Shawl Collared Vest Evolution

fiber--Sea Mist merino/tussah

plied Sea Mist with Aqua merino

bottom ribbing done.

Notice: this vest is done in the round.

Sleeve was steeked (!!! - myveryfirst) and stitches picked up for the edging.

front was steeked too

and the shawl collar was added.

blocked and ready to go.

The Sun Was Shining

Open House Saturday dawned dreary and rainy.  Not an auspicious beginning to the weekend but nothing we could do about it anyway.   We finally raised the lowered tents back up to their full heights about 8:30 with hopeful thoughts.  The tents are 10 by 20 and 10 by 10 so there is plenty of room under them but if it gets too rainy then 10 feet is not really wide enough to stay out of windy rain.

Ruth arrived early to help with set up as Jim went off to pick up ice and the balloons.  I was my normal nervous wreck before an event.  Once an event starts and I feel things are set up then I immediately calm down but until then........

Malinda from Rome came with her hubby and Papillon dog. I find it very exciting to finally meet virtual friends in real time.  Her delightful DH could teach many other husbands patience and her dog is too cute.
  Malinda is the test knitter for Goddess Knits. She brought the Spring shawl she knit out of my hand dyed sport weight yarn and she was the very first knitter to see the new lace weight yarn for Shawl # 13.

The day got brighter as it went on. Such a relief. Knitters and spinners came at their leisure, although many who came also signed up for the Dyeing Workshop.

The workshop started with an overview of what we would be doing, then we put our skeins into the solution. While they were soaking we took a little Spinning Bunny tour--Gumdrop and Keeper were first on the list as most people want to see angora bunnies and ours are so pretty. Sometimes they can be entertaining too. Then we had a Pat Green Supercarder demo where I carded up Ruth A's High Fiber Dessert for this month. Folks were drooling over this month's chocolate bundt cake with strawberries and chocolate sauce done in chocolate baby alpaca, hand dyed strawberry merino and commercially dyed dark chocolate merino.
Next we did a Dye Studio demo and finally folks got to the crux of the workshop --putting dye on their very own skeins. I explained a bit about colors and dyeing then they each got to dye,cook their own and wait for them to cool. Once they were cooled we went back down to the Dye Studio to rinse them out.

Each person put their skein into a baggie to take home to re rinse and dry.

S is the youngest member of our Knit Night and Knitting/Crocheting for the Community. She knits and finger knits with us.  And now she dyes yarn too.

Each person got to choose colors they liked so the results are really quite wonderful. This is Brenda's Tomato ripening in the sun before being transformed into socks.

Meanwhile, others were spinning and chatting, nibbling and knitting. Carol tried out the used Pipi and just could not go home without it.

Ruth is a wonderful teacher. She got several people spindling on one of Jim's spindles.

while Basel lent moral support. 

(See all that purple by Malinda?  Must be why I liked her even before we actually met.)

The Universe literally shined on us as the rain held off each day until after the Open House.

Thanks to everyone who came and played with us.

Open House

Our Second Annual

We will be dyeing sock yarn on Saturday at 11 and 2 and on Sunday, at 1.  Each person will get to chose from several colors, cook their yarn, wait for it to cool, then rinse and take your very own unique hand dyed sock yarn home.

To insure you have a place in the fun please preregister and pay here.

Bring a friend. We will be under the tent so weather will not bother us.

Young at Heart

We kept the location and party theme a surprise.  Mom knew the party was happening but nothing else.  Her first inkling was when we approached the theatre and there was her name.

She was beyond delighted.

We had the concession stand included as part of the party.

My sister from the back, talking to Hortie.   Ellen does not generally allow even that much of her to be photographed.

Mom's cousin Esther, Mom and her best friend Ruth (who will be 95 in August).  Esther's husband is reflected in the mirror.   Esther, Eli, Ruth and Ruth's son all drove up from Queens and Brooklyn just for the party.  Coincidentally both Ruth and Mom wore matching beaded necklaces Ruth made a few years ago.

