What's New? - Knitting Notions

Mystery MusiKAL Knitting and More

I have finished knitting Clue #3 on my Stephen West Mystery MusiKAL shawl. There is also a shop update and a reading discussion at the end.

Knitting

I am now preparing to embark on Clue #4, which involves very long rows. A lot of those rows are in brioche knitting. Pray for my fortitude. I love how it looks but it is time-consuming to knit.

I am knitting exclusively on this project until it is complete. I am fine doing that, but I may need a quick little project to work on after this as a palette cleanser. Maybe a pair of socks? Then maybe something lacy.

Shop Update

We have been working on that batch of Cherry Yarn Swifts as I mentioned recently. Those are now mostly finished and some are listed on the website. We tend to sell a lot of Yarn Swifts over the holiday shopping season. We bought more lumber yesterday to start another batch to get ahead for next year since we needed more wood anyway for dowels.

Reading Discussion

I have completed a few books in the last few weeks. I have been reading a lot of new releases lately and less interested in my classics.

Recently completed:

King Sorrow by Joe Hill – This book was amazing! I gave it ***** and I think it is maybe my favorite book of 2025. Highly recommend if you like slightly gritty but well told horror stories. The apple definitely didn’t fall too far from the tree in this case.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix – This was a first read by this author. I picked up the hardback at a clearance rack at an indie bookshop. I had heard good reviews and decided to give it a go. I quite enjoyed this and gave it ****. I then found the new release from him at the library, as you see below.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix- I was surprised that I liked this one. I had been leery of reading it because I didn’t think I would get on with it due to the subject matter. I found I was able to suspend my reservations enough to appreciate the positive elements. I gave it ****.

6:40 to Monteal by Eva Juscyzk – I picked this up in a recent book store browse as an impulse buy. It was one of the monthly staff picks. I liked it as a quick psychological thriller read. I sort of guessed the ending but not completely. It surprised me right at the end. I gave it *** I think.

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan – I have this on Audible. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. It was pretty good but it’s not in my top 10 of 2025 or anything. I did give it **** though so I guess I liked it.

Currently reading:

These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant – I borrowed this on Libby after seeing a review on YouTube. I am only a few chapters in at the moment.

House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons – Same as above. I finally got the book today as there was a hold list. Have only read a few pages.

The Haunting Season – by Various Authors – I am listening to the audio book on Libby for this one. It is a collection of eight ghost stories for the long winter nights. It’s in the Victorian tradition of reading/telling ghost stories during the holidays. These are contemporary authors but so far they are written in Victorian settings and styles. I am on the second one.

I’ll see how these go and maybe I’ll start a classic soon too. I haven’t decided what I am in the mood for yet.

Closing

I’ll leave you with a bit of Christmas decorations that we put up on Monday. This is as far as I go in on decorations though. I like the lights but don’t care for the mess and bother of a tree anymore.

Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas in case I don’t talk to you again before then.

Posted on December 5, 2025December 5, 2025 by yarnmama — Leave a comment

Since I Last Wrote; MKAL Knitting Update and More

Since my last post I have made knitting progress on my Mystery MusiKAL and I have a few more updates.

Knitting MKAL

I am knitting exclusively on my Mystery MusiKAL, and I have completed almost half of clue 2.

This section is very relaxing to knit after the more fussy modular scallops in clue 1. The two final clues have been released by now. I admit that I was concerned by clue 3 when I first saw it. I initially thought that the geometrical shapes were jarring with the more curvy and organic look of the first two clues. Then clue 4 was revealed last Thursday and I was further dismayed.

Now, I need to explain that. I like how it tied together the whole design, so I am pleased with that. It is more the knitting of it that is bothering me. Clue 4 is three borders on the bottom edge in brioche. It looks great but I don’t particularly love doing it. It will take quite awhile but it will be lovely. I have liked the look of many of the finished samples I have seen.

