I am popping in for a Ten on Tuesday and the subject this week is, "10 Things on This Summer’s Bucket List".

I have finally hit a point where I feel caught up since I went back to work last November…..actually this very day I hit the caught up mark when I mailed out the last big bunch of orders.  Whew!  I feel like I can start planning ahead instead of playing catch-up and chasing my tail and it feels good!

So, my bucket list for our summer goes like this:

1.  My picture should give you a hint.  My favorite place to be in all the world is at the ocean.  It has always been the place where my heart feels at home and I want to spend as much time as I can there.

2.  Kayaking.  Ken and I are heading up to Campton Bog this weekend, which is an amazingly eerie place to kayak.

3.  Relax.  If you know me, you know that this is hard for me.  Busy is my middle name, but I am striving to learn how to slow down and enjoy moments.

4.  Garden in a unique way for me….no real garden this year which is a first.  (more to come)

5.  Spend a weekend in Boston.  Both Ken and I would love to visit the JFK Library and just enjoy all that Boston has to offer in the summer.  I grew up close to Boston so it's always nice to go home now and then.

6. Plan the outdoor patio that Ken keeps denying is going to happen……but seriously I am planning.  Remember that bathroom? 😉

7. Try to get this big family of mine together, which is challenging now that everyone is going in different directions.

8.  Show my granddaughter a nice time on Cape Cod

9.  Find a little more time to read and write.

10…. try to pry out of Ken what HE wants to do this summer. 😉

Oops…..11.  get the tattoo that I have been thinking about….

Ps…..I can't understand for the life of me how to make that "save" in the middle of my page go away? Arrgh!

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Image: Joan Williams

All of this weeks work culminated into this one event…
The Squam Art Fair
As expected it was as beautiful an evening as it always is.  Lovely decorations, such as this lighted candle made from ice and lots of sparkly lights through out the dining room where the event is hosted filled the space with a wonderful ambiance….and there is free beer!
  Ravelry Jess delivered a cold, much appreciated beer to Ken.  Fiber people are some of the most thoughtful people on the planet.  I love them!

One of the nice things about working at a show is getting to meet new friends and see old friends.  Right next to us was Michele of Three Bags Full. I have known Michele for many years now and have a few of the lovely bags she makes. When I saw this sweet little dust bunny bag, I swooned..ha!  
We vendors like to do swaps and swap we did…. Michele now has some yarn and I have a bag that makes me smile.

Sunday was a day of rest for both Ken and I.  I was tuckered out and it sure felt nice to be able to sleep past dark o'clock Sunday morning.  I spent the morning catching up on world events and reading on this dreary rainy day…then we ventured out for a ride over the mountain through Pinkham Notch just to get out for a little bit.  Rainy, but still so beautiful!

The day ended with some snacks,cocktails,a few games of Bananagrams and a little knit swatching.  The yarn is Dove and the colorway is Willow from the last yarn club mailing.

It was a good weekend!  How about yours?

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So this week I have been working on many different things….ey yi yi…that ADD brain I have been cursed/blessed with.
  I finished another bag while trying out some different options.  This bag has a nice big pocket that stretches across the entire width of the bag and is tacked down in the center, giving 2 nice sized pockets.  I like this very much so far, but then I wonder if a zipper pocket would work better.  hmm…. (did I say ADD? )

It's been a chaotic few months around here, but now that a number of big commitments are behind me things will settle down around here giving me more time to work on some new things.  I think I love playing with fabric almost as much as I love working with fiber….almost.

I have to admit that I am at a standstill with my Helvetica Sweater.  Even though I have put in a short row top down sleeve before, this time around I am struggling.  Elizabeth's directions while very complete are a bit different than the last one I did and working with a heavier yarn with bigger needles makes it a bit of a challengel.  As hard as I tried to just live with my messy arm seam..I just couldn't, no matter how much I want this sweater to be finished and to be wearing it.  I do however LOVE the fabric that this pattern makes and I have been missing plugging along at it since I have hit this mental road block.

The good news is I will see the sweater's designer this weekend at The Squam Art Fair this coming Saturday night! Elizabeth is teaching a class this week there and I will be vending Saturday night, so I will be picking her brain as to what I am doing wrong. 

