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Summer’s Almost Gone

I cannot believe how fast this summer is flying by.  I feel like I did absolutely nothing all summer.  Maybe its all the rain we’ve had this season.  Just look at all the fungi I keep finding in my yard.

Click to embiggen.  I wish I knew what was edible.  This is one of those times when I really miss my mother-in-law who really knew her mushrooms.  I haven’t eaten delicious wild mushrooms since she passed.

The sun came out for more than a few hours this weekend and in spite of the threat of occasional showers, I needed to venture out, so I drove up to the north shore to Fiber Revival.  What a lovely location.  I just wish I had remembered to grab my camera on the way out the door - duh!

The day was lovely and I got to sit under a big old tree and spin some lovely grey Shetland roving from the stash.  I did fall down and pick up some of Spunky’s rovings - Merino Silk and Merino superwash.  I know I dye my own roving, but there is just something so yummy about Spunky’s fun color combos, I just couldn’t resist.  I also got to see some friends and it was good to see Ruth and Woolybabe had survived their vacation.

Finally around 3pm the storm clouds started to gather - I figured it was best to head out as the clouds were looking really dark and ominous.   As I headed down the road, I decided that I really didn’t want to go home, so I headed over to the studio and dyed some more fiber with some of the new colors I got a while back.  Boysenberry, Sangria, Brilliant Violet just to name a few.  After a few hours and a couple of phone calls I headed home.  I love being in the studio when it’s quiet, I always get some work done.  It’s not really work - its fun really.  I always meet some new artists that are hanging around too.

Sunday was another lovely warm and sunny day.  I got myself up early and while I was enjoying my coffee and the sunshine my friend Alicia called and 20 minutes later we were heading off to Idylwilde Market.  I picked up some fresh local beets that I plan to peel and grill.  Big juicy peaches and fresh blueberries.  I love blueberries on my Cheerios!  I also picked up 2 big pots of flowering Zinnias to stick in my front porch pots.  The johnny jump-ups and miniature pansies were still blooming, but were kind of leggy and sad looking.  I took them out and stuck them in the front where the other bushes had been removed.  Then planted the zinnias and they look spectacular.

Then I went in and packed myself a yummy turkey, Havarti, avocado, tomato, sprouts and mayo sandwich on fresh sourdough bread and planned to head off to the park to knit with some knitting buddies, but my Rotten Teen Daughter (RTD) had one of her hissy, nasty, fits.  I just grabbed my stuff and left the house.  At that point I was no longer in the mood to knit so I headed over to a friends for solace.  There I could bitch about RTD and of course when I pulled out my Ravelympic knitting project I realized that the 3 inches I had knit the night before had a big honking and glaring mistake back at the point where I had started so I spent the afternoon tinking instead.  But now it’s fixed and I am almost back to where I started again.

Oh-Bla-Dee, Oh-Bla-Da…

Ravelympics progress

My Oblique sweater is coming along nicely.  The pattern is very easy to follow so far.

I ended up not liking the Cascade 220 in the pattern, especially when I read some posts about the sweater growing significantly with the Cascade.  So I dove into my stash and found this yummy Laine Du Norde, CashsilK - 50% Fine Merino, 25% Cashmere, and 25% Silk - can you say YUMMO!  I got this on sale at Webs Christmas Sale for practically nothing.

Keep your fingers crossed that the weather cooperates for the Fiber Revival tomorrow!  I really need some hang time with all the fiber friends (fiends? LOL).h

Under the spell?

Yesterday for the most part was a damp, dreary day.  We even had a thunderboomer come through, but as soon as the thunder and rain stopped we went out to run a few errands.  On the way home I spotted a very bright rainbow and in minutes the second one appeared.  They were so bright and defined.

This can only be an auspicious omen, right?

Last night for dinner I made Lemon Garlic Shrimp with Pasta - YUMMO!

To 1/4 cup of olive oil add the zest of one lemon and set aside

In a large pot, boil water, add salt and either thin spagetti or anglehair pasta - cook per directions.

