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Home from Pittsburgh and off to Wisconsin

I’m home from Pittsburgh and I’m off again to Wisconsin in the morning. What’s been going on in between? There’s some knitting and reading to report, plus festival news.

Travel and Festivals

I arrived back in Nashville last Monday. This was to be my first weekend home since festivals began in early August. I had a nice break of just doing normal routine housekeeping, school and resting a bit.

We had a good turnout at the Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival. I enjoyed my time there and met with lots of my regular customers. It’s one of the great parts about doing this for so many years. There’s old and new friends to chat about knitting and catching up on what’s new in our lives.

Knitting Notions Booth Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival 2025

I am off in the morning, while it’s still dark outside, for my annual trek to Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. This has become our biggest show of the year. It’s a wonderful event! The fairgrounds are very nice and there’s always a great vibe and excitement. The forecast for Jefferson is looking very much like fall!

I have restocked the trailer, but I suspect I may be doing some re-dyeing when I get home. The weekend following the festival is my only weekend home until the end of October, so it’s now or never until next year.

Knitting

I have had some time to focus on my current knitting project, Summershine Top by Anne Hanson. I have completed most of the back. I have reached the armhole bind offs and decreases. I have to knit about 5-6 more inches and that piece will be done. I still have the front piece to knit and then the seaming and collar after that.

I am not sure what is next up when I complete this. Oh wait! I just remembered that the West Knits MKAL is coming up soon. I am not sure I’ll be knitting it this year, but there is a pretty good chance I will. That may be next project.

Reading

I finished listening/reading Beach Music by Pat Conroy and it’s an easy ***** read for me. I am planning to re-read Prince of Tides for sure and also try South of Broad at some point.

I am about 40% into Light in August by William Faulkner. I am enjoying this a lot more on this read. I don’t know why I thought I didn’t like it the first time. As a matter of fact, I am finding this book the most accessible of the four Faulkner books that I have read. I previously read, Absalom, Absalom, The Sound and the Fury, and As I Lay Dying. I would recommend Light in August as an entry to Faulkner if he is new to you.

I am planning to listen to Kim by Rudyard Kipling while I am driving tomorrow. It’s one I have been meaning to get around to, and I’ll see how that goes. I have a couple back up plans if I am not digging it.

I am also very excited to begin the new Robert Galbraith(J.K.Rowling) book in the Cormoran Strike series, The Hallmarked Man. I just adore this series. I have the Kindle and The Audible versions plus I received my hardback copy today as well. I must remark that I am disappointed in the quality of the hardback. The paper looks and smells cheap compared to all the other volumes. I own the whole series in hardback. I am looking forward to the story though, so I’ll try to overlook my annoyance at the cheap production.

One other book that I read over the travel week was Horse**** by Geraldine Brooks. I liked this quite a bit. It’s historical fiction based on the life of a thoroughbred race horse of the antebellum era in the US. It was quite fascinating really. I know, you’re thinking why do I want to read out a horse? It’s partly about the horse but of course there are many people involved in his life and that is where the most interesting stuff is fleshed out. I highly recommend it.

Okay, that’s all I have for today. Thanks, as always, for reading! Talk again soon.

Posted on September 2, 2025September 2, 2025 by yarnmama — 4 Comments

Currently Knitting and Reading in Pittsburgh

I am currently knitting and reading in Pittsburgh on my two day break before the Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival.

Travel and Festivals

I’ll get to the knitting and reading in a moment but let’s talk about my travels first.

Last weekend was the Michigan Fiber Festival and it was indeed a hot one this year. The crowds were a bit smaller this year, probably due to the heat. We still sold lots of stuff and thanks to all who came out to support the vendors! You can see my latest booth sample in my Classic Merino Bamboo hanging on the end of my yarn displays. It got some interest.

Knitting Notions booth Michigan Fiber Festival 2025

I drove to Pittsburgh on Monday. I had a nice drive over and arrived in the early afternoon. I got checked in and unloaded at the hotel and then went to the nearby grocery to restock a few provisions.

I am currently having a two day layover before setting up the booth on Thursday. I am enjoying just hanging out with my books and my knitting. I am pretty easily entertained. :-)

The festival is over three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Check the link above if you would like more details. If you are in the area, please stop in and say hello. My booths are in the Green Tree Ballroom.

