tonight, in the Halloween spirit, I'll be hanging with the vampires at at apheresis department of the American Red Cross, where they'll take my plasma donation while I enjoy a movie. Scott's a regular donor there too and we joke about it being our spa treatment, our rest and relaxation time.

Whether it's muscle power or Halloween fun or yarn or plasma, we continue to find that the Red Cross is so right on when they say, "Give...all you'll feel is good."

stash diving playtime

I'm up to the armpits on the sleeves of Jesse's Durrow-inspired sweater and the body is a plain ol' 4x2 rib all the way, so I'm going to try knitting that on a knitting machine. Until I buy or borrow one, that project is on hold.

Bren's gloves are nearly finished too, with only one thumb to knit and eleventy billion ends to weave in.

With Leah's Josephine also recently off the needles, the only other works in progress around here are socks, so it's time to play with a new project! Whee -- time for stash diving! I'd start another fair isle -- this one for me or this one for the Goob -- but it's almost June and I know I'm not going to want heavy wool wrapped around my hands or resting on my lap for very much longer. Time for a lightweight scarf, methinks, and there was a pattern in my Ravelry favorites that's been making me drool for quite a while. Went the Paypal and Ravelry download route for instant gratification pattern procurement.

Did a little diving in the stash closet and came up with that cone of Tencel that I got at Webs a while back and combined with burgundy cotton harvested from a Goodwill sweater to make Leah's hybrid cardigan. The color's not right in this pic -- it's deeper jewel tones with that beautiful tencel sheen -- but you get the idea.

I found a big ol' cone of a royal blue rayon/wool blend from the yarn tag sale last month.

Added in some peacock metallic #6 size beads from our bead stash.

Also added a strand of purple coned yarn, but that made the fabric a little too thick, I think, so I tore out that swatch, went down to just the two strands for another try, and voila!

I am ga-ga over this pattern and this yarn/bead combination. I would have knit much further on it last night, but I only had this little bunch of beads. Scott will pick up the rest of what I need when he's over by the bead store for bakery deliveries later today and then there's no stopping me, and this is a completely addictive pattern, so it'll be fun to see how quickly it moves along.

a holiday. or not.

Some of my offices are open on this Columbus Day Monday, so in my head it's a holiday, but the reality is that I might only be able to squeeze out a few hours of being off. That's okay, though, because the kids and I have a beautiful hike planned for later today. Meanwhile, here are a few snaps of things that made me smile in the past few days:

Most adorable yarn label ever, on the yarn I picked up at the Thurs. farmers' market. The writing on the sheep has faded now, but each label tells the name of the sheep the wool came from.

Some of the fabric given to Leah by a very kind customer who has become a friend. She's an elderly woman now, but many years ago, her sister worked at a textile mill somewhere in CT and the sister was able to take home yards and yards of fabric. When the sister passed away, our current customer inherited all her boxes of fabric. Since she hasn't been able to sew it all and loves to chat with a certain young seamstress working at the bakery booth, she's unloading some treasures and Leah is delighted.

Irish step dancing, AWESOME live music, yet another incredible autumn day, a massage for me, and friends galore at the Sunday farmers' market. (BTW, this is about one-sixth of the market. It's a biggie.)

My second Lacy Baktus with Edge in progress, this time in Koigu. I see a few misplaced YOs where I didn't KBL on the return row. They don't show too much with this busy colorway, but I think I'll change the increases to M1s to avoid the oopsies. I'm also going to do a little stitching at the points to pull that last sawtooth all the way across the end. The first Lacy Baktus has been worn by me or Leah every day since cast-off. Love. it.

While writing this post, work came in from two more clients, leaving only one that may or may not be closed today. I'll check that next, but it appears my holiday time is dwindling. Oh well, if I dive back in now (have already been working for a few hours this morning), we should still have enough time for that hike before dark!

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ETA: Just checked on that last client. Not only are they open today, but the doc who makes the most work for me is on. :::headdesk::: (no, not really. happy to have the work, but would've been equally happy to lounge and hike today, y'know?) That was a quick trip from holiday to a hoppin' workday!

glow

I know, I know, you think our entire lives revolve around yarn. But no, there's another underlying theme that is front and center this first weekend of a new year: fire. It brings light, food, fun, and a warm glow to these winter days.

We all love heating the house with wood.

Scott's taking advantage of the new year's bakery lull
to play with the torch and pretty glass some more.

This is how we say goodbye to our Christmas tree
on New Year's Day, with wishes for the coming year.

This morning, a pretty little snowstorm,
with fresh bagels and English muffin bread in progress.

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.

upward

Sunday's farmers' market theme was Blues and Brews. The weather was stellar, the blues band excellent, the free beer samples from local breweries and a homebrew club oh so tasty.

The beer garden field was like a party within a party. I ran into someone I haven't seen since I was about 20 and enjoyed much of the day with knitter friends and other friendly folks. By the end, Scott was nearly sold out of baked goods, so he swapped a bit for some of those homebrews to take home and then sold the remaining items to one of his bakery accounts who didn't order enough for the weekend and left a message on our answering machine saying she'd take anything he could make to help her restock NOW. Sold out day = Yay!

We had Saturday fireworks and Sunday rocket launching, so much looking skyward this weekend. Outdoor cooking, outdoor eating, and plenty of soaking up the sunshine that has been absent for weeks.

My secret project is moving along nicely. I expect a couple more days with a mail delivery like this as part of the process.

I'd show some knitting pics, but nothing is pictureworthy right now. Oh, speaking of pictures, I can haz them! New camera purchased when I braved mall hell zone on Fri. I am so not a shopper. Anyway, back to the knitting, there's been progress on Scott's gansey, the green leafy wrap, a pair of socks (with a big boo-boo that may or may not end in a restart of one), and Leah's swallowtail shawl.

