It's Saturday afternoon and most of the work of the day is done.  Today was mostly sunny.  And no rain.  For the first time in days, it didn't rain.  It felt like a blessing.

I took the opportunity to wash the windows and curtains.  We have tilt windows upstairs so they're fairly easy and the curtains go right into the washer and dryer and back onto the windows before they get all wrinkled in the dryer.  I don't know why I always dread the thought of doing this.  It's never difficult and the reward is clean windows with curtains that smell wonderful.  I also washed the bedding and now our bedroom smells fresh. 

The laundry is in process but that doesn't require much attention.  I got out "the orange stuff" as my girls put it.  The house is now adorned with fall and Halloween decorations.  There's a witch that I made several years ago with a friend who wanted to learn to sew.  It was one of those patterned pieces of material that you buy with all the parts pre-printed on the cloth and you just cut them out, sew them together and stuff whatever you want to stuff.  It was a fun project and she learned to sew and do appliques and how to sew linings all from one small project.

I bought a set of these pumpkins a long time ago.  I love honeycombed paper decorations. 

The wreath is on the door and there are leaf stickies on the windows and the orange lights are up.  It signals the start of the fall holiday season.  We are already thinking of Hallowe'en and then before you know it, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here.  I love this time of year. 

In a few days, Pk and I will celebrate our wedding anniversary.  30 years.  I'm not sure how that happened.  People are always amazed/impressed and I feel odd when they say "how did you do that?".  I don't have an answer.  One day at a time is the best I can come up with.  We've been together long enough that we've worn off the sharp edges and now we fit together.  Mostly, I think it's because I let him think he's in charge......

as if.

The crocheters outnumber the knitters in my group 5-3.  This past week I didn't get time to work on my project at all since one of our members decided she wanted to make crocheted "motifs" out of crochet cotton (almost thread) and a teeny tiny hook.  This woman can't do any stitch other than the basic chain and the motif she wanted to make was a medium level complicated one.  With thread.  I told her I'd help her get started and she learned quickly that it wasn't going to work.  She needed to learn basic stitches first.  She was working on dc and treble crochet with some thicker yarns. 

The woman who was supposed to work with the crocheters does not often make it to the group.  It's a good thing I know basic crochet and what I don't know, I can look up.  This week was a busy one.  But, I do have 2 new knitters and one is finishing a scarf she has been working on (and is soooo proud of) and the other is casting around (pun intended) for a project that sparks her interest.

And what is my project?  I am working on this.  It's the Rhaina (sp? I don't have the book with me) scarf.  I'm using the loosely spun alpaca I bought.  I love how it feels and I can live with the fact that it won't give me crisp stitch definition.  The yarn has thick/thin spots but the pattern itself is so simple that I think it'll look good.  It has a lovely halo and is such a pleasure running through my hands. 

I have a few other things in progress but this has a really simple chart and I can work on it and put it down and find where I am without too much trouble.  It's a good project for group time.  I always have a plain pair of socks with me as well but I spend most of the hour helping the budding fiber enthusiasts learn our craft.

Kate is making a lovely scarf with Patons Lace.  Have you seen this yarn?  It's a mohair/acrylic blend and I wasn't impressed with it in the skein but knitted up?  It's soft and delicate and the halo is lovely.  I bought some of the cream color to try it out.  I don't know how well it'll block but I'm optimistic that there's enough mohair to help it hold it's shape.

I got my last installment in my Hank's fiber club.  It's a pretty blue angora/lambswool roving and they sent along a dozen silk worm cocoons.  At first I thought they were styrofoam bits and I couldn't figure out what to do with them.(there are no instructions)  Then I looked closely and realized they were silk cocoons.  And there are no holes in the ends so there must be worms inside.  Pk's eyes got bright as he thought about playing with them but I contacted Amy to see if she was interested in experimenting with them with her kids.  They remind me of me and my kids when they were small and interested in everything around them.  We did experiments and explored just like Amy does with her two sons and her daughter.  She said she'd love to play with them so I'm going to send them off sooner rather than later.  I have a fear of them hatching......

That's all that's new here.  I am off to do some spinning for a bit.  I have some pink roving that I need to finish up and then I have a ton of spinning to do for my sweater.  This is the time of year I get most of the spinning done so there's hope I can be knitting on my sweater sometime next spring.  I am so optimistic.

I hope you are all having a good weekend.