I’ll be on my way back to Nashville on Monday. Even though I am enjoying my time here I am also looking forward to going home. Twelve days is a long time to be away.

Knitting

Okay, so I have had less time to knit that it seems I should have. The truth is that until Monday evening after I arrived here, I didn’t have much downtime in Michigan. I didn’t bring my knitting to the booth since it was hot and I thought I wouldn’t have knitting time anyway.

I had begun the body of my Summershine Top before leaving Nashville. I have made progress. I have worked through two and a half repeats of the chart.

Reading

In my last update I told you that I was re-reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I finished that yesterday and it was glorious as always. This was what I brought in the booth to occupy me in the slower periods of the day. I have the physical book, but I also have the Barnes and Noble Classic edition on my Nook.

While I was driving up to Michigan last Wednesday, I did start listening to Beach Music***** by Pat Conroy. Oh my goodness! His writing and storytelling are unbelievable! If you have not read him, you should, if you enjoy beautiful prose and excellent charter driven books. I am not finished with this yet but it is a 5 star read for me already.

I also began a re-read of Light in August by William Faulkner, for Faulkner in August. I am only on the first chapter, but again the writing! I don’t remember liking this as much last time but I am very in to it this time. It’s funny, I looked up my prior review on Goodreads, and I read it in August of 2012. I guess, I am in the habit of reading Light in August in the month of August which seems appropriate, yes?

Okay, I’ll close for the moment and see you in the next one. Thanks for reading!

Posted on August 20, 2025August 20, 2025 by yarnmama — 2 Comments

New Knitting and Fiber Festivals

I have a new knitting project on the needles. I am also back on the road vending at several fiber festivals this month.

New Knitting

After completing my latest lacy top, Muqarnas, I am returning to a project I paused last summer. Do you remember the Summershine Top? I knit a sleeve in this yarn, Paton’s North American Linen. Instead of completing the project I thought, this would make a great booth sample in my Organic Cotton Sport. So I knit up this.

Now I am returning to the design to finish one for myself. It is a fun knit. There’s just enough detail to keep it interesting. I also like making pieced tops, especially with cellulose fibers, for the structure that seams give. I also prefer having smaller pieces of knitting on my needles. Sometimes a seamless sweater, especially an adult sized one, can be cumbersome.

So, I completed the second sleeve and cast on for the back piece while I was in Charlotte, NC last weekend. Which brings me to my next topic.

Fiber Festivals

I was in Charlotte for the Southern Comforts Fiber Market. I enjoyed my summer at home but it is also nice to get back out among knitters at the festivals. I appreciate seeing other peoples knits, visiting with other vendors and customers, and helping people pick out their next projects.

Knitting Notions booth Southern Comforts Fiber Market

At the end of each day, I also look forward to some down time in my hotel room to recharge. I am very introverted, and I need my alone time too, no matter how much I love the days in the market. My favorite thing to do after the work of the day is over is to knit for an hour or two and then snuggle up with a book. I usually like to have a beer or a glass of wine too, to help unwind.

I had three nights at home after returning from Charlotte. I am all packed and ready to load up the truck for Michigan in the morning. It is time for the wonderful Michigan Fiber Festival. This is a much larger show and has been around for decades. I look forward to it every year. Sometimes it is refreshingly cooler there than it is here in the Southeast, but I think it may be it bit warm this year. At least I am used to it. :-)

Reading

Speaking of curling up with a book, what are you reading this week?

I am currently re-reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This is one of my favorite Austen novels and also in my top 10 Classic novels. It is just so perfect isn’t it?

I finished reading Three Days in June by Anne Tyler and give it **** . I actually read/listened to another book by her this past week. It was A Spool of Blue Thread. This was really good! A family saga type story with well developed characters. There were a few surprises to keep me wanting to know more. I gave this one **** too. I am pretty generous with my stars unless I don’t get on with a book. :-)

I also read another book by Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres. I listened to it mostly while driving and setting up the booth last week. It is a solid **** read also. It is a very character driven story of the family drama sort. I like those sometimes.

I am thinking about starting Beach Music by Pat Conroy on Audible for my drive tomorrow. I read Prince of Tides several years ago. According to my Goodreads record I gave that a high score, so I will probably like this one. It is very long audio book, so that it perfect for all the long drives in my upcoming week. I’ll let you know next time if that is what I end up listening to.

See you soon and thanks for reading!

