ECF - Reflections on a Sunroof Edition

How's this for a different spin on the lovely pastoral scenes seen on other blogs. you know the ones I'm talking about. gorgeous trees with leaves in shades of red and gold reflected in a lake or other body of water.

When I got in my freshly washed car the other morning there was just one lonely leaf on my sunroof and it spoke to me.

Have a great weekend!

What Can You Do?

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes. If you're looking for the contest post , it's here. Only comments left on that post will count for the contest.

It was a relatively quiet birthday but very nice. Even our traditional birthday dinner was quiet but nice because even thoug my daughters made a huge fuss about it being my birthday, our waiter forgot to do the requisite loud singing. DQ was not amused and insisted on speaking to a manager. On the other hand, I was perfectly ok with not being embarrassed in front of one and all.

I got some lovely and thoughtful gifts including a book based on the Cake Wrecks blog which Stinkette nearly absconded with. I'll let you know how I like it when she actually let's me get a look at it. :)

I also got 2 pairs of earrings. On the left are the ones I chose with the family as their gift to me. They are one of a kind with opals (my birthstone) and tiny diamonds and made by Wendy Newman, a Utah jewelry designer. She makes gorgeous stuff. On the right are earrings made just for me by Stinkette. She excitedly explained how she chose the wooden beads rather than green glass because they gave them a "warmer" feel. Guess which ones I'm wearing today. Was there really any other option?

And in knitting news we have these TTL Mystery socks which have become something of a mini obsession. I just had to have clue #4 finished before the last one was released so I stayed up way too late last night. I did finish them though and now I can move on to the toes. Yay!



I did not take this picture after my knitting marathon and my skills haven't deteriorated quite this badly. Since these socks are so fall-like and will certainly be finished by the weekend I'm thinking that I can wear them when I take Stinkette trick-or-treating. I've spooky-ized the picture in honor of their Halloween approporiateness.

October 28, 2009

It's my birthday. Not just any birthday either - 4 freakin decades! Damn! I've tried to wrap my head around this for months and I still think that there's been a mistake in the math somewhere along the way. I'm not sure what 40 feels like but this can't be it. In my head I'm still about 18 and ready to take on the world.

Anyway, I already celebrated by treating myself to a trip to Rhinebeck. Do I know how to treat myself or what? That was all the party I could ever want.



Now I want to invite you all to celebrate with me. I stopped at the Fold while I was at Rhinebeck and picked this up - for you! It's the Enchanted Sole by Janel Laidman and a skein of STR Lightweight in a color called Never on Sunday.

As if that wasn't enough I picked up a few things at my LYS last weekend to share too. There's some Pagewood Farm Denali, Mini Mochi, Ty-Dy Socks, and a pretty blue Zauerball. Any of it could be yours!



Here's the plan. Leave a comment - any comment - on this post. Tell me which of these yarns is your favorite. Tell me why you love the Fall. Give me suggestions of what to make with the 11 skeins of black Cascade Sierra that I bought for me. (I'm thinking pullover). Leave a comment on this post by November 4th and I'll pick one at random to get the STR and the book. But...
If I get at least 40 comments then I'll pick a second winner for one of the treats from my LYS. After that, for every 10 comments over 40 I'll give away something else from the pile. So leave a comment - with your email please so can contact you if you win. Send your friends. the more comments I get the more I'll give away.

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Favorite Movie Moments

This weeks Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Favorite Movie Moments. I like this one but it's a little challenging to choose moments. It's easy to choose films I like but the individual moments are harder to pinpoint. I'll give it a whirl though.

