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What could be more enjoyable than knit night? Knit night with a trunk show. Gather Here hosts a knit night called Pints N Purls. As the name suggests knitters gather to drink beer (or wine) and to knit. Beer, knitting and lively conversation - it's a great combination.
Last night at Pints N Purls we had the added bonus of a trunk show. Susan Gibbs from Juniper Moon Farm was on hand.
She has been working hard to launch a new line of yarn. After all her work the yarn is now available in stores, including Gather Here.
There are three different yarn blends, and each yarn has a book of patterns.
Susan brought the samples that were used in the books. It was a great way to see the yarn in action - the colors and textures, the possibilities.
Susan will be on the road this fall, traveling the countryside to promote her new yarn.
To find a list of stores that carry yarn from Juniper Moon Farm, check the stockist list. To find out if Susan and her trunk show will be in your area, check her tour schedule.
If you're in the Boston area, Dirty Water DyeWorks will have a booth at SoWa this Sunday. SoWa Open Market features local artisans and a wide variety of goods. It also includes a farmers' market. SoWa is open from 10:00 - 4:00. Click on the link for more details and directions.
It's the season for peaches here in New England. For me it's a sign that summer is coming to an end, and fall is just around the corner.
I bought over a bushel of peaches. Peach pie, peach sauce, peach cobbler or just by themselves. We are savoring this last taste of summer.
Peaches. My color inspiration for the week.
Sweet, juicy goodness.
The other day I finished the mystery blob. As I mentioned in a previous post, half the fun with this project is the finishing. Follow along as I share the process.
First of all the name of the mystery blob is Bad Oyster.
This pattern starts with a small number of stitches. Notice the straight panel that runs from top to bottom. Increases are placed on both sides of this 20-stitch panel, and the blob grows with every round. The pattern says to knit until the panel measures 18 inches or until you run out of yarn. I used the run out of yarn measurement.
Cast off all the stitches except the 20 panel stitches. Next comes the fun part - steeking. Note: you need a sharp scissors for this step.
Take the 20 live stitches off the needle and find the strand between the 10th and 11th stitches - the middle.
Grab the handy dandy scissors and start to cut.
Snip, snip, snip.
All the way down the panel.
Making sure to stay on track and in the middle.
Snipping all the way to the end of the panel.
The blob is cut open.
Now it's time to unravel.
The panel strands are sorted out and tied to make fringe.
Then it's on to blocking.
The bath and blocking help straighten out the kinky fringe.
In no time Bad Oyster is ready to wear.
The yarn is Dirty Water DyeWorks Lillian, colorway Sea Glass. Lillian is a soft, cushy 100% Superwash Merino yarn. You may be wondering about the name of this pattern. The design is all knit and no purl, hence the name Bad Oyster.
Yes, this will be another booth sample.
I love steeking. It's loads of fun and has many practical applications. I chose this pattern for the booth because it's a great introduction to steeking. Somehow cutting into a shawlette seems less intimidating than cutting into a whole sweater. If you've wanted to give steeking a whirl but have been terrified at the thought of cutting into your stitches, give it a try with this pattern.
I must admit at first I wasn't particularly drawn to the fringe. One of my daughters says it has a cowboy look.
Maybe so. But I've grown rather fond of it.
After a date with Irene yesterday, today dawned bright, clear and sunny. Mother Nature flexed her muscle, and New England will be cleaning up for quite some time. Western Massachusetts and Vermont were especially hard hit with severe flooding. Towns are under water, and covered bridges have been washed away. It's heartbreaking.
I rode out the storm with knitting in hand. The windows rattled, the house shook and I listened to a mysterious drip, drip, drip. All the while knit, knit, knit.
The mysterious blue-green blob grew.
The end is in sight.
I'm almost out of yarn. Then the real fun begins. Don't worry - I'll post all the details.
There was more knitting over the weekend, and I even managed to finish a lingering UFO. Those pictures will have to wait for another day.
I did put my knitting down long enough to do some baking.
Passing the time with peach pie.