Posted on August 12, 2025August 12, 2025 by yarnmama — 6 Comments

New Knit Sample Muqarnas

Knitting

I am happy to report that I have completed the knitting of my Muqarnas top. It is blocked and ready to add to the booth next week at the Southern Comforts Fiber Market. I was hoping that I would finish in time to take it.

I ended up getting in a bit more knitting time this past weekend in which to get it done. On Saturday, after grocery shopping, dinner and some house cleaning, I worked on it for a few hours. Sunday, I took a day off and got almost all of the yoke decreases done. Monday afternoon I finished the yoke, knit the collar and sewed the underarms closed. I washed and blocked it on Tuesday.

I measured it before washing and it measured 43″ in circumference and 22″ total body length. Both of those measurements are close to the intended size, which is the L size. It grew a few inches in all directions after the washing. I find that can happen more with all over lace in fingering weight, especially in a seamless garment. It now measures about 46″ in circumference and 26″ in length. It is now the XL size. It will probably pull back in some. I am glad I made the cropped version rather than the tunic length. I think it would have been a dress if I had made the longer version.

I knit the sample from 240g (1180 yards) of our Classic Merino Bamboo yarn in the Rose color. That’s around two and a half skeins. I am a little bit annoyed that the third skein is lighter than the first two. They were all the same dye lot and looked close. Oh well, I hate alternating skeins and this is the chance you have to accept if you make the choice to not alternate.

I knit this using US 4 and US 2 needles. I originally planned to use US 5 needles but changed to US 4’s after knitting a swatch. The pattern calls for a US 6, but I knew that, for me, in this yarn, that was too large.

Reading

A quick report on recent reads and what I am currently reading:

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence – Ash – I finished this and I liked it a lot! **** If you are into historical fiction, you may like it too.
Private Life by Jane Smiley – First read of this author. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was good. I read it over 5-6 days and I will be reading more by her in the future. ****
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler – I borrowed it on Libby and started it yesterday. I’m already 50% done. It’s a short read and I enjoy her style.

Next Projects

I am not sure what I am in the mood to knit right now. I think a small project or something a bit simple may be in order. I’ll probably have settled on what that will be by my next post. So, so long for now, and thanks for reading!

Posted on July 30, 2025July 30, 2025 by yarnmama — 2 Comments

Summer Top Knitting and Reading

This will be a quick update on my summer top knitting and also my summer reading.

Knitting

We will get to the knitting first.

I am excited that I have joined on the sleeves to the body on my Muqarnas. I am making good progress on the raglan decreases now.

Muqarnas knitting Classic Merino Bamboo yarn sleeves joined

When the sleeves are first knitted onto the body, for my size, you only decrease on the body sections for awhile. I am past that point now, and I am knitting all eight decreases every other round. It is going well, except for the head scratching at times. I have to figure for myself how to keep the lace going and still ensure the decreases are accomplished. The decreases aren’t charted, in other words. You have to assess on every decrease round to work it out.

Muqarnas knitting Classic Merino Bamboo yarn

I do like how it is looking so far. I steamed the body before I joined on the sleeves. You can tell where the new knitting above the joined sleeves is, by that front center marker, and the more crinkly stitches.

My favorite feature is the lace pattern that goes doubled up the side seams and is split into singles at the raglan decreases. I haven’t checked the gauge. I am waiting for the wet blocking and hoping for the best.

Reading

In my last post, I shared my June reads and my (then) current July reads.

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen (reading for Jane Austen July) A re-read for me which I thoroughly enjoyed *****
Memorial Days – Geraldine Brooks (first read of this author, reading to fulfill a Kindle Challenge, borrowed in Libby) I liked this one enough that I picked up Horse to read in the near future ****
Complete Stories of Eudora Welty (about halfway through this book which is actually 5 published collections in one volume) Still dipping into this a few times a week.

Recently Finished and Currently Reading

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Levin – So many people recommend this one, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. It was okay, but maybe just not for me. I am not into gaming, but the story was interesting most of the time. ***
Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster – This was good and a short read, which is perfect for summer. ****
Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash – I picked this up because of the cover and the summary. I am a sucker for a book with a title/art that is sea/ocean themed. It’s also WWII era historical fiction. Sign me up! I am still reading this and I am really enjoying it!

Shop Updates

We have some new Darning Eggs in the shop this week. We have been working on re-stocking the Walnut, Maple, and Hackberry. Production is currently on pause while Jerry is working on another project.

