Six Loose Ladies Yarn Challenge

My Local Yarn Store (Six Loose Ladies) is currently having their annual Yarn Challenge – they sell a $5 bag of three different yarns, and crafters are encouraged to make something with them. Any technique may be used; one must use at least some of all three yarns, and more may be added. Anyone coming to the store can vote for their favorite. The winners get gift certificates – but as the last thing I need is more yarn, I’ve never entered. Next up is a Fluff Challenge – bags with samples of three different fleeces.

Some of my favorites:

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The fiber take on the Venus of Willendorf doesn’t show to advantage here; the breasts, belly and butt are really much more well sculpted than my photo shows. And it’s hard to tell that the dog sweater is just that. On the other hand, there is no doubt that the mouse is just that!

This should have been posted yesterday, but WordPress decided to lose 2/3 of the post. I’m going to go ahead and do another post tonight, as tomorrow promises to be a busy day, and it’s already planned out in my head!

Knitting With Dogs

Yesterday I had a play date with a knitting friend, and ended up playing with Honey a good bit of the time. It was pouring rain, and she was bored – and hasn’t learned to knit yet! Then today, at Six Loose Ladies knit group, we saw the solution if your hands tend to fly up into the air –

Chester Fall Festival

Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18: The Village of Chester, in Vermont, has an annual Fall Festival. This was the first year I’d attended. The first day, I mostly hung out with the fiber crafters at Six Loose Ladies with my knittng – and also walked down through most of the vendors.

Then, on Sunday, I went with a couple of friends, seeing much of what I’d not explored the day before. The highlight was the presentation by the Vermont Institute of Natural Science; they have ambassador birds, unable to be released into the wild, and we got to see an American Kestrel:

a tiny Screech Owl:

and the star of the show – a Red-tailed hawk. She paid intense attention to what her handler was saying about her!

We also enjoyed live music, watched apples being crushed and pressed for cider, and ate Thai food from one of the food trucks.

I don’t need this car, even though it’s my favorite color – I suspect it lowers and raises its suspension, but sitting here it had maybe an inch of ground clearance! Wouldn’t cope with my driveway.

Completed Blogathon Shawl

On the First of September – I finished the Blogathon Shawl while I was at Knit Night at Six Loose Ladies. It’s not my color, so I knew I’d be giving it to someone – I didn’t know it would turn out to be the new knitter sitting next to me! And she’s leaving for a long trip to the west coast, so I didn’t even weave in the ends; she can do that. I also didn’t put any thought or time in to staging the photo; it was easy to hang it over the pegs holding yarn on the display wall, so that’s what I did.

The pattern is available free: https://krazyawesome.com/knitmonster/blogathon-lace-triangle-scarf.html It is very adaptable; I’ve done it in three different yarns, now. An easy and easily memorized lace pattern, it was something to put on my lap on those much too hot days, when going back to working on my cousin’s heavy wool sweater was too much to contemplate! It is a rayon/cotton blend, very soft and with great drape, Quellón from Araucania. I used two 100 gr. skeins, plus a partial ball – this was left over from another knitter’s shawl project, and I didn’t want it added to my stash so used up all but about a yard.

The temps are starting to cool; I still will need another small not too warm project to work on, but soon I should be able to go back to the sweater without being too hot!

Mav’s Monster

Knitting a monster (and pal) for my great-grandson was great fun! I didn’t completely use up anything from stash, but did make a dent in these three colors. I was inspired by a monster at Six Loose Ladies, my local yarn store – here they are, sitting together on one of the shelves this morning.

There was, of course, no pattern, so I just took the idea and went for contrast and asymmetry. After knit group this morning, I took him? it? them? to visit a friend, and used their farm for an excuse for a photo op; we posed them in a number of places.

Blue and Yellow, Yellow and Blue

Window display at Six Loose Ladies yesterday evening

Wednesday, December 22

These berries had ice drips; I wish the sun had been out to better capture them – but if it had been, the ice probably would have melted off! Then it was off to Wednesday morning Knitting With Friends at Six Loose Ladies. Our newest addition was a very cute 8 week old puppy:

He was mostly very good about staying out of the yarn – and easily distracted!

Holiday Parties

Having returned on December 5th, I immediately jumped into the social scene – a land preservation meeting the 6th, the holiday party at Six Loose Ladies (where I participate in two knitting groups, and the above house is across the street) on the 9th, and the Outdoor Recreation for Seniors (ORFS) holiday party the 14th. The hosts are serious UFO enthusiasts:

There was food involved – the ORFS potluck is always amazing – but I didn’t get a photo.

The plan was that I would spend Saturday, December 18th, knitting with a couple of my Quaker Knitting Goddess friends – but the forecast was for very wintery weather, and I’m glad I didn’t go. I would have made it to Brattleboro just fine – but going home would have been nasty. We spent a lot of time texting back and forth, though, so I didn’t feel left out! Sunday when I awoke, this was the view from my knitting chair:

I’ve not been out of the yard since about the 17th, so I’ve been knitting, and watching snow fall, and knitting, and not much else for the past four days.