Rec'd word that Glastonbury Glassworks has been accepted as a vendor at Spa Knit and Spin in Maine this Feb. Looking forward to that.

Otherwise, there's another big project in the works, the research and discussion of which is taking up the remainder of our spare time. We're thiiis close to taking the plunge on it and then it'll get fun. Will talk about it here when we make the leap.

We've also been enjoying a house guest for the past few days. He's a spunky little imp whose morning energy results in an entertaining game between him and our big ol' Kodi girl.



Me in flannel jams. Shexay!

bsj, nyc

Welcome to any visitors who heard about our glass and fiber obsessions on the Lixie Knits It podcast!

I cast on for Eliz. Zimmermann's well-known Baby Surprise Jacket a few days ago, partly as a stash-busting exercise and partly because, though I've seen pics of this sweater all over the Internet, I still couldn't quite understand how it works. The curious thing about it is its funky construction, described by many as an amoeba or knitting origami. I found some good pictures of one in progress, but still wanted to knit it myself. It is totally irrelevant that the only baby-to-be in my life is a pretty far stretch away -- my brother-in-law's brother's first child. Whatevah. Gots the yarn, gots the pattern -- must cast on.

Once Scott's bakery got past the Thanksgiving rush, he decided it was time to fire up the torch again. I think he's on a good track with these small floral buttons he cooked up, but unfortunately there are some sooty imperfections in the clear glass. He cleaned all the tools and glass along the way, but there were still a few dark spots, so we're wondering if it's some sort of impurity in the boro or something that he should be doing differently. If any lampworkers out there know, we'd love to hear from you. The little paper snowflakes in the background came home with us from Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk performance in New York City this weekend. This show and NY trip were excellent in every way.

I don't usually like to show a bunch of progress pictures here, but corrugated ribbing takes me f-o-r-e-v-e-r, so reaching this point on a mitten cuff feels like a huge accomplishment. They'll be the mittens on the cover of Knitting Marvelous Mittens by Charlene Schurch. I started a pair a while back with a plain cuff because corrugated ribbing is so painfully slow for me, but at the time I didn't think the highly patterned mitten looked right with a plain cuff, so I tore it out. (Although now that I look back at that picture, I think I was a fool for tearing it out. Too late now.) Anyway, I am ga-ga about the Selbuvotter mitten patterns, but the book isn't available in our library system, so I'm very tempted to buy it (which, if you know me very well, you'll know that this is a pretty significant statement), although I'm really not sure that I'll enjoy knitting such detailed mittens/gloves. My solution was to again try a pair of mittens from Charlene Schurch's book, available at our library, and then see if I'd want to do it again or if I never want to see another colorwork mitten pattern in my life. To be determined. Although now that I'm looking at those Selbuvotter mittens and gloves, I'm noticing how many of them have plain or just striped cuffs. Hmm...even more of a temptation.

flurries

There's been a flurry of activity around here. I have a feeling we're not the only ones experiencing this (and enjoying it).

A flurry of bead transactions online and in real life.

A flurry of finishing projects, including early morning stealth Kitchener stitching and a secret blocking place.

A flurry of bakery orders on a nonstandard schedule.

A big flurry of snowflakes a few days ago = only about 8" here, much more in not too far away.

A flurry of work that my clients are clearing off their desks and depositing on mine. But it's like hot potato. I don't want it here over the weekend either, so a flurry of trying to get it all done and covering for some people who are out on vacation.

A flurry of visits from friends as they pass through town and unexpected visits with people we bump into at assorted events.

And a full-on blizzard of smiles when Leah finished a bunny with dress (and sweater!)

and gave it to the little girl she babysits.

Also a flurry of handknits scooped up and given new homes when the knitting box was offered at a family gathering last weekend. Yahoo -- so nice to see the things we make be so enthusiastically received!

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Quickie blog post. Two shakes of a lamb's rabbit's tail and I'm back to work again. On a mission to clear the desk! Not late, not stressed, just psyched!

a gansey, eventually

Started last Feb. with yarn scored in a stash swap. Knit 2 strands together throughout. Slogged through all that stockinette at the bottom. There's mindless social knitting and then there's I'm-so-bored-I-could-poke-my-eyes-out-for-entertainment endless stockinette. Note: Future ganseys will have some sort of pattern on the bottom portions too.

Made my way to the top, where all went surprisingly well. Learned the stretchy tubular bind-off because sweater necks rarely work out for me, only to find the head opening this time was too small. Put the whole thing in time-out for the summer.

Ripped out the neck and did it again -- entirely the same except for staying wth the same needle size as the body, so the neck turned out a little bigger. Tubular bind-off is okay with me after all.

Scoured the yarn, which then softened and bloomed considerably. Blocked to match size of Scott's favorite sweater.

Then it sat again for weeks, while he was sick, then the kids were sick, and now I'm sick (yes, still. yes, it's getting old. yes, I saw the doctor again today. yes, new meds to start later today). I did manage to help Scott get the bakery booth set up for a farmers' market yesterday, though, and it was cool out, so I brought the sweater along for a couple of quick photos.

And then I came home and took a nap.
Pattern: Old Way Gansey from Interweave Knits, although I think I got it from a library book, with help of Knitting In the Old Way or Knitting Ganseys or something like that. I think it was a mash-up of all of the above. Hydrocodone cough syrup brain is not good for long-term recall. And who really cares at this point anyway, right?

Yarn: Mystery coned tweed wool from Jen's stash

For: Scott, with specific request for saddle shoulders and seed stitch. The boy likes his seed stitch. :-)

Verdict: The sleeves are little too long, but otherwise two thumbs up.

And now I think I need another nap. Sheesh.