A busy weekend

This weekend our town had it's annual Eco Market . This event features products and crafts from local producers and artisans . They have everything from local wines to makers of handmade soap , alpaca yarn and knitted items ,  stained glass and wood products .There's live music , different foods to sample , it's just wonderful way to while away a day . The weather this weekend was spectacular if a little on the warm side . Last year they had a torrential rainstorm , so this year the exhibitors were very happy despite the heat .

The setting , L'ile St. Bernard is so very pretty , right on Lac St. Louis and opposite the Island of Montreal . This property belonged to the Grey nuns who established a settlement there in the 1700s. A large part of the island is now a protected wildlife site . Our municipality bought it a couple of years ago in the hopes of keeping it so . Developers have been eager to buy it , but thanks to our mayor , a group of wildlife conservationists and a number of concerned local citizens we're able to keep it a protected zone . For me this is my little 'peaceful ' corner . I love to go and just sit on the shore and just enjoy the fresh air , the water and gaze out on  lake . Sometimes I bring my knitting or a book , but often times I just go to sit and just breathe . Best medicine and destessor ever !

 

You did notice that I mentioned yarn , right . One of the exhibitors there again this year was the owner of these two sweet girls . The came from Alpagas des Hauts Vents . I first visited this farm a couple of years ago when they had an open house in conjunction with the alpaca farmers association .  I'm currently knitting Colour Affection shawl with some yarn that I bought there . The owners are a fantastic young couple , very eager to talk about the alpacas and the yarn and the knitted or crocheted items that can be made from their fleece . Needless to say I bought more yarn , but in my defense , I had a project in mind , so it really wasn't an impulse buy . At least that's what I told Mike , who kind of looked at me in amazement , and reminded me of the ' yarn shop ' in the spare bedroom . I reminded him of his purchases , a couple of bottles of wine , some very nice smelling hand made soap , that sort of made us even in the area of not completely necessary purchases .

Here's my haul , which doesn't seem overly extravagant if you ask me. The real indulgences were the two shawl pins . The one on the left is carved from a piece of moose antler . That will be going back to Austria with my dad as a gift for my stepmother . The little bird is mine ! I just love the simplicity and the tinge of blue . He's worked from a piece of maple . You can't get more Canadian than moose antler and maple , eh ?!

It's been awhile

It feels like the last days of summer are upon us already . The days are getting shorter and the nights are cooler and the kids are going back to school. It's going by way to fast for my liking . We've had a wonderful summer . I spent a lot of time outdoors , in the pool trying to keep cool , under a shady tree reading and sometimes knitting and trying to keep up with the gardening /weeding .We haven't had very much rain this summer and the only thing that keeps on giving is the weeds . We 've had watering restrictions and the flowers are looking a little bedraggled and worse for wear. I didn't get on my bike as much as I did last summer, it was just too darn hot . I did however get in some early morning or late evening walks .

Lately reaping the harvest from the garden has kept me busy . We share a pretty substantial garden plot with our next door neighbours on land that is owned by Hydro Quebec . Hydro uses it to run a small feeder line and because it's on land that is zoned residential they have to cut the grass and maintain it . About 3 years ago Mike and our neighbour decided to plant a small garden there,  yup they're squatters . Hydro is aware of it because a few their crews have come down the street to do the maintenace on the lines , and they no longer send anyone to cut the grass . So far its a win/win situation . Of course over the years that garden has grown considerably . This year we planted about 20 tomato plants, some zucchini , green beans , cucumbers and peppers . Our neighbours Fred and Melanie have planted that and so much more, everything from beets, cabbage , broccoli and different varieties of greens , to strawberries and cantaloup . They are super enthusiastic gardeners to say the least . We 're stocking our freezers and sharing the extra with family and friends . All of our grandkids are always going over to see what's ready in Grandpa's garden and helping him pick something good to eat . Casey and Chantal have planted a small garden at their house too so Jessey and Stella can some fun .

 There is knitting to show you but 'bleepity bleep ' blogger won't let me upload my photo of the finished Cherry Lane socks for some reason . Here's the ravelry link . I really , really love these socks ! There are new socks on the needles already , cos you know , fall is just around the corner . Mason's sweater is at the top of my priority list for pretty much the same reason .So much to do so little time ...

That's it for today , till we meet again , have a good day ! Maybe blogger will sort itself out by then and I can actually show you more of what I've been up to... .

My summer of knitter's ADD

It started innocently enough with this shawl . It's the Simple Yet Effective shawl by Evelyn Chau . I had some Noro sock yarn that I really wanted to get out of the stash  .




Everything was going well until I saw this pattern . Yup , the Color Affection shawl ! Before I knew it I had cast on . After all I had some really nice yarn that was just meant for this particular pattern . Unfortunately for all my good intentions some really hot and humid summer weather kicked in right about then . That put paid to my finishing this right then . After all ,who wants a big warm , woolly shawl on their lap when it's stinking hot  .


