Yes, I'm a knitter... how did you know?

Surely it couldn't have been from my blog, because there hasn't been much indication of knitting around here for a while! Sorry for the departure, but summers are crazy in these parts (this summer more than most). But before we head to crazy family land, let's take a break for some knitting, shall we?

Even though the last clue for the Mystic Meadows KAL was released weeks ago, I've been slow to finish this. No real excuse... it's not a difficult pattern. It's beautiful, and original, and fun to knit, and I will be extremely happy to own and use it when it's done, but I can't say that it's taking so long because it's difficult. It's not. Heck, it's even done in fingering weight yarn instead of lace weight. It flies along... when you actually knit on it, that is.

So, here are a few shots of my work in progress (sloppily pinned to the bed). I'm about 10 rows into clue 3, with a total of 4 clues, so I guess I'm roughly halfway.







Pretty, huh? I'm determined to get this one finished, since I still have a half-finished Mystery Stole3 somewhere in the pile of UFOs. Do you remember MS3? It ended up being the Swan Lake stole. It's an absolutely gorgeous pattern, and I LOVE the beading. (I did it in black alpaca with iridescent green beads). I'll have to admit that I kind of lost steam at the halfway point when the "wing" was introduced. I'm kind of funny with asymmetrical things...either it really hits me or it doesn't. And the wing didn't. So, I decided to make a second half to match the first and graft them together... which will be a beautiful, lacy, delicate stole... if I ever finish it.

So what's my excuse for this lack of fiber news? Well, last weekend was my sister's birthday party for her two kids. Yesterday was our party for our three. Emma turned 15 on July 7th, and Molly & Austin turn 12 on the 15th, so we had a big party for all three yesterday. Lots of fun was had by all, but it's a heck of a lot of work to have 20 or 30 people over!



And the fun doesn't end. My other sister is getting married in August, so we have all the activities leading up to and including that (engagement parties, dress shopping, etc.). And, my mom turns 70 a week after that, so we wanted to plan a little something for her. All good and happy events. All lots of fun, but all take time to prepare for and plan. Time which might otherwise be devoted to knitting and spinning.

But there's hope! My occasional spinning evenings with Naomi continue, with one scheduled in a week or two. And, I stumbled on a brand new Rav group, SNB Pioneer Valley, which just happens to be a group of fiber ladies who meet regularly a block from my home. Who knew? I'm going to try and join in this Wednesday, so I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm also looking to start something good with that STR "Knitters Without Borders" that I won. (Yes, I realize I just said that I plan to finish the KAL... I can do two things at once... sort of). I had a suggestion for Monkeys, which seem to be the hot sock pattern at the moment (and very nice with a handpainted yarn), and I had thought of Sidewinders, just 'cause it seems like a neat idea and because I'm one of the three people on earth who actually enjoy grafting (yeah, I like Christmas fruitcake, too... I've given up trying to understand). Anyway, I'm still open to suggestions if you have a great sock pattern that would show off this yarn well.