Saturday at The Big E in Springfield

The tradition of butter sculpture continues.

I just love black and white cows and I know Carol R does too!!!

The Oreos!!!

This sheep was so sweet...

A number of reenactors were present.

Here is the prize pumpkin.

I'm Back!!!!

As some of you may know, I was temporarily severed from the web. That's right my computer crashed as they say. But luckily my computer is back on board thanks to one of the folks with whom I work. The biggie is that all my information is intact. Beware...computers can crash so save always and often to CD or disk. I've learned how dependent I am on the web...it's scary. I was actually feeling withdrawal. I missed my cybercommunications, my desktop, the web and all my information. Boy are we hooked.

Here is proof that I'm still knitting. Not a cat carrier, John, .......two sleeves for slip stitch cardigan. Marisa, John and I are headed up to the Big E this weekend to partake of some fair food and check out the livestock as well as our fair entries :).

Mystery Project Finished

Your guesses were off the mark ....LOL! Here I am modeling the project from the back. I had great fun making this. Now I'm back to working on my wool quilt. Sadly I'm off to work and can't quilt or knit until much later when I hope to go to Sue's Knit In.

Sunday Afternoon Knitting

Well.... gang I am almost finished knitting this mystery project. Can you guess what it is going to be?I started it 3pm yesterday afternoon and have about 8 more rows to complete it.

Pi Shawls R Us

As some of you may or may not know I joined the EZPi group at Yahoo because I love knitting shawls and this group plans to make an event out of a making several shawls. One of the group members asked for pics of the shawl so it gave birth to an entry devoted to EZ shawls.

This Pi Shawl shown above was knit many years ago out of unspun Lopi. I also knit one for my daughter that I named the Empty Nest Shawl. These shawls were knit with a lopi that is somewhere between a dk or light worsted weight. I used E. Zimmermann's Pi shawl pattern in Knitter's Almanac. I decided on using her suggested Gull's Wing pattern which is an easy lace pattern as well as a garter stitch border. The shawl is a no- brainer that produces wonderful results. It is so large that I sometimes use it as an afghan or folded in half as a TV shawl. It's wonderfully cozy. As you can see Bennie, my cat, loves the shawl as well.

If you love lace and shawls here are some links to check out:
Wendy's Lace Links
Knitting Geek
About.com
Interweave Knits

I was asked by Jamie my SP5 and Cathy what I plan to do with the handspun yarn in the last entry. I'm thinking of making some long wristers using a pattern in Classic Elite's new booklet. Yes.... Carol R you've enabled me as usual :).

Visit Knitgarden. I was struck by her September 14th comment about peace and her garden: "It is a peace that surprises and has no plans or expectations." I liken the peace that she mentions to the quiet time between friends when no conversation needs to occur. Or it is the experience when involved in a creative moment where the left side of the brain engages and you are totally absorbed in time. May we experience this peace often.

Spinning Results

Last night I finished spinning some lovely dyed shetland.

Hot Weather Sunset

What a spectacular sunset occurred last evening on my way to Judy's house to pick up my long awaited Three-Cornered and Long Shawls by Sigridur Halldorsdottir. Since I was heading west the sun grew in the sky up the hill on route 44. Judy, I'm sure you know what I mean. What was so stunning was the orangey-red fullness I witnessed. There were no pink clouds streaking the sky ...only a gray haze! It was breathtaking. When I turned onto Austin Avenue, I lost sight of the sun until I approached the apple orchard; again the sun was another striking sight hanging over the fruited trees. It never fails to cause me great joy....this daily occurrence. Add to this I picked up my new book (Thanks, Judy!) and squirreled it away to enjoy with my evening snack.

I love the many patterns it holds. The pic to the right is just one of the lovely patterns done in two natural icelandic colors.

After the sunset ride I headed to Sue's R I Handspun to knit with some buddies. Sue was checking out patterns, books and magazines; she also showed us a Harrison sweater she is sewing together. Patty was reworking the sleeve of her grandson's naturally dyed sweater. Carol R was sewing together her wonderful Mountain Mohair sweater.Paula was working on purple Opal toe-up socks while Lois started Opal socks in another colorway I want to knit. I continued work on the slip stitch cardigan. I also worked on the Tiger and created a bit of a frenzy. Several skeins of Opal were purchased to make socks. These socks are so much fun.
The pattern is so easy and the results are stunning.

