Shepherd's Harvest Fiber Festival: In Photos

Full to the brim

I've been wanting to blog, but it hasn't been fitting in.  You see, the month of May somehow is packed to the brim.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  This is the month where this town comes back to life.  The markets open up, the ground is ready to be worked, the sun shines and people want to see and do and live out in the open again.  I've been soaking it up and hope to share some of the fun with you this week.

In the meantime, I hope you are having a weekend full of moments in the sun.

Baby Knits: Worn!

It is a really fun, heartwarming and gratifying thing to see the baby knits I have made for people in use.  I spent an afternoon this past weekend with my friend Jamie and she surprised me with this vest.  Violet is just starting to fit into it now, so she will likely get a good amount more wear out of it before she outgrows it.  The soft cotton yarn will work out just fine as we head into early summer.

We went for a walk and, since it was a bit chilly out, Violet wore a hat that I originally knit for her big sister Sylvia in 2007.  I think Violet sports it quite well as it is intended to be worn as well as a more jaunty styling.

Babies certainly are good for covering in knitwear.  They just look so darn cute in it!

F.O.: Juneberry

Hey!  I finished something else!  It is also grey!  I've really been drawn to grey yarn lately.  I think it is because it goes so well with everything.

This shawl was knit out of worsted weight cotton yarn, so it has some heft to it.

I'm envisioning this as a shawl I will keep at my desk to ward off air conditioning throughout the summer, which is how that grey-goes-with-everything theory of mine will get tested.

The variety of lace patterns on this shawl made for an interesting knit.  The border along the bottom is knit on at the end, which ended up taking as long as the rest of the shawl did to knit.

I was surprised to find that after I blocked the shawl, it turned out to be as tall as I am!

For those who care about the knitterly details:
Pattern: Juneberry Triangle by Jared Flood
Yarn: Knit Picks Simply Cotton Worsted
Ravelry project: here

10 Years!

Paul and I are married, but we place a bigger emphasis on the anniversary of the start of our relationship then we do of our wedding date.  A few weeks ago, we marked 10 years of  coupledom.  To celebrate our anniversary we, of course, sought out some good food.  We had signed up for a cooking class, which ended up being cancelled the day before. Fortunately, we had no trouble coming up with a great back-up plan.

We ate dinner at Grand Cafe.  The meal was delicious, from the fondue appetizer (including smoked white asparagus!), to the entree (I tried a poached egg for the first time and liked it!), to the truffles for dessert (just the right size!).

From there, we went to the Open Eye Figure Theater to see the closing night of an adult puppet show.  We used to live in an apartment above the theater, so it was fun to go back to our old neighborhood.  And, I am a fan of puppet shows, especially ones intended for adult audiences.



We were supplied with binoculars as some of the performances included tiny puppets.

 The real standout of the show for us were the Murder Ballads by the Rough House Puppet Theatre.  They came from Chicago to take part in the 6th annual Toy Theater After Dark Festival.  The puppeteers in this troupe were talented in the ways of puppets and were great singers.  Paul and I really enjoyed their portion of the show and commend them on how polished their performance came across.

Another part of the show worth highlighting was Natalie by Little Blue Moon Theatre. The Natalie show required the use of binoculars to see the action, which was a fun quirk.  The show takes place on a miniature stage in which the paper puppets and sets slide in and out while a narrator takes you through the risque story.

I'll spare you the mushy, gushy stuff, but I do need to say that I am sure happy to have Paul as my partner.  So happy, in fact, that I baked him a giant batch of one of his favorite cookies, Banana Chocolate Chip with Candied Ginger, to express my love.