1. Say Anything - There are so many quotable, notable moments in this one. I'm going to go with the iconic moment when John Cusack hoists the radio on his shoulders.
2. Pretty Woman - When Julia Roberts goes back to the boutique that snubbed her earlier, shows then all her shopping bags and telles them they made a "Big mistake". Who hasn't wanted to do that?
3. A Knight's Tale - I'd have to go with the end when Adhemar is "on the flat of his back" weighed, measured and found wanting. But watching Heath through the whole darn thing is fabulous.
4. 10 Things I Hate About You - Keeping with the Heath theme here's another one I love. Especially the scene where he's serenading Julia Stiles in the stadium.
5. Monty Pythonand the Holy Grail - It's all good but I'll go with the part where the knights get to the castle and run away as livestock is hurled over the walls at them.
6. Philadelphia Story - Probably the scene where Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant are reminiscing down by the pool.
7. Little Miss Sunshine - It's got to be the scene where Olive is performing the routine her grandpa taught her in the pageant. Hilarious!
8. Slumdog Millionaire - How could you not love the closing number in the train station and the dancing?
9. An Officer and a Gentleman - How can you not love the moment when Richard Gere comes into the factory and scoops up Debra Winger?
10. Four Weddings and a Funeral - the 4th wedding of course, where Hugh Grant and Duckface do not get marrried but he hooks up with Andie MacDowell instead and they vow to be together, unmarried, forever.

And here a little giggle for today. Over the summer I won a blog contest that CursingMama was having. The prize was $100 gift card and a years worth of Pantene.

Since then DH, the girls and I have been waiting for the arrival and laughing about the idea of it. Of course it finally arrived when I was in Rhinebeck and here it is. We will certainly have the cleanest hair around.

What makes this even more amusing is that at any given time, all four members of our household will be using individual set of shampoo and conditioner. Nobody shares. Not only that but my girls will often have a dozen open bottles between them in their shower. They like to change it up from day to day.

On Hold Socks

It was a great weekend - full to overflowing and a little crazy but in a really good way. Saturday Stinkerbelle had another softball game. This one had been rescheduled from a recent rain out and the forecast didn't look good that we'd get to play it this time either. They were predicting storms all day long so we were all shocked that the weather held just long enough for us to get our game in. By just long enough, I mean that the heavens opened just after we got in our cars. Talk about close calls!

Before the game I went down to DMV to renew my license. It took about an hour but it was ok because I rewarded myself for my patience with a trip to a LYS. It's one that I don't often get to because the hours don't really work for me. I carried out one very full bag. Mmmmm... wool.

I finished a thing or two this weekend too. No pictures yet though because running around doesn't leave much time for picture taking. It's ok because I'm backed up on posting finished stuff anyway. I can't even believe I'm saying that but it's true. These purple socks were finished a month ago.

I got a few new sock books recently (darn those book stores and their 40% off coupons) and I'm trying a little bit from each one. Wendy Johnson's new book, Socks From The Toe Up, was a must for me because I'm definitely a toe-up gal. I couldn't wait to see what new techniques or tips she'd have in there. It turns out that there were plenty.

I chose the On Hold Socks for my first project mostly because the way she does the heel in this pattern was different from those I'd tried before. Essentially it's a gusset & flap heel done in the reverse. I liked it so much that I'm using it again on one of the socks currently on my needles.



I think I mentioned in an earlier post that these were supposed to be my commuter knitting that turned out to require more thought than expected. that was true at forst due to the fact that it uses a centered motif. I find that gives me fewer reference points than a motif that repeats around the leg or across the foot. I did adjust to it eventually and this pattern was easy-peasy.

The yarn I used for these sock is Red Rocks Fiber Works Aspen that I got in a swap. It's lovely stuff - soft and nice to knit with. My only gripe is that the dye seemed to have mised a few spots. It couldn't be too awful because DQ was only too happy to claim them before they were even off the needles but when you have a yarn that is so pretty it's a shame to have any flaws.



No I'll have to try to get pictures of the other finished objects so I can catch myself up.

ECF - Peace Rose Edition

This is a Peace Rose in the garden at Springwood.



There are lots of roses in the little garden where Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were buried but the Peace variety really caught my eye.



I'm so glad that so many of you enjoyed my pictures from my house tours. I even scored a few suggestions of other old houses that are "must see's". I'll certainly put them on my list.

Have a great weekend.

Keeping Up

I thought that my little trip might stop my progress on these socks but happily I was wrong. As of last night this is how these socks looked. Two cuffs, 2 legs and 2 heels. Bring on clue #4! Tonight is another softball game under the lights and it promises to be gorgeous weather. Perhaps even jacket-free weather. I hope the next clue is a good one for ballgame knitting.

