Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween and yes, my socks are finished.

While I love that they are finished I kinda miss carrying them around in my matching project bag.

They are a tad big, but not as bad as I thought originally.

Iv'e got some big ol' feet!

Mowgli approves.

And wishes you a Happy Halloween.  Even if he grew out of his costume before the big day.

Yarn Along

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......

Well, at least in my knitting it is.  But that is all the Christmas taking place right now.  I plan on embracing Halloween, Autumn and Thanksgiving to the bitter end.

So we got some Ballet Flats done.

If I made 2 pairs of REAL small slippers, I could get 2 pair out of one skein.  It's not happening this time around.

They were very fiddly at first.  I almost chucked the project three times.  But once I got on a roll, they went fast.  I can get a pair done in a night.  They are just adorable.  And I am so in love with the yarn.

It's so soft and squishy.  I will be making a pair for myself as well.

I ran out of yarn and while I wait for more to come in I'm working on a sock.

It's tough to go from the beautiful Mad Tosh to this cheap stuff, but the striping will at least keep me entertained.

Share how you are being creative these days over at Ginny's.

10 on Tuesday

I just love those 3 day weekends.  You know - Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, etc...  It makes Sunday a more gentle day, ya know? Here's some of my favorite things to do on those days.

1.  Sleep in - just a little.  7AM is perfect.
2.  Make myself a hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate and enjoy without being rushed out the door.
3.  Knit for a while in the the morning.  While I'm enjoying that hot cuppa.  And some podcasts too.
4.  Do some shopping, if I can get to the store early enough.  If not, it's online for me.
5.  Take a longer walk or hike, or just do something outside if weather permits.  I sit in an office the rest of the week and don't get out there too often.
6.  Cook or bake.  I don't do much of either these days but I like to when I have that extra time.
7.  Spin.  Outside if possible.  If not, I sit in the "sun room" inside the house (aka, the room with the 3 large sliding doors) and enjoy.
8.  Catch up on some reading.
9.  Watch the news.  I'm usually out the door early most days and get to briefly listen to it.
10. Enjoy my family.  It's rare that we are all home at the same time lately.

Link up with us on Carole's page and let's hear how you like to spend that extra day.

Weekending

Busy weekend!  It seemed to fly by in seconds.
Some cleaning on Saturday.
As well as some shopping at Hobby Lobby (fun store!)
Lots of knitting.
Sunday was a first for me - my first NFL game ever.
The Patriots made it an exciting game.
Our seats were real good and we even got to go on the field at half time.
The players walked out onto the field for the second half and were about 20 feet away from us
which was pretty darn exciting.
There was LOTS of walking.
It's a good thing there was lots of knitting on Saturday because there was NONE on Sunday.
And a very early bedtime for this tired girl.

How was your weekend?

The Goodies

So what did I get at Rhinebeck?  I got a lot less than I thought I would.  I had my list of things I wanted.  I had my list of vendors I wanted to see.  I saw it all!  In the end, I decided that some of the lines weren't worth waiting on.  If I could buy it online, I didn't bother.  There were some things I "had" to have, but when I saw them up close in person I decided I could live without it.

So here are my MUST haves

Nothing fancy - just some cheap self striping sock yarn in the exact colors my niece wants for Christmas.  It's a little on the thin side, but I think I can work with it.  If not - it was cheap enough ($8) and I'll find something else to do with it.  This wasn't really a MUST have - it was a "hey - this will work".

I have heard so many people raving about Into The Whirled that I had to try some.  The booth was half empty by the time I got there early afternoon but they still had a good selection.  Looks at these colors.

It's a Merino/Silk blend and I think it will become some sort of cowl for myself.

So this is the one thing I waited online for.  But the line went real fast - under 5 minutes.  Socks the Rock is still my favorite sock yarn.  I think I'll ask for some more for Christmas.

So many deep colors.

I love it.  And I can't wait to cast on some socks for myself.

And here's the "One That I Didn't Know I Wanted"

It's from Briar Rose and it's 750 yards of Polworth.

It's so hard to see the colors and how beautiful they are together.  It's going to become a Trillian shawl.  I was overwhelmed once I walked into the booth.  There were so many choices and beautiful colors.  And the price was very reasonable.

And that's all folks.   I think what keeps my purchases to a minimum is that I don't buy things unless I know what I want to use it for.  I'll buy fiber with some sort of idea of what it will become.  I never buy yarn unless I have a pattern in mind.  I must be an odd one though because there were people at Rhinebeck with suitcases. Yes - suitcases to put their purchases in.  Some had husbands in tow with 2 suitcases.  We got a good laugh at watching them.  All the fiber in the world, and entertainment.  How much more fun could you have?

Yarn Along

I bound off another project last night - it's a birthday present for a certain somebody who may or may not read the blog, so it will get it's own post one day soon after it's gifted.

I'm ready to start the first of the Christmas presents

It's packed and ready to go

It's so hard to see how beautiful this yarn is in pictures

Iv'e heard such great things about Mad Tosh Chunky.  And rumor is - you can get 2 pairs of slippers out of this skein.

I'm not sure about that.  I'll let you know how that goes.

As far as Christmas knitting goes - it's all getting posted here.  You can guess if it's for you or not.

Still reading Catching Fire and it's very different than I thought.

Still joining Ginny for inspiration.  Click the link!

Rhinebeck

How do you describe the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival?  I took a few pictures to help those who have never gone so you can get the feel of it.  Not  nearly as many pictures as I would have liked, but there was shopping to do!

And this mass of people to maneuver around.  It was tough.  It was overwhelming.

It was Heaven!!!!

There was this line to get in.  But we stood on it for about 30 seconds.  An angel came over to the three of us and gave us tickets to get in - for free. She said she arranged a bus tour and had extras so she wanted us to have them.  We were ever so grateful.

