Mischief Maker

A quick little post this week.

This is a photo my daughter took of her son, Moose. Boy! Does that expression say it all?! I wonder what kind of mischief he's cooking up.

Warm, Cozy Knits

Elaine finished a winter hat for her granddaughter. It knit up in no time flat and looks so cute. I'll have to get her to take a photo of Alex in it to show you.

We're working on shawls and scarves for a chemo treatment center and have a bunch finished already to show you.

Kathleen finished two shawls this week and we're making button closures for them both with buttons she found in her daughter's button collection.

They are both knitted in an acrylic yarn to make them machine washable and dryable.

This little pink shawlette is being held together with a wooden knitting straight pin. I used Marks and Kattens Savann yarn. I tried to use up all three skeins and had only a little over a yard of yarn left.

This closeup shows that the pattern is just garter stitch alternating with stockinette stitch divided by a row of eyelet yarnovers.

You can see it blocking out next to my Lazy Day Lace Shawl. The blue shawl is from a free pattern offered at

http://hugsforyourhead.blogspot.com/2009/09/lazy-day-lace-shawl-free-pattern.html

I used two and a half skeins of Mirasol Chirapa 100% merino wool.

It was a very easy pattern to follow and I like the results so much I might make some extras for gifts.

Have you started your Christmas knitting yet?

A Day at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival

The weather predictions for this weekend were sounding ominous so I waited until very late Friday night to decide to go to the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival. As it turned out the sun was shining nicely early Saturday morning when Ron and I left for my annual romp through the fibers.

By the time this billboard shows up there are about three or four more miles to the festival and that's when my heart started pounding with excitement.
We arrived at 9:15AM and already the line was about half an hour long. The wind was blowing across the fields of the parking lot and it was freezing. Ron decided he didn't need to see the sheep that badly and walked back to the car to wait for me in the sunshine warmed comfort. I was all bundled up in my winter coat and alpaca scarf so I was impervious to the cold. Have I mentioned what a saint he is? His parting words were, "Take your time and enjoy yourself. Don't worry about me. I'll find something to do." It's a good thing he had his cell phone with him. I think he called everyone in his phone list. LOL!

Getting there early works out well for me because I don't like large crowds. At 9:30AM this was about as big as the crowd grew. Can't say it stayed the same though.

The first few buildings house the animals along side the vendors. I got a kick out of this sign.

You can see why they would be! Just look at those big brown eyes. How could anyone resist?

This was the biggest, scariest sheep I have ever seen in my life! At one point he had his head over the rail.

Didja have a hard night, goat? Check out the different angles of his horns.

The llamas are cute too.

When I had my fill of the animals and my nose started itching, I knew it was time to move on to check out the goodies. It's amazing what talent people have! This whole village was made of felted elves and animals. It was darling!

And this is the kind of fiber with which they are made.


I love the pastels of this group. But being the sort of impatient person I am, I don't want to spend any time spinning yarn from this fiber. I want to get right to the knitting.


The colors everywhere were beautiful.


And the weavers outdid themselves this year.

I took this photo for my grandson. Look Moose! It's Marlin and Coral and Nemo!

There were other artisans there too besides spinners, weavers, and knitters. Check out the details on this "Lamb-O-Lantern".

What an artist!

Another artist at work hooking rugs.

And speaking of art... This is a spinning wheel, believe it or not! It was highly polished like a piece of fine furniture. Just gorgeous!!!

This gentleman took time out from spinning to play a few songs on his banjo.

Was the Jolly Green Giant here? Did I miss him?

The traditional and contemporary side by side. Somehow it feels wrong to use an electric spinning wheel.

The hand turned drop spindles were beautiful. I almost bought one just because, but I restrained myself.

It's funny how peaceful spinning can be. It's a real meditative act. I don't think she was aware of all the people and animals that were fussing around her.

The same Andean Band was back again this year. Their music floats through the air so I had to buy one of their CDs. Hey Chicks! You'll hear it this week when we knit.

There was a new addition to the attractions this year but I thought walking would be better exercise.

The colors in the trees were just as pretty as the colors of the fibers.

But I was getting hungry and Ron had waited long enough. So I called it a day
and headed back to the car. And in case you're wondering...no, I didn't buy any yarn. Nothing screamed out at me. But I did purchase two handmade dichroic glass beads to make a shawl pin. It was a fun excursion into the wonderful world of fiber and I look forward to next year's festival.

One Project Finished, A New One Started and Picking Apples with Moose

The helmet liners are done! The evening group of knitters graciously offered to model them. We made a total of twelve helmet liners, two neck warmers, and a dozen Christmas stockings, which were all sewn by our "Crochet Queen" Karen Ayres.

Barbara modeled the Bird's Nest Smoke Ring I knitted for my sister. I used Mini Mochi from Crystal Palace Yarns. It is a merino and nylon sock weight yarn that is as soft as a cloud. I love the colors too.
Our project for the next few months will be to make scarves, shawls, and hats to donate to New York Oncology and Hematology for their patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. Barbara picked out a lovely fall combination of colors.

Elaine finished one shawl already and has enough yarn left to make another. She is using Lion Brand Homespun to make a very soft and cozy shawl in the prettiest teal blue.

Kathleen finished the reversible cables baby blanket that was featured last week. It's on the armrest alongside her peach and sage triangular shawl. This week she worked on a light blue shawl and beamed with pride as she told us all about her newest great grandchildren, twins, a boy and a girl. We loved hearing all about her visit with them and the great progress they're making since their four week early arrival.

My daughter and grandson drove up last week for a short visit to pick some apples before it was too late.

Poppop and I took them to our favorite orchard, Indian Ladder Farms in Voorheesville. It's the same orchard where Moose's Daddy proposed to his Mommy. Too bad Dad had to work. He wasn't able to join us this time.

Moose spotted some good apples right away.

But they were a little too high up to reach.

We walked further into the orchard and found some trees with apples at Moose's level. He was having a grand old time finding the nice ones.

But he thought the idea was to eat them all right then and there! He couldn't decide which one to eat first.

This one must have looked better.

It's hard to smile with a mouthful of juicy, fresh apples.

Once our apple bags were filled it was time to get our fresh made cider donuts and cider. So off to the farm store we headed.

But where are the donuts? We had to wait for them to finish cooking.

In the meantime, the fresh squeezed cider was sooooo delicious!

We had time to play on the farm equipment in the playground but it was getting late.

We finally got our donuts but had to eat them in the car. It was a fun afternoon at the orchard.

But all too soon it was time to go home and bake some pies!