Festival Updates

I did indeed knit on my MKAL in the booth at SAFF last weekend. Friday was the busiest day of the three, but overall it was a great weekend. So, I didn’t have a lot of time during the show to knit, but it was fun showing it off and sharing experiences with other knitters who are knitting it too. I do look forward to doing them each year, since they are never boring. :-)

I am at home this week and enjoying a slower pace for a little bit. Jerry is starting a new batch of Cherry Yarn Swifts, which I can help on at certain stages, but that’s mostly on him. I have been catching up on Elijah’s studies and just enjoying making meals and other homemaking tasks.

I will be leaving on Wednesday for our last festival of 2025. That is the NWA Fiber Festival in Fayatteville, Arkansas. This festival began a few years ago and takes place on Friday and Saturday, November 7-8, 2025. We won’t be back out on the road again until the Scenic Stitches Festival in Chattanooga, TN, February 28- March 1, 2026.

Reading

Here are my current reads, plus a few more that I am hoping to get into in the near future. I am most excited to start the new Joe Hill release, King Sorrow. I have heard nothing but rave reviews for it!

I am really enjoying The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai, so I picked up a copy of her previous Booker Prize winner, The Inheritance of Loss.

I am a big fan of Daphne Du Maurier, so I just had to get the new release After Midnight, which is a collection of thirteen short stories. I have already read a few of them, but I don’t mind reading those again. She never disappoints.

I came across How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix in a clearance sale and picked it up for October. I am not gonna make that, but I will read it anyway as soon as I can get to it.

Okay, that’s it for now. Thank s for reading! See you again next time.

Posted on November 1, 2025November 1, 2025 by yarnmama — 2 Comments

Festivals, Yarn Dyeing, and Knitting; Oh My!

There has been a lot going on since my last post. There have been festivals, yarn dyeing, knitting, and more.

Festivals

I wanted to write this post so many times in the last three weeks. By the time the days priorities were completed, I had no steam left.

The first weekend in September, after Labor Day, I was in Jefferson, WI for the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival. What a great weekend it was too! The weather was cool and sunny. It was super busy all three days. I left totally exhausted and needing to dye more yarn. More on that in the next section.

Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival Knitting Notions booth

The third weekend in September, was the 29th annual Wool Gathering at Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs, OH. This is an outdoor event in big tents. The weather was hot and sunny for setup day on Friday and also on Saturday. It was cloudy with some afternoon showers on Sunday. The attendance was great even in the heat. Thanks to all who support the vendors no matter what the weather. :-) I especially enjoyed seeing Maureen of KnittingIsSoFun blog. It was so lovely chatting!

wool gathering festival Knitting Notions booth

I had a short day and a half at home, and now I am on the way to Winchester, VA. This coming weekend is the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival. I drove halfway up today and will finish the drive tomorrow. I will be setting up the booth on Friday. I am excited to see another blog friend there over the weekend. :-)

Yarn Dyeing

So, as mentioned above, after Wisconsin Sheep &Wool Festival, there were some gaps in the yarn inventory. I wasn’t out of anything yet, but the weekend between the two festivals was my only time home long enough to re-dye some yarn. So, yarn dyeing was what we did on the second weekend in September.

I spent most of three days getting the dye and yarn prep work done. Saturday and Sunday were dyeing days, and Monday and Tuesday was spent labeling and storing. Wednesday was packing for Wool Gathering. I had one day after returning from Ohio to reload the trailer with a few things and pack my stuff again. That brings me up to today where I am now, in southwest Virginia for the night. Whew!

Knitting

It will probably not be a surprise that not a lot of knitting has happened in the last three weeks. I did manage to complete the knitting of the back piece of my Summershine Top. I have begun and knit the ribbing for the front piece, but that is it.

I may be planning to knit the Stephen West MKAL when it launches. I will be in VA that week with a few days to rest between festivals. I have not picked what colors of Classic Merino Superwash Sock I plan to use. I’ll let you know in my next post. This year’s palette is four colors, and I will probably do a gradient set. Is anyone else taking the plunge this year?

Reading

I’ll end this post with a reading update of what I have finished and what I am currently reading.