Me, head to toe in Coldwater Creek, speaking with talented crafty Celia.

Then we went in to the movie.

My sister and I had seen the movie months ago and chose it for its relevance and uplifting message.  During the showing we thought the audience was much too quiet, although perhaps that age group does not clap and participate as much as younger groups, so we were worried it upset them.  Afterwards many of the guests told us they had not seen it before and loved it. Hurray!

Food time!

The buffet included turkey and roast beef sandwiches on home made rolls, ceasar salad, baked salmon and fruit salad.

Celia took many digital photos which were destined for a special digital display box she is putting together for Mom as a souvenir.

Ellen purchased chocolate reels in chocolate boxes as favors.  Many of the guests ate them as appetizers.

And finished with make your own sundaes --  deep chocolate or vanilla ice cream, butterscotch sauce, real hot fudge, strawberry sauce, chopped walnuts and oreo bits plus whipped cream.

We had a great time visiting with Mom's friends and seeing them all enjoying themselves.

85th

It is hard for me to imagine getting to be 85.  It is actually hard for me to imagine the years I have already lived as I usually think I am who I am and do not even notice age unless it is brought up to me or my bones ache too much.

My mother will be 85 on May 31st.  When she was 65 my sister and I threw her a surprise party in her home in Brooklyn.   We had a blast coordinating the invitations, invite list and all the food and drink.  We each brought part of the food and wine and such with us from RI and upstate NY.  I think if we lived closer we could make this a great family business.

Once that gala event was past my mother kinda expected another bash every 5 years.  We did not disappoint. For some reason I cannot remember what we did for 70. Once she moved to Heritage Village in CT we had a more difficult time figuring out what to do as neither of us lives near her but we have managed quite well.   I do recall 75 being at Carol Peck's Good News Cafe with a radio theme and then 80 being at the Mayflower Inn with a floral theme.

I get to make the invitations and my sister often thinks up the theme or the place to hold the event.  So this year we wanted to go a bit simpler and less upscale than the past two.  Ellen is amazing at ferreting out information, especially if it is on the internet.  She passed a few ideas by me and we settled on a movie at the Bethel Cinema with lunch to follow at the Cadiz Cafe.

One can rent the entire theatre, supply the DVD and have a private showing anytime it is not open to the public.  Cool.   Ellen already had a movie in mind which I completely agreed to.  The name will not mentioned it here though because some of the invitees may read this and we want to keep that a surprise.

Once it was all decided and the theatre and cafe booked we spent an entire day avoiding our respective work by emailing back and forth until we both liked this invitation cover.

The Cafe is a Tapas restaurant serving appetizers and small plates of delicious food. With difficulty we picked out the dishes and soups. The cafe volunteered to type up a special menu once we decided on the dessert.  All good.  Out went the invitations and the RSVP's  (or Can can's - that's a hint) came rolling in.  I got to hear many of them while I was in RI.

We then did not hear from the theatre people for too many weeks.  A week ago Ellen contacted the manager about the last minute details. She did not get a response until Tuesday of this week. We thought that was cutting the time a bit short but, hey........there really was not much more to decide on anyway.

On Tuesday Ellen got a phone message telling her that the cafe chef had gone in for emergency gall bladder surgery and would not be back on his feet in time. Would we like to reserve the pizza/Italian place down the street?
   Um, no.  We really did not think pizza down the street was in keeping with our party plans. Plus the cafe has movie themed walls and such.

Ellen asked what about the weekend chef or the back up chef? Evidently they are already busy next Monday.  Why was there such a delay in telling us?   It seems the cafe manager quit last week on top of the chef going into the hospital.  argghhhhh.

Saying we were in a panic is putting things mildly. All I could think of was unpleasant thoughts of calling all those people to explain the cancellation.   Hours of explaining to disappointed elders.

