My birthday!

I just ordered this for my birthday!
After I voted. If you have not voted then please do. I was very disappointed, when talking to some of the young people that I work with, to find that they were not registered to vote. All I can say is what a waste. Actually I could say a great deal more and I am so sorry that I was unable to convince them to exercise their privilege to vote. I am amazed that young, intelligent, educated people are so mired in ennui. Ah well, use it or lose it. My vote is on record.
No big plans for my birthday. Maybe an eclair later on and my daughter Jen said she will stop by. For now I am going to finish my snowflake block! And maybe begin another.

...a thread

Did a couple of threads on Pindingo today--early in the morning. It seems that my internal clock would rather me get up very early than me stay up late. So be it. I will quilt in the dawn rather than the twilight. I am doing the quilting in partial segments rather than all together. I find it easier and more relaxing not to have to wrestle it down before I stitch.

ch ch changes

We swapped ny craft table with the desk in the dining room . Looks much better don't you think? and a good time to vacuum behind everything.
Good news -no pink eye, just allergies, so I can go back to work tomorrow.And more good news, Bailey is hired at New York Historical Society as an intern. Cool, heh?

snowflake block #1

This is such a pretty pattern. I have a bunch printed out in colors from orange to pink and red. Maybe the next one will be fuscia or magenta or persimmon. Inklingo is wonderful. Cathi is already on her fourth block!

Bounty

Rhinebeck was spectacular.
And here is the bounty.
I did not go crazy, but I did pick out a few favorites to bring home. The design of the spindle is Turkish and I dd have a chance to play with it at Mike's dad's house, and in the car on the way home until it got too dark to see, and this morning. The balance is perfect and you disassemble it after you have spun the wool and wound it over and under the flanges, making a small center pull poof that eliminates the need to wind it into a ball from the shaft, as one does from a 'regular' spindle.
Yes Cyndi, those lollipop looking things from the previous post are spindles, used to spin fiber. Before wheels and then industrial type spining machines, all cloth woven or knitted came from fiber spun on one of these doodads. Or something similar.
Watching the border collies was fascinating. It is amazing how they know how to herd the sheep. How do they know that?

Ny Sheep and Wool Fest

A few pictures from the festival for wool floozies..

pigtailsandsnails give away

Howdy
Elizabeth is having a contest to give away this delightful sunflower quilt. Will you enter the contest? I have....who can resist sunflowers?
I am going to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend! Many sheep will lose their fleeces in the days to come. It will be nice to be there in the autumn chill, maybe buy a couple of hitherto indespensible yarny objects? Objet du Wool?
In the mean time, on the quilty front, there are diamonds being laid out in stripes and squares and snowflakes being dreamed.

Doll House pictures, Bennington Museum

Doll House pictures, Bennington Museum

Inklingoable

I fell in love with this block from Cathi's(Smudge's) blog a few weeks ago and kept a picture of it on my desktop, thinking maybe I would try one some day.
The thing is, with Inklingo is that if you are doing one, you may as well do two or a whole bunch more. So I contacted Cathi and we are planning to print a few blocks from fabric from our stashes and swap them. And after that, probably a few more. And so it goes.
If you haven't heard of Inklingo, it is a program that lets you print directly onto fabric-with stitching lines...way cool. Go to the website and watch a video! Visit Cathi's blog also to see what she is up to using Inklingo. Your curiosity will be piqued. And there is a free sample-what more could you ask? Oh, and yes -you will meet Monkey.***I should mention that I an doing this on my macbook!!

greenport-brooklyn cup start

Some pictures from our day in Greenport. Apparently the Brooklyn Cup is a race that has been suspended for a couple of decades and this year began again. The race course goes around Block I Island and back to Long Island -over night. I learned that a knot is fifteen percent faster than 'miles per hour".

Bennington Museum

We visited the lovely Bennington Museum yesterday and I got to see "the quilt" in real life, as it were. and there were others. The room was quite dim and the result was dim photos, but I include them here in their edited form-just because.
The Grandma Moses exhibit was also there and I did not photograph it, as requested by the museum. But it was worth the four and a half hour drive and the museum itself was filled with lovely antiquities and ephemera from days gone by.
Twas a beautiful autumn day with gusts of wind making leaves fly and intermittent rain showers. Something for everyone. The top picture is from Williamstown, Massachusetts, on the way south. We drove home by the light of the milky way, exclaiming at the abundance of stars.

Socktober!

I joined a Soctberfest on Ravelry! And it is perfect timing. I have the yarn . I have the needles and I am almost finished with the doll. I am working on her head. the body is done! Pictures will come later. If you are on Ravelry you can click on this blog title to join up.
Maybe I need to do a sock movie-something sock noire? Is that how you spell noire?
Gratuitous hand crank picture.....

Breakfast at the Kitty Knight

shoe movie

Put on the left shoe first
it is less painful than the right.
Then, try to keep the finger-bony protrusion-
from getting mashed between the heel and the shoe as
it slides into the snug heel cup.
Snug is better:
better to absorb the impact of each step as it follows.
Both shoes are laced now.
Stand and balance,
assess & measure the degree of discomfort and
make the judgement. It is tolerable.
Tolerable.

too much spare time?

ride home

ready

We will be driving out east today but I have done one thread and I am ready to do another upon our return.
I am shipping Carolina Crossroads to Val to un-sew! and then have it quilted by Kathy. It is in a box-just needs to go to the post office...
I will be adding arms to my doll who now has a possible new owner-a friend's daughter who shall remain secret until I have finished the aforementioned doll. I am always inspired to finish something when I think of giving it away. I rarely sell my stuff, but I get motivated by the thought of giving it to someone who will get pleasure from it.
And while I am on the subject of giving-I did make a small donation to the democratic candidate....
edit to add: I machine quilted the quilt and it was a disaster. Un sewing means to take out all of that mess so it can be done by some one who knows what they are doing.
The doll has two legs and ten toes..and maybe tomorrow-arms...