During my drive to and from Wisconsin, I ended up listening to Gilead**** by Marilynne Robinson. I enjoyed the story but I don’t know that I will read the other books in the series.

During my drive to and from Ohio, and still continuing during my drive to Virginia, I am listening to Blackwater: The Complete Saga by Michael McDowell. This is classified as Horror, but honestly it’s not that really. It’s more of a family saga with a weird monster/supernatural element. The prose isn’t bad, but it’s not fancy either. I am enjoying the story even if it is a bit strange.

I am almost finished with my bedtime reading; Light in August by William Faulkner. Now this one is some fine prose. I love Faulkner’s writing. I am enjoying the story too. Definitely a ****1/2!

I started The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith/J.K.Rowling. I only read the first 12 chapters though. I decided to save it until I finished Faulkner so I can devote ALL my attention to it this week. I am excited to really dig in soon!

Okay, I am kinda tired and really to chill for the evening. I’ll be back soon. Thanks for reading!

Posted on September 24, 2025September 24, 2025 by yarnmama — 2 Comments

Summer Activities: Knitting, Dyeing, and More Fun

It is high time for a catching up post about our summer activities. There will be some content about my knitting, reading, yarn dyeing, and a few other odds and ends.

Knitting

First, let’s get right to the knitting content. I am working exclusively on the Muqarnas top. In my last post, I showed you the finished sleeves and the ribbing for the body section. At this point I have knit 4 of the lace repeats on the body section. The intended length of the body before joining it with the arms, is 14 inches. I have almost 9 inches right now. According to my measurements, I need to knit about 3 more lace repeats to reach that goal.

I am looking forward to that milestone. It will slow down the progress even more at first. The addition of the sleeve stitches makes the rounds longer, after all. The momentum of the decreases makes the progress much faster at that point. I can’t wait to see how the finished top looks! I love how lace changes after blocking. It is worth the wait!

Yarn Dyeing and other Business Stuff

The first half of the festival season came to its conclusion for us in early June. Our last spring show was Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival in Franklin, IN. It was another fantastic year and I am so pleased to be a witness to the growth of this festival over the years. I began with the show in 2008, and it is one of my favorites now. I’ll share a few pics from this year.

Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival 2025 Knitting Notions booth

Upon returning to Nashville, we went straight into yarn dyeing time. I spent about a week with dyeing preparations. This involves lots of math and spreadsheet work, dye stock mixing and final color mixing. Then more math and spreadsheet work to make work order plans. Then finally, get all the yarn prepped. For me, that means bundling and soaking for the dye pots.

Knitting Notions Yarn dyeing — mixing dye stocks

Other preparations were also some much needed upgrades to our “dye and finishing studio”. This area is in our daylight basement which opens out onto the covered patio area we built 5 years ago. I have been relying on clip on shop lights on the floor joists and portable fans in hot weather. We decided to install a large fan that is suspended from the joists. Even more exciting, to me anyway, are the ceiling shop lighting. We got 4 of these and they sure do make a huge difference! I love how much better I can see. This is particularly important when measuring stock to mix colors. Notice in the above right picture, that was before we installed the new lighting.

We accomplished all the dyeing of the yarn in three sessions over one weekend. It was hot and mostly dry that week. That is a bit of a con for the dyers, but a pro for getting the yarn dry.

The following week, we got all the labeling and storing done. Now we are all set for the fall festivals. I have extra yarn in the event that we need to dye anything that runs low. The only catch will be time to do it.

In other product news, the wood shop has been in full operation all spring also. We have been adding a lot of Shawl/Hair Sticks to the inventory. Lately, that has been some Walnut, Mahogany, and Maple.

Currently, we are working on some more Darning Eggs. These were hot sellers around Christmas time and for a few months after that, so the inventory got a bit low in some woods. We are out on a few also, but more will be in stock soon! I will be back out at festivals in early August, and we should have plenty more by then.

Reading

Let’s switch topics to a bit of book chat. First, I would love to hear what you’re reading lately if you want to share in the comments.