This is a sweater that I could see making many times over as the fabric is light and airy, but the structure of the pattern so far has been very solid.  It's been a fun knit with all of it's different twists and turns.
I am determined to finish this sweater, so I haven't allowed myself to be distracted with new projects, but I am missing my quiet knitting moments.  Hopefully I will be back at it soon.

Finally, I have spent the better part of my week getting ready for the fore mentioned Squam Art Show.  It's a small event, hosted by Ravelry and put on by the talented group of people who put on the amazing Squam Art Workshops .  This workshop located at the Rockywold Deephaven campground in Holderness, is a short hop and skip away from us.  It is also the place where my daughter Ashley and her husband who works for The Squam Lake Association calls home.
A magical event that I always look forward to!

This is what has been happening in my corner of the world.  What's been happening in your corner of the world?

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…and so it begins…
The start of the Summer Season. 

Memorial Day…. It marks the beginning of summer in much the same way that Labor Day closes the same season for me.  You know that day when it is ok to wear white shoes again, when you plant your garden and when you put up or open the pool. 
You go to a parade and then to a big cook out….that day.

It is also the day that we remember the brave soldiers who have given their lives defending our country and the freedoms that we enjoy each and every day.  It is for them that this holiday is in remembrance for.

Today as Ken and I were walking around Lowes we noticed the music playing was patriotic marching songs and it made me smile.  It reminded me of the many Memorial Day parades I went to as a child sitting on my Dad's shoulders so I could see the marching bands.  It reminded me of the pride I have seen on the faces of the surviving veterans as they carried their flags while they marched along. 

It also reminded me of the burden of sadness…..the sacrifices of lives lost.  All of us have been touched in one way or another by the cost of war and the loss left behind. We are forever grateful.
~

In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King

It's hard to believe that this little guy turned 3 years old.  It seems like it was just yesterday when he made his entrance into this great big world and what and entrance it has been!  Asher has been gifted with an incredible vocabulary ability and has been talking up a storm ever since he has been able to form words.
As a wee baby he would intently study your mouth when you would talk to him and now you can have actual conversations with him.

Sunday we had a birthday party for Asher which gave these 2 cousins a chance to spend some time together playing.  Goodness they were so darn cute together playing with their masks and sabres.

As you can see the birthday theme was Asher's newest obsession…..Star Wars.  Pretty much everything Asher has on was a gift.  As he tore open the gifts he immediately want to put them on and he was even willing to share with Finley. 
The slippers are hilarious.  Just watching him walk around the house seriously pretending to be Darth Vader was too darn funny!

I think he had a good time.
Happy 3rd Birthday Asher!!

To celebrate Spring and over 1000 likes on Facebook, we are having a Spring Sale this weekend!

10% off all orders and free shipping…….9am Saturday 5/14 thru 6pm Sunday Sunday 5/15

Join us this weekend at The Woolen Rabbit for some of your favorite yarns!

(image courtesy of Carol Julius)

If you are friends with Carole, you have probably read about their adventures up in our neck of the woods, but because Ken and I had such a nice time, I thought I would share it here as well, even if it was over a week ago.

Carole being the thoughtful person that she always is, brought up some lovely hostess gifts…she knows me well!  A beautiful bag made by JessaLu with my favorite sister bees all over it as well as a beeutiful tape measure….and some AMAZING tequila!
Thank you Carole and Dale!

Friday night we had dinner and drinks at our usual Friday night spot, The Moat.  There may have been a flight and a lemon drop involved. 😉

Saturday, we showed them some of our favorite spots, one of which is Cathedral Ledge.  Cathedral Ledge gives you a birds eye view of our beautiful valley and the mountain range to the west which is close to where Ashley lives and Hannah goes to school.
That lake that you see…..well, notice that green color?  The kids have always called it "Echo Pee Lake"..ha!  Needless to say it's not theirs or my favorite spot to swim in up here.

We spent the afternoon just relaxing in the sun eating some snacks, sipping on that delicious Tequila and playing one of our favorite games, Bananagrams.  A little down time before the concert that we were going to later in the day.

