Mockingbird Nestlings

This is a picture of our front entrance (and the only entrance/exit we ever use), and on the very left you can see an evergreen bush. It's 1/4 dead and has lots of bare branches. Somewhere at the top of this bush is a mockingbird nest, with three little nestlings hatched recently. Whenever we walk too close to the bush, or walk too slowly past it, we are dive-bombed by mother and/or father mockingbird. I haven't actually seen the nest, but Hubster braved the mother's wrath to move a branch aside quickly and spotted the little ones. The parents are very vigilant and protective of their small brood. They will sit on the flagpole or the roof or a nearby tree, and keep watch. It's rather scary to be threatened by these birds - they are quite large and fly just above our head with wings outspread and flapping. I tend to rush to the door now, murmuring 'It's OK, it's OK".

Vest Times Two

I titled this blog entry "Vest Times Two" because I nearly knitted the whole thing twice. This was made for Hubster, and I did all the right stuff at the beginning - I knitted a swatch and measured it, I measured Hubster as well, and I picked the right amount of stitches to make the knitting match the man. So I got the back about 80% finished, and I pinned it up to his body, and wouldn't you know - it was way too big.

So I ripped out the whole thing and started over with fewer stitches, got the back done again, and one of the fronts. I pinned them together, and pinned it back on Hubster, and wouldn't you know - it was now too small! Well I wasn't going to rip it up again, so I got creative. I finished the second front, sewed up the shoulders, and knitted the buttonhole and neck bands. And here's the creative part. Can you see the cable band going up the side seam? That's a two-inch panel I knitted separately to join the backs and fronts together, one for each side. I put in a cable to match those that travel up the center fronts, and as you can see, the vest now fits perfectly. But I can't believe how I got that size so wrong twice!

Brimfield Flea Market

Last week, I did my "antiques dealer thing" and set up to sell at the huge Brimfield flea market. If you've never been to this three-times-yearly event, there are thousands of dealers in a dozen fields strung out along Route 20 in Brimfield, Massachusetts.

This is one end of our row - we were only four tents down from one of the entrances. This is the other end of our row, looking toward the back of the field.

And here is our set-up. I do this show with my friend and fellow dealer, Janice. If you look closely, you'll see Janice taking a few moments to relax and read in the shade.And here's my relaxation - I knitted quite a few inches on this lacy scarf over the course of the five days. I'm using the cashmere yarn from the sweater I unraveled, and it's perfect for this project. That's waste yarn you can see at the bottom - the scarf is knitted from the middle out to each end.