knitting slowly

This time of year is always so crazy busy. My little guy is finishing up fifth grade and we are busy with field trips, final projects, assemblies and transitioning to middle school. Can't believe how fast the years are flying by. Lately, I've been trying to pause and catch my breath. Also, treasuring this special time in our lives before the complicated teenage years swallow us up ;)

One of the final assignments that we've been looking forward to is Market Day. Now, truthfully, my son is more of the outdoorsy active type, so having the opportunity to craft together is quite a treat for me. We decided on something simple and which used up materials that I already had on hand: assorted colors of embroidery threads, miniature wooden dowels, plastic beads & elastic cord. After a little brainstorming, we came up with Camp Necklaces. I remember making God's Eyes when I was his age during summer camps so it was fun teaching him how to wrap the threads around the sticks.

SpunRightRound colorway Levitate

There has also been some (very slow) knitting happening. I finished my Spring vanilla socks (pictures & post coming soon) and started on a couple of new socks. The first one is a sweet pattern called Wildflowers & Honeycomb. Really enjoying this pattern and yarn combination.

Also decided to play around with designing a pair of summer socks with a new-to-me yarn from Kraemer Yarns called Saucon Sock. It's a neat blend of cotton/acrylic/nylon. Here's a close up of the stitch pattern that I am using:

Can't wait for things to slow down a bit so that I can get my knitting groove back. I'm also very behind on my blog reading/visiting. Hoping to get caught up on that soon too. Have a great rest of the week!

farmers socks at maryland sheep & wool

The first full weekend in May is one that I look forward to every year because it's when the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival is held. This year's event was amazing as always, despite some rather unpredictable weather. I actually didn't mind the cooler temps and was able to comfortably wear my Stopover sweater and farmers socks. The socks were hidden inside my wellies since the ground was a muddy mess after a week of rain. That didn't stop me from visiting every single outside and inside vendor though! As you can see, I made out like a bandit:

Lots of pretty sock yarn. Bartlettyarns sport cone for a yet to be determined grey sweater. A gorgeous ombré from Jill Draper (who is super adorable & sweet in person). Cute little sock stitch markers from Jennie the Potter. A set of Signature Needle Arts dpn's for socks. A nostepinne for winding balls of yarn. Some funny buttons & a handy Folca notions container. I'm rather proud of myself for sticking to my pre-festival list this year. One of the many highlights of this year's festival (eating fried artichokes, petting unbelievably cute animals & spending time with the friendliest people just to name a few) was getting to meet sock knitting expert/teacher, Kate Atherley. She very graciously listened to my gushing praise over her gapless gusset technique :)

Here's a look at my farmers socks:

I absolutely loved knitting these. Yarn is from SpunRightRound who is one of my favorite indie dyers. The pattern is a great choice for showing off variegated yarns and was simple yet interesting to knit.