Glitter on the ground can mean only one thing . . . we went to King Richard’s Faire this weekend. We seem to be on an every-other-year schedule and, given how expensive it is, that’s probably a good thing. It was a beautiful fall day, though, and it was wonderful to be in the woods and with the fairies and gypsies, the knights and pirates, the king and his court and all the magical creatures.

I had my handsome wizard with me, of course. It’s so much fun to go to events like this with Dale because he loves to dress up in costumes and play at being someone else for a while. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – he’s just a big kid and it’s probably the thing I love most about him.

The faire was as colorful as always, with bright decorations hanging from the trees.

And so many things for sale, like these colorful floral wreaths.

There was also beer for sale, thank goodness.

The entertainment was as good as always. The king’s court did a number based on Livin’ on a Prayer but they changed the words to Livin’ for the Faire. Their song lyrics are always quite clever and watching them perform is one of my favorite parts of going to the faire. Please to note the monk with the electric guitar. Heh.

The street performers are also quite good and we had fun watching a duel between a couple of them. We had a chance to chat with them a bit later in the afternoon and it was really interesting to hear about their lives, moving from faire to faire. They both seem to love what they are doing and said they are lucky to make a living at it for right now.

It seems like everyone at the fair is in a good mood and that’s probably what makes it so fun. There’s laughter and entertainment and the people watching is fantastic. I can’t think of a better way to spend a gorgeous fall Saturday with my husband.

And that’s what I’ll keep telling myself when I start reading about everyone’s trips to Rhinebeck.

While Hannah was picking out new boots the other day, I was picking out a new pair of high heels. Yes, they are silly and impractical, but I love them. They have bling and they make me feel pretty and sexy. I can’t wear them with handknit socks but hey, you can’t have everything.

I’ll definitely be wearing handknit socks this weekend, though. How about you?

There were a couple of things that inspired me to start sewing and quilting again. One was my trip to Keepsake Quilting. Seeing all the fabric and beautiful quilts definitely motivated me. The other thing, though, was making ribbon streamers for Dale’s birthday party earlier this summer.

You may recall that we had a carnival theme for this party and I really wanted the tent to explode with color. We had brightly colored table cloths and candy, giant tissue paper globes and more, all in an attempt to bring lots of color to the party. I didn’t want to spend money on flowers or balloons so I decided to make ribbon streamers for each corner of the tent.

I bought a whole mess of ribbon on sale at Michael’s. I got lots of colors and patterns, along with different widths and textures. I cut them into 7′ lengths to that they would be long enough to hang from the edge of the tent to the ground.

Then I routed through fabric scraps from my quilting days. I think I used one orange, one green, one red and one blue. I cut rectangles that were 24″ long by 4″ wide. I folded those in half and pressed them. I also pressed in the edges so that they wouldn’t fray.

I then laid out a fabric “pocket” against a ruler and evenly placed the ribbons across the length of the fabric. I wasn’t too fussy about this part and mixed up the colors a lot. I tried to make sure each piece of fabric got at least a couple of sparkly ribbons mixed in with the satin and grosgrain ones. And I tried to mix up the colors as much as possible.

I pinned each ribbon in place and then sewed a seam along the edge of the fabric.  It was, as Lois calls it, quick and dirty sewing, but it had great results.

The day of the party I hung a ribbon streamer from each corner of the tent.

They added color and life to what would have been just a plain tent.

They danced in the wind and really looked beautiful.

I think it cost about $30 for all the ribbon and the rest of the supplies were things I already had. It took me just over an hour to make all four pieces.  DIY Ribbon Streamers  are a very good decoration.

Hannah has told me many times about the little park near her school where she and her friends like to go and hang out. I’ve never had the chance to visit it myself, though, as picking her up always seems to be a rushed affair. Last Friday, however, Dale and I deliberately arrived 1/2 hour before she expected us so that we could go take a walk through this park. It was enchanting.

