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are soon parted in this household. DH's favorite holiday is Halloween. And this is what he does at this time of year:
Tonight, we'll be carving all those pumpkins. I love it! I guess the kids inherited the love for this holiday. 
Here we have Cap'n Morgan and then Snape and a very vivid friend.
Last weekend, I made the long trip to NC for their delightful fiber festival, SAFF. It's a smaller festival when compared to the biggies like Rhinebeck and MDSW, but it has charm and a very inviting friendliness that makes it well worth the 1600 mile round trip. Especially since I stop on the way to pick up a very good friend who lives in one of my favorite areas of the country, the Blue Ridge Mountains. I didn't get my car back from service in time, but the dealer did authorize a rental (Dodge Grand Caravan so we had lots of room!). Something else that didn't make the trip: my camera. Grrrr. But I did pull out the camera once I got home.
I didn't buy a lot of fiber this time, just 8 ounces of camel/silk roving and 
one cormo lamb fleece with wonderful length, crimp and softness. I had to defend my choice of fleece! As I stood there oohing and ahhhing with my hands in the bag of fleece, another woman came up, took a couple locks out of the same fleece. So I said to Leslie, "I can't leave this behind" and gathered the bag into my arms. The woman gave me a very sour look, said snippishly "well, you might as well have this too, but you know, I was here too." Well, yes, she was. But too late. Mine! All mine!!
I also succombed to some yarn. All the pre and post Rhinebeck singing of praises about Brooks Farm yarn piqued my interest. They had a lovely booth display at SAFF, so Leslie and I spent a good bit of time there fondling. You really can't fondle this stuff and not come away with something. I picked up 4 skeins of the merino Four Play (and no, not because of the name - it's the only yarn they had that didn't have mohair in it). This stuff is so soft!!! I decided on the 4 different colorways for a simple triangle shawl. I want a shawl and I want it soon. I'm not a particularly fast knitter to begin with, so a lace shawl is going to be a much longer project. So, I'm working diligently on a basic triangle shawl. The pattern:
CO 3
Row 1: K 3 across
Row 2: P3 across
Row 3: K1, YO, K1, YO, K1 (5 stitches)
Row 4 and all remaining even numbered rows: Purl across
Row 5 and all remaining odd numbered rows: K1, YO, K until one stitch before the center stitch, YO, K1 (this is the center stitch, a good idea to place a marker before this stitch), YO, knit until one stitch remains on needle, YO, K1. That's a total of 4 increases per odd numbered row.
I'm sure someone somewhere has published a pattern like this. The pattern I adapted starts with garter stitch, which is not my favorite, so I'm doing stockinette instead. I'm also not using the suggested texture variations. I want simple and fast and a bit mindless - a great Stitch n Bitch project.
Here's my progress so far. I started with the lightest colorway and have now introduced the next color, alternating for a number of rows with the first color. When I think I've got enough of the first color for part of the edging, I'll use just the second color for a while, then introduce the third color alternating with the second, eventually using only the third color, and then bring in the 4th color. A variation on the color scheme in Charlotte's Web.
I also picked up some tools: an umbrella swift so I don't have to spend 3 hours untangling a gorgeous yarn because I can't be bothered to wait a few minutes until my skein holder gets off the phone, a McMorran yarn balance (now to figure out how to use it!), and a fine piece of woodworking in the 
form of a crochet hook. The hook came from Hooked On Needles, an up and coming business I first found at SAFF last year. They make beautiful wooden crochet hooks and knitting needles in a variety of great woods. The business owners are a young couple from somewhere in the area of SAFF. I love their work! Once they get their website on line, I'll post a link.
This little fella went to his new home in Massachusetts a few days ago and his identical brother is now in New Jersey. I still have their 4 sisters, 2 REW (albino) who are pretty much identical, one black and one wild gray agouti. I'm debating whether to keep the wild gray. She's pretty darn appealing! They are German hybrid angoras, 2 months old, the result of Merry Hoppins choosing a date without consulting me. At least she didn't try to hide her actions so I know the dad is Rebel, a very friendly chocolate agouti buck born here almost a year ago. Both Merry and Rebel are exceptionally friendly and they passed that trait on to their kids. These babies just tumble into my arms every chance they get!
