First up, the Field Report that I forgot to post last Friday. The soybeans are drying, internally anyway. It has rained over 2" since Thursday (and is coming down still, with no sign of stopping), so the ground is soupy, and harvest will have to be put off. But the plants are drying down, with very few leaves left. Some of the earlier planted fields in the area have been combined already, beating this latest rain spell. Luckily, it won't hurt the beans to stand in the field, even over the winter (which has been known to happen in years with a very wet fall and sudden heavy snows), so no harm is done except to the farmers' moods.
On the road to Fargo, I worked on the Artyarn Merino socks for my friend in Australia, who is coming back to The States for our 40 Year Class Reunion next summer. I haven't seen her since around 1972, and I am so excited. Anyway, I finished one sock and cast on the mate, and made good progress during the 4 hour drive.
My sister-in-law has some lovely plants in her yard, including this beautiful Burning Bush. I had to take a picture, since we don't get any red fall color here.
Friday evening, after supper, my seven-year-old great niece sat on the floor and watched me intently as I worked on the blue/green socks. After about ten minutes, she said excitedly, "I see what you're doing! You loop the yarn over, and then you use the needle that you're moving to make a new loop!". I knew right then that I had to get needles into that girl's hands. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything but sock dpns with me, but I promised that I would buy the proper needles and teach her to knit after my signings on Saturday.
On Saturday, we made our way to NDSU, a journey complicated by road construction and Homecoming (Bison fans take their Homecoming seriously). It took us nearly a half hour to negotiate our way onto campus once we got to the proper area, so I arrived at the bookstore just minutes before my signing was to start.
I forgot to take pictures, but Carl, who orchestrated both of Saturday's signings (and the ones I did for I Heart Felt in '08) was a gracious host. The bookstore was hopping, full of folks dressed in Green and Gold, which are the school colors. Luckily, Taunton sent back some of the socks from The Big Book of Socks to show off, including the green and gold cabled knee-high, which was a big hit. Anne, from Prairie Yarns (they do have a website, but I can't find the link), brought yarn to display, including some Mochi Plus (more about that later), and sat and talked and knitted with me for two hours.
Before we knew it, it was time for the football game to begin, and for the bookstore to close, and for me to head over to the yarn store. I'm pretty tickled with the publicity handouts that Taunton printed up for the events.
Cool, no?
Tune in tomorrow for Part 2: The Mochi Enchantment
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