Prize winners 2020

To the uninitiated eye, these look like ordinary masked women... but in reality, they are knitters/crocheters extraordinaire(s)!  We decided to NOT wait for the San Juan County Fair 2021 and host our own event.

Enjoying the 90º F backyard, awaiting the tallying of votes, patiently, we resisted the urge to just award EVERY entry a first prize.

A Table full of lovely items...and a line of more lovely items.  Lots of hands on here! Click to enlarge.

Not room on the line for all!

Everyone had something that was either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and we all took home various white elephant gifts.  And feasted on Apple Pancakes and other treats, AND we took home produce from Jenny's and Callie's gardens. WIN-WIN-WIN!!

Muttering overheard (above):  "This is impossible to judge."

And the WINNERS are:  TWO BEST OF SHOW...  It was a tie!

Kay with Baby Sweater and granddaughter Jenn with a stunning silk shawl!

For closer looks at my articles, you'll have to go to Ravelry Here.

COVID busy

What a time, to sit back and knit/weave.

Totally unexpected, I found this pattern for a poncho (I love ponchos...) and had the yarn leftover from 6 years ago.

Comfy for napping, but not needed in 40° C July.
Knitted in the round, because I can...pattern calls for front and back with seams.

My Ravelry

#dropsdesign

More to follow, plus Ivories!

Knitting to stay sane

Starting something, when I had many others on needles, is the thing to do, just to make oneself happy...  Most of all, I need to have socks on needles in case I have to go out.  But who's going out these days?  Not me.  So I started socks with this beautiful yarn only to discover that it was SOOOO beautiful that I couldn't stand the thought of wearing it on my feet!

Using my book of  Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders I found this pattern called Celeste Shawl.  The photos in the book really didn't do it justice, and I was fully prepared to get to a point where it would be disappointing and I would rip it out.

But it didn't disappoint, and with blocking to bring out a pointed edge, I LOVE IT!  And the color!!!

 Yarn: Rockshelter Sock by Meadowcroft Dyeworks.  100% merino. YUM!
And speaking of YUM...

I'm learning about sourdough bread making.  This is definitely my best attempt at making the "big hole" type of "rustic" sourdough.  A friend shared her starter, and recipe, and with the help of the Internet I've been making bread 2-3 times a week.  

Plus, the need for face masks... I've made 4 so far, for ourselves.  I've been tempted to make them in great numbers like my friends have, to give to the many who are requesting them, yet, when I get done with 2 (at a time) I'm not as eager to continue.

Stay safe!

Unfinished Symphony

Good news! After starting and restarting my Las Cruses cardigan (Laura Nelkin design), and ripping out parts 3 times because of bad calculations on MY part, I came to the point where I ran out of yarn. That's the good news? No, good news to come:

Yes... the rookie mistake. And not just ANY yarn! A dye lot created for the Taos Wool Festival 2019 in beautiful bamboo. Limited supply... and where did they go? Well, a close friend bought some for a project, yet NO ONE BUT ME, entered it into Ravelry!

So, tracking down enough yarn to knit the collar, which is a thin band down the fronts and around the neck.

The tracking begins (even before I ran out, because I could see it coming):
1) I give a shout out to my friend but she hasn't finished her project and is hesitant to commit. Friendship only goes so far!

2) An email to the dyer, and to the shop where I bought it. Dyer replies I should try the shop.

3) Shop owner of Mooncat Fibers, in Taos, replies (the GOOD NEWS) that she thinks she has almost a full skein left at home!

4) This morning, she's sending it my way. Last night I dreamed I used that leftover to "begin" the finishing. A bit of a restless night...I never got past the first three stitches of the collar, redoing it over and over...

5) I got plenty of time!

6) A drawback to Nelkin's designs... They are difficult (or maybe I should say impossible) to try on for fit, and upon finishing, I discovered the sleeves were WAY, I mean 8" WAY too long.  And had I known that, I wouldn't have had to buy more yarn.  Bamboo, drapey, and nice but difficult to judge how long it will be...I ended up shortening the sleeves, and now, it's finished.

Love my cats...again

I usually  love my cats... until I sit down to knit, put my feet up, and one or more land in my lap.  They know I'm less likely to move, and it will be comfy for them for a length of time.  And they let me know how happy they are by extending their claws into my thighs, and making me jump, and swat at them, and leaving me little reminders of their love.  

This is one of them....

And my other "skinny jeans" all tell the same tale.  The elastic that makes them skinny catches on them, and, well, I curse those cats every time it happens.

Today, I thought I must be resourceful enough to make this less of a reminder every time I wear them.

I must say, it turned out to be easy, but not before I attempted to use a tiny needle, which led to using a needle threader, (after 10 minutes I managed to do the deed).  On my second "pull" I found I needed 4 hands to hold a needle threader, needle, crochet hook and push the "pull" through.   But WAIT!

With only the tiny (size 11) crochet hook, the process was sped up, and in no time I had fixed 4 pairs of jeans of numerous pulls.  Once I had fixed a few, more and more became evident... which I gladly fixed (by pulling to the wrong side) and I decided I can live with my cats....again.

I wish I had taken photos of my deep blue jeans.  They were quite the wreck and little white pulls in the deep blue made me quite ANGRY!  

All is well!  I'm so lucky to have JUST THE RIGHT TOOL!

Not the right tools

Unflattering thigh view but you get the idea

Tea time

Just a thought... Time for a tea cozy. Languishing in a cupboard for almost 4 years, I finished this in 3 days, and decided rather than making it for a teapot, it could be used for a mug.
How many times I've made a cup of tea, set it down to steep, picked up knitting, and half hour later... not hot. Maybe this will work!