BUSY VERSUS BALANCED......BUSY WINS.

Not having posted in almost 3 weeks, I've lots to show and tell.

Spent time at Stitches, Rhinebeck, on the Nursing job, teaching my knitting classes, organizing (yep-again!) my yarn room, cleaning out closets at home and scrambling to finish that afghan for our Church project! In between knitting that occasional Ballband cloth, and Granny's favorite just to keep my sanity! I need to feel a balance among home, work and creative play. Not feeling it yet! SIGH. Next immediate project is to knit about a dozen little sock ornaments for the Church Christmas tree-due by Saturday morning! Oh, how I love a deadline not at all!!!

So, lets start with our Baltimore trip.

The 3 Amigas, turned loose on all that unsuspecting yarn.....

Home again, in the sanctity of my yarn room, I survey the damage done, and contemplate where to store it all! Notice a trend here...sock yarn and lace yarn. Main attractions for me were Blue Yarn, Claudia Hand painted and Brooks Farm Yarn. Most of the patterns were half off at Yarn's Forever. Books came from Mannings and Yarn Barn.

What I plan to be knitting this year! Serious! I've decreed that if I haven't knit my purchases by November 2008, I'm a staying home!
Purses were from the samples sale bin at Two Old Bags, cost $20 each! Who could resist? Not me, Gentle Knitter!

Budget constraints gave rise to serious thoughts regarding what to spend at Rhinebeck the following week. Piggy bank offerings were taken to the bank, and that lovely coin machine set some spending guidelines.

HOW ABOUT A CONTEST!!!!!!

Guess how much coinage in the bowl, post your answer to my comments section and I'll send the lucky winner who is the closest to the correct amount without going over, 4 balls of stash dishcloth cotton and a hand knit dishcloth from my dish cloth stash.

Why am I doing this, Daaaarling? I've won a few things myself lately, and I've got a lot of stash. Paying it forward.

Deadline is Wednesday, October 31st, midnight. I'll announce the winner before noon Thursday, November 1st. Winner can even specify the cotton skein colors and if I've got them in my stash, well, they are yours, postage on me!

Hint: There's more money in coins than you might think in that bowl, but not enough for me to go merrily to Rhinebeck without adding some $$$ to the yarn shopping budget, as you might tell from my purchases. See below.

Next stop, Rhinebeck!

I found some interesting things, but as with Stitches, you can predict that I will come home with something from Blue Moon and Brooks Farm. Again, socks and shawl yarn. Some cool patterns, and a really funky black alpaca with some sort of feathers woven in. My new scarf this year! CAW! CAW!

Little projects were perfect take- alongs during our trips....

I'm favoring the Peaches N Cream brand over Sugar N Cream these days due to their vibrant colors! Hope they wash and wear well.

Playing around making some dishcloth care tags for my gift giving.

Found this bottle of wine during my monthly wine run and just had to buy it because of the label. Alas, the actual wine was swill, but nothing that couldn't be made tolerable with a bit of ginger ale added! I'm a fan of log cabin quilts, so knitting this cloth gave me immense satisfaction.

TA-DA! The church afghan finished! Those ladies I knit with are such talented knitters! I feel such peace now that it is all finished.

Next up....Mike's sweater!

BOUNTIFUL HARVEST...

It's October and I'm still picking crops from our vegetable garden. Peppers have been ardently popping up since July, with no end in site. Afew tomatoes here and there, but soon they will be done for good. Throwing some Swiss Chard leaves in to pastas and soups when I think of it,

and waiting for other good things, like this celery, to mature.

Several eggplants were noticed.
This is the lone surviving yellow squash plant, but it looks like it's still going strong.
These pole beans are the new kids on the block, having been planted by Shaun sometime in August. I like that there are a few surprises left to be had in our garden!

Speaking of surprises.....besides receiving my invitation to join Ravelry, the Postman made a delivery last week.

My Secret Pal 11, known to me as Pooch A, sent me another lovely gift box with a fall theme.
Angels and stitch markers-can't have too many of the both of them!

Yummy candy, which I must remember to take along to class tonight to share with my brilliant knitting students. The book is great, and I'll pass it around tonight also. It reads like a dictionary, but very clever.
Lovely kitchen accessories that welcome the pies and cookies I'll prepare for the holidays. I really must decorate my front door for Fall this week, even if it is eighty degrees! I love the colors this time of year!

Thanks, Pooch, for another beautiful gift package!


I love the colors that are in bloom in my tree planter.















I'm trying to knit those colors in my cloths to keep me mindful that it really is Autumn. Ballbands on hold for now while I rediscover Grandma's Favorite Dish Cloth. These were knit with one ball of Mar-Di-Gras. I started out knitting both at once on straight 7s but was running short due to my 45 stitch Cast Ons. Notice the orange tip to the smaller one. Came from the scrap basket. I had to finish them separately, frogging back to 41 on the second one.

Next time I'll knit them both with a 40 stitch Cast On in order to, hopefully, get 2 complete cloths out of one ball. Frugal in some things, am I.

I have sewn all 20 squares together into 4 panels for the church afghan and plan to sew the panels together today. Finish with a border of some sort.

Although it was a labor of love, I'll be relieved when it is all done. I dislike knitting deadlines.

A little diversion came my way...

in the form of a 60 inch shoulder warmer/scarf. Nan had knit a beautiful one in a chunky ivory alpaca. I dug into my Noro stash and am knitting day and night to finish it to wear at Stitches or Rhinebeck. "High Hopes", as the song goes...
Yes, dogs are capable of laughter.