I have a standby project to work on just in case the new clue requires too much concentration. It's a pair of Susie's Reading Mitts in Dream in Color Classy. I started these right before Rhinebeck when the weather reports started to freak me out. Ironically all of the fun I had during my Rhinebeck trip precluded me from getting much actually knitting done. I'm working on the now though and I expect that they'll be done in plenty of time to wear them for Halloween if it's cold that night.

I really only have one worry about these new fingerless mitts. Someone's gonna try to swipe 'em. I just know it. Look at how similar the color of my new mitts are to the pair I made for Stinkerbelle in February. Separated at birth perhaps?

My girl loves those mitts and she has work them constantly. Even over the summer! Not surprisingly they are kind of gnarly now. Nothing a quick trip through the wash can't fix (I hope) but I'd have to pry them away from her first. I can just hear her now bargaining to take my mitts while hers are in the wash. It's not going to happen. No way! I'm putting my foot down. Maybe I'll sleep with them under my pillow. That'll keep them safe.

Maybe.

Hanging With FDR and the Vanderbilts

Now that flickr is cooperating I can share more of my trip from last week. As if it wasn't enough to finally go to Rhinebeck, I added a bit of visiting and touring to the trip. If you're gonna go... go big.

So how does a dork like me spend a beautiful fall day all to herself? Taking tours of historic houses. I betcha didn't know I was such a party animal.



I started my day at Springwood which was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's home. He was both born and buried there.



The house was wonderful. It was given by FDR to the Park Service years before he died apparently they took posession shortly after his passing since nobody else wanted to live there. Eleanor had her own cottage nearby that she really preferred. I mention this because I think it makes a difference. The house is very well preserved with all FDR's possessions rather than stuff "from the same period".



The house sits along the banks of the Husdon river and it's grounds are lovely. Above is a view taken from the second floor as I exited the house.



FDR's Presidential library is also on the grounds but I didn't go in there this time. As you walk around it you see this little area. The colorful figures are pieces of the Berlin Wall and the busts are of FDR and Churchill.



Heres a better shot of FDR's bust with the library behind it.



After I left Springwood I drove up the road to Hyde Park, the "little" country place of the Vanderbilts. It's fantastic! Sadly I have very few pictures - pretty much just this one. You'll just have to trust me that it's worth seeing. Especially if your tour guide is Mike Autenrieth. He was amazing. He knew everything about the house, the contents, and the family. It made such a huge difference to have a guide with such a deep knowledge of the place.

Ten on Tuesday - Ten Guilty Pleasures

Flickr is holding my pictures hostage today. Boo hiss. So I can't share more of my trip yet but I can put together a little list for Ten on Tuesday. This week it's all about those Guilty Pleasures. Let's face it - we all have a few.

1. Cheese - Gruyere, cheddar, gorgonzola, mozzarella or... my personal favorite - goat cheese. I love it all. ecept maybe for smoked cheeses. Them I can resist.
2. HGTV - it's kind of voyeuristic but I just love to watch the folks looking for new homes and refurbishing those that they've got. Yes, I'm one of those people who berates those poor fools who pick the wrong house (according to me) on Househunters.
3. Starbucks - don't tell me that they burn the beans or how overpriced they are. It doesn't matter. I'm a sucker for those fancy drinks. It's all I can do to limit myself to 2 per week when there are at least 6 or 7 shops within a block or 2 of my office.
4. Reality TV - not the truly trashy sh*t full of twenty-something angst - I'll take the Amazing Race, Top Chef or Project Runway any day of the week.
5. Yarn - There's a shock. I'm not sure I'll ever have enough. There is something so wonderful about a gorgeous yarn and all the possibilities it presents.
6. Fried Foods - the older I get the less these agree with me but yum!
7. Driving too fast - anyone surprised by this one? I didn't think so. I briefly hit triple digits on the way home Sunday night - just because I could and it was sweeeeet! Now I'm back in reality and behaving myself but it's not nearly as much fun.
8. Fancy Soap - and not just any soap - Pretty Baby. It's just about all I use around the house. It's actually home made, cruelty free, and all natural if you care about that stuff. I just like the smells and feel of it. The price makes it wicked indulgent.
9. Candy - Jelly beans, Smarties and Swedish fish are my weakness but there are plenty of wonderful candies out there.
10. People Watching - more specifically I love to critique people on the street, in the store, etc, etc. Most people have an outlet for their evil and that's mine.

