Rhinebeck

We're just past the halfway point until this year's New York State Sheep and Wool Festival!  It's held in Rhinebeck, NY and is two days of yummy fibery goodness.

Last year the ladies in my knitting group rented a house and we stayed there for the two days of the festival.   It was amazing and quite convenient.  We have plans to do it again this year. 

I can't wait!
Joyce

Until then, enjoy some of the sights from Rhinebeck, 2010.

Knitting Tempest

I finally finished knitting Ann Weaver's Tempest. 

TK and I started this as a KAL two years ago.  We had separately gotten some Colinette Jitterbug (in different colors.  I used some Velvet Olive that had been gifted to me by Athie.) and Misti Alpaca Sock (in the same color - Birds in Paradise).  We were in Knitty City one day and realized that we were both thinking of knitting Tempest so we decided to do a knit along for Tempest. 

TK managed to finish hers in a fairly timely fashion (about 11 months).   I, on the other hand, got to the sleeve caps (Note: I'd finished the back and both front pieces) and put it down to knit something else (I don't even remember what now, but it was probably a shawl).  Sadly for poor Tempest, I failed to pick it back up. 

Until this year's spring break.  Hubbie and I were supposed to go visit his sister, but I got the flu instead.  I recovered quickly, but while I was sick I got a sudden strong urge to finish Tempest.  The first day I thought I would just finish the sleeve caps and put it away again.  But then on day two I just had to weave in the ends and sew it together. (This took two days! Note to self: Weave in ends as you go next time.)  After that I thought I'd put it down again, but after a good night's sleep I felt compelled to knit the button band.  The button band calls for a sewn bind off.  The sewn bind off, while not difficult, is quite time consuming (and also reminded me of why I don't do needlepoint anymore. Too much sewing for me!) It is, however, perfect for the button band.  And when the button band was finished I decided I might as well do the hem since it was all that was left. 
 

And suddenly, after a week of illness and finishing, I had a sweater... that doesn't fit me.  Sigh. 

Time to go back to the gym,
Joyce

Random NYC artistry

Of course a sheep would only speak of love,
Joyce

Spring flowers

I love spring! 

As I've mentioned in the past, I also love that NYC does my gardening for me. 

When the plants bloom in the spring it makes me feel like all things are possible.

Please enjoy the flowers with me.
 

Thank you April showers,
Joyce

Llama Font

Knit Picks recently posted about a Llama Font on their blog.  I couldn't resist.

Those llama are such show offs,
Joyce

In progress

I tend to take shots of my projects while they are in progress.  But, given that I can't show most of them to you until they are finished, I forget to post pictures of the projects in progress.  So here are a few.

Helen's Grace:

The Magenta version of Troy's Folly.  Knit in Madeline Tosh Merino Light.  (I love love love this yarn!!!)

Omelet:

I hope you've enjoyed these amorphous blobs (I know I did!),
Joyce

Fuzzy Bottom

As I mentioned in my ode to bunny hair, due to my love of angora, I was inspired to design a small, very simple shawlette with some angora that captured my heart.  Here it is:

This is Fuzzy Bottom.  So named because, well, it has a fuzzy bottom.  Which can be more easily seen in the next picture.

This shawlette is great if you have only a small amount of a luxurious yarn.  You know which one I mean.  You bought it because it was too luscious to resist, but ignored the fact that it was only 45 yards.  The body of the shawlette is constructed with an angora/merino blend (Classic Elite Lush in Lipstick), but the edge is worked in Malabrigo 100% Angora in Ravelry Red.  The skein contained only about 40 yards of the spectacular stuff, but it made a great edging to a scarf sized shawlette.

Oh, and did I mention that the pattern is free?  download now

Trying not to feel silly about wearing sunglasses in the bathroom,

Joyce

Sunrise, Sunset

Sunsets in NYC are absolutely beautiful.  

The only problem is that actually seeing them can be rare.  With all of the tall buildings, even if you're in a relatively flat area, seeing the sunset is difficult. 

But sometimes I find myself in a position to see a beautiful sunset.  The most recent time, Hubbie and I were going back to our car in the parking lot on the top of the movie theater and there it was.  An amazing sunset.  

Seeing the sun rise is just as elusive, but even more rare for me 'cause I like to sleep in. The last sunrise I saw was during my last visit to GiGi.  The only reason I saw it was because I was on my way to airport for an early flight.  

Did I mention that I'm a night owl,
Joyce