I am making my way through my TBR but I am also a bit of a mood reader, so there have been many diversions. They were good ones though, and that’s the important thing.

My most exciting report is that I finished my re-read of War and Peace. I am so glad that I took my time with it. It took me 6 months, but it was time well spent. I definitely have a fuller understanding and appreciation for what Tolstoy was doing with this work than I did after my first read 13 years ago. If you haven’t tried it, I encourage you to have a go at it. The chapters are pretty small so even if you only set a goal of a chapter a day, you can read it slowly through over a year. Anna Karenina is a bit more engaging, character wise, but War and Peace is just so magnificent!

Other books that I have read in June are:

Never Flinch – Stephen King (*** okay but not one my favorites)
Cold Mountain – Charles Frazier (**** a re-read sparked by reading The Trackers; really liked it!)
The Wedding People – Alison Espach (**** first read of this author due to a BookTube recommendation; liked it)
A Month in the Country – J.L. Carr (**** same as above; very good short summer read)

Currently reading:

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen (reading for Jane Austen July)
Memorial Days – Geraldine Brooks (first read of this author, reading to fulfill a Kindle Challenge, borrowed in Libby)
Complete Stories of Eudora Welty (about halfway through this book which is actually 5 published collections in one volume)

Closing

As always, thank you for reading and hanging in there when I let the grass get too high. I will attempt to post before another month goes by. Blessings!

Posted on July 4, 2025July 4, 2025 by yarnmama — 11 Comments

Colorful Moments: Yarn Dyeing After Scenic Stitches

The first festival of 2025 is in the books and now it’s yarn dyeing time again.

Scenic Stitches

Our first festival of 2025, Scenic Stitches in Chattanooga, TN was a great experience! I was very impressed with it’s first year. I can see a lot of potential for the future of this festival. There is room for improvements, as is to be expected, but overall a great time was had by all. I am excited to see what they will do for next year.

Yarn Dyeing

As soon as I returned from the festival, I got to work on the spring dyeing. I spent Monday through Friday doing all the preparations and Saturday we got the first day of dyeing done. We were able to put it out to dry on Sunday. It was chilly but it is mostly dry.

On Monday I prepped the yarn and dye we needed for the second day’s dyeing. Today (Tuesday) was unfortunately way to wet, cold, and miserable. That means day two will have to wait. I am hopeful that Wednesday may be a tiny bit improved. If we can get that dyed tomorrow, it can go out on Thursday to dry. Thursday will be cold but not rainy.

We have one more day of dyeing after that which we will have to get done as soon as the weather permits. It’s what you have to expect in February.

Knitting

I haven’t gotten much knitting progress to show. I cast on the front of the vest in Chattanooga. I haven’t had much knitting time, but here is where I am at the moment. I am getting close to the end of my second skein of Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn. I have the third skein wound and I hope I can finish the whole thing with it.

Posted on February 11, 2025February 11, 2025 by yarnmama — 4 Comments

Holiday Knitting and a New Pair of Socks

I have some holiday knitting plans. I also have a new pair of socks to show you.

New Pair of Socks

I will begin my post with my newly finished Hedgerow Socks.

I love the simplicity of the stitch pattern. The pattern is continued in the heel flap which is a nice touch. My favorite element is the round toe decreases.

I have made these in the past but I ended up gifting the first pair. I will probably be making this pattern again. It has become my new go to sock pattern.

Holiday Knitting

I am calling this holiday knitting, because I am starting it Christmas week.

Last January I was doing some swatching of a few stitch patterns. I was planning to design a shawl or two. I tabled that idea since it was not working as I had envisioned. This week I had an idea, using one of those swatches, for a vest pattern. I plan to knit the sample and write up the pattern.

At first I was just going to make it for fingering weight yarn, using my Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn. Later, I remembered that I had swatched the same stitch pattern in sport weight yarn. That gave me a really interesting idea. I think I will make the pattern for multiple gauges. It shouldn’t be difficult to do that.