Do you remember in December 2023 when the tornado totaled my brand new trailer? We haven’t known what to do with it. The insurance paid us about half what we paid for it but didn’t salvage it. Last spring Jerry stripped it to this point. I jokingly referred to it as a “gorilla cage” which of course he must have broken out of.

We didn’t know for sure what to do with it at that point. So, there is sat for over a year. He finally decided to just strip it down to a flatbed frame and see what we can do with it. The tires are practically brand new. They alone are worth over $1000 to buy new. We hated to just junk it and keep the tires for my current trailer.

So, I have no idea what will come of this, but I’ll keep you posted.

Posted on July 22, 2025July 22, 2025 by yarnmama — 5 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

Slow Progress is Better Than No Progress

My knitting progress is slow but better than no progress, right?

Knitting

This post, like many, will be an update on the late couple of weeks. I will begin with knitting progress.

I am still slowly working on my Muqarnas top, designed by Anne Hanson. My Classic Merino Bamboo yarn is one of the recommended yarns for this project. I am using one of my new colors, Rose, and I am making the L size/43″. I am making the short sleeve, short length version.

I have completed both of the sleeves. I am 3 rounds away from completing the bottom rib section. After that I will begin the main body which is worked in the same lace pattern as the sleeves.

It is slow going because I am using US2 needles for the ribbing and US4 needles for the lace patterns. I initial swatched with a US5, but the fabric was not firm enough and the gauge was a bit too large. Another reason it is slow is because it’s not very good booth knitting because it’s lace that I need to pay more attention to, especially when working the sections requiring shaping. Hence, it’s slow progress.

Festivals

Speaking of booth knitting, when I wrote last I was waiting to set up at Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival. It did end up being a great show on Saturday and Sunday, despite the rough start.

Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival Knitting Notions booth

Most of us vendors that were in tents and the Pavilion set up bright and early at 6am on Saturday. That made for a very long and tiring day, but definitely worthwhile. The attendance was fantastic and the weather for the remainder of the weekend was beautiful.

After a brief couple of days at home, I headed back out the following Thursday for Wooster, OH for the Great Lakes Fiber Show. The weather this year was very cool and pleasant, which was a nice change. I had no issues this time that was also welcome. :-)

Great Lake Fiber Show Knitting Notions booth

Home and Reading

I have been enjoying a full week at home since my return on Memorial Day. I am heading out this weekend for Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival, but after that I have the rest of June and July at home.

I have put in an order to the mill for yarn to dye. That will begin when I get home from Indiana. It will probably take a few weeks to get all of that processed. While on my break, I might even get that vest pattern done.

In reading, I am down to the last 25% of War and Peace. I am definitely getting a better retention and grasp of what is going on than I did on my first read in 2012. I think a slow, deep read is just right for a work of this scope. I like it a lot! I am also currently reading/listening to The Trackers by Charles Frazier. I plan to start the new Stephen King – Never Flinch, this weekend. I received the hardback this Friday that I had pre-ordered. :-)

I have been reading other shorter books on the side too. Since my last post I read or listened to the following books:

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – read
The World According to Garp by John Irving – Audble
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr – Audible
The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel – read

Closing

That is enough for one post I think. I’ll see you next time and thanks for reading!

Posted on June 2, 2025June 2, 2025 by yarnmama — 6 Comments

Festivals and Knitting

Today’s post will be a brief update on festivals and knitting.

Festivals

I am currently waiting out the storms in Lexington, KY. The Kentucky Sheep & Fiber Festival is tomorrow and Sunday. We are supposed to be setting up today. The severe weather expected today and tonight has put a change in that plan. My booth is under the Pavillion, but there are no sides. I brought my tents but with the possibility of strong wind, we were all advised today that it may be best to set up in the AM. They are giving us a few extra hours tomorrow before the festival opening at 10 AM.

I was at two festivals in the interval between this one and my last post. I was in St. Louis for the Midwest Fiber Festival, the last weekend in April. It was fabulous and fun as always!

I had a weekend at home, in which I dyed a small batch of @250 skeins of yarn. Then, it was off to MN for the Shepherd’s Harvest Festival on Mother’s Day weekend. It was unusually warm and sunny, and the turnout was great.

