we were lucky this week to have some gorgeous fall weather for cookie’s visit—almost every day was sunny and unseasonably warm. on wednesday we took a long walk, touring through the historical neighborhood above us and into downtown below us, transversing the area randomly as we went.
canton is a small city with a mostly-industrial downtown; the streets surrounding the courthouse are lined with prewar buildings that house offices, banks, and stores, while the outlying streets are wide corridors of small factory buildings (which i love; i wish more of them were in use).
the light at the end of the day washed over large expanses of brick and old glass, turning blacktop into a midwest version of “tar beach” as the sun set.
i love the backstreets that zig-zag through my neighborhood, mapping out areas unseen by most travelers—used primarily by residents within a block or two, these narrow passages feel intimate and quiet; they are my route of choice for avoiding traffic when i’m traveling by bike or on foot.
once the chill came down and the cars put their lights on, we headed back to the house to get ready for a knit night with the sunday spinners. a purely social visit was planned with potluck dinner for cookie’s last night in canton (for now; i don’t think she’ll stay away long).
by 6 pm, everyone was dropping off food in the kitchen and crowding in around the big knitting table. i didn’t get any pictures of the food, but we had a great, well-balanced spread of soup, homemade bread, salad, stuffed peppers, cider, and more chocolate cake (because, well, there’s never too much chocolate cake).
(anne marie and susan really ARE having a fantastic time; they just don’t want anyone to feel left out by showing off how much fun it is). anne marie arrived wearing her beautiful jackie leisure jacket and is knitting a leafprints set in sunset red mink/cashmere yarn (i see craig is once again wiped out of the mink yarn, but word on the street has it that a new shipment is due to arrive any minute).
the hand took center stage for the blogging portion of the evening—i’m really lucky it doesn’t charge for all the entertainment it provides . . .
cookie finished her copenhagen sock and modeled it, along with the mink hat
the hat is so much fun that it’s certain not to be frogged at this point—it suits too many of my friends
beckie modeled her sweater too—here’s the picture i’ve been promising for weeks
she’s knitting a pure and simple top-down cardigan in briar rose charity, in a mix of denim blues. she’s almost done with the first sleeve—just one to go after that.
linda is knitting odulé in the yummy knitting notions classic merino sport, colorway dusk (same as i’m using for my henley in catherine’s superwash sport!). the regular sport yarn takes the color in a softer, more subtle way from the superwash.
keep the color of that photo in mind when you look at the next picture; i’m still playing with light metering on my camera and got something wrong here
but you can see how lovely the fabric is—soft and dense with crisply-defined texture . . . i think linda is going to love wearing this.
susan is also knitting ondulé in this gorgeous custom colorway of briar rose grandma’s blessing
she and linda started little KAL and now barb is joining in to knit her third ondulé sweater. yes, you read right—her third copy of the same sweater since august (plus, the aztec mazes she knit; how much do you hate barb?).
i worked on the new fire sock (haven’t settled on a good name for it yet, but soon) in zen yarn garden serenity sock and i’m pretty, pretty excited about how it’s knitting up; i think this is one of my favorites this year. i have a really good feeling about the way all the elements will pull together.
look at how pretty the side view is, too. everyone was drooling over the yarn, which is not only beautiful, but has a cozy, substantial feel. it’s the same yarn i loved knitting up into the popular papavar sok
kits for this sock can be pre-ordered from yarn4socks and will be shipped in early december.
well, of course the fun had to end sooner or later and once 10 pm rolled around, everyone left. cookie and i stayed up to knit and play with some layout software for a while, then conked out.
yesterday we took a last few blog photos around the house
(she loves the ceiling in our office), then packed the car and headed to mansfield to rendevous with susan from ball and skein yarn shop in germantown, OH for her next teaching gig.
we met up with susan at doc’s deli in mansfield, a terrific place to grab a homemade sandwich and soup. cookie found it on the internet, so we took a chance and were treated not just to good food, but plenty of room to spread out and knit to the delight of everyone there. in exchange for the entertainment we provided, we were treated to coin tricks and flamenco guitar on the sound system. impressive, right??
i finally had to take my leave—reluctantly. susan and i exchanged promises to plan a knitspot event at her shop, while cookie and i just said “see you next time” cuz we KNOW there will be a next time.
the house was awfully quiet when i got home—no one quite fills cookie’s shoes.
fortunately, couple of things were waiting in the mail to cheer me up. a project bag i ordered from three bags full a while back, accompanied by the newest addition michele’s line of small accessory totes—the mia bag (front)
i love it! of course it would fit a small sock or mitt project, but a bag this size and shape is just right for stowing small items in my purse or to keep personal items safe in my suitcase. it’s terrific.
and a little yarn bundle arrived from johanna—leftover purple mink for me to start another hat.
