It Was Nice While It Lasted

Last week was so incredibly enjoyable, being able to stay home and not deal with my horrific co-workers!  As you may have noticed, I didn't even post here, though to be honest, a lot of the reason was because nothing much was happening worth showing you.  :-)

It was an excellent blend of getting things accomplished and relaxing, and the weather was very cooperative, which I appreciated A LOT.  I didn't get all the things on my to-do list taken care of, but I hadn't really expected to, so I wasn't really upset with myself.  But the things that were done gave me the chance to feel like I had finally made a dent into a lot of things!

The weekend topped it all off nicely, with the New Jersey Sheep and Fiber Festival on Saturday, and the Eagles winning their football game on Sunday. 

The fiber festival was so much fun!  One of the nicest things about this festival is that it is very approachable as far as size is concerned.  Which is not to say that it is not as much sensory overload as the larger fairs and festivals - trust me, there's A LOT to see!  Of course, I spent a lot of my time talking to and petting the sheep (whether or not they wanted me to - spoiler alert: most of them didn't care), and I even got to kiss and hug one of the sheep which was THE BEST THING OF ALL.  The Tim even took photos, but as my camera and my computer are currently not on speaking terms, I'll have to show you that later.  Even Instagram isn't speaking to me, so I can't send you there to see any photos at the moment either.  Oh well. 

It was very difficult to not buy a whole bunch of beautiful yarns.  But I managed to restrain myself and came home only with a bar of goat's soap, with Franckinsense and Myrhh scent.  It's put safely away until Christmastime. 

I did get the chance to see some people that I had hoped to see, including Dee, Vera, three good friends from Philadelphia that I follow online but don't often get to see, and Kathleen Dames.  It was so nice to run into people to briefly catch up, and to live vicariously through their purchases.  It was especially nice to meet Kathleen, as we have been friends online for approximately 15 years, and had never yet met in person!  We'd come close, but it just never worked out until Saturday.  She was there with Kay Gardiner (one half of Mason-Dixon Knitting), and introduced us.  Kay was as nice and as funny as you would expect her to be.  One funny thing was that when I was talking to Kathleen, I mentioned that I ran into her when I was looking for The Tim.  She said, "Oh my God - THE TIM is here???"  I got a huge chuckle out of that.  (And eventually I did locate him, well after the fact.)

You may also enjoy this exchange, which occurred over breakfast that morning.

The Tim:  So ... is this one of the big fiber things?
Me:  It's relatively small, if you remember.  [He has gone with me at least 3 times in the past.]
The Tim:  When did it become smaller?
Me:  As far as I know, it's always been smaller.
The Tim:  When did they move it?
Me: What?
The Tim: Well, didn't it used to be in Maryland?
Me:  That would be Maryland Sheep and Wool, which happens in May.
The Tim:  Oh, I wondered about that.  I guess I'm talking about a whole other state.
Me (in my brain):  !!!!!!!
Me (in person):  Ya think??

Anyway, then yesterday I just hung out at home, worked on some laundry and some stitching, and watched the football game.  What a nice way to finish my week of vacation.

And how sad to have to return to work.  Such is life.  At least tomorrow, we have our lunch hour craft group meeting.

Again, sorry for no pictures here today - hopefully I can show you some things soon.  Have a good week!

Fiber Festival, Crazy, Cuties, and Cozy

Yesterday morning The Tim and I got ourselves into our trusty little car, and headed to the New Jersey Sheep and Fiber Festival.  We had gone a couple of years ago, but missed it since then for various reasons, so we were excited to go back.  It's a mostly quiet, pretty drive, generally with no serious traffic, and not so far away that you start to get itchy being in the car.  I forgot my camera but I know several others have posted photos of the animals and several of the booths, so I am not worried that you will miss knowing what sheep, alpaca, and llamas look like.  Though I had never seen a Jacob sheep with 5 horns until yesterday and it fascinated me, I have to be honest.  The angora bunnies were soooo sweet and didn't mind if you petted them, so I got my petting-the-animals fix. Well, at least a little of it ...

There were so many wonderful vendors, and I really really wished I had more available funds, but also didn't want to walk away regretting having spent too much.  So I made these two very small, but very happy purchases.

These two minis will go into my mitred square blanket, and remind me of a very happy day.  They were purchased from a lovely young lady at the Wandering Wool booth, and at $3 each, were a true bargain.  She was so friendly, and we chatted about the sweater she was wearing (one of Thea Colman's designs), the one she was knitting (her first attempt at a yoked sweater), and it was altogether a favorable experience.  She was as nice to me as if I'd purchased $1000.00 worth of yarn.

Unlike the one woman who was the owner of a sheep I was admiring.  She said, "I hope you're not a vegetarian, because this sheep is good eating."  I said that I was a vegetarian, and she said, "Oh I can't *wait* to see what you have to say to me."  And I responded, "I don't really have anything to say.  I'm an adult and I know how the world works."  And then I walked away, feeling bad for the sheep on several levels.

Sadly, I didn't see any of the friends I knew were there.  I did run into two people from our craft group at work, who were there because I'd sent an e-mail about it. So I was glad they decided to check it out.

But oh what a lovely way to spend a lovely day!

******

The other day I was poking around on Ravelry, and I came across something that I couldn't decide impressed me or appalled me.  In the end, I was impressed because, well, think how this poor woman's wrists feel!  I showed it to The Tim, and told him not to get any ideas ...