The Tiger is Back, But Not at the Zoo

Yesterday I spent several hours at the Roger Williams Park Zoo. It was a great day in the sunshine checking out the many animal exhibits there. I am of two minds when it comes to zoos. Like many I feel sad to see these exquiste creatures enclosed, but I do appreciate a chance to see animals I would never be able to see so close up and personal. RW zoo seems to have made a good attempt at not putting all their animals in cages as in the old days and has attempted to
place them in more natural surroundings. I marveled at the cheetah, a South American penguin,python snakes, and several giraffes.I even got to see a Shetland sheep!!! Sadly I neglected to take my camera...can you believe it.

There were no tigers which brings me to my latest knitting project......

In case you haven't heard Opal got wise to the fact that it's customers wanted more Tiger. They finally released it, and thanks to Sue at R.I. Handspun I got a skein. I've begun a pair of socks using a simple wave pattern and I'm loving it.More mindless knitting to perk up my knitting slump. I'm also determined to work on two nameless sweaters that could be worn soon.

Energy

On another note.... energy costs have been soaring so I'm trying to think of more ways to cut them down. In the 70's DH and I began buying fuel efficient cars and this will be continued as well as cutting down on unnecessary trips.

I'm also fond of recycling and will try to find more ways to increase this through recycling clothing and reusing paper and plastic bags. In case you haven't heard, most of the major market chains in R.I. are collecting our plastic bags. These bags will be made into plastic products that will make park benches,decks and more. In fact I've seen some of these products at Roger Williams Park this weekend, and they are very durable.

Next is working on ways to make our house more fuel efficient. This will mean lowering the temperature which has been a balmy 68 degrees to whatever we can stand. As I am an inveterate knitter, I have much in the way of woolens to wear :). I need to explore ways to cut down on heat loss through our fireplace which has a glass enclosure that still permits cold air to enter our family room. Any ideas out there to handle this one?

A Quick Knit

I finished a no- brainer scarf in a few days! Here she is just in time for the fall. It has lovely drape and can be worn several ways.

Last night I attended the Oceanstate Knit and Crochet Guild meeting. Quite a few of us turned out. We discussed how we want to have a speakers such as Debbie Newton, Judy Pascal or another name that escapes me now. Jackie showed up with so many lovely baby sweaters. Kathy also brought two knitted helmet liners for the troops. Dorie brought us lovely small bags to store knitting tools or a small project.

50 Years of Friendship

YesterdayRose and I spent the day celebrating our friendship of 50 years. Yes...it's true ...we met in first grade 50 years ago this September. We began the morning with a large breakfast and much talk about our lives. I actually remember the first time I met Rose; she was wearing a dark plaid dress with a white collar. She is a dear friend who exemplifies the saying:

Make new friends, but keep the old;
One is silver and the other gold.

On the knitting front: Kristen asked what I'm submitting to the Big E. I've sent in my Shapely Shawlette, Lizard Socks and a skein of spindlespun yarn.

I 'm close to finishing another shawlette for the fall.

Anniversary Weekend

Here are some lovely mums I received from M and J yesterday. Sunday R and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary. Actually we began the celebration with dinner on Saturday night. My mom gave us a lovely house gift of wonderful sheets with a lacy trim. Just what we need :)

On the knitting front I move from project to project. I did manage to start another project with some Ellen Cooper yarn in lovely dark blues, browns and rust using a simple scarf mini- shawl pattern. This is a garter stitch no brainer. I need to continue with Kilmainham scarf and Marisa's wedding knitting. I just remembered this morning that I have two woolen sweaters in the wings...one is the Slip Stitch cardigan and Jolie. I must get back to these so I can wear them in the fall.

On the spinning front I almost finished spinning 4 ounces of dyed Shetland wool. Can I finish this in time for the Big E...probably not. Ouuuuu....I just remembered we need to get our Big E entries to Sue by Tuesday September 6th.

Finally my thoughts are with the hurricane survivors and the families who have lost their loved ones. If you can, give to the Red Cross or some other organization to help the relief effort if you haven't done so already.