You know this face. The Incomparable Harlot. We missed her at Rhinebeck. As much joy and laughter and helluva good times as she has given us, I know we all shared a wish: somehow to comfort her through that which has no comfort ever, the loss of a loved one. So when I found out she was resuming the bookbookbook tour with an appearance at Willow Books and Cafe, I begged the use of DH's car (since the loaner I'm using isn't allowed out of state nor more than 100 miles per day) and off I sped crazily as the speed demon inside took control drove.
First off, Willow Books and Cafe is quite the delightful place. I arrived two hours early - no, not from fast driving. I left well in advance of the slightly more than two hours the drive would take without traffic. But this is megalopolis land - no traffic??? Please! Around here, generations of people have no idea what that is like. So I left before highway hysteria began. I brought homework since I really should have stayed home to do that instead. But this event is related. Right? I'm taking a writing class. This event was writers signing their books and demonstrating the wit that makes them book worthy to begin with. So it's justified. Yeah, that's the story. So, I sat cafe-ing at the book store, reading a short story written by a classmate and sipping soup. Butternut Squash and Apple soup, to be precise. Yum! I recommend it!
And then the Others started showing up. I didn't photograph them. Damn! But there was much chatting and much laughter and oh, so many bloggers! Sandy, Geek Pixie, Sharon, Carole, and sooo many more whose faces I can see so clearly but can't match names, given or blog, to those faces. Julia was there, I saw her in the parking lot, even said hi, catch you later tonight? But, that was the last I saw of her.
This is Linda, introducing the Main Event: readings from Knit Lit the Third. You think these authors are terrific on paper? Well, they are of course. But in person... well, gourmet, cordon bleu, and any other word or phrase that screams outstanding! In short, it was worth the drive. And the price of the book.
Elliot Carpenito, author of "Michael," brought for show and tell two of the sweet, shades of blue baby sweaters he knit and wrote about. Aren't they cute??? His story is quite heart warming.
Margaret Wilson favored us with tales of Fleetwood Mac, "a six-foot tall vegetarian with brown eyes you could swim in and a cocoa-colored wooly fleece that was a fiber lover's dream." Now, please, after reading that sweet appetizer, don't tell me you can resist this book.
If you can still resist this book, then check out Norah Piehl's just too funny ditty: "Ribbed For Her Pleasure." She rivals Harlot in hilarity.
Stephanie is a master of segue. After Norah had us totally tipsy with laughter, Stephanie stepped to the microphone to read her entry. First she had to adjust the microphone. "Look at this, it's flaccid. Norah scared it." Read Norah's story and you'll understand. And with the book in hand, you'll also be able to delight in The Harlot's own little horror story in the airport.
Twenty six years ago, this day dawned with pretty much the same beautiful sky and just warm enough sun as graces the day today. I was an Airman in the United States Air Force, no real clue what I wanted to do with my life but taking a class at a nearby college in a determined effort to figure it out . It was a Friday and we only had half a day of work because the commander had decreed a picnic. So, with a lovely afternoon for socializing and snacking, what to do? The BF and I grabbed my boss and my best friend as witnesses, drove to Annapolis and eloped. We weren't even drunk! We'd known each other for a grand total of 3 months. We'd only begun planning a New Year's Eve wedding, we had no rings, no wedding dress, no money and we lived in separate barracks (ok, so mine was much more a college dorm suite). Our "reception" consisted of stopping at a Dairy Queen on the drive back to the base to toast with milkshakes. No photos what so ever mark that day. That is my one regret. Here's to ya, Hon!
Robert and I are not speaking. This, of course, after a multitude of words, pretty much all of them of the rude variety and all from me aimed directly at Robert. You may remember Robert: the first of my lace squares for the NETA group afghan, the square I finished, then blogged and said don't tell me there's a mistake in there. I'm not really a perfectionist, but the beauty in the symmetry of lace kind of demands perfect stitchery in the finished project. 