What are your guilty pleasures? You know you have them.

Rhinebeck !!!

I'm back and it is so hard to know where to begin because the last 4 days have been simply wonderful. I visited family, I saw cool stuff and I finally experienced Rhinebeck! It was all so much fun that I kept forgetting that I had my camera with me.



I wish I had taken more pictures so I could show you all the people I met. I found my friend Carole almost as soon as I arrived at the hotel and she introduced me to... everyone. There was blogless Sharon, and blogless Manise, and Kim (who was drawn like a bee to honey to the most gorgeous wheel I've ever seen), and Kathy, and Jessalu. I also met Anne and Judy (I was knitting socks with her yarn when we met). I'm forgetting a ton of other folks too which is understandable since I met way too many people for my pea brain to handle. I was among my people - fiber people, and it was so easy and so much fun that I relaxed like I haven't relaxed in quite a while.

Adding to the fun (at least for me) was someone I convinced to join me for part of the weekend. My sister, who lives way closer to Rhinebeck than she does to me. It was a bog deal because not only doesn't she know any of "my people" - she doesn't knit at all. She was a really good sport and she braved the crowds and wasn't freaked out by the fiber folks that were everywhere we looked (they even surrounded us when we had dinner at the Culinary Institute of America).

But it wasn't all torture for my sister. Here she is conversing with a gentleman dressed in period attire. I believe he was telling her that it's not "garb". She does look like she's enjoying herself just a little bit. Right? She's even smiling and we weren't even in the food building.



Here's a blurry picture (that I didn't take) of the two of us. Even blurry,the family resemblance is there.



A few people asked me how Rhinebeck compared to MDS&W. Is it as big? Are the vendors the same? As far as I can see they seemed about equal in size - or very close - but there are differences. First, there is no food building at Maryland. I really liked the food building. I tasted wine, I sampled cheese and I brought home a bit of maple syrup cotton candy for the family. Yum! Definitely a plus.

There are no rides or other kid-stuff at Maryland. I suppose this is a plus or a minus depending if you've got small kids or not. Personally those days are way behind me and I could do quite nicely without the small fry when I'm looking at yarn. I also would've been happier without getting bumped repeatedly by strollers. But if my girls were still little I might feel otherwise.

One thing that both events have in common is the people who wear everything they've ever knit ALL AT ONCE. You might think it'd be less funny when you see people draped in multiple woolens in October when it's 40 degrees than it is in May when it's 80. Nope! Still funny.

For me the thing that really set Rhinebeck apart from MDS&W really had nothing to do with the events themseles and more to do with location. I attend Maryland as a commuter, usually for just one day. I go, I see, I buy, and then I go home. I don't stay up drinking with friends while discussing who was wearing what, who was there, who wasn't, or what booths had the coolest stuff. It's a totally different thing when you experience it as a commuter versus a tourist. Guess which is better?

I had the best time this weekend. It was well worth the drive and I can't wait to do it again.

Ready To Go

Before I say anything else I should mention that these pictures were all taken by Stinkerbelle. She insisted and we had a blast of a photo shoot on Monday. I think she was just tickled to be playing with my Nikon.

Here's my Rhinebeck sweater - the Vine Yoke Cardi by Ysolda Teague. I knit it with less than 2 skeins of Miss Babs Yowza Whatta Skeins in Cadet Blue. Yowza is right. I really love the yarn and I'd knit with it again anytime. this is a really good thing because I still have about a skein and a half of it. Sounds like another sweater to me but I have to decise on a lucky recipient first.



I loved this pattern at first sight and I still love it but it gave me fits. The revised version arrived as I was working across the back and it would've been so much easier if it had arrived just a bit sooner. It really does clear up a lot of stuff and it would've saved me a lot of worry.

