giva geta

Spa Knit and Spin 2009 with the New England Textile Artists, an entire weekend spent amongst hundreds of fiber enthusiasts, has come and gone. A few highlights, in list form:

The entire thing is based on the premise that we all have something to teach and we all have something to learn, and that many hands make light work, so here are some of the entirely enjoyable ways that we contributed to the event:

1. donated 4 handknit hats for soldiers
2. demonstrated how to frame needlework (Debbie), how to wire beads to make stitch markers (Scott), two-handed two-color no-tangle knitting (Leah - see above), and how to make a felted scarf out of leftover yarns (Debbie). I actually did that last demo three (or was it four?!) times because more people kept asking to see it!
3. Spa 2009 glass bead stitch markers for the main organizers
4. Donations to the group's Treasure Chest for giveaways.

5. Two hours as volunteers at the Greeters' Table, answering questions and selling raffle tickets for the beautiful afghan some members made to raise funds for charity. 

That's the "giva" part of the weekend. We gave a little, but oh, what we got in return!

First, the tangibles:

1. Spunky Eclectic black cherry roving for Leah to spin and ply with Grafton Fibers singles already on a bobbin.
2. burgundy angora yarn for Leah's Just Enough Ruffles scarf.
3. Dye Dreams royal purple merino/tencel yarn for Leah to make Knitspot's Delicato handwarmers.
4. Dye Dreams sea green merino/tencel yarn for Debbie to make Knitspot's Gust scarf.
5. Woolen Rabbit's Arabian Nights for Debbie to make Knitspot's Brambler scarf. Apparently we're liking the Knitspot patterns. :-)
6. Ball and Skein's burgundy yarn for Debbie to knit Miriam Felton's Persephone scarf.
7. Three beautiful natural colors of Icelandic Lamb roving blended w/ baby alpaca or Tussah silk, a fabulous door prize won by Debbie from Frelsi Farm Icelandics!

Intangibles also received:

1. Tatting workshop with Kat Parks. This was a refresher for me, since I took a tatting class many years ago. I never got very good at it, but apparently tatting is like riding a bike because as soon as I saw Kat do a knot or two, I was off and running.
2. Nalbinding workshop with Rudy Amman, who was even able to teach a lefty! I've always been curious about this technique and am tickled to have learned the basics. That's the little gray bit of stitching in the center of the lowermost row in the yarn photo above.
3. A new cast-on taught to Leah. 

4. Time to relax and chat with friends we've known for years (see that character above, concentrating on his very first knitting project ever? You might recognize him from Spa 2007. This time, Bart was knitting while Scott was spinning.) and those we just happened to sit near or stop along the way to admire something they were making/wearing/using/doing.

Other random reasons for smiles:

1. Within minutes of arriving, Leah spotted somebody wearing one of Scott's sheep beads as a necklace.
2. Free, fresh, delicious cookies in the lobby.
3. When I stopped at the Frelsi Farm Icelandics booth to say thanks for the door prize I won, we learned that the owner used to live in our hometown.
4. Warm pool, cold days, kids splashing about with glee.
5. The owner of Dye Dreams yarn, also wearing one of Scott's sheep beads as a necklace.
6. People randomly stopping us to chat because they remembered us from the 2007 Spa or they read our blog, and us doing the same with others.
7. Thai Garden. Yum.
8. Willing observers of impromptu yo-yo tricks from our favorite yo-yo guy.

9. A whole slew of new-to-us local microbrews to sample!
10. The bed at the Hilton, which was comfortable enough that Scott and I have debated -- MULTIPLE TIMES -- whether it was The Most Comfortable bed we've ever slept in (besides our own), in close competition with the awesome bed at the Rose Island Lighthouse. Hotel reservations were a xmas gift from my mom, so thanks, mom!
11. People who get it admiring something you've made, such as the Sylvi coat and Swirls hat modeled by Leah in the fashion show. BTW, the pic above shows approx. 1/8th of the crowd gathered for the fashion show. The stuff that paraded by was amazing. Even Jesse was impressed -- enough so that he didn't choose to zone out with the Dragnet radio shows on his iPod!
12. Those same people romping about with items we admired and found inspirational. Seriously, some mind-boggling fiber artists gathered at this event. And not just knitters. There were spinners, weavers, feltmakers, lacemakers, quilters, and probably countless other fiber arts represented.
13. With every such event, the circle of friends grows, the horizons expand, and the enthusiasm is refreshed.
14. We expect to get to do it all again next year! Yahoo!!