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I don't know about you, but last week and the week before, there were a lot of back-to-school pictures in my Facebook feed.  But this one is and will always be my favorite.  

My niece Julie took this on her daughter Penn's first day of Pre-K.  I love how dad Keith and baby Oden look pleased, while Penn has followed her mother's instructions for a thumbs-up, but with her own twist to it.  From all accounts, once they got to the school and she saw her name on the classroom board, she was happy.  But this photo says it all.  I hear you Penn, I really do!

 Baby Oden (aka "Little Brudder") is doing well, and is becoming such a cutie!  Here is a recent photo.

I think he's gonna be a fun kid, don't you?

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And now, today.  Right now as I write this, it's cool and raining outside.  I'm sitting here with a cup of tea, with Jack sitting on my lap and the others nearby.  I think this will be a cozy day.  Such a nice feeling - I'm gonna enjoy it in every way I can!

In Which I Am Feeling Unstable

Hello there!  I hope all of you in the U.S. had a good Labor Day weekend.  Ours was for the most part uneventful, but the highlights were my successful crockpot dinner of minestrone on Saturday, and our trip to Nockamixon State Park for the day on Monday.  Most of the weekend was rainy, but Monday was one of those perfect days, and we had a great time hiking around, and then ending the day at the pool.

On Saturday, I finished the first of my pair of socks using the Solar pattern.  It took me a while, with my arthritis flareup, but I'm really pleased with how the first one turned out.  Here you will see one of my assistants checking for mistakes ...

I have yet to cast on the second sock, mostly because my arthritis is acting up again due to too much knitting over the weekend.  No one's fault but my own.

Rest assured, the other assistants also were busy.

I am currently having one of those weeks/times when you are fine, nothing much is going on, but you are unable to really concentrate on much of anything for any length of time.  I started a book, and I know I'm gonna like it, but I put it aside until I *must* read.  Right now my reading consists of looking at magazines and being able to handle the short articles.  My knitting is currently non-existent, between the discomfort and my lack of interest/concentration.  I'm trying to just ride it all out, but I'm feeling really out of it, and am with it enough to have it be annoying!

I did manage to revisit my Scattered Wishes shawl over the weekend, and make progress on the lace border past where I had to rip out and start over, so that was a good feeling.  (Until I realized that I'd done myself no favors by doing that much knitting.  Sometimes it's like I'll never learn.  Eejit.)  It's looking nice, but I didn't take any photos because at this point the stitches are so shmushed onto the needle, you can't really tell quite what it is supposed to be.  :-)

Summer Book Bingo 2017 ended and I didn't even have a single bingo.  Such is life.  I enjoyed it for the most part, but I'm not sure I'll do it again, at least not at this point.  I'm glad I branched out in some of my reading, but I guess the whole thing just didn't "click" for me.  Which is fine - some things I glom onto, and others, not so much.

This coming weekend is the New Jersey Sheep and Fiber Festival.  We went a couple of years ago, and it was a lot of  fun.  It's quite small, but perfect for spending a good portion of a day.  I'm not sure if we'll be able to go this weekend or not, but if you are nearby, it's worth a visit.  And yesterday I found out about the existence of the Lehigh Valley Fiber Festival; I was not aware of this event before, so maybe we can check that out.  It would not be that far from us, and at that point in September would probably be a lovely drive.

And that's it for now.  What are you up to?  Any fiber events coming your way anytime soon?

NJ Sheep and Fiber Festival

It's been a nice fall weekend, here - particularly today, when it's been cool and breezy and makes you believe that fall may actually be on its way.

Yesterday, The Tim and I headed one state over to go to the New Jersey Sheep and Fiber Festival.  I've been wanting to go for a few years, but would never remember the date until it just wasn't possible to plan.  This year, I missed the last time I would be able to take the Rosie's bus to Maryland Sheep and Wool, so I was anxious to get to at least one fiber festival.  And when my friend Mindy said she was going to have a booth there, The Tim actually offered to go, since he only knows her through Facebook and wanted to meet in person.

It only took about an hour to get there, and though it was overcast, it was not too hot, and very pleasant for walking around.  And what a lovely event!  It's small enough that you can take your time and still have plenty of the day left, and large enough that there is a lot to see, and wish you could win the lottery to buy it all.

Here is a selection of pictures I took (I won't make you look at the many many photos of sheep, sheep - just a few!):

Create your own caption ... (I told him I was gonna call it 

"The Old Goat goes to the fiber festival")

All of the sheep were friendly

This is blurry, because it was when the sheep were moving during the herding dog demo.  These are hair sheep, which I had never known about until yesterday.

The alpacas had just been sheared and were rather blase about the whole thing.

This sweet bunny LOVED being petted and wanted all the attention.

Then there was this guy - I decided I if I lived anywhere near him, I would always try to stay on his good side ...

Me, Mindy, and her two sons and assistants in the booth, Eric and Owen.  They are two of the nicest kids I've ever met.

Last picture of the day - wildflowers next to the parking lot.  A good way to end, right?

I didn't buy anything, because I forgot to take any more than about $5.00 with me!  I just was not organized about it at all, and didn't want to use a credit card, even where they were OK, since I currently have lots on my credit card due to vet visits.  But you know what?  It's fine, because I have plenty of yarn, and I'm already planning for next year.

It was still an amazing day, just getting see animals, yarn, and other beautiful things.  You can't ask for more than that.