”
which is just what i did to console myself.
25 thoughts on “end of a handy girl week”
Mink is definitely a good consolation prize, but not as much fun as Cookie! You guys had a busy week — and it looks like it was a blast 🙂
Oh – it all sounds like soooo much fun.
Now that looks like a different chocolate cake from the first one! So many chocolate cakes, so little time….
What a fun week of knitting! And that fire sock is to die for! How about trail blazer? or just blaze?
Glad you liked the bags!:-)
I WANT some of that mink/cashmere yarn. Hopefully I will get it this time around.
Its always a little sad and empty when great company leaves!
Mink yarn will make up for a lot of things! Especially purple mink yarn.
Looks like you all had a blast!
i LOVE the sinuous lines of the new sock! will the pattern be available separately from the kit? i’m curious about the zen garden yarn, but i also have a growing stash of fingering weight yarn that needs some love. i’m working on a pair of rick socks from cookie’s sock innovation book right now, and i think my next pair will be the rimefrost socks that i’ve had cued for almost a year now (i have a lovely dusty lavender lined up for them!), but maybe this new pattern will be the first socks of the new year for me. 🙂
Fun! How about Phoenix for the flames sock? The phoenix is a mythical bird that rises from it’s ashes to fly again; some sort of cycle of life thing.
Ordered my fire socks, yes, I did! Seriously, the pattern resembles flames (in my eyes at least). Bee-you-tee-ful! And again,tell Cookie to bring her smile next time she comes to visit, She is just too serious! 🙂 HA! Loved “visiting” with you all.
OM….just wrote a long note and hit some button and it went poof. I am making your tottering cables for my husband’s type2 diabetic ankles. He just can’t wear reg socks anymore.. He’s a DDS and sits all day. Anywho do you have another way to do the toes other than the dreaded KITCHNER stitch? I thought I saw a different way on the toes of your socks…..I hate it. I just can’t wrap my head around it. and also do you ever do the magic loop? I made the tc’s on it….I love your patterns…all of them. I have been to Cinn. OH. a few years ago….for a National Model Railroad Conv…..are you near there? It was a nice city. Yes my husband is a model railroad buff. Glad you had a good visit…..wish I lived closer…
Lovely, as usual.
Question: Do your friends ever knit other people’s patterns?
Nice sweater, Beckie! And the hat is cute, too.
You all sure look you had a great visit – Cookie seems like such a fun, happy person – due to all that knitting? Thanks for introducing us to three bags full – I love their bags and supporting a small business in Maine. The new bags look great too!
The hand modeling is just too cute.
Wow look at all that! I love the fire sock, it looks like a really fun pattern! And the colors in that sweater! What a difference the photos show. It’s crazy! Glad you guys had so much fun, it looks like it was a great visit.
OHMYGOSH!!!!! Beckie!!!! That’s the Classic “YOU WANTA PIECE OF THIS???” picture!!!! You are getting quite a collection of those, Anne!!!! I love it.
What a wonderful visit. Thanks for sharing it with us. It’s always lonely when friend leaves, so what a delight to find packages of goodies to fill the void. Can’t stop thinking about the torch of a sock…
Oh, your knitting and spinning ladies are way too lucky to have you living in their midst. I really think that you and David need to have a second home in Pennsylvania.
How about an Elements series: Fire, wind, earth, water. Fire socks… That should keep you out of trouble!
i can see why cookie likes the ceiling in the office. it is amazing!! did david dream that up or was it a combined effort of great minds?
Love the cashmere/mink by the way. Mine’s in the sunset red and it’s lurvely!
it’s nice that you had good weather for cookie’s visit. it actually seems like it’s been strangely nice around here lately (which i am very grateful for – not only is it more cheerful, but we’ve been doing outdoors measuring for work). i have to ask though, where was that second picture taken? i feel like i should know the corner, and i can’t place it…
i love the color of your new sock – so bright and perfect for fall. in fact, that color and pattern could almost tempt me back to sock knitting…
It was great to see you again! I had a great time with Cookie too… and there is an odd silence when she’s gone.
I’m looking forward to planning an event with you here in Germantown!
You make me want to just knit and knit and knit! The yarn is so beautiful!
The hat must definitely not be frogged, I agree!
Somehow the sock colors speak Spanish to me. How about luz del fuego for the pattern?
Thanks for sharing cookie With us.
Fabulous photos of utterly yummy knits and yarn as usual but I like the photo with the massive chocolate cake best!!
I have about 8 skeins of Manos del Uruguay Wool Classica in a lovely ruby red which I shall use some of to knit a similar red scarf.
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