Dark Deep Beautiful Blue

Dark Deep Beautiful Blue

My days have been recently filled with blue – from clear blue skies (read, no rain and lots of sun), to Indigo colored fabrics, and denim blue yarns. Clearly, this is not my usual color palette – however, I am truly in love with these blues – so much so in fact, that I am knitting a Beach Glass Blues shawl for my third month of Loopy’s Summer Safari.

Blue skies and warm days are the stuff that gardens dream of, unless they are exceedingly warm and lack rain in which case, things begin to look worn and tired and production dips significantly. Shade was the answer – in the form of some creatively “stitched together” sheets of burlap – which allows for just the perfect filtered amount of sunlight through to my parched tomatoes. It was one long, hot day to install this creation, but my garden did the dance of joy upon completion. The work looking tomatoes are now growing new foliage and are budding again. The peppers are not fazed by long, hot, sunny days – I just made six pans of stuffed peppers (yes you read that right) to freeze for the winter. I am eating about six tomatoes a day and life in general is abundant.

Bees on the Butterfly Bush

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A Sweater for the Ages

A Sweater for the Ages

Sweater knitting has been my Waterloo.

I have knit sweaters before only to be insanely unhappy with my yarn choice, or my pattern choice, or the fit, or any combination of those items. Until this point, there has been no sweater success in my knitting life.

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Where There Are Sheep

There is sure to be wool. Even an over-abundance of wool.

Early yesterday morning, I boarded a bus bound for the one and only Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. My excitement was at a fevered pitch after reading blog posts about what to do.

I had made my lists, I had highlighted some vendors that I deemed “must see”, and I had a map of the festival.

However, I really had no idea of what to expect at all. I was delusional in thinking that I would have time to lunch with new friends, see everything I wanted to see, and have a leisurely amount of time to complete everything.

First off, I have been to fiber festivals before but I had absolutely no idea of the volume of people who would be at the Howard County Fairgrounds – much less that they would all be in Miss Bab’s booth looking for exactly what was on my list! Yet let me tell you about Fiber Folk – they are a kind and gentle lot. There was no pushing, no shoving, no grabbing – but rather, people who helped each other find things. These are not the “Black Friday” masses in any way, shape, or form – even standing in the LONG line to pay there was no irritation or even any grumbling. Thank you fans of Miss Bab’s for renewing my faith in humankind – at least the segment of humankind that knits – I am proud to call you ‘my people’! I managed to snag a couple of treasures from Miss Bab’s and got my day off to a good start.

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With a Sense of Urgency

With a Sense of Urgency

“Beware the ides of March.” William Shakespeare

The Ides of March are upon us and with each passing day, the grasp that winter has on us loosens. The Snowdrops outside my back door are bravely baring their blossoms to the hints of warmer weather that have coaxed them forth. They have a sense of urgency…

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