SAFF, Pumpkin Bread and Coming Home

The Ag Center Arena in Fletcher, NC and SAFF booths on the main floor.

Wheeeew! I am settling down. My neck and shoulders are a bit sore; my knitting is wa-a-ay behind. My cats have taken up posts on the desk, and spend too much time staring at me, alternating with head-butting and purring, all in an effort to get me away from the computer and ... Ravelry.

Dear Hubby and I managed to get out to a fund raiser for Momentum, Science and Health Adventure Park at the Dove Hangar - a wonderful evening - and we dressed up!

The first week at Ravelry was hectic; the place was bustling and I was loading projects, trying retroactively to find out exactly what yarns I used in this or that particular blanket, reading posts in various groups, and so forth.

I joined a group of folks in my geographic area. I joined a group about blogging. I joined a group of folks who wanted to talk about their own space for crafts. I joined a group of Mason-Dixon Knitting devotees. Each time I opened the computer, I logged on to Ravelry to see if I had mail; mail from "friends" or folks with patterns like mine, or folks who thought we had something in common, or folks I had contacted to say I loved their shawl or their booties or their amazing clapotis. I found favorites among others' projects and watched as some selected projects of mine as their favorite. What a great group of fiber folks!

The weather here grew chilly and I had to turn on the kitties' little warm pad; you can see they don't share well.

I finally finished loading my projects into Ravelry , not counting a dozen I have in plastic bags and am too lazy to post about. Or ashamed that I started them and didn't follow through. Or...well, heck, who cares why they hibernate on the dresser top? I loaded my knitting books into the library feature. That was fun and easy; but they didn't have all my books then. So I need to check back soon and see if the rest of my books can be loaded.

Brought in the pot of rosemary when frost threatened.

Then, I went back to flickr to load more pics and suddenly found I had filled flickr (3M was the free limit; is that megabytes? Did I already tell you this?) and would have to make a decision to BUY more space! Yikes! Was I byting off to much? Shhhh! I decided to dive right into the cyber flickr poster picture thing and for a whopping $24.95 a year, I can post all the pics I want with mega megabytes. Whew!

Last weekend, Martha and I attended SAFF at the Ag Center in Fletcher, NC. It was just fabulous! Great job by all who manned booths, brought animals and wheels, etc.; I came home loaded with yarns; an alpaca Teddy Bear and finger puppets from Peru; and some newfound friends from the fiber world.

Then I began loading flickr with additional pics of the projects already in my notebook. Pictures of the projects in-progress; pictures of the projects (usually blankets) beneath cats, pictures of cats beneath blankets; even a couple of series of pictures showing seaming techniques I have created. Then the pictures had to go from flickr into the separate pages of individual projects. Then, after I did that, I wanted to rearrange them. (This can be an endless process, I am learning!)

Ravelers were out in force at SAFF. I just had to have this yarn from a sister Ravelry addict who had a lovely booth! It reminds me of candy canes in fruit flavors. I bought her solids to go with it, too.

I saw that some project pictures in my notebook were not showing the blankets to their best advantage, not in their best light, so to speak. I dug my first throw out of a drawer and arranged it artfully on the windowseat and rephotographed it. Better! Downloaded to My Pictures, uploaded to flickr, and finally into the project page on Ravelry! (Me, from Squirrel Hollow! Well, I'll tell you that for this old gal, that is pretty good; I am pleased with what I have learned, what I have accomplished with my Ravelry membership.)

Two days ago, my dh wanted to make the pumpkin bread I had planned, so with a little supervision, he produced two of the best loaves I have tasted! Loaded with walnuts and cranberries, and devoid of bad fats, this is a really wonderful snack or dessert. Yum!

I have recently left the little group in Ravelry I joined earlier for my geographic area; left the studio space of my own group, left the others, with the exception of Mason-Dixon. I joined a new group - knitters with cats is the idea - and it's lively and fun. Don't like cats? There is a group in Ravelry for anything you can think of that you are interested in - really! If you don't see it, create your own! (Don't ask me the population of the place, but there are crowds of folks from every walk of life, many places on the planet, all ages and colors and skills and interests...I am loving it! You will, too!)

This Teddy is incredibly soft! With a baby in mind, we couldn't resist!

But, as you can see, I am also beginning to incorporate real life back into the mix with cyber life. I am beginning, with help, to control my Ravelry time. After all, I am on the fast track to grandmotherhood and the weeks are flying by!

Coming home is good for the soul. Now and then it's a good thing to reassess priorities; one can often bring things back into balance with just a little effort. Ravelry (what a ride!) and my knitting will settle into their proper places in my life, along with friends, family, community, home and garden and all the rest.

Time for bed and book and sleeping late; sweet dreams!

Beth