Cashing In

 I may not have been able to throw my money away at the fiber fest but when we drove by this fruit stand I knew what I wanted. Apples. Fresh off the tree apples.

 I love this little roadside shop. It's got a little of everything.

 Right now it's full of pumpkins.... 

 ....and things that look like pumpkins. I'm not sure what these things are but they had tons of them.

 There were kids walking out with free pumpkins. Someone's been paying attention during all those lessons on estimation. I was impressed.

 I came home with a bag of goodies. Inside the shop is a little grocery that has the freshest and cheapest veggies ever.

Look at the size of that cauliflower. It was big and it was delicious. I roasted it with oil and garlic and it's already all gone. So are the radishes and most of the apples. I should have bought more.

It's a Sad Day....

....when you go to a fiber festival and come home without any fiber.

Middle Sister and I went to Berryville, Virginia to hang out at the sweetest little fiber festival around.

It has all of the good things you find at the bigger festivals without any of the crazy crowds.

There was plenty of things to ooh and aah over but nothing I don't already have a ton of. It's sad. I don't need anything anymore and I don't have anymore room for my wants.

Nothing was floating my boat. I had money in my pocket and I couldn't find a thing to buy.

 Even the fleece sale left me cold.

 I didn't even get the itch when a volunteer started picking through a rather lovely pile of fuzzy stuff.

I could have used move weaving stuff but there was none to be had. There were lots of looms and lots of people getting lessons but no vendor that was selling good weaving cotton.

These giant circular rugs were interesting. Think about how many expensive braids of roving went into making this. It's staggering.

I could have brought this guy home but The Mister would have killed me. We've already had our bunny raising adventure and it wasn't pretty.

 There are usually lots of nice fiber animals to look at but this year there was only Junior the Camel and....

 ...and handful of very disinterested sheep. I wonder why the barns were empty. It's very odd.

On the way out I made one very practical purchase. I needed a new flick carder. Did I feel terrible all the way home that I didn't find anything more fun to buy? Of course I did. At least now I know not to waste my time going to Rhinebeck this year. More than likely, I won't find anything up there either. As for that money that was burning a hole in my pocket, I did spend some of it. I'll show you where tomorrow.

A Walk in the Woods

The Mister was out clearing the path in the woods behind the house.

Pup is too little to be out running the trails, so they have become overgrown and impassable from lack of use.

Since The Mister was already out there I thought I would give her a try off the leash.

I like to knit while I walk and you can't do that when you are being drug around by a dog.

We had company. Hoover decided to take a rare stroll away from the food bowls.

Pup and Hoover like to mix it up a bit. I've never seen a cat that liked to play chase so much with a dog.

 The whole afternoon was no fun for me though.

 There are too many places that can cause problems for a nosy pup.

 I was worried about snakes and big rabid hairy things that would grab pup and run off with her.

I even freaked out about the hawks that were making lots of ugly noises over our heads. At thirteen pounds, no hawk or owl is going to get very far with her but I still freaked out. Pup may be ready for the great big woods but I'm sure not.

The Second and Third Time Around

 The blue and yellow warp that I have been struggling with got another try. I decided to use the technique I had just learned from my Interweave DVD to get it onto the loom without a massive tangle.

 I also tied it tightly everywhere before I attempted to move it.

All that precaution worked beautifully until I remembered that I was putting 2 threads in the reed at a time and that method wouldn't work. At. All. After sitting down and staring with disbelief into space for about an hour, I had to unwind it all off the loom start all over again this time warping it from back to front.

 It took a solid week of fiddling but I finally got it tied on.

 I know I'm jinxing myself but I just have to say that there wasn't one twisted warp thread. The shed opened and closed perfectly on the first try. Knock on wood. I even got the floating selvedges right. Now let's see if I can weave this thing. The draft looks like the plans they must have used to build the space station. Sigh......

Over Done

 I'm still working my way through my TdF Gulf Coast fleece and I had a finished bobbin waiting to ply.

 I should have known better than to pick a day when I was stressed to attempt to chain ply it.

 I knew this was going to happen. I was going to town on the wheel working out all kinds of issues but my yarn paid the price. Look at that twist. Yikes.

After a long, hot soak and a merciless thwacking it calmed a bit. Drying it while it was weighted also helped. The next day after spending some time in the little bit of sun we get at this time of year, it was ready to do my bidding. I'm pretty sure it isn't going to behave when it comes time to knit with it but that will just make things more interesting when the time comes.

Sock Weather

It's been chilly. I had to dig out a pair of socks this morning and my feet can't be happier.

Last week I washed my hats and this week I am working my way through my sweaters and shawls.

I got a huge surprise when I washed this too big cotton sweater and threw it in the dryer out of laziness. It shrunk enough to finally fit. It's only about 15 years old and I had never really worn it because it was ginormous. Now it's like I have a new sweater. Cool.

I also got another surprise when I washed my really old Swallowtail. I never really liked it but I think it was because I had not blocked it right. I had been too afraid in my early lace days to really open it up because it was made of handspun that I was sure would break. It spent an afternoon out in the little bit of sunshine I have left in the yard. This is a dreary time of year here in the woods.

Now it's quite spectacular. Look at that. I can actually see those nupps.

 I also washed my 2012 Holden that I wore last year to the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest. Hopefully, I'll be going again this year which means I will be frolicking among fiber and fiber bearing critters this coming Sunday. Fingers crossed. My track record for going anywhere or doing anything I want to do has been pitiful for the past six months or so. I won't mention any names but there's an old man that better keep his blankety blank arse in his wheelchair between now and then if he knows what's good for him-and I'm not kidding.

Birthday Girl

Little Sister's birthday is today and I had a terrible time finding an old photo of her. She was the invisible kid when I was growing up. I was never sure if she actually existed. Thank goodness she did because without her and Middle Sister I would not be surviving the care and feeding of that mean old son of a gun on the right up there. That's Daddio in his heyday and you can see by that smirk what a conniving scoundrel he was-and is. Poor Mom. How she put up with him for all those years is a mystery but we are pretty sure that if there is a heaven, she's up there laughing her butt off at the trials and tribulations he's been putting the three of us girls through. Lord, have mercy.

A Shabby Chic Finish

 That really shabby old quilt I had been torturing with my pitiful machine quilting is finally finished. I used the walking foot to secure the raggedy edges. It was my favorite part.

 When I was done I still had a lot of batting sticking out of worn out seams. The really terrible holes were patched up with some orphan hexies.

 Machine stitching them was a bear so I ended up on the floor with the pup hand sewing them on.

 The whole mess went into the wash with a lot of bleach. Twice. It was that stinky and stained. When it came out of the dryer it was lovely-clean and soft. Pup loves it.

She loved it so much she dug a hole in it.

No problem. I still have plenty of hexies.I even sewed on a few where they weren't needed just to even things out.