(image courtesy of Carol Julius)

It's easy to see that Kathy Mattea is a favorite of Dale's.  He was so happy to have a chance to chat and have his picture taken her.

While they have seen her numerous times it was our first time seeing her in person and she is a delightful entertainer.  I really enjoyed the show at our favorite place in the valley to hear music,
The Stone Mountain Arts Center or SMAC as it is known around here.  GREAT place!

Now while Dale was smitten with Kathy, I could not take my eyes off of this guitar all night long.  Look at the grain of that wood…it it not the most stunning piece of wood?  I LOVED it, so much so that after the show, I hopped up on the stage, with permission of course and took some pictures to savor the beauty.
From a distance I thought it was flame maple, but Kathy told me that it was a Hawaiian wood.
Stunning!

After a leisurely breakfast, we decided to travel south to visit the Smuttynose brewery for a tour.  Even though I have been down to the restaurant there a number of times it was the first time Ken and I had the opportunity to do the tour and it was not only informative, but fun.  There was a lot of tasting for the beer drinkers in the group 😉

Traveling down to Smuttynose gave us an opportunity to spend some time at the bar visiting with Courtney while she was working.  I know that Dale and Carole are two of her favorite friends of ours, so it was nice to spend time with her.

While I was sad to see them leave, I know that they will be back again soon!
A weekend with good friends is always a happy memory to tuck away…

There has been some creating and perfecting happening here at The Woolen Rabbit.
I spent the weekend dyeing orders and working on another bag while tweaking it.  I have one more prototype bag to make after this one and the tweaking will be the pocket.  I would rather the pocket to be an inside pocket and I want it to be zipperless because I hate struggling with a zipper especially when it decides to be difficult and your phone is ringing.  The pocket should be easily accessible to grab items such as your phone or keys with out struggling with a zipper.  Once I am happy with this function, it will be the bag that I will sell.

So…in the interim, I am selling these prototype bags which are very nice, but not what the final product will be.  They are being sold at a reduced price.  The only difference in the bags is one is slightly bigger and the bigger one will be the final size.
You can purchase these bags here.

There has also been some knitting going on as well but seriously how many picture can you take of a solid navy sweater to make it look more interesting than the last one..LOL.  It's almost finished and soon I will be taking lots of pictures!

What have you been creating this week?

22 years ago I married this man and for the last 22 years he has stood by my side as my partner and my friend.  He has supported all of my crazy endeavors with enthusiasm and has worked hard to create the spaces for me to create.
He is a good man!

Normally we try to do something special for our Anniversary, but this year, on this weekend the focus was finishing the never ending bathroom.  It's taken a long time and a few rooms have been done in between because of plumber delays, but it is a breath away from being finished.
Ken worked really hard getting all of this tiling finished this weekend.  So much more work tiling to the ceiling, even if it doesn't look like it.  God bless him, it was a ton of work, and but it's finished except for sealing the marble and grouting.
(next house…move in ready!)

So while it was a quiet passing of our Anniversary, we managed to enjoy a few glasses of Champagne.
We will celebrate the day with special friends who are coming up to visit us this weekend. 🙂

Pattern: Fern
Designer: Trinn Annelie
Yarn: The Woolen Rabbit ~ Frolic
Colorways: Daddy Steelbucks, Grasshopper and Au Naturale

It's been a while since I have posted a finished knitted project even though I have been diligently knitting.  I have been plowing through a sweater that I am loving, but this fetching hat in these beautiful colors distracted me a bit. It also had me creating again at the dye-pot to come up with a green that would work.
I have been wanting to give color knitting a try again after many years and this little hat was not only addicting but thoroughly enjoyable.

4 of my days are long ones now that I am working again, but I do spend my lunch break eating and knitting and this was my knitting project last month.  It's always a challenge to see how many rows I can crank out in 20 minutes…LOL.  I actually think I am getting more knitting accomplished now…go figure.

This hat has been finished for a little while and I am back to working on my sweater, but I thought it would be fun to share it with you.  Fern is a very well written pattern that comes in two sizes.  A fitting cap and more of a slouchy cap as shown here.
I think if I were to make it again, I would add more rows to make it a bit more slouchy.  All in all though, I really enjoyed knitting this hat!