Spooky Times, Good Times.

The scarf I wove for my friend Rebecca is finished.

I hope to be able to give it to her this week. Rebecca let all the Vintage Stitchers go through the bins of fat quarters she wanted to unload, and we each came away with a pile of very nice quilting fabric. Later, she gave me a big bin of yarn for charity projects and weaving practice. In it were two balls of Koigu hand-painted fingering weight merino, which had been very expensive. She must have liked the colors when she bought it but then couldn't decide what to do with it, so it ended up in the bin. I warped last week for this scarf, and now it will be hers, to thank her for the yarn and fabric. 

In other weaving news, I took custody of this cute little Schacht table loom, which belongs to the weavers' guild. I'll be renting it for my class in rug weaving next month with Jason Collingwood. (Obviously I can't take my floor loom to class!)

Common Threads met this week. This is one of our hosts:

He lives with Jean D. I've added the initial because we had two Jeans this week. Jean R. also came. If you have been reading my blog for several years, you might remember her from the meeting where she taught us how to steek. (A steek is where you cut your knitting the way you would cut fabric when sewing. Sweaters are knit in the round and then cut for sleeve and front openings. Scary thought until you've done it a few times.)

We had show-and-tell, as usual. Julie brought the baby hat she made for a neighbor's baby.

Ellen's appliqué is coming along. 

Jean R. brought her current Dale of Norway sweater. She wanted to get some advice about facings and where to get clasps for the front. She's an amazing knitter, but she still likes to talk things over with other knitters before she does anything. 

Lynda just finished this sweater vest. 

The pattern she used is the Oat Couture Oregon Vest, but she changed it by using clasps instead of a zipper. Nice choice. If I ever make this vest, I'll use clasps, too. 

I worked on my appliqué. I have the stems on my third panel about 3/4 finished. 

Every year about this time, my friend Joanie has a big garage sale. Other friends of hers bring their stuff to sell, too. The evening before the garage sale is open to the public, Joanie invites her friends to come and go through the sale items. I found this cute little building-block train for Soren, who will be bringing his family here for Thanksgiving.

Gramps will have to find a dowel the right size to replace the missing one connecting the last two cars, but that should be easy. I also bought two big baskets, which will be great for holding yarn and fabric. 

As people finish shopping at Joanie's garage sale, they join the party in her home. She calls it her "Halloween Spooktakular."

Most of the members of Common Threads showed up. Here is Joanie and some of her friends. 

There were More in the kitchen. The woman to Joanie's right is her daughter, Kristie. She's a great knitter and beader. She makes some beautiful beaded jewelry. Julie, our long-arm quilter is to the far right. Joanie, of course, is in the middle, with the hat rimmed with skeletons.

As usual, they had some tasty snacks and some good wine. 

Jean D. hadn't been to Joanie's before. Here she is in Joanie's fiber studio with its new curtains. (This was where my loom lived before it came to live with me.)

Saturday we took the pups on a hike in Moose Hollow, an area a few minutes from our home. There is a great view from the trail, and the leaves are still pretty. Here's Rocky on the trail. 

Here's the entire family. (Except for me. I'm behind the camera...er...iPhone.)

After the hike, we ran into some friends who live in the area and had a nice chat. They showed us their new 5th wheel, which is huge and beautiful. They're getting ready to leave town to spend several months in southern Utah and Arizona. Nice!

Baseball has been taking up some of my time this week. My beloved Red Sox have been doing well. I'm not willing to grow a beard or wear a phony one, but I did knit some red socks, just in case the team made it to the World Series. As of Saturday night, my wishes were fulfilled. I will be wearing my "Fenway Pahk Sox" on Wednesday evening for game 1 of the World Series!

It will be great if they win!

What's on my needles: Dogwood Blossoms, Christmas Waffle and Green Tea socks with a few more pattern repeats finished.

What's on my loom: Waiting to warp for more scarves for Christmas presents. I have the pattern worked out and how much warp I need to put on. Ready to go. Also need to warp the little table loom for my class.

What's on my wheel: Full Circle Roving in "Wolf". First bobbin almost finished. 

What's on my Sewing needles, Featherweight: Delectable pathways, appliqué panel #3, more than half of the stems done. Still need to sew the blocks together for the pieced strips between the appliqué. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Icebound by Dean Koontz on the Overdrive app. It's starting to get cold here, so maybe it wasn't a good choice. Its a good book, though. The eBook Out in the Country by Kate Hewitt, purchased through BookBub, is on my iPad in the iBooks app for bedtime reading. Listening to the Fiber Hooligan podcast and the Knit Picks podcast.

What's my app of the week: Talkatone. It's a free app that allows you to make and receive phone calls using Google Voice, which makes phone calls over the Internet. I'm finding the 300 minutes a month I get with my cell service adequate for most months, but it's nice to be able to make some phone calls without using my minutes, just in case. Since I have unlimited data, it doesn't cost me to call. 

What's in my wine glass: Foxhorn Merlot, the big bottle. Nice value! We had some anxious days this week when we were concerned that we might not get our Social Security deposits because of the government shutdown. It was nice to have a very affordable wine so we didn't have to deprive ourselves. (And a glass of nice wine to lift in celebration when we discovered that our money had been deposited.) Spooky times indeed!

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post, although some were petted, cuddled and had the ball thrown for them.