There are walking trails throughout, making it easy to stroll about. There is a beautiful little pond, full of ducks and there are more chipmunks than I have ever seen in my life.

There is the awesome structure with a water wheel. The wheel wasn’t moving but it sure was picturesque. I wish the water had been a little smoother so that I could have captured a reflection without distortion but I did my best with the conditions.

And there is a beautiful stone bridge. I half expected to see a troll underneath it – it looks like something right out of a fairy tale.
We spent about 30 minutes or so just wandering around, enjoying the flora and fauna and the beautiful weather. I can see why the kids like to hang out here. Just before it was time to go we came upon this pretty house surrounded by lots of colorful flowers.

I would have loved to sit for a while and knit on this bench by the front door, but  it was time to go pick up my girlie. I hadn’t seen her in 5 weeks – even the lure of sunshine and knitting wasn’t strong enough to keep me there a minute longer.

It was a beautiful fall weekend here in New England. The temperatures were above normal, which is just fine with me, the skies were blue and the leaves were turning. It was the perfect weekend to do stuff and that’s why I want to talk about the 10 Things I Did This Weekend.

1. Drove west to bring Hannah home for the long weekend. The ride out was easy, the ride home took twice as long as it should have due to traffic. It was kind of a bummer.
2. Took Hannah shopping for boots. I bought her a pair on the first weekend she came home last year and she loved them so much she wore them out so we set out to replace them last Saturday. We had great success and Hannah has now declared this a Columbus Day weekend tradition.
3. Ate sushi. It was yummy.
4. Quilted. I’m working on another jelly roll quilt but this one is completely different than the last one.
5. Knit, of course. I made myself pick up Hannah’s Vivian sweater. It took a while to figure out where I had left off but I’m back on track. I’m currently stuck on sleeve island but I’m vowing to finish this up before I start anything else. Well, anything else except for socks because socks don’t count.
6. Watched football. The Pats beat the Jets and that makes me happy.
7. Cooked yummy food. This goes hand in hand with the football thing. We had buffalo chicken dip, stuffed mushrooms, and cheesy pepperoni bread. Good thing the kids came over to help us eat all that!
8. Had a fire in the fire pit. It was a great way to finish off Sunday evening when the football game was over. I also had the most delicious s’more I’ve ever had in my life. Thanks for that, Dale!
9. Sat outside in the sun. It was glorious and I soaked up what I could because it’s bound to be too cold very soon.
10. Walked. My birthday present to me this year is to take better care of myself and part of that commitment includes walking 3 times a week.

I do so love the photo ops that come with the arrival of fall in New England. Gourds and pumpkins, mums and haystacks, they all just beg for a moment in front of my lens. It’s a long weekend and that means more time for picture taking, knitting, hanging out and drinking. You know me, I’ll be making the most of it and I hope you will, too!

See you all on Tuesday!

I finished the Bali Pop Lap Quilt last weekend and I’m so excited to show it to you.

The colors are vibrant and gorgeous and it will be perfect for keeping my Hannah snuggly and warm this winter.

The pattern couldn’t have been easier. You just take all those strips and sew them together into one really long strip. Then you bring the two ends together with right sides facing, making sure not to twist the fabric. Sew that long seam. Snip it apart when you get to the end. Repeat.

It took about 90 minutes to sew the quilt top, then another hour to press it, square it up,  and attach the borders.  I sandwiched it with my backing fabric (same as the borders) and Warm ‘n Natural batting and then spent about two hours doing some free motion quilting.

I stippled Hannah’s name into the border at the top to personalize it. I already wish I’d included the date but I didn’t and, well,  done is better than perfect.

Once it was quilted, I squared it again, attached the binding and I was done.

It’s not a fancy or complex quilt and it’s certainly not the finest quilt I’ve ever made, but it was the perfect re-entry into quilting for me. And, let’s remember – it’s going to live in a dorm room.