So, yeah, I ripped. A L L of it. Since the second half of that square flowed so much more easily than the first, the rhythm having been so sweetly singing in my brain, I sort of expected the second attempt at the whole square would flow more easily than the first. Ha! That's the beast in this beauty showing up. I've already started over about 6 times. That photo to the left? Yeah, ripped that work too. I'm taking a time out with Robert.
Susan, on the other hand, proved far more friendly. Susan is the second of the two lace afghan squares. I love Susan! I knit her up in about three sessions over a 24 hour time frame. She's done. Not blocked yet but done otherwise. And I don't find any mistakes. Only the truly mean spirited would tell me if they find a mistake in there.
Both of these lace patterns come from Myrna Stahman's delightful book on Faroese shawls and Seamen's scarves. The yarn is Bartlet, wool donated by the very generous Beth of Unique One in Maine.
Well, just looky here! Yup, that was the sky over NYSW at Rhinebeck yesterday. I guess enough crossed fingers and promises to the right goddesses prevailed. The skies weren't so promising when I first set out yesterday. I fed rabbits at 5:30 am in the rain, and we traveled to Rhinebeck in rain, detoured around a flooded highway section. But by mid-morning, that glorious bright blue broke out amid applause and many a hearty grin. The fibering and friendship would have been worth it without the great weather, but that sure did add a welcome touch to the day.
Here are some of the great Stitch n Bitchers I traveled with (left to right): Amy, Pam, Paula and Karen. Pam, Paula, and Karen, I'm proud to say, are my personal corruptees, fiber addicts in training. What better company with whom to travel to a fiber festival?? The other ladies in the day's entourage were a bit more camera elusive and I don't find them in any of my photos. Dang!
For me, meet ups rather than spending ruled the day. Yeah, yeah - you know I bought. And encouraged those addicts in training, too. But there were far more hugs and how are you's and happy catching ups than dollars flowing all day. 
Near Taste Buds (home of that oh so yummy chocolate stuff!) by the 4-H gate entrance, some NETA folks gathered for this photo. The lady in the yellow rain gear, if I got the info correctly, is the lovely Vanessa all the way from Florida. NETA stands for New England Textile Arts. As an organization, we really don't exist. But this marvelous group of so many varied spirits mesh to create much wonder and good, culminating once a year with a soul warming gathering of several hundred folks traveling from all over New England, NY, PA and who knows what other distant places to Portland, Maine in February to relax and fiber. This is the group for which I am knitting the lace afghan squares. The finished afghans will be raffled off in Portland and the proceeds will be donated to The Ship's Project to offset postage costs (anyone interested in participating in knitting for The Ship's Project, go here).
Now, at any sheep and wool festival, you expect to encounter incredible sheep. 
But this lovely ewe wandering the grounds was a particularly delightful bit of whimsy for the day. I say ewe not just because of the pink ribbon barely visible on the side of her head (she's also got a big blue ribbon pinned to her back - well deserved, don'tcha think?), but also because of a later encounter I witnessed. A man came up to nuzzle the ewe and asked her with quite the (dare I???) sheepish grin, "wanna get sheared?"
And then there was the great Bloggers Meet Up. Yeah, you can imagine the throng that gathered. Lots of friendly folk with cameras clicking, showing off sweaters and shawls and socks and all manner of knit wit. 
The common introduction was not by first name of course, but by blog name: kind of like "This is Crazy Fiber Lady. Meet Scrubberbum at Moth Heaven." Far more folks gathered to chat than could possibly fit in one photo. I particularly liked how Mom of Twins paired up so well with Pregnant with Twins. I did get photos of each of them, but together? No, of course not.
That would have made too much sense! So here they
are in separate photos. The lady in the pretty taupey color sweater is the early pregnant with twins. I think her name is Michelle, if I remember my blog reading correctly. Getting names straight yesterday was NOT on the agenda.
Update: Lauren helps out: Pregnant with twins is Melanie, not Michelle. Thanks, Lauren!! And my appologies to Melanie for screwing up your name.
And now for the buying part. Super Bitchin' Stichers Paula and Pam are officially newbie spinners. I introduced them to Sheila and Jonathan Bosworth at Journey Wheels and those sweet top whorl spindles Jonathan makes. 