 

What about a caterer using the cafe?  I went online and within minutes found several near Bethel.  Ellen, meanwhile, talked with the manager who said she was really upset for us, would certainly let us use the cafe if we could find a caterer on such short notice.  

Wednesday early, Ellen left the first choice, Loree, a message with her assistant telling her the bind we were in and spent a restless morning trying to float her boat downstream.  I tried to do the same.

About 1pm mvos let me know she had a great conversation with Loree and we were still ON!  A very simple buffet menu is planned but we actually get to offer our mother's favorite dessert -- make your own ice cream sundaes.

So back to CT I go in the morning.  May 31 is our mom's actual birthday. We are converging there tomorrow afternoon but saving the big celebration for the June 1 party.

Wisteria

I just love how wisteria flowers look hanging so majestically off balconies, sides of homes and on trellises.  I first noticed them many years ago while driving the back way over the hill to Danby and was floored by the glorious blooms hanging from trees in a woods to the side of the road.  After several passes I realized the plants must have come from a dwelling that no longer existed.  Sure enough there are old foundations in those woods.

Of course once our deck was built I wanted one of my own.  Agway had them so one was purchased, brought home and dutifully planted so the vine could climb up the deck support and grace the railing.  It grew nicely that first year, the second too but with no flowers.  I figured it was getting itself established.   After the third year without flowers I told the plant I was disappointed in it and cut it back a bit.   After the fourth year with no blooms I told the plant it had one more year to bloom or "Off with its head".  Year 5 came and we saw maybe 5 or 6 clusters of blossoms.  That was nice and acceptable enough so that I just pruned it in the fall.

And this year

Can you smell them?

Fingerlicious Purse in Progress

I woke up the other morning with a bright idea for a fingering weight purse.  Eventually we are going to get a bit tired of always making socks.  We still will want a portable project but maybe a friend has enough socks. I don't know how but it could happen.   Or we just might want to try something different.  Then I saw a sock yarn purse in the latest Knitter's mag but once I looked at the directions thought I could come up with something different that was knit in the round instead of flat.

I looked at the purses I have that I like best. What were the parts I liked, why?  What about the ones hanging that are rarely used?  hmmmmnnnn

I thought and thought about what might look fun and be fun to knit, took some stash sock yarn out of the storage container and started looking through my Barbara Walker Books. Aren't they like eating candy?   Then  s l o w l y   several swatches were made to see how a stitch pattern might look on size 4 needles. 

The middle swatch is actually 'knit one below'.  I finally understood the directions and very much enjoyed the process but it is too elastic for this project.  However I know my brain will come up with something soon for that neat stitch.

The bottom one won out, giving the most dense fabric but on size 3 needles.

Now for the prototype base.

Yes there are a few trials and errors down in the starting rows but by the last 1.25 inches this pattern was settled.  You are seeing the beginning of a smallish purse - 6-7 inches wide for the prototype - but I think it may become a pattern in and of itself as this one will take only a single skein of yarn.

Once the base was established and I could no longer avoid the factoid that the row gauge is 16 rows per inch I blanched. ONE SIXTEENTH OF AN INCH PER ROW, ARGHHHH!!!! Who is going to finish that?  OK how could the purse go a bit faster yet still have enough body?  Really, 9 sts per inch with 16 rows per inch is plenty dense but plenty slow too.

So for the bottom we keep that gauge as it should be extra sturdy. BUT the bag is going to be lined anyway allowing for a slightly less dense body fabric.

We are now on size 4's getting 12 rows per inch. This is very acceptable and the larger needle gives the bit of billowing out I wanted without adding stitches.  However the book I was listening to on my ipod is done so another selection needs to be made.  Yup, I have found that listening to a book allows me to knit along and make much more progress than just knitting to music or my own thoughts.

Oh and the Wee Baby Bonnet from Piecework started in RI is now done.