Sunday, October 30, 2011

the nc state fair

the fair has come & gone, and i wrote a big post about it over here. i took a lot of pictures, and i didn't want to clutter things up here, so i divided the knitting/crafty stuff with the other aspects of the fair. so, if you want to see "more", just click that link above.



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stuart and i went to the 2011 nc state fair, primarily to see all the crafty knitting & crochet exhibits. we'd been following crochetbug's journey as she created her 2011 nc state fair afghan, we really wanted to see it in person. so, that was our main mission.

we first stopped at the quilts, because sometimes, they do hang the crochet blankets with the quilting.



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i really liked this one.



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and the one on the left here, LOVE it too! see the nice lady? she goes back and forth slowly moving the quilts from one side to the other, like gently turning the pages of a book.

when she finished, and i didn't see the crochetbug afghan, i asked her where it was. i described it in detail, and she said, "oh, it's down a few rows in a glass case!".

we headed in that direction, and looked at other things along the way ...



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such as, cross stitch! i am not a cross stitcher at heart, but i do appreciate the time it takes to do these designs. heck, my little snowman took forever!



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and, in the next aisle, i spotted it ...



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who knows how they judge things, but the honorable mention ribbon simply doesn't capture the journey of creating this blanket. i think it deserves a blue ribbon.



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i snapped a shot of these, as the socks in the center is a pattern i've "tried" to start before. the pattern is called nightingale by vintage purls. i did start it once (it's toe up) and i got stuck on the toe. lol! perhaps i'll revisit the pattern in 2012.



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this pair was knitted by a friend of mine. i don't know what pattern she used, but it's a simple and elegant design.

stuart and i finished off the fair with some ice cream before departure.



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if you wanna see the rest of the story ... just click here.






Tuesday, October 25, 2011

public announcement

i'm so busy right now! and i have been, thus the "radio silence".

so, until i have a moment when i can work on pictures, and compose my thoughts, we'll have to do with a teaser .....


last weekend, i went to SAFF. had a fabulous time, of course. purchased, of course. temporarily lost stuart, OMG !!! the panic!!! (sigh)

it is my "busy time" (work-wise), and the knitting has come to a screeching halt (insert sad face here).

hopefully, later this week, i can process my pictures that are piling up in the queue!

Monday, October 10, 2011

looks like candy corn!

'tis the season for candied apples, funnel cake, and candy corn! ... whether it be for local fairs (such as the upcoming NC State Fair) or halloween.

that said, my knitting is looking quite "seasonal".

first up, the candy corn ...



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this is my first sock for the october challenge. one of the options was to knit a pattern by designer stephanie etting. i chose her "malachite buttefly socks", since i had purchased the pattern online back in the spring.



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so, first sock is done, and i hope to cast on sock #2 some time today, and finish the 2nd sock before the month's end.

i've been doing the sock knitting off & on during the day, and in the evenings, i'm knitting on my bat shawl



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i'm on my 4th tier (i think) of bats now. of course, as a triangle gets bigger, it gets slower. again, my goal is to finish before halloween, so i can sport my bats!

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

what's on the needles


current (small) projects


i have a few projects on the needles right now. the purplish bag, on the far left, has my purplish colored socks.
the pink bag in the back has my pinkish test socks. the yellow bag has my latest cast on ...


poppy socks


this pattern is malachite butterfly socks, by one of my favorite sock designers, stephanie etting (verybusymonkey on ravelry).

the black bag has a shawl i recently cast on, to (hopefully) knit by halloween.


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and the blue bag in the front has my gretya socks, which i started awhile back when i was just aching for a new project.


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yet again, i've probably bitten off more than i can chew. such is the life of this knitter.