September Song

September Garden

September has caught me by surprise once again.  It's going to be another busy month, with festivals here in town and some traveling.  I'm looking forward to it but at the same time wondering how I'm going to cram it all in with the gardening, spinning and knitting!

This weekend was the Chinquapin Festival, and from the sound of things they had some great music this year and some awesome crafters there as vendors.  I had friends stay in tents in the yard for the festival and we went up to Chateau Morrisette for Movie Night.  It's becoming a yearly tradition and we had the most fun this year so far.  The movie was Hitchcock's Rear Window.  I don't remember ever seeing it before and it was funnier than I expected.  The movie doesn't really matter; it's all about the experience.  The evening was lovely and it was fun to snuggle up under a blanket after an excellent meal provided by the winery and with good friends nearby.


Aran Necklace Camisole

Another finished knitted object.  I must be going for some sort of personal best record this year in finished projects.  This was a lovely and easy piece from the Spring 2010 Interweave Knits, done in some beautiful Miss Bab's sock yarn I got from Spin A Yarn down in West Jefferson, North Carolina, last fall.  I can't wait to take it away from Veronica here and wear it!


Are you sitting down?  Because my next project may shock a few readers, given my negative attitude about certain garments. It seems to me an awful waste of good yarn and stitchin' to make something that gets stuffed down inside a shoe.  Yep, I'm talking about socks.  But not just any socks.  A few weeks ago Some Bunny's Love came into the shop bearing temptation in the form of an absolutely gorgeous sock book called Think Outside the Sox, from XRX publishing.  I've got at least four patterns I just have to make and several others I'm eying.  They may not wind up inside shoes; though; I'm going to have to figure out a way to show them off with some funky sandals or something.


Button Up Socks

The first pattern I tackled is the Button-Up Socks by Annette Devitt.  I've already messed up; this is supposed to be the left sock but somehow I managed to make the heel for a right sock.  Not a terrible problem as I can fudge the opening and the buttons.  I'm not sure where I went wrong so I'll really have to keep my eyes open when I do the second sock.  The yarn is by Pagewood Farm and is their Denali Hand Dyed Sock that I purchased last fall from Orchardside Yarn Shop up in Raphine, Virginia.   The yarn is lovely in color and has a nice hand for this project.  Shiny, too!

We've had some lovely cool days and the garden seems to be winding down a bit.  There are still tons of green tomatoes on the vines and it looks like some cucumbers are going to happen.  There is still plenty of corn and we haven't started checking on the potatoes.  And goodness knows when those huge watermelons will be ready.  But there's a feeling in the air that everything is going to be over soon; October is coming and winter is not far away.  I've been spending a lot of time outside even when there isn't any gardening to be done.  It's pleasant to sit under the trees to knit or spin, and nice to come out early in the morning and pick grapes for breakfast right off the vines.


Butterfly and begonias

Last year we had a wonderful little gathering here to celebrate World Wide Spinning in Public Day.  I'd like to do it again, so if anyone out there wants to come out and spin, knit, weave, crochet or do anything else fibery I'd love to have you join us.  We'll set up a tent and have it ready by 10 and probably spin until about 4 PM.