Thursday, August 30, 2007

Another Grange Fair Ends



Tonight marked the ending (until next August) of a 133-year tradition in Centre County...the Grange Fair and Encampment http://www.grangefair.net/ What is that, you ask? It is a week (plus a couple of days) of 930 green Army tents and 1,300-plus travel trailers and motor homes parked on the fairgrounds which are located just steps from my front door.


Oh, Grange Fair is more...it is hundreds of food vendors, games of chance, carnival rides, entries in various categories including livestock, 4-H, needlework, photography and a whole bunch of others.


Grange Fair is a time for family reunions, many people seeing their camping neighbors for the first time since the last Fair ended, and general fun. Some people do live there the entire week, while others, such as myself make daily and often nightly visits for meals, to meet friends or just to cruise the fairgrounds.


The photos give just a very basic overview.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Book Review










At last week's knitting gathering Lori shared her copy of the new book Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. Sounds like a basic book, doesn't it? I was skeptical, until I opened it and didn't want to give it back to Lori. In some respects it is "basic" but in others it takes the sock knitter to new horizons.



I think that Ann Budd's book is one of THE best sock knitting books I have ever seen (or owned...yes, today I got my own copy). I consider it to be a veyr good investment as socks are the primary garment that come from my knitting needles. The author does go through the basics of knitting a sock, talks about gauge, the parts of the sock, how to measure to get a good fit, and all that other good stuff.



My second favorite part is the patterns for 5 different stitches per inch. My FAVORITE part and the reason I purchased this book are all the various designs for leg ribbings and lace patterns in repeats of 4-stitch, 6-stitch, and 8-stitch. For me, these will be the most used portions of the book.










Sunday, August 26, 2007

A long, stressful summer/July socks




I do think life is looking up at our house...home I am not jinxing things. We had a lot of health issues this summer with all three of our Golden Retrievers -- Brandeis age 11 1/2 (who had a 7 pound tumor removed from his liver -- thankfully it was benign!); Stratton age 9 (who had 4 surgeries for ear hematomas and then got hot spots all over the top of his head because of sweating underneath the bandages that kept his ears in place on top of his head -- oh those bandages were also sewn to his head); and Teddy Bear age 4 who developed a breathing problem (which was allergies we think because the meds seem to have solved the problem). Whew!


I did relatively little kntting (or blogging) since mid-June when this all began. I did enter my Feather and Fan socks into the Grange Fair and placed third with them. The Grange Fair and Encampment is a site to behold and I will take some photos this week and post them...this is one event where seeing IS believing.


Today I had a lovely time with several of my fellow members of the Penns Valley Area Knitters at a picnic at our family's tent. Thanks for coming Billie, Melissa, Roberta and Misty. Oh, and also Denny, Melissa's husband stopped for a while. We had a fun time knitting, chatting, and of course eating. The humidity finally broke and the temps dropped so the breeze in the tent was wonderfully welcomed!


I seem to be back into the swing of knitting socks...oh and shawls but will save them for a later post. The completed socks are from Opal which I purchased at MD Sheep & Wool Festival 2 or 3 years ago. I love how they striped. They are my July socks which I admit were finished in early August. I felt lucky to get them done.


On the needles are my August socks which won't be finished until early September...do we see a pattern emerging. They are from Blue Mountain Fibers Socks That Rock in the "Rocktober" colorway.


Squeeling with delight...see the lovely Lorna's Laces sock yarn in nice fall colors? Roberta brought the 2 skeins to me today as a gift. We have known each other for a number of years and she has been worried about me and the Goldens this summer. Thank you Roberta for all of your warm thoughts and good wishes. Also, for your kindness of the sock yarn. It will be the next fingering weight on my needles ... I am thinking a Feather and Fan pattern....gotta check the number of stitches. But, whatever the design (watch here for updates) Roberta's gift will be the next yarn knitted.


I am off to work on that sock in progress. Hope all of you had a good summer and are ready to enjoy beautiful Autumn weather (thinking positively!).