Knitting

Now on to the knitting part of my post. I have sadly little to show you. As you can guess my knitting time is limited. I did manage to work up a swatch for the Muquarnas. I knit that in the stitch pattern in my Classic Merino Bamboo on US 5 needles. After I measured the swatch, I decided to go down one needle size to US 4. Instead of swatching again, I cast on for the first sleeve.

While in the hotel room this morning, I finished the sleeve and steam blocked it. It looks to be close enough on gauge, so I will proceed with the second sleeve. Here’s the first one in the Rose color I am using for the top.

Reading

I suppose I owe you a reading update too. I am still reading War and Peace and the Eudora Welty Short Stories Collection. I am sorry to report that I bailed on Lonesome Dove. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with it. I’m sure it is as great as everyone says it is. It’s just me. I have never liked westerns. Also I can’t read the third book in a four book series, without reading the whole thing. I thought I could, but I just can’t. And I am not up for a series of four large books that I am not into. So, there you go. The itch is scratched, and I am moving on.

I am reading a few horror books for Horror Mayhem (May Booktube event). I came across Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak and I really got drawn in to it quickly. I guessed part of the ending before I got there but there were still surprises. I recommend this one if you like a mystery that’s a little creepy. The illustrations were very cool too.

I am currently re-reading the Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I am a big fan of here writing. I was first introduced to her work in school at some point when we read The Lottery. It had a profound effect on me and that story stuck with me. I have read most of her novels as well as her other short stories.

Okay, I will close for now. Stay safe if you are in the path of these storms today. See you again soon!

Posted on May 16, 2025May 16, 2025 by yarnmama — 3 Comments

Hand Knit Socks and Other Chit Chat

It has been awhile since my last post and there’s not been a lot of knitting. I have a finished pair of hand knit socks and some other chit chat.

Knitting

I have not started writing the pattern for the vest. I have, however, finished the pair of hand knit socks I was working on.

I have some plans for a few projects but I haven’t cast on for any of them. Knitting hasn’t fit into my days since the socks were off the needles. My fingers are starting getting itchy though, so I may cast on the Classic Merino Bamboo that I wound up last fall. I set it aside to make Muqarnes in the short sleeved, cropped version. I am using Rose for the sample.

Knitting Notions hand dyed yarn — The red yarn is the one for this project

Reading

One of the reasons I haven’t been knitting much is probably because I have been reading a lot more instead. I am fine with that. Reading is just as much my happy place as knitting. I have been a reader since as far back as I can remember. Knitting came into my life in my early teens, but books were my first and long time companions.

I am still making my way through my re-read of War and Peace. I like the Pevear & Volokonsky translation the best. I am intentionally taking my time with it this go round. I aim for at least a chapter a day, but sometimes read more. My goal is to immerse myself in the story and live with it, while I also read other things. I am enjoying it this way.

I am also reading The Complete Stories of Eudora Welty. This is a wonderful book to slow read. I dip in a read a story a day or sometimes only a few a week. Her old southern charm is enchanting. I can hear her voice in my head while I read. I am savoring this volume.

In March, along side the above books, I read a lot of shorter mystery books. I follow quite a few book bloggers on YouTube and March was Mystery Madness. I read four John Banville novels ( The Drowned, The Lock-up, April in Spain, and Snow). I also read The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins and We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker. While it wasn’t exactly a mystery, I also read Orient Express by Graham Greene. I like his work and have quite a few more on my TBR. This one was good, but maybe not as good as some of his other works. My favorite so far is The End of the Affair.

All the John Banville books were good; the stories were pretty interesting but I like the most is his style. I have read 8 or 10 books by him at this point and he hasn’t disappointed me. I also liked The Blue Hour. I read one of her other books, Girl on a Train. I enjoyed them both for their compelling style that drew me in and kept me reading past my bedtime.

I was not as thrilled by the Chris Whitaker book. I am in the minority here, but I don’t enjoy his writing style. This was the second book I read and I was unimpressed to be honest. Both, We Begin at the End and his newest one, All the Colors of the Dark, were highly recommended. I don’t know how much of my reaction is due to the audiobook, because I did listen to most of these books. I have the Kindle versions for them so some of both were read that way. I mainly disliked his dialogue style. I can’t pinpoint what it was, but something was annoying me. I think His books just aren’t for me. I am not saying they are badly written, but neither one appealed to me.