I am knitting the vest in two pieces and seaming the sides. The neck and arm edgings will be picked up and knit later. I haven’t decided what style I will make the neck shaping. A V-neck is nice but the stitch pattern may work better with a crew neck. We will see when I get there. In any case I am starting with the back so that can wait.

Upcoming Shop Update

In other news, we have been making some new Nostepinnes this month. We have some almost finished and there will be more after the holidays.

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 22, 2024December 22, 2024 by yarnmama — 5 Comments

I’m Almost Sure it is Finished

I am done with my Go Go Dynamo Shawl; at least I’m almost sure it is finished.

Go Go Dynamo

I finished the knitting of Clue 4 minus the optional edging, on December 4th. I was still not sure whether I wanted to add the other section to the bottom. I weighed my left over balls of yarn. I have 53 g of the Contrast Color (the lighter one – Sea Oat) and 38 g of the Main Color (the darker one – Cypress). I was amazed that when I checked the pattern recommendation, that is the exact same amount that Stephen had left at that point. Funny, huh?

I looked at the directions for the optional border. I saw there were over 600 stitches to be picked up. That would be okay if I liked the edge. My person opinion is that it looked like a lot of boring knitting. I decided to block it first and see how I liked it in it’s current state.

After blocking, I am happy with it as it is. It is plenty large enough and I am ready to call it done.

The reason I say that I am almost sure it is finished is that I am reserving the right to change my mind and add it later. I do have plenty of yarn. For now though, I have been wearing it and I love it!

Sock Knitting

The other knitting I have done since my last post is on my socks in progress. I finished the first Hedgerow Sock and I am halfway down the leg on the second one. I think I will stick with this until I finish these over the next few days.

I have some other projects on the back burner which I plan to start as soon as I complete this one. Two of my planned projects are samples for the booth. I also have a few other design ideas that are percolating.

Decking the Halls

I am not one of those people who are really into Christmas. I do enjoy having some cheery lights for the holiday season. We put out our little low maintenance table top tree to add to the twinkle lights in the living room. I like to see them while I am relaxing in the evening with my knitting or a good book. Are you a big decorator or more minimalist, like me?

Posted on December 11, 2024December 11, 2024 by yarnmama — 6 Comments

A Knitting Update and My 2025 Reading Plans

It’s been longer than I like since my last post. Things have slowed down as far as traveling, but there is still lots going on every day. Most of that lately is just catching up on the household and production work. Let’s start out my update post with my knitting progress. After that I’ll get to other goings on.

Knitting

In my last post I was still on Clue 2 of the Go Go Dynamo Shawl. I began Clue 3 sometime in the second week of October, I think. I thought the brioche was slow. The short row triangles in Clue 3 took FOREVER. I finally got that completed this past week sometime. So, yeah, that was around six weeks to get that accomplished.

I have started Clue 4, finally, and it is progressing much faster. Part of the reason for that is that there are much less stitches. It is now proceeding from the middle of the shawl towards the top. The rows are getting shorter and there is not all the back and forth happening.

There is an additional edge that can be added at the bottom. I haven’t decided whether or not I will be doing that yet. The primary determiner will be yarn supply. If I still have plenty of the balls I am using, I will consider it. On the other hand, I may just be DONE regardless. We shall see.

Last Festival

The last festival on our schedule for 2024 was November 8-9 in Fayetteville, AR. The NWA Fiber Festival was founded in 2023 and I attended both years. I am looking ahead to seeing this festival grow in an area that is a new market for me. I expect to return next year.

I experimented with a different booth setup because there was a pole in the front of my space. That was also where the electricity was. It again took a little canoodling, but I liked it. I plan try some other arrangements next year.

Preparing for 2025

We are making festival plans for 2025. I have booked a few new ones and will be returning to many of our favorites. I haven’t updated the schedule on the website for 2025 yet. I will be getting to that sometime in December.

In the wood shop, Yarn Swifts are in production. Jerry started working on this batch in late September. All the bases and arms are completely finished. He is now making the dowels. I spent a week in November sewing bags and preparing the tags.