Both Pam and Paula are now each proud owners of a Bossie and a small supply of blue faced leicester top. What a great combination! And I gotta say, as much fun as it is to buy stuff for myself, it's every bit as delicious to spend vicariously through newbies. Not to mention easier on my own wallet. The damage to my wallet: my own new Bossie, a mini in zebrawood, 2 pounds of bombyx silk top, and an irresistable true black hogget fleece of unknown crossbred but loaded with crimp and super soft fineness. I also got my Fricke's Big Ball Winder dropped off to Otto Strauch for upgrading to his standard (mine, purchased only last spring, apparently came from old stock made before Otto bought that part of the company and made much needed improvements to the design). Enough to satisfy, but leaving some options open for the next fiber festival I will be attending: SAFF coming up next week. I know I am one lucky gal!
Yeah, that's the lace square for a group afghan project. Finished! Wheeee! Don't tell me there's a mistake in it. Especially don't tell me there are two mistakes in it. I've already started my second square for this group afghan and it's coming along pretty well. I'm on row 11 already. My knitting skills are progressing: I'm catching my mistakes within a few stitches rather than after I finish the knitting and already take the photo a few rows after I make the mistake. Much more convenient that way. Lace knitting has redefined nirvana for me. Nirvana now means making lace just once, not 5 #*%&!+# times for each row. I'm not there yet.
Another happy note today: this sweet Darlin' Lili kindled a nice litter of 6 fat wigglers right in her nest box like she's supposed to do. She's a first time mom so things could have gone quite the other way. Lili is a pure German, excellent coat from old lines - her daddy had color babies in pretty much every color. The sire of Lili's babies is Greenberry House's Muffin Man, aka the oh so not original name of Blue (ok, think hard, now - what color is this rabbit? Sorry - no prizes for a correct guess). What I know of the genetics of this pairing so far is that Blue most likely does not carry an albino gene. All of the babies are colored rather than albino. Lili, as a pure German, is albino (aka REW). That's a recessive trait which overrides all other color expression. If Blue carried one albino gene, the chances of at least one albino baby showing up is pretty good. What I don't know yet is what colors these babies are. At this point, I suspect self black and self blue, precisely what I hoped for. Torte is another possibility and I'd be quite happy with that, too. I should have a better idea in a few days.
My other big deal these days is my car. Any of you who know me know how much I love my car. She's a great station wagon who does not know she's a wagon, so I don't tell her. I only know it when I look at her from the outside. But lately, she's been feeling under the weather. Last week, she got new lifters. Not what should happen to a gal in the prime of life. And not the solution either, as time has proven. Got her back about 8 days ago and the noise was still there. Took her back in on Monday. Finally got a diagnosis today: she broke a ring on two separate pistons, something that happens in this engine (V-6 turbo), in the words of the mechanic fixing her, "never to almost never." The service folks, even at the manufacturer's, don't know why this happened. It shouldn't have. The service manager said by looking at the engine, he could tell I've taken care of her. He said this kind of damage usually shows up in a seriously neglected car and there is lots of collateral damage as well. Not so in my car. No other damage, nicely clean and maintained engine. And changing the lifters out probably was unnecessary. There is apparently no explanation for why this happened (it was built on a Friday?? Or someone came in drunk whatever day she was built??). The end result: she's getting a new engine. Bless her big heart for doing this while the warranty is still in effect!!!!
There are things I'm supposed to be doing. Things clamoring for attention. But I want to blog. It's been too long - 8 days now and I've been aware of each day without my writing a blog entry. Something has to be posted! (nope, that's not a link, it's frustration busting out.)
I have been knitting. A bit. Some Margene like angst going on there. My "big" project at the moment: a 12" x 12" lace afghan square. Progress is of the 3 steps forward 1 to 4 steps back variety. I have reached a total length of 9 inches on this square now. Again. I think this is about the 5th time I've hit that milestone. Will this time be the break through? Will I actually be able to knit the next couple rows for some "real" progress??? Hmmm.... more on that tomorrow.
This is DS the Y the day of the dance. Isn't it wonderful the influence of a teenage girl on the sartorial habits of a teenage boy? This rude t-shirt/baseball cap/jeans and chains kinda guy actually reminded me we had to go shopping for some dress up clothes! For him! Gotta love the girl that inspired that.