Fin!

The epic scarf is finished. After blocking (which I've never done before, but will certainly do again -- wow, what a difference it makes!), it's a whopping 8 feet long! This means I can wrap it twice around my neck, loosely, which is exactly what I was hoping for. The garter stitch grafting was a piece of cake once I found the right sequence of stitches to Kitchener. Unfortunately, the grafting is far from invisible because of the color and shade variations that are the nature of handpainted yarn. I'm a little bit bummed about how much the grafting shows. On the other hand, it did make it possible for me to use up all of the yarn and the scarf is about a foot and a half longer because of that, so I guess it's a trade-off. I could un-graft it and try again with better coordination of yarn colors, but I doubt the grafting will be very obvious when the scarf's in use anyway, so for now I'm DONE with it. And it feels mighty fine around my neck this morning. :-)

So, scarf: check.
Dichro necklaces: check.

WIPs: 2 pairs of socks and a fair isle hat.

Next up:
Finish felted wall hanging.
Help Leah start Grandma's scarf with handspun yarn (plied and set twist on second skein last night).
Finish fair isle hat.
Cast on glittens and Philosopher's Wool sweater.

Interesting links that connect to places we've visited recently:
Augustine volcano eruption images, about 150 miles from where we were in Alaska this summer.
Blog of a friend of Scott's sister, Vickie, who helped build an ice hotel in Iceland this winter.

muppet scarf

Leah finished knitting this scarf just before bedtime last night. The yarn and needles were a xmas gift from Aunt Vickie. We decided it's a muppet scarf because of the colors and the soft feathery fuzziness and the generally happy, snuggly feelings when wearing it.

Next up: a scarf knit of Leah's green handspun yarn.

Scott plied his first skein of Autumn Maples. It's soaking to set the twist now. 

lace ribbon scarf 2

It's my turn to be the sick one 'round here, so we'll keep this short and sweet.

Pre-blocking, resembles cat barf.

Post-blocking happiness.

I didn't even need to ask the model to change into a different shirt.

When she was picking peppers, I noticed how well the scarf coordinates with the hair scrunchy she crocheted with leftover sock yarn, stitched around a hair elastic.

Pattern: Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty
Yarn: Jojoland Harmony
2nd one I've made. Good take-along knitting.

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."

rockin' the free world

Finally, the parade of post-vacation finished objects. Believe it or not, there are still more FOs to come!

Just Enough Ruffles scarf, knit by Debbie. The luscious angora yarn was purchased at Spa Knit and Spin last Feb. Leah was going to make this pattern, but it became my project instead when I needed another vacation knit. Entirely easy and quick to knit, but I think the result is pretty fabulous. This yarn, we paid for, but it occurs to me that everything else in these four pics was free or pretty darn close to it!

The scarf pin is a stick pin made by our friend Leslie Wind and received as a gift when we shared a booth at Franklin County Fiber Twist this fall. The stick travels through the back of one of Scott's glass buttons for a little more decoration where it holds the scarf ends in place.

Didja notice the cool cascading earrings Leah's wearing? Inspired by Sassafras Creations' knitting needle jewelry and our stash of aluminum straight knitting needles (which we rec'd as hand-me-downs, but don't use for knitting and were thinking about giving away), she used our pipe cutter to slice some needle shafts into loops. She then used chainmail rings to attach these to a small length of chain salvaged from who knows what. She also added a couple of rings with crystals on them, for sparkle, then hung the whole shebang on ear wires. They make just the slightest happy jingle when she walks, are colorful enough to go with everything, and the fact that they're made from knitting needles gives her a giggle.

Next up, mittens I knit in twined knitting technique. I've always been curious about this way of making extra thick and squishy fabric by knitting from both ends of a skein, alternating strands with a twist behind each stitch, so when I won two skeins of Crystal Palace Yarns Taos and saw that it was well suited to stranded knitting, it seemed a good time to give it a try. I got a Twined Knitting book from the library and really liked some of the patterns in it, but when it was time to cast on, I wanted very straightforward and simple instructions. Lisa Ellis' basic twined mittens pattern was a perfect introduction. Twined knitting is slow going and needing to frequently untwist the yarns is a little tedious, but I really didn't mind it and think the results are pretty cool. My tension was tight with the twisting of yarns, which is probably not uncommon with beginning twined knitters, so these turned out child-sized and will be donated somewhere. Another perfect opportunity to pay it forward.