Next up was my Dragonfly socks thanks to Dee . Well I actually did finish those .There had been no change in the weather so of course I looked for something small to work on . Right about then I did my big stash cleanup and came across the Cherry Lane sock pattern . Good cause , I have yarn , so there you go , another pair of socks on the needles .

Well , sad to say they haven't changed all that much since this picture was taken  . I still haven't gotten to the heel portion of the second sock . They were put on hold because I decided that my most immediate concern should be to knit a sweater for Mason .

I had bought yarn last year with a project in mind so I didn't even have to go out and buy some . This  all fits in with my intention of sticking to a yarn diet . He's growing like a weed and if I didn't start soon I wouldn't be able to use the yarn I had bought last year . You see where this is going ...

Those are just the works in progress . Let's not mention the UFOs that I came across when I was sorting out the stash .

Stitching Red

I came across this pattern on ravelry recently and it was love at first sight . Having just done a stash cleanup I knew that I had the perfect yarn for it, so I quickly bought the pattern and cast on immediately . I love, love , love these socks ! One is completed and I'm almost half done with the cuff on the second sock .

An added bonus is that part of the sales of the pattern go to the Stitch Red campaign that is putting the focus on heart disease which is the number one killer of women in the United States . After doing a quick search , apparently the same is true for Canadian women . This is something close to my heart , pun intended , I have high blood pressure and have made some lifestyle changes , lost some weight , exercise more , but I'm still not at the point that I can do without the pills .  My goal to be keep plugging away at it till the rest of the weight comes off . I'd like to be around to enjoy my grand kids for as long as possible .

Speaking of which , here's a recent photo of Mason . He was recently diagnosed with having a condition commonly known as lazy eye . He has a followup with the ophthalmologist in a couple of months to see if there is any improvement  in his vision . He's been pretty good at keeping them on , for the most part . To me he's just adorable , with or without the glasses , but he sure looks more little boy than baby with them .

That's it for today , till next time ...have a great week !

Pink dragonflies

Doing the happy dance because the Dragonfly socks are finished ! They were the perfect project to get my knitting mojo back on track . I'm pretty happy with them overall . My only reservations have to do with the yarn (Wendy Happy 4 ply ) , which is made of 75% bamboo and 25% nylon . It is  incredibly soft , the colour is very pretty , but knitting with it is a pain in the a** . It's very splitty , you have to be super careful so that you don't have any errant threads hanging loose . I've also found , now that the socks are finished , that there is very little stretch with this yarn . I don't have any more in my stash and probably wouldn't go out of my way to buy more . Thank you Dee for hosting this KAL !

Last week I did a stash assessment and reorganization . It was getting so that I had bits and bobs of yarn spilling out of bags and storage containers . It was driving me crazy looking through it to find something for a specific project , so I didn't bother and just went out to buy what I needed .  The sock yarn was fairly well organized but the rest was a disaster . Lately I've been considering joining the Come - Blog -Along and their Year of Projects on ravelry . I've hesitated because my blogging has been rather haphazard since last Fall . My life these days doesn't lend itself to that kind of commitment , so I 've decided to just KAL with them informally on my own . Having gone through and reorganized the yarn and then assessed the ravelry queue I've come up with a plan to reduce both the stash and the queue . I've almost 500 various projects listed there and given that I generally complete an average of 20 to 30 knits in a year its seems to be an overly optimistic queue . I'm using it as more of a wish list than anything else . I've got some patterns and yarns matched up and I'm eager to start knitting . It feels good to have a plan and we'll see where it takes me ...

Long time no post

Mostly because life just got in the way . Suffice to say that there was just so much  going on that I kind of lost my get up and go in all kinds of ways . Then Mike's computer died so we're supposed to be sharing this one . At least I'm sharing , him not so much . We've had a lot of unexpected expenses this spring so a new computer is not on the agenda for just a bit .  Summertime is here and the living is easy , or at least easier .

My knitting mojo is coming back , thanks to Dee and her Dragonfly socks  KAL . This pattern has been in my ravelry queue since 2010 . I'm so glad that Dee came along to move it up to being a cast on not just a work in mind .I'm not sure that I chose the best yarn to show off the pattern , but I like it . It makes me think of Maynards Swedish Berries candies which are one of my guilty pleasures .

Till next time ... maybe there will even be a finished sock !

Saturday fun

The first ever Montreal Pinepple Challenge was held today at the park on Ile Ste. Helene . Our son Max participated as part of team calling themselves Nolan's Titans after their inspiration little 17 month old Nolan, who is undergoing treatment for this disease . Nolan is the nephew of Max's friend and colleague Greg who was their team leader . It was a lighthearted way to raise money for research and to support  patients and their families . They had a perfect day and these guys and their support team raised almost $4000. Mike and I went to cheer them on and follow them through the 5km course . I just couldn't keep up with them , they were way to fast for this Omi . I kind of parted ways with them half way through but managed to get to the finish line just as they were doing the last two obstacles . A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon  !