Fair Isle socks--Memorial Day Weekend

I don't want to turn this into a sock knitting blog, but that is what I've been doing, mostly. This is the latest pair--using a fair isle pattern and several yarns from my stash, plus one skein of white yarn donated by my friend Margie. I did a lot of ripping on these socks, because the colors didn't always knit up the way they looked like they would in the skein--the main problem was not enough contrast. But persistence paid off and I have another nice pair of socks.

Firebird socks in all their glory.

These were some of the most challenging socks I have ever made. But now they are done and fit great. They are called Firebird, designed by the Tsock Tsarina for her 2008 Sock Club.

The Knitting Tornado

My darling daughter made this wonderful card for Mother's Day. Notice the thimble on my head?

Pink orchids and the knitting drummer

I painted for a couple of hours this morning, the pink orchids are beginning to look more like a finished painting, but there is still at least one more session's worth of work to do, especially on the flowers. I also forgot to post one more pic from yesterday--this guy was drumming and knitting at the same time--he actually was using those big wooden needles to hit the drums! He was selling CDs with knitted pieces attached to them, but the music didn't thrill me.

Seeing the great Yarn Harlot

Saturday, I went to the Maker Faire to hear Stephanie Pearl McPhee, the Yarn Harlot, speak. The first shot is her--there were many people knitting in the audience, including me. I bought her new book, Things I Learned from Knitting whether I wanted to or not, but did not get it autographed. Afterwards, I wandered around and saw many interesting things--a giant cupcake vehicle, a giant woman sculpture, and many crafts--I really liked the crochet display that someone had attached to a post, showing the different shapes that could be made. I was sorely tempted by some solar dyed yarn, but bought only one indie-dyed hank from Red Sheep. That is a new record for number of links in one of my blog posts! I also met a friend, whose blog is linked on my blog already, Debra Roby, we sat and chatted for a long time.