Autumn Leaves - by guest blogger WillyG

I can just hear Mel Torme crooning "Autumn Leaves" right now.

Now that the gorgeous autumn weather is back and several knitting deadlines have passed, I am back on the wagon for finishing my Leaves of Grass.  Yeah, remember that thing?

Apparently I've turned into one of those people who takes pictures of their knitting on top of their cats to garner extra attention. Or maybe it's that pictures of a large round piece of lace still in progress all kinda end up looking the same.  But if you look stop looking at Jake and examine the lace closely, you can see that I just finished the first repeat of Chart D!!  One more to go... then again, I could do like some unnamed person and call it done and ready for applying the border.  (wink, wink, elbow in the ribs)

One of the highlights of this past weekend's trip to the sheep and wool festival in Rhinebeck was getting to meet one of our very own in person, all the way from Colorado! I think I may have referred to this previously, but I am once again reminded how our knitting -- and especially our knit-a-long-ing -- has the capacity to connect us, even in a way that somewhat reflects the musings of Walt Whitman in one of his poems.  Rather than quote the same poem again, permit me to link you to a previous post in which I shared it. Looking back on it, I realize that not a lot has changed.  I'm still working on Leaves of Grass, I'm still stuck on the same poem, and I'm still poking fun at someone who beat me to the finish line. Well, okay, a few more of you have joined the ranks of completion since that post.  Are there actually any others of you still working on Leaves of Grass?

Oh, speaking of Rhinebeck and people who actually finished LOG, Jeff has some news, but I think I'll try to egg him into sharing it himself.

Happy autumn, and happy knitting!

Of Spindles and Roving and Wagtail Yarn

That's the tale I have to share today!  A recent care package full of homemade jams and stashed yarn sent to a Ravelry friend in Pennsylvania got me this in return :

I'm quite certain I got the better end of the deal but I'll take it!  A skein of Wagtail Yarns sport weight Fine Kid Mohair (enough for a small shawl) in a rich shade of brown from The Tangled Web in Philly, my first bunch (bag, bundle, ????, I don't have the words in my vocabulary yet) of Pencil Roving in a heathered Mountain Laurel shade (4 ounces ~ enough for?) that he got at the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, a great card and this (also from Rhinebeck!):

It's made by Kundert Spindles in Wisconsin ~ the type of 'wood on whorl' is Butternut (so much to learn...my head is whorling!  what the heck is a 'whorl?' and what do those numbers '1.2' mean?).  Thanks Jeff for picking this out for me ~ I love it even more knowing that you went there with a mission to get this girl spinning!  It is gorgeous and after I've stared at it for a couple days and am not afraid of breaking it, I think we will become good friends!

My chaotic schedule and a freaking sore elbow have kept me from getting much knitting done (it's not a knitting related injury but I'm thinking I may have to lay down the needles for a bit or it won't get better ~ SHOOT!).  I've been working on my Cranberry Capelet ~ I'm just past the halfway mark (it's more like an oversized dickey right now ~ remember those from the 70's and 80's?....shudder).  I've had to modify it as I go since my gauge was spot on with swatching but tighter on the actual knit.  Not a big deal since it's top down and I can try it on as I go.  I'm loving the fit, and the yarn and color are perfect ~ the cables really pop!

Guess that's all I have to share for now.  Unless you want to hear more about my awesome spindle ;)

I'll spare you and just add one more picture of my new toy ~ I hear people name their wheels...I might have to find this thing a name!     ~ Melissa