While the pasta is cooking…

In a heated pan add

2 tbsp of olive oil

2 shallots thinly sliced

1 large clove of garlic, crushed

1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes

Saute until shallots and garlic are softened and translucent

Add one bag of frozen, deveined, cleaned shrimp - I used and really like Emeril’s Louisiana Shrimp (just be sure to fish the little seasoning packet out before you dump it into the pan).  These are American Caught in the Wild Shrimp and they taste great.

Add the juice of one or two lemons, the zest of another lemon, and a splash of good white wine.

Season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

Let cook on Medium High heat until the shrimp have just turned pink.  The pasta should be done by now.

Add the pasta to the shrimp and poor the lemon zest olive oil over the pasta.

Add some torn fresh basil leaves and toss it all together.

Server immediately.

Other things I thought I might add next time if I have it on hand:  left over roasted asparagus tips.

I would have taken a picture but it was gone too fast. Even the kid liked it.  Hmmm this might even work with Chicken tenders instead of Shrimp.

On the Ravelympic knitting scene… I decided I hated the yarn I was using when I found this lovely camel colored (59), 50% merino, 25% cashmere, and 25% silk that I had in my stash - I am pretty sure I have enough too so I started the sweater again with the Laines Du Nord Cashsilk that I got from a Webs sale this past winter.  I like it a whole lot better.

Throwing Caution to the Wind

I joined Team Mine (aka Selfish Knitters group from Ravelry) and I had no time to do the pre-Ravelympic project swatch yesterday.  Heck I was lucky to get one skein balled up and dig the right needles out of the pile of UFOs in time to cast on this morning to the opening ceremonies.

I decided last minute that I would try to bang out the Oblique Cardigan that I have been dying to start for ages.  I had enough Cascade 200 in a lovely coppery burnt orange colorway from a previously abandoned project that I will not mention here, or probably ever again.

And I realized that I haven’t had a photo of the old girl (Spirit) in ages.  This is her usual position, in one of her three favorite spots, the couch.  The other two are the arm of the chair, or my bed.

Spin, Span, Spun

I finished plying and setting the twist finally.

This is four ounces of BFL Superwash, approx. fingering/lace weight. I got approx. 340 yards.

I really love the colors and how it spun up. I’m not sure what it will be but I think it will be perfect for a baby jacket or hat and booties.

Open Studio

There was open studio this past Saturday at Western Avenue.  I showed up bright and early to meet Melodie.  She had contacted me for spinning lessons through Ravelry.  We had a great day - I think she really liked spinning on the Lendrum and I think she got some great spinning done - she really got the hang of it and was spinning up a storm.  She did a great job (I forgot to take pictures so I hope she will post)

I made some hummus to munch on - I added a little lemon jest and yummy!  We shared some recipes as well as spinning tips and tricks.

I actually got some spinning done too.  I finished spinning and plying (2-ply) some lovely pastel pink that I had dyed up a long time ago.

I did remember to take a picture of the lovely roving I received from the ravelry fiber swap.

Mardi Gras

It is so pretty with flecks of sparkle.  I’ve never spun with sparkly stuff before I cannot wait to start on this!

On the knitting front - I finished the shawl - I would like to start another one, but I want to dyed the alpaca first.   I have a pair of socks that I need to start for my friend Alicia since she gifted me a pair of earrings that she made this weekend.

I also have a pile o’ fleece to skirt and pick.  I’ve decided to send them off to be washed and processed into rovings.  I just do not have the time (or the inclination) to do them myself right now.  Besides it’s been so rainy and humid here all summer they would probably never dry completely and I don’t relish the hand carding it all either. I know but time is money too,

Then there is all the roving that I just got that needs to be dyed up.  I’ve got some new colorways floating around in my head too.  This past year I’ve tried to stretch my color choices.  It’s so easy to keep being drawn to one’s favorite colors - but by pushing into pastels, and earthy tones that I don’t normally choose, I find that I am short on my favorite blues, purples and greens.

It’s back to work… blech…

I had another entire week off last week. My brother and nephew had flown in on the 17^th to attend Dad’s internment out in Greene, NY and to join the gathering of the clan. They also stayed for the entire following week, so we got to have fun playing with my nephew. I forgot how much fun 6 year old boys are.

Here is a picture of the boys skipping stones in the river behind the camp.

We even came upon a couple of Llamas in upstate NY.