In between bigger projects, Leah decided she wanted another snood, so she used weaving thread received (a big box of it, in many colors!) as a gift from a weaver to crochet one. She attached it to a headband that was in a bag of hair things received as a hand-me-down from my sister a couple of years ago.

Our lives are chock full of little gifts like these and a million more intangible kindnesses too. We are thankful for every single one of them and how they enrich our lives every day. Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the States!

the difficulty with scarves

It appears that this summer, my knitting is all about the scarves. This is all fine and well, as they're easy to take along to the bazillion fantastic events and work on while my attention is elsewhere, but they make very poor blog fodder. They're like the Energizer bunny; they just keep going and going. I'm probably 3/4 of the way through the scarf I was working on in Vermont, but a picture now wouldn't look much different that it did then, so instead of sharing a picture of the knitting, I'll share some pictures of places where the scarf was knat upon last weekend.

First, summer Shakespeare. Again! The weather allowed us to see two of three shows we planned for the weekend (chosen from at least five offered at different venues around the state!), Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing. We've seen the latter group of performers in the past and absolutely adore their riotous shows.

Met up with friends for a visit to a colonial encampment and farmers' market with friends on Sunday morning. Learned some interesting trivia while touring the Nathan Hale Homestead and couldn't help but notice the huge walking wheel and hand cards in a sparsely furnished room.

Leah and I participated in a customers' favorites trunk show at Creative Fibers on Sunday afternoon. A group of us brought our favorite projects for a show and tell about the pattern, the yarn, the challenges, the results. Visitors to the store during the afternoon each voted on their favorite. I entered my Garden Patch cardigan and handpainted gloves. Leah entered her Seven Sisters cabled mitts, wrap cardigan, and Imagine hat. We enjoyed the afternoon of hanging with knitters and one guy who visited the store with his family even commissioned Leah to knit him an Imagine hat, so she was thrilled!

Didn't make it to the third Shakespeare show of the weekend because of rain (upon snagging that link, I just noticed they had an indoor alternative in case of bad weather -- oh well), but the timely offer of a cookout was a yummy substitute. Between the two performances and the ukulele group's singalong(!), I probably added 7" to the Rivolo scarf. It's not possible to knit during the ballroom dance classes Leah and I have been taking, but otherwise, thank heavens for a hobby (obsession!) that's flexible enough to fit into so many settings while we're otherwise engaged.

winter woolies

Yesterday was Scott's first time out with the mobile oven, selling pizzas for pay. It being his first time, I went along for support and to provide gopher services. I did, in fact, have to gopher this and gopher that at the beginning, but then I had some quiet time, so I worked a while on my Red Scarf Project donation.

Luckily, it was a gorgeous day and a pleasant location, at a nearby farm store where they sell Christmas trees. I parked myself on a big rock in the orchard and knit away happily in the sunshine. It was almost warm out.

It was a day that was light on customers, as planned, since this was to be more of a learning experience than anything. We learned plenty and have plans for streamlining and improving the process already, but Scott did a stellar job with the pizzas (pepperoni, shrimp scampi with artichoke hearts, chicken florentine) and I'd say he has that part down pat. No doubt about it, though, as the sun got lower in the sky, the breeze was downright cold.



By the end of the day, Scott was finishing up some new stitch marker sets, which are in his Glastonbury Glassworks Etsy store now. Even his little sheep stitch markers are wearing their winter woolies -- hats and scarves -- and accompanied by mittens, balls of yarn, and snowballs!