And another big moment for DS the Y: 
This is his new guitar. DS the Y plans a career in music. Check out those l o nnnnnn gg fingers! Perfect for his plan. The kid is a lefty and left handed guitars are not that plentiful. He recently went to a concert with his dad and discovered the guitarist in the opening act was also a lefty. Who played left handed (apparently a lot of lefties play guitar right handed). That lefty is somewhat local to us. The kid, throught the magic of the internet, contacted the guitarist for advice on left handed guitars. Of course, the guy had one for sale. Not just any guitar, mind you. But the "flying V" pictured on his website, a prototype made for him. I wasn't home when the deal went down but apparently the guitar plays quite well. DS the Y didn't think to get a photo with the guy, but did convince him to sign it. That's the signature up there on the top above the kid's hand and between the metal thingies. Yeah. One happy dude.
And now I must hit the books. Homework is calling.
Jane wants to see your socks! Your handknit finished socks, that is. She wants to see them enough that she's giving away prizes - yeah, sock yarn. Pretty sock yarn! Brown Sheep Wildfoote - "Brilliant Bouquet", Mountain Colors Bearfoot - "Flathead Cherry", and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock - "Black Purl" - you get a chance to win just by linking a photo of your socks to her blog comments. Hey, wait... why am I telling you about this when I want to win??? Forget leaving a link, I didn't tell you about that. Just go look at all the pretty socks out there.
In poking around, I found a new reader to my blog. Kelly, The Gabby Knitter. Turns out Kelly is a fellow guild member and I sat next to her during the Judith McKenzie program on Saturday. She said some nice things about me on her blog - I like her!! So wander over and say howdy. The picture of her Boston terrier/Pug mix Gabby is worth the trip alone! But be careful - Kelly is already corrupting getting me hooked on a new project idea with a link on her blog to the Angelina Vintage Jacket. I think it would look ridiculous on me but it would make a great Christmas present for DD (shhhh! Don't tell DD - I might not get it done!)
Now, I can't leave you without a picture. This sweet little ragamuffin so in need of clipping is the Puff Daddy baby I introduced here in September, then nameless. She started out small, the only girl in the litter. Whether she goes on to be a mother for me depends on how she develops. Just because they start out small, doesn't mean they will necessarily stay small. I've seen some runts suddenly spurt to the head of the class in size. Of course, size is not the biggest consideration - health, body type, quality of fiber, quantity of fiber are all important factors. She's a sweetheart, though, which, next to health, is tops in my list of musts. I finally came up with a name for her. Little Miss Puffet.
Judith McKenzie! As program director of Nutmeg Spinner's Guild for the 2004/2005 year (our organizational year runs from July to June), I had the great pleasure and responsibility of planning our programs. Judith was of course one of the tops on my list of possibilities dreams come true (Alden Amos and Stephanie Gaustad right up there with her, of course). I first met Judith at MDSW 2004, though I'd heard of her in glowing terms often before then. I couldn't take a workshop with her there, but through some wonderful fluke of fate, I did get to buy a rambouillet fleece (remember orange mango tango?) from her (yummy fleece made all the more precious by finding out her travel schedule doesn't allow her to have her flock anymore - sigh). So of course I invited her to our guild. She so far exceeded my hopes this weekend! 
Look at all that rapt 
attention! With a guild the size of Nutmeg (close to 100 members with over 50 attending the guild meeting this weekend), it's very easy for a speaker to lose a lot of the audience to chit chat, vendors or the snack table. But not Judith! She kept us totally absorbed in her wit and wisdom about wheels well beyond our usual quitting time. And for some us, the magic didn't end with the meeting. We had a workshop on Sunday, topic Handspinning for Handknitters. We did some wonderful sampling stuff, 
especially playing with ratio and how to get the wheel to spin what we want rather than what the wheel will do. The bunch of samples to the left are some that I produced, primarily by adjusting the tension on my wheel. Oh, what fun! I have sooo much practicing to look forward to! Do sign up for a Judith workshop whenever you get the chance!
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