Be sweet

Visiting my SIL's darling little one ... Born late August, so cute! Here she is modeling a hat I made from a skein of Be Sweet cotton. The ball band pattern is cute, but the size was a bit off - it said it would fit a 3-6 month old, but even with using a size smaller needles the circumference was 19"! Into the dryer and got it down to around 15". And here they are.

Thought the yarn would transition between the color changes, but it turns out that it's merely knotted.  I took the knots out and wove the ends in so that no knots would end up by the baby's head.  Good thing it claims to be giving jobs to South African women, else I might be a bit more miffed.

Yarn:  Be Sweet Taffy (bamboo cotton blend)

Pattern:  Sweetie Pie hat (on the yarn label)

  (skipped the bobbles)

Missing summer

Had a bunch of posts lined up but didn't have the wherewithal to finish them. Here's one I found featuring the last of the summer tomatoes... Bought a case from my CSA and roasted them for the freezer.

They also make purée from the remainder of their tomatoes that they don't sell, which I'm told is especially nice because the deseeding/juicing process is a bit arduous by hand. Made the best tomato soup out if it the other day.

Preserve your self-possession

My son joined cub scouts this year, and one of their recent outings was to a historical site in our village. It was a stop on the Underground Railroad and had some other interesting artifacts from earlier in the century.

I was particularly amused by the admonishing instructions on this music.

Quiltspiration

Went to boston last month and saw these two quilts in a local artist store. Love the colors and design.

Finishing the Forest Shawl

The forest shawl is finished!

Check out my blog post about it and to see more photographs.

a mother lode of acrylic

I went to Glen Ellyn for the first time a few days ago, because the only dealer for knitting machines for hours around lives there (more on that later!).  Stopped by the LYS (of course), String Theory.  Cute shop founded after 9/11, sells a lot of yarns with eco-friendly and people-friendly labels.  For example, they were featuring some Afghanistan cashmere that was really nice.  Soft and light, like the usual cashmere;  but with a bit more rugged feel.  Would have totally picked some up, except the cost was $24/skein, and 3 skeins required for just a pair of fingerless gloves.  Yikes.

Next door was an awesome vintage store.  I picked up a couple of watercolors for less than $10.  They had a shelf in the back that was full of crocheted and quilted afghans!  

i've a lot of affection for this color

This is 3 skeins of gorgeous sock yarn twisted together.  This booth at Stitches had a bunch of colors pre-selected to do the Color Affection shawl, and this is the one that Pat selected.  Yummy!!  Can't wait to see this knitted up!