Preparing for Summer

Tomorrow is the first official day of summer, and as I look forward to the last few days of school I am thinking about summer vacation.

Yesterday morning I woke up early and cleaned & cut 8 quarts of strawberries. My hand looked like a stained mess, but it will be worth it this winter when I am able to go to the freezer and open a box of summer!

I decided on a new weaving project, a blue and white scarf with a twill pattern called "Landis Valley Linen". I am using some wonderful Merino/Tencel from Webs. Warping the loom is a bit of a chore. I slowly wound the yarn around the back beam, using paper to keep the threads orderly. Now I only have to thread it...usually the longest part of the whole weaving process.

The plants in the garden are moving right along, soon will will have tomatoes and maybe even broccoli!

On Saturday I attended the Genesee Valley Handspinner's Guild and got some spinning done. I love all the ladies in the guild, they are so quirky and inventive with their projects and yarn. When I came home from guild I finished plying the yarn, washed it and hung it out to dry. The purple is a blend of Alpaca, Merino and silk in the colorway "blueberry patch". The pink is falkland in "butterfly bush". I purchased both from the Spinning Bunny in Ithaca, NY. We are attending her open house next weekend, and a class where we will get to dye our own yarn.

Today we are heading to a father's day picnic. I have made a Triple Berry Pie, and I must say I am really looking forward to eating it!

Nice Weekend!

I finished the woven scarf for my colleague this weekend! I came out great and I will be so happy to give it to her at the end of the week. We also enjoyed a trip to the public market, where we bought produce and ate some empanadas.

Saturday afternoon my husband and I also went to a dog agility trial in East Amherst, NY. The dogs are so cute! Most of the dogs are herding dogs (Shelties and Boarder Collies) but a few others were there too. We saw a beagle run the course with his nose to the ground in between jumps (hunting rabbits?).

My husband was kind enough to drive, allowing me to knit in the car. I managed to finish one repeat of the tartan pattern on my blue sweater.

I also did a little spinning on Sunday. What a nice weekend!

This weekend we are watching my parent's dog. He is best friends with our dog and the two of them are quiet the picture. They both enjoy keeping watch on our back yard from the sliding glass doors.

Like all teachers, I am really looking forward to summer vacation, only 2 more weeks of school. Tomorrow is field day, a favorite for everyone.

I am already dreaming of all the projects I will finish during my time off. There should be enough yarn in the house to make something great....

I have started a sweater called Highlander by Anne Hanson. I dyed the yarn using natural indigo at the GCVM and it is already coming out great. I am hoping to finish it by September so I can wear it to the fiber festival in Hemlock, NY.

Completion!

I finished the purple socks, just in the nick of time!

Hand knit socks make the perfect gift.

Happy Friday

It's finally Friday, and I am looking forward to the weekend. We have plans to get together with friends and we should have fun, even if it rains.

I have also made some progress on a scarf I am weaving on the big loom. A wonderful teacher is retiring from my school and I wanted to make her a special present. It should be able to finish it in 1-2 hours, maybe I'll even finish it this weekend.

Speaking of finishing this weekend, I have been frantically knitting some purple socks all week and I am in the home stretch (This works out well for me - they are a gift for Saturday!) The yarn is stroll sock yarn from knitpicks, the pattern is Tessarae by Anne Hanson.
What post would be complete without a gratuitous doggie pic. Here's my dog "helping" with the laundry.

Amelia's Garden

Work is progressing on our memory garden. So far we have planted a hydrangea tree, a pink rose, a white lilac and a few other little plants. It will be to nice to see the flowers grow and bloom this summer.

Proud Projects

I have recently finished two projects that I am very proud of. The first is an Irish Fisherman vest for my husband. I can't wait for him to wear it to fiber fest this fall!

The second project is a honey bee wedding stole for a great friend.

Here she is looking fantastic on her wedding day.