Most of this knit moved along with nothing worse than periodic pit stops to decipher the pattern but as I started the second sleeve, I looked back at the first one for reference and flipped way. the. hell. out! Stitches had started to become unraveled. Much cursing ensued before I calmly (Hah!) put the problem stitches on a holder and went on my merry way - vowing to think about it later.

Later turned out to be this past Saturday when I drove like a crazy woman to my LYS and started yammering a mile a minute (no doubt the NewYawka in me coming out) about the problem I had to fix. Thankfully Denise talked me down from the roof and walked me through it. Really I just needed to talk it through and have someone who knows knitty stuff there while I made the repair I'd already arrived at. In the end we decided that I'd probably gained stitches when I did the button holes which threw things off but... I fixed my error by hiding the evidence and it all came out fine in the blocking. Yay!



So if you see me at Rhinebeck this weekend I'll probably look like this. And if I don't say hello it's because I'm a ridiculous dork - not because I don't like you. I'm just weird like that.

Kintting Frenzy

You can call it obsession, compulsion or just a pre=Rhinebeck Knitting frenzy - whatever it was I was fully in it's thrall last weekend and it resulted in a few more finished objects. Some were totally complete like this black blob that look quite a bit more beret-like now that it's been blocked. I can't wait to get modelled shots and even more happy that it's finished before my friend starts chemo and actually needs it.

Some things I finished were just stages in an ongoing project like these sox. They're my Through The Loops Mystery Socks now completed through Clue #2. Like many other knitters I only went for 4 repeats of the leg pattern since I go for shorter socks and this sock starts off with more cuff than I'm used to. In retrospect I think that 3 repeats would've been fine but I'm happy with these as they are and totally shocked that I'm keeping up with the clues so far. I'll probably fall behind on clue #3 since I'll be on the road when it's released. We'll see.



The last thing I finished last weekend is a certain sweater that's currently packed in my travel bag. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for that though.

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Things You Love About Fiber Festivals

The topic for today's Ten on Tuesday is supposed to be 10 Things That Make You Feel Old but who really wants to dwell on that? Right? So, since it worked well for us last week, Carole and I decided to go our own way again and this time we're thinking of 10 Things You Love About Fiber Festivals. This is the perfect topic for a day when I'm counting the minutes till I leave for Rhinebeck.

1. Yarn - I love the variety that I find at a fiber festival. It's such a feast for my senses - the colors, the feel and sometimes even the smells.
2. The Tools - I love wood and at a fiber festival I get to see gorgeous woods that have been turned into amazingly beautiful tools. Some of the wheels and spindles are just gorgeous.
3. People Watching - I love to do this just about anywhere but events like this bring out the cool and the crazy better than anythng else.
4. Good Friends and Family - sharing the experience makes it that much better. In the past I've gone to fiber festivals with my good friend Felicia and my daughter Lindsey. Rhinebeck will be extra fun because I'll be sharing it with my sister. It could get interesting because she doesn't knit at all! Hmmmm.
5. The Fresh Air - Fiber festivals tend to be out in the country and it feels so fresh and inviting out there.
6. The Scenery - Again, countryside equals beauty. It's so nice to get away from the 'burbs and see wide open spaces.
7. Sheep - Looking at the livestock is so much fun. All those sweet sheepy faces.

8. Food - I've heard that the food at Rhinebeck is great but even at it's worst, fair food is fun.
9. Seeing New Things and Demos - the Sheep Dog trials, the weavers, the folks with the sock knitting machines and so much more - these are examples of things I've seen at fiber festivals. You just never know what you'll see.
10. Being Among People Who Speak Your Language - Where else but a fiber festival can you knit in line, fondle yarn, and wear wool in May without having people think your weird. Fiber people just get you.

ECF - Fall Flowers Edition

The park near my office is all decked out with fall flowers but today I suspect we'll find sunbathers and picnic-ers among them as the temperatures here climb to 80. I intend to take full advantage of this last warm day of the year and I hope that you all enjoy an equally lovely day.



Have a great weekend everyone - especially if it's a long one for you as it is for me.

