Today was the monthly meeting of the Bowie Borders Knitting group. We met a week later than usual, because most of us attended the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend. There was much new fiber and yarn to look at, plus some new books. And tales of rain, and muck, and mud. Lots of mud.
Happily, today we were all dried and sunny, and enjoyed a good time in the cafe, sipping yummy concoctions (we were about split on cold versus hot, but it’s that time of year). And knitting and crocheting. It’s always about the yarn, and the amazing things that we all find to do with it.
Here are some shots from today’s gathering. As usual, click to embiggen.
Heather brought her sister Jennifer along
Heather models her sweater
Jennifer knits a Clapotis
Trish knits her February Lady Sweater
Tammy is working on a baby shrug
Rhoda is knitting a felted bag
Molinda joined us today, too
Leslie shows her project
Jo is knitting an anklet sock
Amber joined us for the first time today
Alice was crocheting a rainbow-y afghan today
Ileana models her recently completed cropped shell
We were happy to welcome Heather’s sister, Jennifer, whose husband is a marine and between assignments. Hopefully we’ll get to see her again before she heads off to Chile! We really enjoyed meeting and spending time with her. Also a first timer today was Amber. I hope she’ll be joining us regularly because she seemed to fit right in as if she had been with us all along. (Our group is like that; everyone is always welcome and it’s easy to feel right at home.)
Dina was also there and working on a lovely mobius cowl with her Kauni yarn. (I have some marinating in my stash, too. The rainbow colorway. For That Cardigan. Someday.)
It was also great to see Jo again after such a long winter break. As usual, I was sad to leave. I’m already looking forward to next month!
Hi all, I’m finally resurfacing… to tell you all about my time at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! It was great fun this year, as usual, but soggy. The rain has been going on for 8 days now and frankly it has me a little down. Hence the blog silence. I’m sorry! But I wanted to talk about the festival before the week was out. So, here goes!
I was all set to go on Saturday, but I wound up being sick during the night in a most unpleasant way, so could not go to the festival until Sunday. Of course, it was POURING rain the whole time. I guess I should consider myself lucky, as this was the first time in my five times going that we’ve had weather that bad. It was cold, wet, and muddy. Ick. I’m surprised I’m not sick! But the festival itself makes me happy and it was still worth it to go. But, I will say that now that I’ve done the festival once in the rain? Once was enough. I don’t think I need yarn that bad!!
Trish with Jess, Casey, and Mary-Heather from Ravelry
The first stop was the Ravelry meetup in the Rabbit Building. I’m not sure I would call it a “building.” It’s more like a covered pavilion with a gravel and dirt floor. The mud getting into the place was horrendous, and if I had had any sense, I would never have gone, but since when have I had any sense? No way was I going to miss the Ravelry crowd. It was great to see everyone again, and this year they were all modeling designs by Ysolda Teague. Jess had on this amazing little purple shawl that was so lovely! She took it off and showed it to me. It was beautiful, and it even looks like something that I could do, even with my limited lace skills. There were pictures all around, and it was great to see everyone again.
Ysolda Teague and Trish And why were the Ravelry folks all wearing Ysolda Teague? Why, because we had the pleasure of being in the company of Ysolda Teague herself! How wonderful! She was adorned from head to toe (literally!) with examples of her beautiful knitwear, and oh my gosh it was SOOOOOO beautiful in person! Ysolda was modeling another version of the same shawl that Jess was wearing, along with the matching hat. Both are available in Ysolda’s book, “Whimsical Little Knits.” I was so enamored of each of these patterns that I got the book right away when I came home. Luckily it was available for immediate digital download. I am all about the instant gratification.
Ysolda was also wearing her Coraline sweater, which she told me even comes in my size, and oooh did I get excited. It’s lovely and now I want to make one. She was also wearing a pair of long, lacy socks which might have been the Rapunzel Stockings. I hope she didn’t get them ruined in the mud!
Speaking of mud, the rain was so persistent and the ground so wet and boggy that boy oh boy, did I ever get stuck in the mud while trying to get out of the Rabbit Building. I can’t believe the size of the hole my wheelchair dug into. I was mucky and muddy for the whole rest of the day after that! But hey, it was fun! Except that I don’t think my wheelchair is a huge fan of water. I started having an electrical short early on during the day. So once again I am in my old, clunky chair that makes me generally grumpy. Sigh.
