Monday, March 30, 2009

FO: Monkey Socks

Here is the link to Monkey Socks. If you haven't knit these yet, go for it. They are easy enough for knitting while watching TV and complex enough to not be boring. That is just about the perfect balance for me ;-) I actually knit these while traveling, so I am dubbing them my airline socks. They were finished in the hotel room over the weekend (had symphony out of town) and adorned my happy little feet yesterday. I love knitting socks and I love finishing a project.

I used KnitPicks Essentials that came in their sock yarn sampler a year or two ago. This is called Meteor Twist.

The needles were #1 dpns.


And you can see how fat and round my foot is - I used the round toe instead of the one in the pattern. That has become my fave since it fits the shape of my feet best.

The cardigan is ready for shoulder seaming, then on to picking up the stitches for the front band. I didn't want to do that in the hotel due to a lack of light but hope to get it finished this week. Pictures soon.

Have a lovely week :-)

Friday, March 20, 2009

Montgomery Worsted Mill

As we are driving back from dropping my husband at the Newburg/Stewart Airport, Mom sees this sign for the Montgomery Mills and says, "I used to come here to buy yarn."




We pulled in and up over the hill was a very old building with an historical marker

We went in

There were wonderful snow white silks, wools, cottons ready for dying. Alpaca, blends, natural colors, tweeds and more. There were so many boxes of yarns I was a bit overwhelmed.
But I did find a delicious wool/alpaca DK blend in a gorgeous charcoal gray. They sell by the pound - 1 lb = 1330 yards. I think it will be enough for a simple cardigan.


I was so intrigued by this place, on the way to the airport the next day I stopped back in and asked if I could take a few pictures.






I was in a bit of a time crunch so I couldn't stay very long to talk to the folks there but definitely plan to stop in next trip and spend more time. I hope it is still there; this is an article on the mill and the dificulty of it's survival. If you would be interested in joining me in a Ravelry group for the Montgomery Mills, I would be happy to start one. Please email me, comment here, or leave a message in my Ravelry inbox - Cecioboe. Maybe we can make more people aware of this hidden gem.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Insanely Busy

I just finished week-long run of The Secret Garden put on at a nearby private school. A colleague is the orchestra director there (and a fine violinist) who did a fabulous job conducting us. The orchestra was pro (except for 3 terrific students) so it made things quite nice. The kids did a bang-up job in 4 performances! We old folks had fun working these talented high schoolers and I think the kids got quite a thrill singing with a real orchestra.
Knitting content is nil - I didn't get home until 11:30pm all week and was too pooped to knit. Next week I will have some new pics for you.

G'night for now -