By the time I completed my errands, the sky was bright blue and the sun was shining!

I’ll save and edit that post for a future date and leave you with a small picture of PG and Spot in Trois-Rivières, Québec on a different grey and rainy day that already feels too long ago.

[added 15 minutes later: and back to black. A thunderstorm rolled in, a special for E's commute home!]

Thus, most of my stress has disappeared. My work load hasn’t changed, actually I have a few additional projects, but the schedule of all of them and the concerns and worry I had about some of “life” have been worked out.

Today’s “tool” is to take a deep breath and talk through what is stressing you out. It’s being open to solutions you might not have thought about before. It’s asking questions, because you never know, the answer might be yes! No matter what remember to take some time for you, everyone will be happier for it.

in other news: PG’s scarf is about 50% done (I thought it was more, but I just measured it against her a few minutes ago) I have quite a bit of knitting to do for her before Rhinebeck!

PG of course wanted a scarf all her very own, so I’m making her one. Originally I was going to knit her Branching Out from Knitty, but it was too fussy for me and while it’s a nice pattern, it did not work to well on DMC cotton and 1.75mm needles. Thus I’m doing a garter stitch with random YO’s to add some interest (for both of us). She likes it. She’s sad she can’t have beautiful leaves like me but she’s forgiven me. I bent the dpn’s to better fit my hands. I like a needle about 6 inches in length. Anything longer than that and my wrists kill me. I think she wants me to make her a little pin to keep it in place, well see. She might get a jump ring and a small snip of wire. ;) She’s been a really good penguin for me lately. I have some leftover fleeceartist, maybe i’ll make her a scarf in it.

I’ve been working on a gift for a friend’s “new son” for quite some time now. I had started a sweater for him before he was born, and learned that I had been twisting stitches when I purled so it was frogged. I kept saying I’d make something for him and just dragged my feet. In July I realized that Cargo again from knitty were so very cute and I wanted to knit them for this boy with two big sisters. So I cast on but really didn’t stay too focused on the project. I realized last week that he was turning one so I have been charging at this project since I finished the scarf. And it goes FAST! Once I realized I just wasn’t getting the hem folded properly and knit in, I decided to sew it later and I also switched to two circs from dpn’s. The photo here was taken a few days ago. I’m about an inch from doing the turning row before the elastic casing hem. I’m knitting the largest size. The father, a very good friend of mine, has ensured me that he thinks these will still fit for a day or two. :)

How do you find us (me and pg) at Rhinebeck? I’ll leave you a few photo clues and tell you that I’m about 5’1″ I wear glasses and I look over ten years YOUNGER than I am. Look for the girl with a wedding band who you think is way to young too get married and you’re probably spot on. I will probably have a ball cap on (with all my hair underneath), so unless my head is pointing up, i’ll probably not see you. I also can’t hear very well with background noise, so don’t shout, but if i turn and stare at your lips I’m trying to listen to you. Here are a few photos of things I think you should/could look for. The bag is almost always overstuffed. I don’t think it will be on Sunday, but you never know.

Sakura Matsuri

Last Sunday, we went to see the peak Cherry Blossoms. We had wanted to go the weekend before, right before peak, and hopefully avoid all the crowds, but I believe it poured. We had just picked up Nibbler and decided to let her get used to her cage without us doting over her. Parking was an adventure but we found a place, and there was a line (at 4pm) to get in. The crowds were amazing. We didn’t have as wonderful a chance to explore the cherry blossoms as we wanted because of the late hour and the crowds. Below are a two photo I enjoy.

Maryland’s Sheep and Wool Festival

Saturday night we loaded the car and began the drive to Baltimore. We found a nice hotel in Baltimore and in the morning drove to the Festival.

Wow.

The photographer at work. The sheep smiled nicely for him.

And sometimes they smiled nicely for me.

I really couldn’t get the shot I wanted, but I believe this is a shot of a spinning wheel waiting to be shown and judged. ;) I believe they are all winners!

And I bought 100 grams of Skacel Merino Lace (colourway 729) from Pleasant Woolen Company. It was so incredibly overwhelming all the yummy yarns and colours and wheels! I know nothing about spinning and E had to drag me away. I know I could probably buy this at home but E said it would be silly to walk away empty handed. I didn’t want to go too far over budget. E was very patient as we went back and forth and I pet and (a few times) sniffed [yes, I am a yarn sniffer] the yarns. I have yet to ever knit more than a few rows of lace so we’ll see. I really prefered the grey (#329) but this won. I’m debating exactly what to make with it. I have quite a few ideas but nothing has solidified. I did a bit of knitting (and frogging) in the car. I’ll try to post pictures later today.

B&O Rail Road Museum

E and I have decided that this was a great museum, but we’re jaded. There was a train trip we could have taken and the coordinator tried to impress us with “how often do you get to go through the main switch yard” (or something I really wasn’t paying attention). I looked at E and we left. I’m sure it was quite nice, but after Steam Town, Peru, and numerous other train wonders, riding on a commuter rail train just didn’t excite us enough. Finding a nice cold drink did.

B&O Logo

There is no way I can show the scale. We found these two in the shop and fell in love.

She arrived at B&O two days after Pearl Harbor. There is absolutely no way to capture the scale and beauty of this marvel. E had to pull me away.

The restoration of the beauty is magnificent… I stood drooling for a good 5 minutes. Then I sat down on one of the benches. ;)

The World to Come

I finally read Dara Horn‘s new masterpiece, The World to Come. I read In the Image several years ago and with her new work she has me won over. I don’t know what to say other than please, go read this.