Branching out....

This holiday weekend was spent camping with friends on the other side of Ireland.  Our friend (and co-camper) took a photo of our camp fire.  Isn't it amazing?  Can you see the stars?  Gorgeous.  That's me there to the right of the blaze.  

We were at a 3 day long music festival filled with great gigs in the woods, by the likes of Cathy Davy at Vantastival.  She. Was. Incredible.

Needless to say, there was not much quilting.  I did learn the very (VERY) basics of knitting though.  I'm going to make myself a scarf...over the next decade or so.  I'm using a yarn made of baby alpaca wool.  My other half reminded me all weekend long about the poor, cold, freezing baby alpaca there in Peru just as winter was setting in.  Wouldn't he/she like her coat back?  Oh, goodness.  

I have really enjoyed learning a new skill, something to mess with while sitting around and chatting with friends.   I love that it's portable and that I can quickly see progress (due, of course, to thick wool).  I am jazzed with the pattern, even though it's just a basic, repeating stitch.  And so far I don't see mistakes that I have not caught and fixed.  If you see them, just keep it to yourself, please.  No raining on this parade.

I am loving these needles, though.  They are super chunky and clunky and, as my friends have told me, for the total newbie child.  Still, I think they're just great.  As I have no idea what I'm doing, I made the scarf WAY too wide, so now I have to buy another 2-3 skeins of yarn to finish her off.  Will stop down this week, Eva!

In other news....

Time to get the old thinking cap on!  Sew Mama Sew giveaway day is quickly approaching!  Will you play along?  I absolutely will!  It's a great way to find new blogs and/or loose 3 days of your life on the internet daydreaming of all of your new projects with your huge give away wins.