High Summer

The temperatures have lowered a bit and it has been nice enough to resume my walks, except for the last two days which have had forest fire haze. I'm back to coughing, but having some quality time with my sewing machine in the basement. I finished a worship stole for our interim minister of slubbed silk and sashiko stitching. And I'm going to hem my second Sailor Top from the Creativebug tutorial by Fancy Tiger Crafts.

 Love my Bonfire. With this and the needlepoint cushion in the front room, you know a crafter lives here.

 Last weekend was our Chilliwack Fair. Mom has been the convener for the entire Home Arts building for several years, but this year she just looked after needleworks. I helped set up and take in exhibits on Wednesday.

On Friday I set up our knitting table. The Common Threads Knitting Circle is moving and changing and I have decided to take a break from it. I hoped for a real life group of knitting friends, which I succeeded in. I wanted to share charity knitting with the group and that worked for a while, but they are looking at new directions and that makes it a good time for me to step down. The booth was still meant to encourage the community to join our circle, but it was hard to find volunteers and, well, it showed that there wasn't the interest in that. We also had a poster for the Fraser Valley Regional Library which has drop in knitting groups, and I still intend to collect hats for the homeless for Christmas because our group really didn't support me in that anyway. 

We had 6 layettes in the Fair Share class and they will be donated to the Hospital Auxilliary. I made a gift basket for a draw for all entries and I have a trophy for the top knitted layette. 

A big thanks to the knitters who donated and to those who shared their time to knit with me at the booth.

My sister convenes the baking and canning. She also had the gift of a new granddaughter (her first, after 2 grandsons) on Friday morning. We are thrilled to welcome Bronwyn to the family and I'm taking Mom over there today to meet her.

If that picture won't send you on a diet, nothing will. I already started eating more intentionally during my illness. I have one of those touchy tummies. Love my new veggetti to make pasta from vegetables like this zucchini. Thanks to Amy Dentjen for the tip.

In other madness, I have joined the crazy that is the sock scrap blanket. And I love it. 

 I have a whole jar of leftover sock yarn that I have been hoarding like a dragon. It is all in blues (no surprise) and I think it will make a handsome blanket.

  I originally wanted to make a ripple baby blanket, but I think I have to get over my desire to knit blankets for all the babies. The new moms are happier with a sweater or even a hat.

 Our fair is small and welcoming. Most of the animals are part of the 4H club, so there are knowledgeable young people to answer questions and share their beloved pets.

 D came on the Saturday and we looked at the barns together. The lemonade is awesome and there was a rodeo and concerts that we didn't attend. The air was way too dusty for this asthmatic.

 At church on Sunday, my students gave me some eggs from their very own chickens. Such a treasure!

 There have been adventures in mobius knitting that were very exciting and included a good round of yarn chicken which I won!
I'm working on mittens for my 6 great nephews and, now, 2 great nieces. The boys are getting crocodiles and the girls get mittens. I haven't done the embroidery yet, so I will wait to show you, but it is great fun.

This is usually one of my favourite times of the year. Peaches and corn. We had the slightest hit of rain and I miss it terribly. We keep praying for temperatures that are below 30 degrees ( about 90 Fahrenheit) and for the rains. But in the mean time, we are enjoying the long days of high summer.