Look at how cool that display is.  It makes me want to go home and rearrange my stash.

This was outside the Fiber Optik booth.  I had my hands on some and I ended up putting it back.  I did that with a lot of vendors that I knew I could order from online.  The lines at some booths were endless.  I really wanted some Miss Babs but I couldn't justify the waiting on a line 50 people deep.  I can be patient and get another time.

There was beauty and color all around.  Everywhere you turned you felt like gasping "oooo - look!".  The vendors, the yarn, the fall colors everywhere.

And what did I end up buying?  I'll share in another post.  I haven't taken pictures of it yet.  I spent Sunday recovering from the trip!

It Was A Late Night

I went to my Spinning group with my buddies last night and brought my knitting with me instead of my wheel.  I have such an urge to spin lately but I haven't indulged because of the knitting deadlines I have.  They are self imposed - nobody is standing over me with a whip to get anything done.  My first goal was to finish my sweater.  Done.  Second was to finish the Orange Brickless.  As I was knitting away and chatting with everyone I realized that I didn't have much yarn left.  And then I decided - it was getting finished. Before I went to bed.

And I did it.  I did the bind off and into the soak it went.

And most of my Kool Aide stayed in the yarn.  No bleeding.

And I set it out to block.  I love how the lace just opens up after it blocks.

So it is sitting on my dining room table and will be ready to wear Saturday to Rhinebeck.  The weather forecast is saying sunny and 63 degrees for Saturday, so it's probably the only hand knit I will be wearing. So if you see a lady in an orange scarf - you found me.

Yarn Along

Don't fall down from shock but I am actually reading something this week.

Lot's of orange in that picture, isn't there?  I guess I'm ready for Halloween.  I need to get my tail in gear if I want to finish this book before the movie comes out in November.  I was debating getting it on audio book but I felt like I wanted to actually READ it.  Don't ask me why.

Speaking of getting things done, I need to finish it this in time for Rhinebeck on Saturday.

I'm still loving Brickless although this one is going slower due to the fingering weight yarn.  I won't be doing that again (and yes, I will be knitting another one).

Come join us over at Ginny's to see what other yarn folk are up to.

Weekending and 10 on Tuesday

Coincidentally - they happen to be the same this week!  10 Things I Did This Weekend

My weekend started Friday night.  Nicole got tickets to a concert in Boston and me and my friend Lisa took them there.  So we dropped them off and did some shopping.  And eating.  Of course.

Cheesecake Factory is amazing.  Besides the delicious cheesecake, their portions are crazy big.  My dinner has been recycled 3 mores times for lunches.

There was lots of shopping over the weekend at various times.  Even though I ended up leaving this in the store, I thought it was adorable.

I didn't really have a good place to put it.  Well, a place that I thought the dog couldn't reach.  I could easily see this becoming his next chew toy.

Speaking of the dog, our cousins came to visit.  And they brought their dog, who is 2 weeks younger than Mowgli.

Two puppies all weekend equaled exhaustion.  For all of us.  Mowgli slept all of yesterday.  They got along great and wanted to do nothing but play.

I downloaded some books from Audible.  I think it's the only way I'll get any reading done.

We went to the Italian Feast in Providence.

The food was incredible.  I think they have the best canollis I have ever tasted.

I finally got a pedicure.  I had to wait at least 3 weeks after getting my tattoo.  Of course I went to the extreme and waited 6 weeks.  I  no longer had toenails, but talons.  It felt great to get some pampering.

There was obviously knitting all weekend.

And of course catching up on podcasts.

There was some relaxing on Monday.  And no guilt about it whatsover.

And there was an early morning drive to drop off Nicole's sweetie as he was deployed till next Summer.  We are grateful to him, all the other sailors and servicemen/women who sacrifice so much so we can live the life we do.

I can't believe it's Tuesday already.  I'm ready for another weekend.

Yarn Along

THE sweater is done.  And it is now considered a coat.  It's THAT big.  But it's OK.  Here's a sneek peak.

It will get a proper photo shoot soon and a blog post of its own.

It now has an interesting history to go along with it that I will explain. 

I am really in love with those buttons though.

So now I am back working on Sugared Violets

There isn't much to show. But I do love the yarn. 

The color looks so dull here. I can't wait to get some outside shots.

So what's on your needles lately?  

Check out Ginny's blog and see what other creative souls are up to.

10 On Tuesday

We woke up to seasonal temps today in the 50s and boy did it feel good!  Fall is here, and from what the forecast says it looks like its here to stay.  And this leads into this Tuesdays topic - 10 Ways To Embrace Autumn (or at least how I'm embracing it).

1.  I'm enjoying my iced Pumpkin Coffee from Dunkin.  The day I get to the drive thru and they tell me "I'm sorry we don't have that any longer" will be truly sad for me.
2. Mowgli is wearing his Autumn/Halloween attire.

This shirt says "My Mummy Loves Me"

This is his Old Navy shirt.  They have the cutest stuff for dogs.

3.  Apples are in season!  I haven't had a chance to bake with any but it's on the list for this weekend.

4.  The leaves are finally changing.  Just.  Starting.  

5.  I bought some Halloween decorations for my desk.  OK - and some candy too.

6.  We are going to the Italian Feast on Atwells Ave. in Providence on Saturday.  Best Italian food ever.  And it's held every Columbus Day weekend.

7.  I am wearing my hand knits. My Brickless is being worn for the first time today.

8.  I am enjoying knitting sweaters.  It's finally cool enough to be able to have that mass of wool sitting on your lap.

9.  Lighting my Yankee Candles.  Sadly I need another Autumn scented one.  

10.  www.funtober.com  Check it out. Lot's of great Autumn ideas!