New England is preparing for Hurricane Irene. Rather than tempt the fates, I did my part to get ready for the storm.
The first thing that people stock up on is water.
The water shelves are empty in many stores and stocking them is a full time job.
Someone convinced me I needed these. Granted the half dozen flashlights we already have don't work and are beyond repair.
High-intensity and tactical. I only hope that means they will generate enough light for me to see my knitting.
And I'm prepared with plenty of knitting.
Works currently in progress.
And perhaps something new.
I can't decide which color to use.
Before the summer slips away, I'm making an attempt at some family fun in the sun. The other day we managed a beach day. The weather was glorious - clear blue sky, nice breeze, low humidity. In my walk along the beach I discovered my color inspiration for the week.
Glistening green with just a smidge of yellow.
It's hard to believe, but I'm caught up with my dyeing. For the moment. I expect another delivery of yarn any day now, and then I'll be back in the thick of it.
But this unplanned little break has me thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts. Yarn bombing thoughts. I need someone who's tall. I may have to recruit a couple of kids for this project. While these ideas are taking shape, I leave you with . . .
THIS AND THAT
~ Do you ever feel that the days are getting away from you? That the weeks and months are just zipping by? Well, that could be the case if you get carried away with the Unraveling Calendar. Remember - days are meant to be unraveled one at a time.
~ If you ever had the feeling that your knitting was out of control, you may want to consider this. It looks like the handknit version of a Blue Man Group performer.
~ Finally, these knitted snails are adorable. And I love the instructions. "Basic knitting skills required; if you don't have these then get yourself along to a local knitting group." I couldn't have said it better myself.
I practice multi-tasking on many levels. Multi-tasking works well for me, and I wouldn't be able to accomplish nearly as much without it. I'll admit that I'm not always successful. My kids have stories of cooking food left unattended that stuck, boiled over or, worse yet, burned because I stepped out of the kitchen for "just a minute."
Successful multi-tasking requires a series of mental gymnastics. It's like solving a big puzzle - fitting the numerous pieces of my to-do list into the limited hours of the day. Each and every day is different, and that's the real challenge.
Fall is knocking on the door and that means I'm gearing up for another round of shows. There is a lot of dyeing in the works.
Winding and dyeing. I hear the whirring of the winder in my sleep.
Once the dye pots are simmering, I find myself waiting. Time to knit a few rows. And my multi-tasking inner voice takes it one step further, "Why not knit a new booth sample while you're at it?" Now knitting while dyeing requires a project that is next to mindless. No lengthy instructions, no charts, no complicated techniques. I don't want to become so engrossed in the knitting that I forget about the dye pots. I definitely don't want them to boil over.
The project must be easy to pick up and even easier to put down. While a garter stitch scarf would fit the bill, I need more than that for a booth sample. And I think I found it.
It started out small. Knit, knit, knit.
And grew into this.
There's still a lot of knitting to do which is good because I have a lot of dyeing to do. The real fun with this project comes in the finishing. I'm not going to tell you what it is just yet, but I will give you a clue. It's not a hat.
Part of my summertime routine includes a weekly visit to the farmers' market. At this point in the season there is so much produce available. I know that in a few short weeks we'll have less to choose from, so I try to take advantage of as much as I can right now.
This was the first week for tomatillos.
With a few jalapeños thrown in for good measure.
The tomatoes are plentiful. They are a staple this time of year. I eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Tomatillos, jalapeños, tomatoes . . . this calls for pico de gallo. If you're curious about pico de gallo, you can read about it here. My pico de gallo recipe is similar except I also add tomatillos.
We have cantaloupe.
I love the outside texture of the melon - rough, yet intricately delicate. Almost lacy. This sock is patiently waiting for me to finish knitting the toe.
And plums.
Delicious purple-red. This freshly wound ball of yarn is calling my name. I'm trying to ignore it.
One of the farmers is selling pepper plants, and I check on them every week. In the beginning they had tiny eggplant colored peppers. I was smitten with them then but even more so now. They are my color inspiration for the week.
From purple to red and in between. One of these weeks I may bring a plant home with me.