Another Thing on My Needles

So today I'll debut the last of the projects that I started last week at this time. It's the Through The Loops Mystery Sock. I've never done a mystery anything before but I really like the TTL designs and it sounded like fun so why not.



It's a great pattern so far and I've only had one small and totally unexpected issue - the needles. The pattern is written for size 2 needles which used to be my go to sock needles but over the past few years I've migrated to smaller and smaller needles and the simpler toe-up socks I showed yesterday are on 0's. That's a first for me.

But getting back to the TTL Mystery sock, I looked at the pattern and instantly knew the 2's wouldn't work because I usually go for 66 stitches on 1's and get a sock with plenty of room. This was 64 stitches on 2. I tried 1.5's for the first cuff and the fabric seemed loose so I went to 1's for the second cuff. The diference is subtle but there. I now have 2 perfect cuffs and I can't wait to start clue #2 today. Yay!

The Moral of the Story is - Always Follow Instructions Carefully

I first showed you this pile of yarn nearly a week ago. I wonder how many people guessed that I'd start knitting with all of it that very day. Ok, I didn't cast on with all of it - the light colored yarn is still untouched. The rest of it was indeed started that day. Oh Startitis!

The project that made the most progress was the Malabrigo hat. It looks like a shiny, black, blob in the picture but in person it's fab. Trust me - fab. It's also nearly finished and were it not for my inability to read directions it would actually be done by now. Ugh!

The pattern I'm using for this hat is Beret de Printemps by Jeni Chase. It's really well written and easy. The increases, decreases, and knits are totally not hard and clearly marked. Also clearly marked are the yellow boxes which, according to the key are not to be knit on the last repeat of the round. I cannot tell you how I pondered those yellow boxes. Apparently I couldn't wrap my head around what the instruction was telling me and just knit on happily and stupidly. All the while I wondered when the pattern would start looking right because it seemed a little off.

I finished all 3 of the repeats and started the last partial repeat when it suddenly hit me. Duh! If you don't knit the yellow stitches then the alignment changes and the pattern works out perfectly. Mad frogging ensued. thankfully I didn't have to rip it all out - just most of it. I'm back on track now and amazingly - the pattern looks much better. It's a miracle!

Apparently I can't even do simple knits without errors right now because this dead-simple toe-up sock required a bit of frogging too. Yup -frogging simple stockinette.

Another pair o recently completed socks used a new-to-me heel. That Wendy is a genious and in her new book she's got a real, non-wonky, gusset and flap heel for a toe-up sock. I love it. Love!

Unfortunately I can't do it on the fly yet like I can do a short row heel and i wound up starting the gusset increases an inch too early. Truly there's no good excus for this other than failure to properly follow directions. Detect a theme here?

Happily I'm back on track with this project too. Not only that but the knitting on my Vine Yoke Cardigan is nearly complete. Yay! There's unfortunately going to be a little repair work necessary when I get to seaming because some held stitches unraveled but... no worries yet. I really think I can fix it and have a finished sweater before I leave for Rhinebeck one week from TODAY!!! Can you tell how excited I am?

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Things We Love About Fall

The topic for today's Ten on Tuesday is supposed to be 10 Things You Want But Can't Afford but these days, when my husband is out of work again, that covers way too much and - really - it's kind of depressing. So Carole and I decided to switch it up a little and go positive with our own alternative topic - 10 Things We Love About Fall. Revel in that which makes you smile!

1. Pumpkins! - this one is growing in our side yard. It's amazing to see it go. It seems to double in size from one day to the next. I see pumpkin bread and jack-o-lantern in our future.
2. Apples - Yum! Apple sauce and apple pie are favorites.
3. Fall colors - the leaves start turning and when the light catches them just so it's breathtaking.
4. The cool, crisp, air - the humidity is gone and it's just so nice to be outside, relaxing.
5. Craft fairs - there aren't so many of them in the summer because nobody wants to be out in the humidity. I love seeing all the pretty and clever things people create.
6. The smell of wood burning - sitting on the deck last night I caught a whiff of someones fire. Sadly we don't have a fireplace but I'm very thankful that others around me do.
7. Apple cider - when it's warm and it's been mulled it's just wonderful.
8. Halloween - as we walk through the neighborhood with the girls we see friends and it just feels so good to be a part of a vibrant community. Of course the candy doesn't suck either.
9. My birthday - it comes very close to Halloween and the two have always been inextricably connected for me.
10. Wearing wool again - I can finally wear all the socks I knit over the summer

What do you love about the Fall?

