Hey folks.  When last we chatted I was working on my Memories Sweater.  I did continue working on it for a bit and tried to do the shoulder section.  However, I am not happy with my first attempt.  So the sweater has been put in the time out pile for a bit.  I do have an idea how I want to approach the shoulder differently for my second attempt but have not had time to try it yet.

I also spent some time weaving a couple of gifts for friends.  I made these 2 wonderful scarves.  The red and black scarf is silk.  And the other one is my hand spun yarn.  I needed to finish these before we went on our trip.  (We left home Sept 7th.)

And I learned that an old friend of mine is struggling with long Covid.  So I rushed to make a blanket and get it in the mail to her.  This is what I whipped up.  I used several colours of James C Brett Marble Chunky and I really like how it turned out.  This is a great example of what you can do with a bunch of odd balls of yarn.

On September 6th I went to Fibrefest, in Almonte Ontario.  The event is put on by the Friends of the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum.  It is a lovely event at a local arena with many different vendors.  I had a terrific time shopping and came home with many new treasures for my stash.  The project bag from Van Djik Designs was my favourite purchase and ended up coming on vacation with us.  It was a perfect size to hold my knitting, a light sweater and a snack as we wandered around.  The tea towels from Artisan Originals by Susan were a special order and are a gift for my Mother-in-Law’s upcoming birthday.  The colours were selected to match her newly renovated kitchen.  And of course there was some yarn and fibre to buy.  I also found some lovely fabric designed by a talented First Nations artist, a cowl pattern and some buttons.

On Sept 7th we set off for Newfoundland, flying from Ottawa to St John’s.  We arrived quite late and eventually made it to our friends place.  From there we did quite a bit of exploring.  We visited Cape Spear, Cape Bonavista, Elliston (we tried to see the puffins but were unsuccessful), and St John’s.  In St John’s we saw where Terry Fox dipped his leg into the water when he began his Marathon of Hope.  We toured Signal Hill, the Johnson GeoCenter, and the Rooms museum.

We also enjoyed exploring the city and some of the various trails on foot.  This lead to some yarn shopping.  I purchased some yarns from local indie dyers, and some Briggs and Little yarn from the Dollar Store. We saw hand knits in many of the shops.

On September 11, 2024 I donated part of my liver to my friend Janet. Part of the reason for our trip was to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of our transplant surgery. Janet and I were also interviewed by CBC to chat about the liver transplant. If you are curious you can find the interview here. There was a party with family and friends to celebrate the Liver Giver Anniversary. You can see that Janet is the picture of health now that she has a working liver.

During my trip I worked on some Anemone Hats and many dish cloths.  These small projects were a good way to pass the time, especially on the long drives we took.  And they made lovely gifts to leave behind as well. (I gave away 55 dish cloths and 3 hats during my trip.)

We returned to Ottawa on Sept 16th.  Tired but happy.  Newfoundland is very beautiful and the people were so welcoming. We dove right back into work and I started yet another Chain Stitch Square blanket to be used as a gift for another friend.  This is my progress so far.  I’ve completed about 1/3 of the blanket.  This time around I’m using a single colourway (MC77) of James C Brett Marble Chunky.  It is a very relaxing set of colours.