Tuesday, October 14

Fall, harvest, and trying out a Pioneer spinning wheel

Friday, I took a roadtrip to try out the new Majacraft Pioneer wheel. Blog readers may remember that I have a Majacraft Little Gem. I've been curious as to how this new wheel compares to it. I tired it out and I really like it. It spins very well. It's definitely a pretty stripped down, bare bones wheel but it more than makes up for it with its (relatively) low price and performance. It has the lightness and portability of a Little Gem and the drive wheel and treadling is pure Rose. The fact that you can use any Majacraft accessories with it are a bonus. If I were in the market for a first wheel, this would be a good place to start. I don't need another wheel, though I am severely tempted to buy it!

It was a beautiful day for a drive. The morning was cool, the sun was bright, and it quickly warmed up. The leaves are really turning brilliant colors in our area this year. Here are a couple of pictures of them. Though I have to say, the camera can not capture the true brilliance of the colors.

Over the weekend, we sweated and swatted mosquitoes as we dug half of our potato crop. It looks to be a bumper crop this year. With temps in the low 80's, the heat was almost too much for me. I had to go set down in the shade, drink some water and cool off for awhile. This is so unlike our usual potato digging weather of 45 degrees, a cold breeze, and trying to keep our hands from freezing. We'll wait for it to cool down before we dig the rest of them. I found a surprise in the garden too. Our green peppers produced mostly leaves this year. At least I thought so until I checked the plants this weekend. Something must have happened to make them start producing. I picked two big baskets full of them. Last night, I spent a good part of the evening chopping up peppers to freeze. BTW, my freezer is packed almost to the top with garden goodies.

On the knitting front, there is more lace on my needles. Are you surprised? LOL! I'm working on several new shawl designs based on a different shape that will stay put on the shoulders. I've knit two variations so far and have a couple more I'd like to try. Test knitters are busily knitting away on the first version. The pattern(s) should be ready to go by the end of the month. These are one skein projects that will knit up fast. They will make great gifts for special ladies on your holiday gift list.

On another note, I hope you will consider entering my hat contest. The contest details and information about the prize packages (worth at least $60) are back a few posts. All you have to do is knit a Freedom Hat and enter a picture of it either here or in the Simple SimpleKnits group on Ravelry. (You can join even joing the Rav group if you don't enter the contest. I'd be happy to hear more from my blog readers.) The contest is open to international entrants. The deadline to post a picture of your hat is November 3. Enter soon, enter often, and tell your friends!

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