Finishing Up

Barbara finished the Baby Surprise Jacket and proclaimed it the last one she will EVER knit! I don't blame her. There is a lot of stitch counting involved which she finds disturbing. Funny thing is she is an accountant! But I know what she means. It's an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern which advertises it is knitting without tears. I beg to differ. I have to admit that even though I consider myself pretty adept at knitting, this pattern almost brought me to my knees the first time I made it. So now Barb just needs buttons and it will be added to inventory.

 Kathleen finished a BSJ also. Those bright green buttons really pull out the colors and make it pop!

 Another Kathleen project finished. This sweater is an acrylic yarn which makes it machine washable.

 Barbara offered to model a hat Kathleen made for our next project. How nicely it matches her sweater!

 We had a full house this evening. From left to right going across the bottom of the screen: me, Maureen, Carole, Beth, Karin. We haven't seen Karin in a long time. It was good to have her back in the fold!

 Carole worked on a chemo cap for our upcoming donation project.

 Karin finished up a pair of socks for her daughter.

 And Beth started a sweater. Check out those pretty stitch markers! They are like jewelry for your knitting!

  We were cracking up over that HUGE skein of yarn Maureen was knitting. It looks like an ostrich egg on her lap!

I finished a Daybreak shawl last week which will go into our next donation. I was going to make this shawl for myself using some sock weight yarn from my stash but after starting and frogging it three times I decided to try it in a worsted weight to make it easier to read. I really like the way it turned out and as you will see further down it helped tremendously with the fingering weight yarn.

 Last week I mentioned I finished the grey hoodie. Now it's ready to keep some cute little munchkin warm.

 I started another baby sweater this week. From this photo you can tell it will be colorful but it's hard to tell it's a sweater. Trust me. It will become a sweater eventually.

 Here is the Daybreak shawl I'm knitting for myself. The yarn is Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors. The darker color is "Past Midnight" and the lighter is "Cloud Dancer". I'm really happy with the results so far.

Well, I better get back to those projects. They aren't going to knit themselves!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Kathleen finished another vest for the women veterans and I'm sure she'll be here next week with another finished garment or two!

Barbara worked on her sweater for herself and Liz knitted a scarf for donation.

Maureen worked her second pair of Kimono slippers. We Chicks decided to finish up donation knitting so we could concentrate on Christmas gifts until the holidays. In January we'll take up the donation knitting again.

This weekend was the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival at the Washington County Fairgrounds. Amanda and Phil brought the boys up for a visit. Moose took Poppop and Daddy apple picking and bowling while Amanda, Leo and I enjoyed the festival.

The weatherman predicted 40% chance of rain on and off all day but it was sunny and warm all day. A perfect day to visit a festival.

The first booth inside had beautiful yarns and patterns but I had my pennies saved to visit a special booth!

This gentleman was hand turning drop spindles and knitting needles, among other hand tools for crafts.

He did amazing work.

I was almost tempted to buy a drop spindle just because they are so pretty. But I like to get straight to the knitting without wasting time spinning first. That's just me.

There were some wonderfully scented soaps.

And beautiful handwoven baskets.

But our favorites were the yarns. You just have to cuddle every one of them. The colors and textures are so luscious!

Amanda was admiring some yarns when a lady thought she was very clever to carry her purchases in her shoulder sack....uh....

No, that was Leo. He was such a good shopping companion. He slept most of the day and never cried once.

He even slept through the visit with our fibery friends. These baby angora bunnies were just too cute for words.

The guys were just hanging around.

And these angora rabbits were content to sit on top of their cages and watch the world go by.

This little friend seemed to say your welcome when we thanked him for his contributions to our knitting addiction.

Mr. Llama was just sheared so he wasn't looking too sociable.

We stopped and watched the spinners for a bit.

And then admired the ready mades.

Isn't this shawl glorious?!

We had to stop long enough to watch the felting demonstration. It's amazing what the people at this booth make.

This girl was needle felting a sheep.

The items at the booth ranged from this scary looking mask to....

this gorgeous hat!

Then we finally saw our favorite booth! Here we come Periwinkle Sheep!

Karin, (right) and her friend Amy (left) were working hard helping customers, but they had a minute to pose for me.

Amanda found what she wanted right away.

I, on the other hand, couldn't decide between the sock weight or the lace weight.

Leo came out of his cuddle spot long enough for Karin to get some good hugs.

I think there were as many people stopping to look at Leo as there were those looking at the yarns.

But by midafternoon we were all feeling a little tired. So I knew it was time to get going...

Right next door to The Ice Cream Man!

You can't go all the way to Schuylerville and not stop in for some of the best ice cream in upstate New York.

When Amanda and I got home we checked out our purchases and I wound the skeins for her.

I bought this silk cocoon fiber which is hand dyed.

You pull thin layers off and spin it or knit it right from the "cap".

Here is the sock weight yarn I bought from Karin. Notice the lovely cloud/sky color.

Then I realized I bought an alpaca laceweight yarn at another booth. Check out the color.

Now look at the shawl I made using yarn from another festival I attended this spring.

What color are my socks? Shirt? Knitting? Do you think I might have a problem? LOL!

I finished the shawl last night and couldn't wait to show you. It needs a good blocking still but isn't it beautiful?! I can't wait to wear it!

I had to throw in a couple of photos of my sweet babies. I don't know what he's dreaming, but Leo looks content.

And Moose is always a happy guy! He just loves the Dr. Seuss shirt we brought back from our trip to Universal Studios last spring.

Now I have to save some money for our next trip to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck come October. But first, I need to knit some of the yarn in my stash before I can even think about adding to it!