So the vacation started off with a bang – or rather an explosion of Widowzilla. If you have followed any of this saga then you will know that my Dad had already been planning to attend the weekend gathering which also happened to be the same weekend as his old high school reunion weekend. Dad had been very active in the alumni association. So my sister and I as promised, took ‘Dad’ or rather is ashes out on the town that Friday. But mom apparently found out and had a meltdown and uninvited us all to the funeral. We went anyway – she seems to have forgotten that we lost our Dad too. It was strained and she still isn’t speaking to us, but I have no regrets. She’ll get over it eventually. In the meantime I am enjoying the peace and quiet.

My Dad would have loved the wake we gave him and his old friends were quite happy to be able to pay their last respects and tip one for him.

On our drive home from NY (thank the gods I took my own car!) and just after we had passed on to the Mass Pike, break lights started flashing and I glanced to the side of the road only to see a baby black bear climbing under the guard rail looking like it was going to try to cross the very busy highway. I couldn’t stop, but I sure hope the baby bear made it ok. I was psyched it was the first time I ever saw a bear in the wild.

The rest of the week was fairly quiet, some mini-golf, and a few projects around the house got done. Not as many as I would have liked but the weather didn’t cooperate very well. Lately it’s been like living in a rainforest. Hazy, hot and humid all day, then big rains and thunderboomers starting at 4pm every day. We even had a tornado touchdown in New Hampshire, killing one woman. It’s just been crazy weather.

I did manage to finish my first circular pi shawl.

Pattern: Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl

Yarn: Finger weight Alpaca from Peru

Needles: Knitpicks Options US 8

I loved this pattern and will definitely knit another one.

I found the camera

Another dyeing day - most of this is merino/silk blend - very nice…  I will soon be posting these on my etsy site.

Cindy and I with the help of DD spent a day of vacation painting the walls of the studio, rearranging stuff and putting together shelving units.  It’s starting to come together.

See I really did go to the beach!

This is a sneak peak of the scarf/shawlettes that my sister is weaving.  They were inspired from her trip to Peru.  This is the one I have dibs on - but they are so soft, drapy and colorful.  A must have!

Here is proof that I have been knitting.  It’s the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl KAL.  This has been so much fun to knit.  I’m using some of the alpaca my sister brought back from Peru.  It is so soft and lovely to work with, and this pattern has been a delight.  It reminds me of the Rose Windows in Notre Dame Catherdral.

Last but not least - Smiling Darling Daughter

Beach Days and Fried Clams

What a great week it was to have off!  It was hazy, hot and humid most days.  Perfect for a day at the beach.  DD and I headed up to Salisbury Beach with some yummy egg salad sandwiches packet, and a jug of cold tea.  Even the breeze was hot and felt like a blast from an oven.  Perfect for taking a plunge into the cold Atlantic water.  It was so refreshing.

That evening we headed over to Hampton to cruise the strip and check out the gift shops and street side eateries.  Of course we had to have fried clams, with lots of tartar sauce, and hot french fries.  It doesn’t get much better than that!

I also spent a couple of vacation days last week, painting the studio, shopping for shelving units and rearranging the space.  I took lots of pics but do you think I can find my camera?!  It looks really great though.

This weekend we head off with Dad’s ashes to Greene, NY and the gathering of the clan.  We will bury Dad’s remains in the family cemetery, then head over to Uncle Stan and Aunt Ida’s camp in Mount Upton to spend the rest of the day, swimming, playing cards (Pitch), eating speidies, and drinking lots of beer with relatives.

I think we (immediate family) will be glad when this weekend is over and done.

My brother and nephew are flying out from ABQ for the week, so I will be off next week too.

I have been knitting, the Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl - I am on clue 4.  It’s turning out beautifully and is actually quite nice to knit up.  I really like this pattern.  I think it’s going to look like the Rose windows of Notre Dame Cathedral.  At least that is what it’s reminding me of.  I think I may have enough of the Peruvian Alpaca for 2 or maybe 3 shawls.  I would like to make at least one to sell and one to keep.

I also did some spinning at the Farmer’s Market on Westford Commons this past week and it was so much fun.  We were invited to go back this week, but unfortunately I am working too late and so won’t be there with the rest of the crew.   I really need to find some more time to play.  Working for a living really sucks.