Spinning Again

As if to make up for the previous weekend that I spent being sick, this past weekend was a whirlwind of activity. I caught up on my laundry, did the shopping, attended another of Stinkette's games (she pitched!) and volunteered at the fall fair with DQ who needed public service hours. All that and so much more. By Sunday afternoon it was nice to have a little quiet time and I spent it out on the deck enjoying the gorgeous weather.

I knit on a few projects, read a book, and gave a little long overdue attention to my spinning. Bother the girls and Bruce had commented recently on how sad an neglected my wheels had been of late.

About a week ago I pulled out my Sonata and started spinning again and I quickly realized that it just felt off. I tried changing the chair I was sitting in and I adjusted everything that could be adjusted. Somewhere along the line we decided that the nameless Sonata seemed uncooperative and difficult. Stubborn maybe. For some strange reason it reminded me of Nellie Oleson and we began to refer to her as Nellie.

After a lot of consideration it occurred to me that the treadle was the source of the problem. It was oddly bouncy and it was ruining the spinning experience. It seemed like the treadle connectors might be a bit long - the treadles were nearly hitting the floor. So I loosened the appropriate screw, shortened the distance between the footman and the treadle and poof - it's all good now.

I haven't trimmed the excess connector yet because I wanted to be certain that the fix was working. After spending at least an hour spinning on the deck on Sunday I feel fairly certain that it's safe to trim the excess now.

So what was I spinning - MamaE's C-eyeber Fiber in a nameless color that screams fall. Those reds and oranges are so hard to capture but believe me - this stuff sings out in the sunlight.

ECF - Playing Under The Lights Edition

Stinkette had a game last night under the lights on a well-kept field in one of our beautiful local parks. It was just the perfect night for softball, crisp and clear. Standing out there with the other parents I felt like all was right for that moment in time.



I can't tell you who won because I wasn't paying attention to the score. I do know that my girl had good hits and good catches and even scored a run. What more can I ask from a game?

October !!!

I just love October and I'm so happy it's finally here. There's a chill in the air and the leaves here are starting to change color. More importantly October is full of fun stuff like Halloween and my Birthday and Rhinebeck. I'm actually pretty excited about all of it.

Fall officially arrived a little while ago but I didn't really feel it until now. Now I am embracing it and there are a fwe yarns in my collection that are singing. The big yarn cake in the soft, shiny, orange is Creativey Dyed Merino Sock and the two deep, rich orange yarn cakes Ball and Skein Hand-dyed Sock Yarn. Sadly neither has an actual color name but they scream fall to me. Which one should I start first? Decisions, decisions.

In the back right is a lighter cake which is sprinkled with fall colors. It's also Creatively Dyed Merino Sock in one of the Calypso varieties. I see this becoming a more experimental sock - a little Cat Bordhi maybe.

In among all of these potential socks is a little bit of black. This is Malabrigo Silky Merino and I've got a special plan for it. A good friend is about to start chemo and we all know what that means. She's going to lose her hair just in time for the winter weather. She's not the type to let illness slow her down so she's getting a wig and moving on with things. I still think that a nice, soft, chemo cap may be perfect for her down time at home. If she ever sits still for a minute. I'm thinking of a beret.

Here's another yarny thing that says fall to me. A gorgeous skein of Bluefaced Bliss from Impulse of Delight. I've loved Ruth's yarn for so long and I was so happy to snag a sken of the Beary Surprise colorway. I saw it and immediately thought of my DH. He saw it and thought it would look great as guy socks for him too so i suspect you'll see this on my needles this fall too.

The shawl pin is all mine though. Isn't it gorgeous. I think this fall is going to be great.

What are your fall knitting plans?