I continued to work on the red scarf while Leah was at one of her activities in the evening. Next thing I knew, the last little bit of the skein of yarn popped out of my bag, almost entirely having been knit up. I'm not sure how it happened, but I knit over THREE FEET OF SCARF yesterday! I'll weave in the ends during Leah's activity this evening and block it over the next couple of days. I expect to put the finishing touches on a pair of mittens tonight too. More winter woolies for all!

bits and pieces

There are plenty of projects going on around here, as always, but I have nothing major to show you today. Thought for a moment that I didn't even have anything to say, but I was wrong. :-) In no particular order, highlights of this week's projects:

Scott is making square buttons now. I like 'em a lot. These are cobalt with silver wisps. The cobalt looks almost black when there's not light shining through, but there's a place for black and silver buttons too. They'd look great on a gray cardigan.

We spent an evening with Kathy Goldner of Knitting Out Loud audiobook company on Monday. I've been working in a client's office this week and thoroughly enjoying the No Idle Hands audiobook during my rides.

Bren's gloves fit her well. I reached the halfway point on Undulating Waves scarf #2 (haven't taken a pic of that one yet) after dinner on their deck on Tuesday. This scarf, like its predecessor, is a people magnet. I had fantastic knitting/stitching conversations with two people while waiting to donate blood on Monday and one person while waiting for Jesse on Tuesday.

I scored a free cedar chest recently and transferred the stash to it. Since the stash is currently of a size that means it'll be around for a while, keeping it safe from moths is a good thing. Rummaging through it all in the transfer process was fun too!

Leah finished a neckwarmer this week and cast on for the February Lady Sweater yesterday.

Ravelry projects pages (livnletlrn and cottonhollow) have been updated. The Goob's knitting has come a long way in the past year or so. It's great to see how many folks have already left comments on her work or added her projects to their favorites. Big boosts for a young knitter!

Not fiber- or glass-related, but creative nonetheless: Jesse has been designing an air-powered pvc gun for a while and finally was able to put it all together yesterday. It works very well and he's psyched!

Okay, off to client's office. At least I've managed to get one swath of the scarf pattern repeat done while in the office each day.

flutter 2

When I knit a Flutter scarf for my Gram last xmas, my mom liked it a lot. In January, she bought some yarn and asked me to knit her one.

It got put aside while I made some other things along the way, but as I was finishing it up last week, I realized that I continue to love everything about this Miriam Felton pattern. The 8-row repeat for the main length of the scarf is easily memorized, making it an excellent take-long project. I used exactly one skein of Alpaca Sox yarn, which is interesting because I know I needed to tap into a second skein for Gram's scarf, yet hers turned out shorter. Difference in blocking by hand (then) vs. with blocking wires (now), I think.

The only modification I made to the pattern was moving the provisional cast-on to the one-third point (~30 repeats) so it would land toward the back of the neck, rather than at the midway point, which causes it to be front and center when wrapped around the neck. It's only the slighest bit visible anyway, but I think moving it to a more discrete location was a good idea.

...and then there was one. That's right, folks, I have a grand total of ONE project on the needles! It's a gansey for Scott. I realized yesterday that I only barely showed it way back at the beginning, and I only have the upper half of the body to do at this point. Meanwhile, I am crazed with must-knit sweater patterns in A Fine Fleece and will most certainly be casting on for one of them very soon.

Recipients of the glass buttons we're giving away have been contacted by email. Thanks, everyone, for playing along and offering to put them to good use!

ultimate stashbuster scarf

I had so much fun making the Waterfall felted scarf, and still had more ladder yarn and assorted scraps, so I decided to do another one, this time with a springtime flower garden color scheme.

It occurs to me that this type of scarf is The Ultimate Stashbuster -- just a couple of hours and multiple balls of random leftovers can be turned into something pretty and useful! As requested, I'll give some more details of how I did it here, but there are better tutorials elsewhere on the Web -- just Google nuno felting tutorial and you'll get some more specifics. There are also plenty of books, probably available at your library, with felting info.

Here's what I started with:

I cleared off a long span of my kitchen counter and laid out a long piece of this plastic foam packing stuff that I have lots of (another option: bubble wrap). Leaving space clear at each end for the fringe (which I didn't want to felt), I laid out wisps of Firestar fiber for a bit of sheen, then wisps of well-drafted roving, then strand after strand of yarn, then roving, then Firestar. I ultimately made it about twice a dense as you see here, scooting everything a little closer together.