Here is a collection of images from around the festival that day:
basket weaver in action There was a guy weaving handmade baskets,
a collection of sock designs and a plethora of sock designs and sock yarns.
bags of colorful yarn on a shelf And of course, there was lots of yarn!
Oh, and lots of cute sheep to pet:
Baah!Baah!Baah!
And there was music! That’s one of my favorite things about the festival. The sounds of music filled the air from just about everywhere. Here was where Maggie Sansone usually performs, except that the one time I got close enough to film, she had actually stepped away. Maggie’s Celtic music is a real highlight of the festival. You can check her out on iTunes, among other places. But here is some of what I got to hear:
Of course, I bought lots of yummy fiber and yarn. More about that… but in another post. Right now it’s past my bedtime, and there’s a new episode of Lime and Violet calling my name. I’m glad I’ll be listening to a podcast while going off to sleep. It’s storming again. Ugh.
I’ve been in a blogging funk all week, so I thought maybe I’d better show up before the few readers I do have start disappearing on me. The truth is there hasn’t been much happening here and I’m kinda stuck, knitting wise, so not much to blog about. I wound some pink yarn last week with the intention of casting on a small, carry-along project in time to have something to take to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, but I’ve been so unmotivated, I haven’t even done that. The truth is I hate casting on, and I’ve been avoiding it altogether. So I’ve been knitting on the sweater:
closeup of tabby cat with knitting
Apparently, Tegan wasn’t too thrilled about posing with the knitting; apparently she is completely blissfully unaware of the important connection between knitting and cats. Perhaps Lucy can fill her in.
I’m just about to the point of the huge knot in my yarn for the sweater. I’m trying to decide whether I should cut it and work on it and start a new ball, or if I should just stick it out? Something tells me the whole ball is just a mess inside, despite being wound on my ball winder. Some yarns are just like that. I swear some of them delight in getting themselves all knotted up into a giant cobweb that would try even the most patient soul. Patience is not one of my virtues, so we shall see whether I painstakingly pick apart the knots in this ball, or I just fling it at the wall instead.
Anybody wanna take bets?
Meanwhile, I gotta figure out what to take with me, knitting-wise, on Saturday. As per usual I won’t be wearing any completed knits (as if I have any) so at least I need to look like a knitter and bring something in progress. Hopefully I’ll get motivated to start something new before then. Taking the sweater in progress to the festival? Out of the question. I don’t want to get any festival ick on my silk.
It’s that time again! Here’s the sweater progress update at week 5:
sweater yoke after 5 weeks of knitting
It looks like half an inch a week is about all I’m good for with this thing. To top that off, I’m up to my eyeballs in knots again and the yarn is driving me mad! I am this close to cutting it again so I can work on the knot. Some of us got together at Marie’s house today and Alice worked on my knots for quite a while, but I do think the whole ball is a mess.
I’ve got quite a few inches to go before I can even start on the lace section. Maybe 5 more weeks and I’ll be there! I must say that I am growing ever more jealous of the folks who can burn through their knitting at lightening speed.
I do love the February Lady Sweater! But I understand now why the original design was done with worsted weight yarn. I am a little nuts for trying it with Tess Yarns Raw Silk, but it is pretty and it does feel wonderful! I think I may get some more of this fiber next weekend at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Can’t wait!
Today I went to a jewelry show and knitting party at my friend Marie’s house. It was a blast! Several of the folks from knit group were there, and it was wonderful that Marie’s house is accessible to me. I’ll post my pictures about it tomorrow.
hot pink yarn on ball winder I’ve been bitten by the sock bug again. We’ll see how long it lasts this time, but I decided to wind up some Socks That Rock mediumweight (colorway “hot flash”), just in case the sock bug decides to hang around a while.
I’m actually interested in making boot toppers (footless short socks with a cuff). I can’t really wear socks inside my orthotics but this way I can at least look like I’m wearing handknit socks, right? Humor me for a while so I can figure out whether this will work to my satisfaction with sock yarn. I’ve found some heavier ones but none so far intended to emulate socks. I’m figuring a snug ribbing down around my ankle and the top of a sock cuff ought to do it. Wish me luck. I’ve got some cute new Dr. Martens shoes that need proper socks.
I was going to do a quick post this morning, complaining about the dark and dreary state of this Monday morning, something evoking an old Carpenter’s song, you know… “Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down…” But then, I opened my front door, and heard this:
