Friday, October 31, 2008

Rhinebeck

I'm such a bad blogger. These are the only 3 pictures I took at Rhinebeck.


This is the angora goat that Margaret wanted to take home.
I did buy yarn, though. I tried to stay away from Erica Blue and Weimaraner again, and I did pretty well.

This one is actually very subtle shades of green and gold and isn't as drab as it seems here.
You can see it a little better here. That's 2500 yards of lace weight, baby!
The hank shows the colors of this one better, but I like the yarn cake pictures.
There had to be just a little bit of my blue.
I'm curious to see how it'll knit up.

So Rhinebeck was good, but I'm not sure why it's better than MD Sheep and Wool. Except for the time of year. Scenes like this
and this
make you feel more like knitting than a nice May day. But I don't think there were any more vendors at Rhinebeck, I'm not sure the vendors were better, and you had to pay to get in. Plus, there wasn't nearly as much lamb to be eaten. I'm not sure I'd make the trek if we didn't have friends that live so close by.

But since we do, I may just invite myself up again next year.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

What..me swatch? NEVER!

See this cute "little" pumpkin hat I knit for Oliver? Who needs to swatch? It's just a hat ...Adam was very diplomatic when he called to say the package had arrived and it was a bit big but very cute.
OK, Adam. I get it. It's ENORMOUS.

I sat down and actually swatched! I discovered I needed to go down 2 needle sizes and I cut the circumference by 8 stitches. I'm mailing the new one today and have my fingers crossed.
Lesson learned! Patti


Thursday, October 16, 2008

Look, I made two green things!

I made this guy...
...a sweater.
Yarn look familiar, K? There's still some left, if you want it back.
It's from Weekend Knits, and made of linen yarn, generously donated by K. Maybe if I wasn't actually attending to the baby I was making the sweater for, it would have been done in a weekend. Suffice it to say, it was not. It's too big, but it's in the washer as we speak, and I figure he'll fit into it before the winter is out.

The second green thing is a scarf.

Imagine, me making a scarf. Oh, the novelty.

The pattern, from Green Mountain Spinnery, and the yarn were purchased this past May at MDSW.
I'm totally enthralled by these stitches that are super simple but make the fabric turn into some shape other than square. I'm making another scarf like that now, and it's just amuses me to no end.

Not that it takes much.

I've also decided that I REALLY like sock yarn for scarves. Making socks holds no interest for me (which I think may be blasphemy these days, but so be it), but the yarn rocks for scarves. Soft, drapy, and shows patterns fabulously. I think I'll be looking for some more when I'm at Rhinebeck this weekend.

Oh, wait, did I tell you I was going to Rhinebeck? Turns out, our friends Dom & Margaret live about 30 minutes away from it and Margaret has wanted to check it out for awhile now, but never has.

Which was all the opening I needed to invite ourselves up for the weekend.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Happy Birthday Dear Erica ...

I did the math tonight, my almost sister -- we've been friends for going on 16 years now. And here's what I know ...

Whether you're dressing up for Halloween using only dorm-room supplies ....



Having a good laugh (was it my bad posture, frighteningly red lipstick/fingernails, or gay soon-to-be-husband that you found so funny?)

Sipping gin and tonics before an impending downpour ...

Parading around in your underwear ... Giving me a dirty look for taking your picture when your feet hurt and you can't do the conversion from Danish Kroners to American dollars in your head ...
Or about to birth a baby ANY MINUTE ...
You just keep getting more and more beautiful! Love you E -- have the best birthday ever!