Sunday afternoon during the half time of the Patriots game Dale and I went out into the yard and threw a football around. This might be standard half time behavior for lots of people but it was a first for me – - – not only had I never thrown a football but I’d never caught on, either. Don’t mock me, I only started liking football last year.

Anyway, I had the camera with me and suggested that Dale pose for a photo or two. He was wearing his Patriots jersey and I thought it would be fun to take some “action” shots of him with the football. I didn’t have to ask him twice – - – this man loves to play to the camera.

First he just stood there with the ball.

And then he pointed at me and held the ball as if he was about to throw it.

He spent some time throwing the ball up in the air and catching it. I tried to capture the action of him actually catching it but that was tough. I do like how you can see his hair moving in this one.

Finally, he posed as if he was hiking the ball. Yes, that’s a sneer on his face.

Have I ever mentioned that my husband is a ham?

Dale and I went to a lovely wedding this past weekend and it got me to thinking about how much I love weddings. And then I got to thinking about how lots of people love weddings. And that got me to decide on this week’s Ten on Tuesday topic, 10 Things You Love About Weddings.

1. Love. It’s the reason for the whole event and it’s so wonderful to just be in the midst of all that love.
2. Flowers. I love colorful bouquets and centerpieces. I love the style of bouquet that’s fashionable right now, too, with the stems cut evenly across and then wrapped in beautiful ribbon. Remember those awful plastic bouquet holders with the ruffled lace around the edges? Thank goodness those went away!
3. The wedding gown. I’m a sucker for a princess style dress with a full skirt but I think anything the bride loves is going to be perfect. That said, I’m tired of strapless wedding gowns and I’d like to see more variety in the necklines.
4. Pictures. I love to take pictures at weddings. I’m better at capturing the small moments and details than I am at portraits and group shots but I’m learning.
5. Open bar. I just love when there’s an open bar at a wedding. Ahem.
6. Cake. when I was little my mother taught me to bring home a slice of wedding cake and put it under my pillow. She said I would dream of my future husband. Now that I’m married I just eat the cake and that’s less messy and more enjoyable.
7. Dancing. Slow songs, waltzes, disco and line dances, it’s all part of the fun.
8. Little details. Hand lettered place cards, special favors, bows on chairs, baskets of necessities in the ladies room, it’s all those little details that add up to a great wedding.
9. Reminiscing. It’s inevitable that Dale and I will wind up reminiscing about our own wedding when we are at a wedding. We always agree that ours was the best – just as every other couple probably does about their own wedding, too.
10. Dressing up. I enjoy wearing a pretty dress and high heels and I really enjoy seeing Dale in his fancy clothes, too. I think the dressy clothes is part of what makes the day feel special.

A month or so ago I was at a library network meeting and I was knitting away on socks, as I’m wont to do at these monthly meetings. My friend Olivia was sitting next to me and she was also knitting but she was not knitting socks. She was knitting a Hitchhiker Scarf. You know where this is going, right?

I logged onto Ravelry with my precious my iPhone so that I could queue it up but found it was already in my queue. Hunh. I didn’t remember adding it but then I saw it was knit with Wollmeise and I’m pretty sure that’s why I put it in my queue. You see, I’ve been sort of . . . collecting . . . Wollmeise but I haven’t actually knit anything with it. I decided, with Olivia’s prodding, that it was time to take the plunge.

I am so glad I did.

The pattern is very simple and makes a great showcase for the color changes in this vibrant sock yarn.

The little sawteeth along the edge provide nice visual appeal.

I sort of couldn’t stop photographing them.

The garter stitch does get a little tedious but it knits up into such a squooshy fabric that it’s totally worth a little boredom.

I’m still not sure I understand the  frenzy that surrounds this yarn but I am glad I knit this scarf with it. It will be like a warm flame around my neck this fall.

And now that I’ve popped my Wollmeise cherry I’m sure I’ll be on the look out for more projects that use it.