Sometimes when the pressure is off, amazing things happen.
With yarn fighting back on one work in progress, putting that project aside worked wonders. This center panel track allover pattern sweater to fit a 22-pound Boston terrier is the result of doing just that.
Knitting soothes my soul. This glowing color-changing yarn is Lion Brand Amazing “Aurora” colorway, and called for less than two skeins – bits left over from an Inspira. My fingers crave needles and yarn daily; sometimes, wild color. Every sweater is different, each a solution worked through. They work, they fit, they provide direction forward.
There is no going back. Dogs are life support and constant companions for each day. They are funny, at times challenging, always faithful – and a living canvas for small knits. An added joy on outdoor walks is to glance over to see a functional knitted sweater at work; there is love in every stitch. Go ahead and smile – all lessons learned in these small projects are then applied to human-size designs and a different sort of yarn.
Nippy mornings, skirling leaves. Mother Nature is cleaning house and setting the stage for the colder season ahead. There’s something about fierce weather that makes knitting even more wonderful. At a very deep level, to create warm and cozy garments is gratifying and satisfying. I hope to never get over the thrill of knitting as a journey, puzzling out a stitch, making something from nothing. Using simple math to plot what looks complicated to take a step at a time (don’t look ahead) and repeating “you’ll figure it out.”
Never mind that for now. Paradise for fiber-lovers (and yarn, yarn, fleece, yarn) is coming up. The Fiber Festival of New England is Saturday, Nov. 1, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 2, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., presented by Eastern States Exposition & New England Sheep & Wool Growers Association, inside the (heated) Mallary Complex at Eastern States Exposition. Demonstrations (try out a spinning wheel or several), a fleece sale, workshops, fashion show, yarn, felting supplies, looms, nearly anything imaginable can be found here. 
The event is family-friendly with flat surfaces for easy walking and managing strollers. Food vendors on site. Admission $5; parking $5. Here people have time to share stories and there’s plenty of good shopping for the holidays.
Note: Have recently learned that the Storrowton Tavern is open year-round at the ESE fairgrounds – the same place where the Fiber Festitval of New England is held – am curious enough to stop in to try their open-face hot turkey sandwich (or chicken pot pie) and maybe some dessert. The word is their ice cream puff is scrumptious.
