It Doesn’t Feel Much Like Fall Yet

I am going to try again to get myself back into the blogging habit. No promises, but here goes. I’ll show you some of the end of summer stuff we’ve been up to and what’s coming this fall. I have some knitting, travels, reading and other life updates.

Life Updates

We have had two new grand-babies this summer. I haven’t been able to see one of them yet but I have seen the other a couple of times. She’s the one which I was knitting the sweater, bonnet and booties for earlier this year.

I also traded in my beloved ’22 F-150 for a pretty new red ’26 in July. I call her Ruby and I love her too.

We, and by that I mean mostly Jerry, have been doing some improvements to the workshop and grounds around it. I only have this one picture of the shop after re-doing the siding and painting. He has done some other repairs to the foundation and concrete patio and driveway. I’ll maybe get photos of that for next time.

Dyeing

We have done two more dye sessions since my last post. These are just re-stocking sessions. I already showed you the new color in my last post. It has been selling very well, so I’ve needed to re-stock it too.

There’s still a good amount of the discontinued color Oregano available on the website. We are at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival this weekend, however, which may wipe that out. If you want to get some before it’s gone, select a base and then select the color Oregano. They are still $20 a skein while supplies last.

Travel/Festivals

In August I was in Charlotte, NC for the Southern Comforts Fiber Market the second weekend. We had a good show this year!

Next I was in Allegan, MI for the Michigan Fiber Festival and it was amazing as always. The weather was cool this year, which cannot be said for that same weekend in Nashville. It has been a beastly end of summer this year.

I went straight from Michigan to Cranberry TWP, PA for the new version of the Pittsburgh’s fiber festival, StitchburgPA. I was so happy that it moved back to Cranberry! The show was fantastic and I am excited for next year.

Upcoming Festivals for the rest of September are:

Wool Gathering at Young’s Jersey Dairy, September 19-20.

Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival in Berryville, VA, September 26-27

Knitting

My one and only project since July is a re-knit of Dee O’Keefe’s design, Bensusan. I am using my newest yarn color, Black Cherry, and I love how it’s coming out. I am on the 4th pattern repeat of 5 for the main section, so about 60% I think. Maybe a bit more but the rows are getting longer and they are 36 row repeats.

The Westknits MKAL is coming up soon. I want to participate again because they are fun, but it’s 8 colors, which gives me pause. I’ll let you know more when I consider my possible choices later this month.

Reading

In July and August I read 10 books, and most were 4 or 5 star reads for me.

• Mansfield Park – Jane Austen ****
• Monsters in the Archives – Caroline Bick ***
• The Last One at the Wedding – Jason Rekulak *****
• The Correspondent – Virginia Evans *****
• Summer – Edith Wharton ****
• It Could Have Been Her – Lisa Jewell ****
• Brideshead Rveisited – Evelyn Waugh ****
• The River is Waiting – Wally Lamb ** (this one annoyed me at times)
• Land – Maggie O’Farrell ****
• The Little Friend – Donna Tartt (re-read) ****

What I am Currently reading:

• Revival – Stephen King (re-read)
• Country People – Daniel Mason ( I just started this last night and it is utterly delightful!)

Closing

That’s all for now. I have some downtime today and I intend to get in some knitting and reading. The rest of the weekend will be very busy with long days. I hope to talk to you again soon and thanks for reading!