In April, I listened to the newest Chris Bohjalian release, which is a Civil War historical fiction novel. This was really good as I have found every other book by this author. I listened to this while driving and loved it! I also listened to The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett. She is one of my instant buy authors. I have read all her books, but one. She never disappoints either.

I took a shot with a new to me author, Charlotte McGonaghy’s Wild Dark Shore. I listened to this on Audible. I picked it up purely based on it’s description and reviews. It is described as a mystery/suspense with literary style prose. It was those things, but I don’t know if I’ll read any other of her books. It was a bit heavy handed on the “environmental crisis” for my taste. I rated it 3 stars though. The story itself was interesting and compelling.

I am currently reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. There has been such a lot of buzz about this book lately. I am not interested in Westerns as a genre, and that’s what 90% of the people also say who are raving about this book. It’s praised for it’s character development and the writing. I HAD to see what all the fuss was about. I got on the Libby wait list for the Kindle version and it finally came through on Saturday. I am four chapters in and it’s pretty fun so far. I am really enjoying the dialogue and story telling style. I’ll let you know what I think after I have read more. It’s gonna be a challenge to read a 945 page book in 3 weeks. Wish me luck!

Festivals

I’ll finish off this post with a quick festival update. At the end of March, I was in Ann Arbor for the Spring Fiber Expo. I had a weekend home and then was in Greencastle, IN for Greencastle Wool Show.

Greencastle Wool Show 2025 - Knitting Notions Booth

I was home last week and for Easter weekend. We had some of the family over for the afternoon on Easter Sunday. It was a fun day of food, visiting, and egg hunting for the little ones. Sorry, no pictures. I don’t know why I forgot to take any.

I will be back out on the road Thursday for the Midwest Fiber Fest in St. Louis, MO. Hopefully it won’t be a whole month before I talk to you again. Thanks for reading!

Posted on April 21, 2025April 21, 2025 by yarnmama — 4 Comments

A New Vest and Carolina Fiber Fest

I am home from Carolina Fiber Fest and I have finished knitting my new vest pattern.

New Vest

I am quite happy with how the new vest turned out. My favorite feature is the decreases in the V-neck. It grew a couple inches in length. I knit the body to 14″ and after blocking it is closer to 16″. I am fine with the extra length.

I was a bit annoyed that the size I knit used 305g of yarn. I had to begin a 4th skein when knitting the edgings. If the body was a few inches shorter, it probably would have used under 300g.

I have not gotten started on writing up the pattern. I have good notes to work from so I should only take a couple weeks to get it all tidied up. This should be easy to modify to suit the knitter’s preferences too. I’ll let you know when I have it ready to go.

Carolina Fiber Fest

The main reason I have this vest finished is due to some extra down time while I was in Raleigh for the Carolina Fiber Fest. Because of the nasty storms last weekend, I decided it would be safer to stay an extra day. The storms were to the west of NC on Saturday, so we were fine for the festival. Sunday was the day I should have been driving home but the storms were still headed right towards me. I would rather ride out the weather in the hotel than out on the road with a trailer. It got windy and stormy and there was a tornado watch for part of the day and night, but it was a bit less scary than what went on with those storms on Friday and Saturday.

Monday the weather was chilly and still rainy in NC, but the windy, scary stuff was over. I opted to take the alternate route through Virginia instead of the pass through Asheville. It was only 10 miles longer and Google predicted it was a bit faster.

The festival went great as usual. It was nice to have so much less traffic at the fairgrounds. There was a quilt show going on somewhere but it wasn’t an issue. I filmed a short booth walk through video for something different.

This week

I am catching up on a few things this week since I am home this weekend. I will be back out on the road Thursday. I will be headed to Ann Arbor for the Spring Fiber Expo. It’s at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds. I expect it will be chilly but it’s a fun smaller festival. If you are in the area, pop in a say hello! The market hours are Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 10-4.

See you again soon! Thank you for reading!

Posted on March 22, 2025March 22, 2025 by yarnmama — 5 Comments

Travel and Festivals

Knitting

Reading

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Travel and Festivals

Knitting

Reading

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New Knitting

Fiber Festivals

Reading

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Knitting

Reading

Next Projects

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Knitting

Reading

Shop Updates

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Knitting

Yarn Dyeing and other Business Stuff

Reading

Closing

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Knitting

Festivals

Home and Reading

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Festivals

Knitting

Reading

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Knitting

Reading

Festivals

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New Vest

Carolina Fiber Fest

This week

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