I will be starting to assemble, bag and store the Oak and some of the Walnut today. We have enough dowels ready to get started while he works on the rest.

I will be ordering more yarn for dyeing some time in December or January. I am planning to get the restock dyeing done in February. The days are starting to lengthen enough by then. It’s hard to get enough done in the day in December and January. When you depend on daylight hours outside to work by and get the yarn dry, more is better.

Reading Plans

While I am on the topic of plans for 2025, I will share my tentative TBR list. I always have a list in my head. Sometimes I lose focus. The books I wanted to get to don’t happen. So, this morning while I was having my quiet time with my coffee and my Kindle Scribe (LOVE this thing BTW!), I made a check list.

Now, this is just to remind me of what I really want to get to in the coming year. I am still somewhat of a mood reader. This is mainly a pared down list of my higher priority books that I already own. This doesn’t mean new books can’t jump to the top. I can decide to do that. :-)

I included a good variety of books I haven’t read, and re-reads of classics. There are plenty of shorter works and chunky reads. I love both! Again, it depends on my head space and mood at a given time. I am sure about one thing. I want to start War and Peace on January 1. I plan to do a slow year long read. I want to just live in that book while also picking other ones for variety. I am excited to start!

I have only read War and Peace once. I did some background reading this past summer to prepare for this re-read. I read a History of Russia and a very thorough and interesting biography of Napoleon. I think my read through this time will benefit from the additional historical familiarity. (not an affiliate link, but I do recommend these).

Closing

This has been brief, considering how much time has elapsed, but I covered the basics. I hope to get back to a more regular schedule of 2-4 post a month.

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving celebrations!

Posted on November 30, 2024November 30, 2024 by yarnmama — 4 Comments

An Unexpected Post From Home

I shouldn’t be at home this week, but because of the sad tragic losses inflicted on Asheville by Hurricane Helene, that is where I am. Hopefully there is restoration in progress and they will be getting their lives back to normal soon. My prayers are still with everyone affected.

Upcoming Travel

I do have two more festivals before we wind down for a couple months. I am driving to Frederick, MD on Wednesday and Thursday. The Frederick Fiber Festival is on Saturday October 26th. This will be my first time attending there. I wouldn’t normally sign up for a one day event that is so far from Nashville. This year I thought I would try it out since SAFF was going to be the weekend before and it would be a shorter drive from there. Of course that all changed but I didn’t want to cancel the Frederick show, especially after losing our SAFF income. Therefore, I am doing it anyway. I hope it will be worth the drive for us. I have heard good things about it so that I am hopeful.

I was at the Fall Fiber Expo in Ann Arbor last weekend. Here’s a few pictures. You may notice my Geogradients hanging in the booth. It got a lot of attention.

Knitting

While I was still in Virginia earlier this month, I decided to join the Westknits MKAL again this year. On the day that Clue One released I picked out my two colors from my Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn base. I chose Cypress and Sea Oat. I was able to work on it all day that day and get the first section of Clue One done.

Over the course of the next two weeks, I finished the rest of Clue One. Clue Two was released while I was in Ann Arbor, MI for the Fall Fiber Expo. I waited until I had completed Clue One before I even looked at Clue Two. I said that if brioche was involved I wasn’t going there.

It turns out I am going there after all, however. The alternative to brioche sounded too boring, so I decided to go for it. It’s not terrible, but it’s slow going. For every row work, you have to work it twice. So for 8 “rows” of knitting you actually work across 16 times. At the end of the whole clue there are over 400 stitches, so they are are pretty long rows.

I have completed the first brioche ribbing section. After that is another section of the Bubbles. Then you do both again. Clue Two is going to take awhile. I like how it looks but man, it’s time consuming.

In other knitting news, I have done a bit of knitting on my sock in progress. It’s a nice palette cleanser when I don’t want to have to focus so much.

Closing

It has been three weeks since my last post, so it seems like there is probably more I could report on. I can’t think of what all that might be at the moment though. I think I’ll close for now since it is getting late here and I want to have some knitting time tonight. See you soon and take care.

