I got knitty in Nova Scotia

There is nothing like a seventeen hour drive to get some serious knitting done. Especially if you do it twice.

We had an amazing trip out east in mid-July, and I must admit, I was knitting A LOT. We stayed in a great little cottage overlooking the ocean in the small community of South West Port Mouton (pronounced M'toon). It's about and hour and a half south of Halifax along the Atlantic side of the province. The whole area seemed so calm and pastoral: the sound of the waves against the sand beach mixed with my children's voices floating up from the beach was the perfect backdrop against which to sit on the porch and knit. The porch was well-equipped with four big yellow adirondack chairs facing out on the ocean. It was idyllic.

My sister and I visited a small yarn shop in Liverpool, called The

Ball and Skein, which was tucked away inside a camera store, of all places. It had some tools of the trade, and a limited selection of yarns. The only stand-out I saw was the locally produced Briggs & Little, a weighty wool great for heavy socks and fisherman-knit sweaters. They have some great colours and hold a real 'sheep' smell---some might not find it appealing, but I quite enjoyed its gamey odor!

We also visited Have a Yarn in Mahone Bay, which was highly enjoyable! They have a wide selection of yarns, including some absolutely stunning blends by Handmaiden (a division of Fleece Artist), also of Nova Scotia. I went back and forth on buying a skein at forty dollars, but in the end I couldn't justify the purchase when I came to NS with four ongoing projects in tow. There's always the internet...

I made the great little scarf on the Sheep in the City website with the Manos Del Uruguay I purchased a while ago. It turned out really well, and was a great quick knit. I also have my reversibly cabled afghan on the go, which seemed to take forever to complete a row, but is fascinating to see emerging on the needle! (It uses a circular.)

Time to get back at it...I have other items on the go as well, but I'll save that for later. Another vacation is a week and a half away, when we plan to head for the cottage. I foresee a lot of needle-clacking on that porch too, with any luck!

The little log cabin in my mind

It happens every year. The girls are finished school, my husband has wrapped up another year of teaching, the weather is getting steadily warmer, and I'm cottage-hungry: longing to be sitting on a deck overlooking the sparkling water, dappled sunlight streaming through the forest, my dog panting away happily at my feet, next to the little cooler stocked full of cold beer, and my knitting in my hands.
(Thanks Ted Kaiser for the photo of beautiful Lost Bay Lake.)

Still lots of soccer knitting time for me, though I'm itching to do something new. I'm hoping to fit in a trip to Kingston this week to get wool for a new project with which I'll occupy myself on our upcoming trip to Nova Scotia. It's about a sixteen hour drive from our neck of the woods; that's a lot of knitting time. I'm thinking about perhaps beginning an afghan. Or maybe a sweater that I promised a friend I'd make for her.

Between all my daydreaming about vacations and hiding away in the woods, we are trying to renew our mortage and put on a new roof. Not very romantic, but must be done. The roof is overdue for this---especially at the back on the ten year old addition. Very curled shingles.

We visited friends yesterday at a quaint cottage on the Ottawa river. They also have three little girls, and it was wonderful to see them, and to watch the children having a grand time all together.

It is a lovely thing about summer, that we seem to be able to more easily set aside time here and there to gather with friends, to catch up and to take life at a somewhat slower pace, at least for a few hours.

WIth that, I'll return for a few more moments to my daydreams before getting back to work.