Archives for October 2006

Social Butterflies

October 31, 2006 By Carole

ETA: I put a picture of my Halloween costume at the bottom of this post just to make you all happy

This past weekend was a very sociable one for my family.

Dale’s cousin’s daughter got married on Saturday evening and the family gang was there in full force. It was a beautiful ceremony in a very old church. And the reception at The Atlantica was fabulous. We had a wonderful time eating, talking and dancing. And I might have consumed a martini or three.

Sunday was my (step)grandson’s Patrick’s birthday party hosted at Dale’s brother’s home. There were kids and grown ups and lots of fun for everyone. The kids played old-fashioned games and had a candy hunt in the backyard.

And now today is Halloween and that means more fun for the family. It means American Chop Suey for dinner, a family tradition since I was a little girl. And it means we get to see those adorable grandchildren again. Sadly for Hannah this year it does not mean trick or treating. She’s decided, somewhat reluctantly, that she’s just a little too old now, so instead she’ll be at home, handing out the candy. Of course this means that Dale and I can relax and watch scary movies on television instead of jumping up and answering the door every 5 minutes.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Watch out for those little goblins. And because you’re asking, here’s my Halloween costume for today:

I’m feeling a little horny.

Socktoberfest Socks

October 30, 2006 By Carole

I’m a constant sock knitter, as you all know. And yet, I only managed to finish one pair of socks for Socktoberfest.

Pattern: Feather and Fan from Socks Socks Socks
Yarn: A Piece of Vermont Sock Yarn
Dates: 9/21/2006 – 10/26/2006

This is the 4th time I have knit this particular sock pattern and I never get tired of it. I use Magic Loop with Size 1 Addis and only modify the pattern slightly – I don’t do that garter ridge when I transition from the leg to the ankle. Oh, and I make the leg a bit longer than the pattern indicates.

I wore these yesterday and they are wonderful. The blues in the yarn go perfectly with jeans, which is exactly what I wanted. I do feel a bit like a slacker for returning to the same pattern so frequently, but honestly, I love it so much that I can’t help myself. And I have enough rules in my life, I’m certainly not going to impose one on myself about what sock patterns I can and cannot knit!

That said, my current socks are not Feather and Fan. Just saying.

Eye Candy Friday

October 27, 2006 By Carole

Most people have Christmas cactus, right? Well, here at the public library we have a Halloween cactus.
It’s beautiful, even if it is confused about when it’s supposed to bloom.

Want A Quilt?

October 26, 2006 By Carole

Not to worry, this isn’t turning into a quilting blog. BUT. I actually quilted at quilting a few weeks ago and I have a bit of bragging to do.

This quilt was a true collaborative effort of my entire “Hungry Crafters” group. You might remember that my quilt group used to be called the “Hungry Quilters” but since these days most of us often knit instead of quilt, we have changed our name to “Hungry Crafters”. You’ll notice: we’re still hungry. You’ll also notice: we still get together every Wednesday. It’s the getting together that matters, not the hobby pursued while we’re together.

In any case, this quilt was put together by all six of us. Some of us pieced and some of us cut and some of us pressed. The color scheme was my idea but everyone contributed scraps for the project. Lois did the quilting and I sewed the binding in place. It’s being donated to the History Alliance at Hannah’s school. They will sell raffle tickets for a fundraiser for this year’s trip to Richmond, VA. Hannah visited New York City with this group last year and will be going on this year’s trip as well so it’s fitting that those of us who love and support Hannah should make this contribution on her behalf.

I don’t have details yet on the tickets but I will soon. In the meantime, if anyone wants to buy tickets, let me know. I’ll cover the cost of shipping the quilt to you if you should win.

The Rhinebeck Haul

October 25, 2006 By Carole

Unlike some people, I did not prepare a list for Rhinebeck. I figured an open mind, along with an open wallet, was the way to approach my first big ass fiber festival. The only thing I publicly stated was that I was not going to buy a fleece. Did I or didn’t I? You’ll have to wait until the end of the post to find out.

In the meantime, I promised you the haul and the haul you shall see.

My first purchase of the day. Lovely Grafton Fiber batts. Never mind that I already have 4 batts from Linda Diak at home. Never mind that I’ll most likely see her at SPA where there will be less of a frenzy to purchase. It just seemed like the right thing to purchase first.

Seafoam Cashmere and Silk from Foxfire Fiber. Of course, this is also available to me locally. But still. It’s cashmere and silk and it’s soft and lovely and I succumbed.

Brooks Farm Yarn. 2 skeins of the 2 ply kid mohair. I generally don’t buy yarn at fiber festivals because you can get all the yarn you need online and it’s a known commodity. But Brooks Farm isn’t available online, at least not in all the fabulous colors they have in their booth. So, I stood in line and it was worth it. Obviously, since I cast on the muted neutrals skein almost immediately. It will be a nice Old Shale pattern scarf for me. The red will eventually be a shawl of some sort. I’m open to suggestions for an appropriate pattern for 500 yards of very soft mohair.

Icelandic mixed with Baby Alpaca from Frelsi Farm. The color was irresistible to me. And soft! Too bad we don’t have touch-o-vision computer screens.

Eight ounces of this gorgeous green/blue blend from Spinner’s Hill. I picked this up on Sunday. There were better colors and larger amounts available on Saturday but the feeding frenzy was just a little too intense and I walked away. Margene got some gorgeous red from them, though. Wait until you see that.

Three batts of Lincoln Cross from Barneswallow Farm. I had the two green ones in my hand and then Kim threw the rose one at me. She made me buy these. Really, she did.

Spirit Trail Fiberworks CVM on the left. I didn’t make it to the fleece sale in time to score a CVM fleece so I went the easy route and bought some roving instead. The color is like melted chocolate and I know it will spin like a dream. This and That Farm’s Cormo pin drafted roving on the right. Because while bright colors are nice, natural is even nicer. And it smells yummy and all lanolin-y. Mmmmmm.

So, the fleece. Did I or didn’t I?

Yup. I did. But it’s a Shetland and it only weighs 2.5 pounds. That hardly even counts. And the guy that was selling it was such a hottie, I was powerless to resist.

And that’s all, folks. I came home with a smile in my heart and money in my pocket. And I think this is enough fiber to hold me until SPA, don’t you?