Posted on October 22, 2024October 22, 2024 by yarnmama — 6 Comments

News From Virginia and Our Home Upgrades

In my previous post I promised to share some of our home upgrades we did. I also bring news from my Virginia trip.

Virginia

I left Nashville on Wednesday. I drove to about the halfway point, which is Abington, VA, and stopped for the night. I drove through torrential rain for about the last 100 miles in East Tennessee. It rained all night in Abington and through the first 100 miles on Thursday in southwest Virginia. By the time I got north of Roanoke it was behind me. I arrived at my hotel in Winchester and got settled in for the week. I went to do some grocery shopping.

Friday was set up day at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival. too. It was lightly raining here by then but nothing too bad. I got a few pictures that show my new booth fixtures better than the tent ones from last weekend.

The weather on Saturday was quite nice, surprisingly, especially considering what was going on in the rest of the southeast. Nashville got about 5″ of rain but our home and family had no problems. I am grateful for that but my heart does break for the devastation to so much of the region . :-( Sunday was a little wet again but nothing problematic. The festival turnout was good and I believe the vendors mostly had good sales.

I have four days as a break here while I await traveling the short distance to Orange, Virginia on Friday for the Fall Fiber Festival. I am mostly hanging out at the hotel. I have sent out a few orders, done some knitting and reading, and a bit of book shopping on Monday.

Knitting

I know I said I was going to work on the Veritas Shawl, but that hasn’t happened yet. I was more in the mood to knit something simple, so I cast on a new pair of Hedgerow Socks. I made these before in 2009. Those were gifted, so these will be for me. I have picked out some yarn for new samples but since I haven’t wound or cast on for those yet, I’ll report when I do.

Home Upgrades

Finally, I want to share some of the lovely home improvements that we (mostly Jerry, to be fair) have done.

It started with this HVAC vent that Jerry installed in our main bathroom. We should have done this decades ago. When we bought this house in 1998, there was a crappy attempt to vent the heat and air to the bathroom under the vanity. It was a terrible idea. It wreaked havoc on the contents in the drawers. Jerry removed it and blocked off the hose. The bathroom was poorly ventilated though and would retain moisture. Finally he decided to try installing a proper vent in the floor. It has made a big improvement!

The next thing we did was to install a ceiling fan in our bedroom. Oh my! I love that thing! I no longer have to run my noisy little bedside fan. The next day we went out and bought four more fans to install in the den, second bedroom, my office and the kitchen. It is so nice to have air circulating throughout the house. We run them 24/7 on low and I turn the one over my bed up to medium or high at night.

While I was in Wisconsin, Jerry decided to tackle installing one in the living room. The only reason we weren’t initially planning to that is because it required installing a new box. The overhead in our living room is on the side of the room, over the dining area and we wanted the ceiling fan in the center where we sit. He did a wonderful job and now it looks like it was always there!

The final upgrade was in the kitchen. We built an island/work table and a small shelf near the stove. I had always been leery of this idea because, while I like the idea of more workspace, I feared it would clutter our somewhat small kitchen. This is the lovely thing that he came up with and I do love it! I am probably going to get some nice canisters and store my baking supplies on the bottom shelf. I am off to do some looking around to that end. See you again soon!

Posted on October 1, 2024October 1, 2024 by yarnmama — 6 Comments

Knitting

Shop Update

Reading Discussion

Closing

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Knitting MKAL

Festival Updates

Reading

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Festivals

Yarn Dyeing

Knitting

Reading

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Knitting

Yarn Dyeing and other Business Stuff

Reading

Closing

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Scenic Stitches

Yarn Dyeing

Knitting

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New Pair of Socks

Holiday Knitting

Upcoming Shop Update

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Go Go Dynamo

Sock Knitting

Decking the Halls

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Knitting

Last Festival

Preparing for 2025

Reading Plans

Closing

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Upcoming Travel

Knitting

Closing

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Virginia

Knitting

Home Upgrades

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