Is it me?
Is it Typepad?
Is it Bloglines?
Wednesday night before I went to bed, I posted and saved for publish on..10/20 at 6am Thursday.  It’s now 2:30 pm and Bloglines STILL hasn’t picked it up.  Of course, at 8am Thursday, I couldn’t find it on Typepad either.  That rarely happens to me on Typepad, but the Bloglines delay is getting worse and worse.  Anyone else out there using another crawler?  Just asking. 

That aside, this has been an absolutely beautiful week.  I’ve managed a few three mile walks.  I need to after all the carb loading of last weekend. 

  inspiration for a cable?? 
I thought so.  Though after a trip to TJmaxx, where I saw fantastic aran sweaters, handknit, (in Europe, that’s what it said) in merino, for $49.99…. I began to wonder about the wisdom in my next project.  I was very tempted by one the same color as the Must Have which sits dejected in a bag near my chair.  No, I didn’t.  I was tempted.

The new project: well… started is pushing it a bit.  I cast on, did three rows, measured and realized at once that I needed to frog it.  I’ll make the next size up.  Tomorrow, hopefully C will drive and I’ll get plenty of knitting time.  Hopefully…

This year at Rhinebeck I showed restraint.  I bought NO yarn, not one skein.  I bought silk.

Dyed silk roving and tussah to dye.  I bought some alpaca, silk, merino and angelina blends. 

  and 3.5 lbs of beautiful multicolored beige to brown roving.  I bought a pattern that I’ll start tomorrow, or the next day.  I had the yarn from a trip to Webs a year or so ago.  One vender made beautiful ceramic tiles with scenes of Belted cows and sheep.  My neighbors raise Belteds and sheep, I had to buy a few of those.   And of course I ate, all the chocolate scones I could stand.  They are the best scones ever.  I’m already wishing for more.  It’s good that I can’t pick them up whenever, they raise hell on a low carb diet.  Oh, then there were the french artichokes, with garlic and escarole and beans.  Rhinebeck has great food vendors.  Maryland should take note. 

As everyone has already noted, the best thing about this kind of festival is the people who visit them.  There’s always another story, another knitted item, another fantasitic animal.  And there are friends; friends you catch up with, friends you come with, and friends you never knew. 

And for Carol.. here’s the fleece washing recipe I use:

• I place my fleece into net bags.  Then I fill my washer with HOT water and a bit of detergent.  If you have Dawn, that’s great.   Otherwise, use what you’ve got.  Remeber NO AGITATION, this is just a soak.  Empty the water, repeat.  Spin out soapy dirty water. 

• Next: fill tub again with HOT water.  This time add vinegar.. as much as you think you need to clear the soap scum left.  Drain.

• Last step (hopefuly): Rinse in HOT water.  Rememeber!!!  This is a soak, drain, spin.  NO AGITATION.

The Ribby is STILL waiting for me to get a minute (well… time) to fix up the semi inserted zipper.  It’s IN straight, but the hand stitching isn’t.  Soon…  

 

Today, though I should be posting about Rhinebeck, and I may get to that, we’ll see.. instead, today is about two shawls. 
The First shawl is the Wool Peddler’s Shawl.  I finished it the other night, I am very pleased, it was fun, it was easy, it will be a pleasure to wear.  What more can you ask from a pattern?  It is a Traditional Shawl.  I knitted it from my dyed merino / silk 2 ply yarn on a #7 Bryspun circular needle.  Make this pattern when you need a slightly more than mindless project.  I found I could take this and knit without worry while visiting with others or concentrating on a movie.  That’s a great project. 

As it turns out, that the areas without pattern (shown here) are not nearly as blatant as I had worried.  Looks fine to me.  Would I change it if I made another? I might try to swatch that area, it would require a single decrease instead of the double decrease as only one yo would fit into the pattern.  After seeing this picture online, I’ll take another.. next one, in focus!

The Second Shawl I want to tell you about is a shawl dealing more with Tradition.  My niece is marrying this weekend, hopefully outdoors.  As it is going to be cool (hopefully sunny) I offered her a very special shawl to wear; my Great Grandmother’s, her Great, Great Grandmother’s wedding shawl.  WooHoo!!  This morning I gave it a bath.  I know for certain it hasn’t been bathed in 40 years, and I bet it hasn’t in lots longer than that.  Who would know.  I wasn’t sure if it would just melt in the water or what.  I let it sit in lukewarm water with a bit of Eucalon for fifteen minutes or so then rolled it carefully in a couple towels and have just hung it on a drying rack outside.  It is a very fine (not terribly soft) ivory colored wool with silk embroidery.  I can hardly tell you the pleasure it gives me to hold it.

Tomorrow… Rhinebeck… I promise.