Mom and Dad celebrated their 50th Anniversary this weekend with an open house. It was a total success. I think we were all shocked by the number of friends and family that attended. The happy couple had a lovely afternoon chatting away and having their family around them.
After all the months of planning and an afternoon on my feet cutting cake, I am pooped. As my daughter’s first grade teacher taught her students, “We did a good job, YES!” (as I pat myself on the back.) And siblings, if you’re reading this, you did a good job too! We did it! And I’m so glad it’s DONE!!
I have to share my story of meeting a new knitter today. I was at the weekly summer band concert in the park in my town and noticed a man knitting from about 25 feet away. He had been there the entire time, about 45 minutes, and I hadn’t noticed him until then. He was with his wife, sitting in lawn chairs, and just happily knitting away. It was on circulars, and it was blue. I couldn’t tell if it was in the round or back and forth and the curiosity was killing me.
I finally stood up and decided to just get a closer look. I walked toward him and stopped to watch. I couldn’t take it. I HAD to know his story and find out what he was knitting. I found myself walking toward his lawn chair and I didn’t really remember deciding to do that. What was I going to say? Thankfully, knitters are always nice people, at least in my experiences. I told him I noticed him knitting and was curious what he was working on. Of course, he was nice and we had a lovely chat. He was knitting a blue baby sweater front for his grandson. We discussed the knitting group I go to, which he was aware of, and he is considering attending. Turns out he’s only been knitting a year and he’s already knit several sweaters, one of which was the Baby Surprise Jacket. I was so impressed!!
Just goes to show, you never know when you’ll encounter another knitter.
And now, show and tell:
The yarn, Tye Dye Sock yarn, is wonderful yarn and really fun colors. I bought one skein, so this will not be a large shawl, which is fine for summer anyway.
I found this pattern online, the Kevat Shawl, I think it’s Finnish, but it is also a Ravelry free download. The lace pattern (which is lost in my yarn, not wise on my part) is really lovely, and easy to knit.
I’m hoping to get it done in time to wear this summer!
I took the leap. I can now add weaving to my list of fiber addicted hobbies. I always have a little voice in the back of my head when I’m about to dive into a new hobby. It says, “Hello? What if you don’t like this? You’re spending HOW MUCH? Did you even try this first? How do you know you won’t hate it?” And to that voice I say every time, “Shut up before you get smacked. It’s yarn! There is no possible way I will not like this.” And thankfully, I have not been wrong. I absolutely love weaving. The rhythm is addicting, the speed is amazing, and the fabric is so interesting and different from knitting or crochet. It has such possibilities that knitting does not. I am primarily a knitter so that’s what I’m comparing it to. A blanket or scarf, shawl, or placemat could be completed in about half the time of knitting. And no curling edges, and as loose or tight as you choose. The only drawback so far is the warping of the loom seems a giant pain. For the first dressing of the loom I enlisted the help of a wonderful fiber guild member, Aletha, who is in the first photo explaining weaving to my daughter. I did not know her previously, but she was referred to me by a friend. She is 87 and just the sweetest lady. She came over for two afternoons to help me get started. I will never forget her.
So off I go weaving. I feel like I did when I first learned to crochet, knit or spin. That feeling of, “I have no idea what I’m doing, but isn’t this grand?” I refuse to think about all I do not know about weaving, but will concentrate on challenging myself with every project so to learn all I can from everything I do.
Right now I have two scarves CO to the loom, pardon the knitting terminology, it’s habit! The first scarf was an experiment of different yarns, which is in the photos. The pink was just the start to stabilize the warp, then the aqua and greens, blues is the experiment scarf. I have finished that in just a week and now on to the the second, no photo yet, of an alpaca yarn in browns. It’s lovely, but not sure it does the yarn justice. We’ll see. Photos to come.
Wish me luck!! I think I may have lost my mind! Again!
