Renn Faire Ramblings (or how we accidentally went to Harrisburg)

We had to go back to the PA Renn Faire one last time before it closed for the season. We had enjoyed ourselves so much on our first trip that we bought cheap return tickets to use at a later point in the season. And this time, Willow dressed up!



Costume courtesy of her Grandmother. Willow is seriously one lucky girl - out of the nine Halloween costumes she has had in her life, seven of them were handmade by Grandmother. This time she was a Renaissance girl, complete with a purple velvet cloak - no doubt influenced by our last trip here, because prior to that, Willow had intended to be Cleopatra for Halloween.

This time we decided to take in more of the shows and activities at the Renn Faire (as opposed to all the window shopping we did last time), and this resulted in an active day for Willow. Not only did she ride an elephant for the first time in her life:



I don't think Andrew believed me when I said I have done this before. We used to go to the Vancouver Game Farm (apparently now called the Greater Vancouver Zoo) almost every year as a field trip as kids, and I rode an elephant there as a child.

Willow also got to be a circus performer with Tribal Circus:



They had her hold the spinning plate on a pole, which was very cool... and then they started juggling bowling pins around her:



You should have seen Willow's face - she went from being so chuffed to being on stage to absolutely terrified that these pins are spinning around her! This circus performance was my favourite part of the day - these two were great performers, and they even pulled Andrew up on stage, to his mortification. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that because he had the camera in his pocket when he went up there.



He had to help Shelly up to her ring in the air by boosting her up. he went to lift her from the waist and she took his hands and put them on her bottom to lift her better. Poor Andrew - he was so red!

Willow even got to meet the queen after the children's costume contest:



My poor, competitive, child - she was upset that no one actually 'won' the contest - all the children who participated received a medallion from the queen. We can't wait until next year to go back.  Maybe next year I will be able to whip up a costume of my own. I could so rock the corset...

(Oh - and the Harrisburg part?  We are driving on the PA Turnpike.  The Renn Faire is on exit 266.  I give Andrew the 2 mile notice.  Then the 1 mile notice.  I start digging in my purse for the toll, and look up and Andrew is passing exit 266...  Words were said.  Maybe angry words.  We had to drive to the next turnpike exit - 20 miles away - at Harrisburg to get off and turn around to come back.  It's a good thing there is good beer at the Renn Faire.)

Almost there!

How Close Is Piper to Walking?



And on the way back:



We have had so much use out of this firetruck toy - it belonged to Willow when she was little, and I don't believe we paid more than $10 for it to begin with. I pulled it out of the basement yesterday and washed it off, and you should have seen Willow's face - you would have thought I had brought it out for her. I don't know who has had more fun with it the last two days - Piper walking around with it, or Willow helping Piper walk around with it!

Halloween Preview

Piper was able to try on her Halloween costume for her daycare's Fall Festival (just imagine my requisit rant on why this has to be called 'Fall Festival' and not 'Halloween Party'...).

Happy Cowgirl

All Sorts of Finished Objects

And I bet you were all thinking that I never knit anymore!



Ta-da!

Actually, the knitting of this dress has been finished for a while, but I finished it in the middle of a July heatwave and I knew that it was still way too big for Piper at that time... so it sat on my loveseat for a few months. This weekend I finally got around to crocheting the button holes onto the neckline and sewing the buttons on.



Andrew thinks it will work better as a tunic with leggings, and I am inclined to agree - and that is what the designer had in mind anyway. The designer, Tora Froseth, envisioned it as a baby dress that could segue into a tunic top as the little girl grew (and thus getting more usage out of knitted item!)

The Particulars:

Pattern: Little Sister's Dress by Tora Froseth (Rav link)
Yarn: Bernat Satin Sport in Beachcomber colourway
Needles: Size 4 Knitpicks circulars, 16 and 24 inch.
Size: Here's the kicker - I knit it, unchanged, from the 3 month size. Yes, I know Piper is small, but not that small :) Don't worry - the anomoly was intentional. The pattern designer recommends 'worsted wool' but many people read that incorrectly as 'worsted weight wool,' so there has been a lot of unintentional experimentation with sizes and different yarns
Would I knit this pattern again? I already am - and this time I am using the sock weight yarn the pattern actually is intended for, and I am making the 12 month size. This is an easy pattern, and it makes a very useful garment.

I have also (finally) finished Tara's Birthday socks:



I love this colour - it doesn't photograph particularly well, and it is hard to explain just how happy and orange it is. Tara won these socks by guessing the correct date for Piper's birth pool - and as it happens, Tara chose her own birthday. I will get them in the mail this week, Tara - so you can enjoy them this fall.


I love looking at stitches close up!



The Particulars:

Pattern: Summer Lovin Socks by Dawn Matkovic (Rav Link)
Yarn: Lola-Doodle's Classic Sock in Sweet Sassy Molassy (bought off Etsy)
Needles: 2 - 16 inch Knitpicks circulars
Size: One size
Would I knit this pattern again? Yes - this was my first foray into lacy socks, and even though I though row 12 was going to kill me (seriously - why did the row have to end with a yarn over? It made it so finicky for making sure I had the correct number of stitches on each needle), the pattern was easy enough and I was very happy with the results.

And I am not the only one around here with a finished object!



Remember this sweater, Mom? It finally fits Piper! My Mom knit all sorts of things when she came to help with Piper's birth and my maternity leave, but Piper was so small that even though she had made the 0-3 month size for the cardigan, Piper just swam in it. Now the weather is cooler, and Piper has been wearing the sweater and matching beanie all the time.