Socks are Finished!

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Originally uploaded by kimknits126

I finished Tom's socks last night! The ribbing was endless. But I was driven to finish these so I could start something else!

Icelandic Lace Shawl is finished!

Here are some pictures of the Icelandic lace shawl. I like the way it came out. I used a different border than the pattern called for. When I bought the yarn for this shawl, I think I doubled the amounts. I think I have enough yarn for 2 more shawls.

We went to the Norman Rockwell Museum yesterday. The museum is in Stockbridge, MA - about an hour from our house. It was a great day for a drive. The leaves on the trees were beautiful. I've been to the museum twice before. Because there is so much detail in the paintings and he did about 4000 paintings, there is always something new to see.

Afterwards, we went looking in Stockbridge for something to eat. Everywhere we looked, the restaurant was either closed, or in one case - the Red Lion Inn, too expensive. So we came back to Albany and went to Old Chicago. It opened just a few weeks ago so it was really crowded. We had to wait an hour for a table so we had a couple of beers in the bar. The food was really good and the staff was very friendly. I think we'll be going there often.

Progress made on shawl

I'm almost done with the Iceland Lace Shawl. Just a few rows left on the top border. I'll post a pic soon.

We had a great time at Waffles and Puppets. We went with my sister and my niece. I got to hang out with my niece for a while. She's six and she is a joy to talk to. People brought their dogs to the event so we talked about every dog that went by.

There was a guy with some alpacas there. He had a bunch of alpaca items for sale, including some yarn at a great price. I picked up 3 skeins of a light purple worsted.

I saw The Jane Austen Book Club last night. I really enjoyed it. It's a romantic comedy (my favorite genre) and I think that it can be enjoyed even if you haven't read any Jane Austen. The movie is pretty true to the book. I listened to the book last fall when I was going to a Jane Austen book club at my library. I had last read Jane Austen when I was in my teens and twenties. I found it interesting that I got something different out of them as an adult.

Beer Labels

We bottled the Scotch Ale today - 48 bottles. The label is above (Hieland Laddie). The other label is from the brown ale we bottled last month.

We didn't go to the Saratoga Farm tour as I wasn't feeling well. I'm still coughing like crazy. I didn't mind missing the tour as we will be going to the Sheep and Wool Festival at Rhinebeck in a couple of weeks (10/20). Next weekend, we're going to the Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown for the Waffles and Puppets event.

I've been working on the Icelandic Lace shawl in Knit Picks' Palette. I'm about half-way through. I'm enjoying the knitting. I like patterns that I can easily memorize so I can just knit away while I'm watching TV. When this is done, I have a couple of almost finished shawls that I think I'm ready to finish (for example, capelet from Victoria Knitting Today and Oregeon Shawl by Joan Schrouder).

Ravelry

I'm on Ravelry! My username is lace. I can see why there is so much fuss about it - it's fun! I've got 4 projects entered and have joined one local group. I like that it uses information entered from different sources. For example, I can blog about a project and then tie the post to the project on Ravelry. It is a great organizational tool.

While poking around in Ravelry, I found that there is a Saratoga County Fiber Tour happening this weekend. I think we may go check out one or two.

Pictures of SP package

I'm finally feeling better so here are pictures of the package I received last week. The varigated yarn is a bulky weight alpaca/merino blend and is very soft. The colors are beautiful - soft purples and blues. The other yarn is an aran weight wool/alpaca blend in a very pretty purple. The other item in the picture is a sweater stone. I did not have one and what a perfect item to give a knitter! The other picture is lotion and shower gel in a vanilla scent. Very nice! I've been using the lotion already. I have the best Secret Pal! Thank you!

Secret Pal Package

I received a package from my secret pal yesterday. It is wonderful and it lifted my spirits. Pictures and descriptions will be posted tomorrow. Thank you so much, secret pal. This post is just to let you know that I really loved the package.

I haven't been feeling well the last few days - nothing serious - "just" a sinus infuction. It has sapped my stamina and muddied my thinking. I haven't been on the computer much lately. I have stuff that I want to post about and plan on posting later this weekend, including the beer labels I put together for the brown ale and wee heavy.

Irish 2000

This last weekend was very busy for us. On Friday night, we bottled the brown ale. I'm working on the label and will post it when it's finished.

On Saturday, we went to Irish 2000. The music was great! We saw my two favorite bands: Gaelic Storm and Hair of the Dog. Both bands had new cds so, of course, I purchased them. Hair of the Dog's is called Donegal and I think it is the best they've done so far. They said it was two years in the making and it is very apparant when you listen to the cd. The harmonies and sound are spot on.

We also heard Kevin McKrell's new band: Hard Road Céilidh Band. They were excellent! All of the members are from other bands and they are all very good musicians. I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Another band we really enjoyed was Teada (pronounced Tayda), a traditional group from Ireland. They were all very good but we were especially impressed by the bodhran player. He got more sounds out of that drum than I've ever heard before.

We were at the festival for about 12 hours. We don't normally stay so long at these things. I have an onion allergy so we usually have to leave early because I'm not feeling well. This time I brought my own food and it made all the difference in the world! I was still dancing at the last song!

I have more to stuff to blog about but will do another post in the next day or so.

Wool Wanderings Update and more

I updated Wool Wanderings today. I removed some broken links and updated others that had moved to a different site.

I'm on row 88 of the Rose Trellis shawl. The picture shows a closeup of one of the diamonds.

A few weeks ago, I was poking around the net, looking for knitting sites, as I often do, when I came across a page that mentioned Sacred Harp and shape notes singing. I became intrigued and did a little research. I found a local group that meets regularly. I went last night and had a great time. They are a very welcoming group. I'm not very good at it yet but I think it will get easier as the tunes become more familar. The next meeting is the first Saturday in October.

We went to Bennington, VT tonight for supper at the Madison Brewing Company. They've got great food and the beer is very good. It's only about 30 miles away from here but far enough away that we don't get there very often. It's fun to do something a little different now and then.

More Brewing

Yesterday we brewed a clone of Newcastle Brown Ale. It should be ready to bottle in two weeks. We used some of the yeast from the wee heavy we brewed last week. I've started working on label ideas and planning for next month's brewing. We tend to brew more this time of year in preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It's Labor Day here in the US so I have today off. We're planning on having a picnic later in a local park. The weather is perfect - sunny and not too hot.

I'm on row 78 of the Rose Trellis Shawl. I'll post a close up view in a day or two.