Covered the whole thing with a piece of nylon screen, wet it down with slightly sudsy water, and gently rubbed in circles so the fibers could mash together. Carefully lifted the screen so the fibers don't felt through it, tucked loose wisps under around the edges, replaced the screen and did a bit more light rubbing in circles. Removed the screen and carefully rolled the whole thing, including the plastic foam stuff, around a foam noodle (you know, those fun floaty things for use in a swimming pool) and tied the bundle in place with strips of fabric from an old t-shirt.

Next, I opened a beer and turned on some good rockin' tunes. Yes, this is a required step for all feltmaking and soapmaking fun 'round here. :-)

I rolled the bundle back and forth on the counter about 100 times ("50...glug glug - ahh...50...glug glug - ahh"), then turned the bundle around and rolled in the other direction, same amount. Opened it up to see how it's doing. The fibers were starting to felt together, as determined by pinching a bit and lifting to see if it's all attached. I put another layer of the foam stuff over top and folded it in half, then in quarters, then rolled it around the noodle perpendicularly to the previous time. Repeated the rolling, glugging, flipping, rolling process.

When it was all well adhered and could be picked up as a single item, I removed it from the plastic foam, folded it up, and dunked it in hot water. Squeezed out, placed in open plastic bag and gently dropped on the counter a few times. Repeat the dunks in hot water, squeeze out, place in bag, and thwack on counter a bunch more times for it to shrink and felt together more firmly.

Hang to dry and wear with a smile.

blue spruce scarf

Yesterday, Leah finished knitting this scarf out of her handspun yarn. The fiber is Blue Spruce Cloud from Adams Farm. Leah's knitting skills are not such that she could handle much of a pattern yet, but the variegated colors make the scarf interesting anyway! We put a little ruffle around the edge to give it a more finished look and blocked it yesterday. She's almost done spinning and plying her purple-gray fiber too, so soon we'll get to decide what to make that into. 

Acroknitting

I spent many hours as a passenger this weekend, so I took advantage of the time (and Jesse's book light) to knit the endless rows of laceweight garter stitch on this scarf. Back when I started it, I decided to knit from one end to about halfway, then break off my yarn and do the same from the other end to about midpoint. This was so I could use up all the yarn and get as much length as possible, because this yarn is fairly precious and I didn't want to end up with a tiny leftover ball of it or, worse, run out near the end of the pattern. So the plan was to then Kitchener/graft the two halves together.

Yesterday was grafting day. Also my birthday, which I figured gave me fair justification for finishing my scarf before stringing the jewelry that's on order. Kids and Scott were out to get the new Lego Mindstorms sensors and remote control that have them nearly crazed with excitement, so I downloaded the most recent episodes of Cast-On, positioned myself happily in a sunbeam, and started grafting. Now, I am a lefty who does Kitchener right-handed. I knit and crochet right-handed because that's the way I was taught. I can do these things fairly well, despite thinking of them in reverse at all times, so you'd think I could maneuver a needle to graft as a rightie, yes? No. Awkward as can be, but somehow my hands won't let my brain make the leap to grafting as a leftie, so I bumble on (in private) as a faux-rightie grafter.

So anyway, I grafted about an inch of stitches before realizing the join was not invisible, as Kitchener is when it's done right. So I picked out my stitches -- a tedious process -- and turned one of the scarf halves over, figuring I have it backwards and positioning it correctly will solve my problem. Dove back in again. Grafted about an inch and a half before I had to admit to myself that, no, that's not working right either. Ugh. Pick, pick, pick the stitches out.

Then a horrible thought rushed in. Everything I've ever grafted has been stockinette. What if you can't graft garter stitch? Ack! No, there must be a way...right? Well, thank goodness for the internet because it is possible to graft garter (instructions at link are way down at the bottom of article). But by then I was tired and my birthday falafel dinner was ready, so that'll wait for another day.

Luckily, Leah and I recharged at the Madley Spinners gathering in the evening, where I focused on a mindless bit of socknitting and chatted with Paige, while the Goob flitted about like the little social butterfly that she is, schmoozing with the spinners and so proudly showing off her work. Jesse and Scott, meanwhile, were doing spinning of a different kind. Theirs was spinning tires on a remote control Lego car that flips over when it runs into things and continues cruising around upside down until it runs into something else, then flips over and continues again. I have been informed that this is called an acrocar. Acrocars are fun. Acroknitting...not so much. 

'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.