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Dear Ellen,

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It’s definitely autumn on the farm.  Our second crop of hay was harvested this weekend and it smelled wonderful — sweet and earthy.  Beautiful to see it raked up into deep rows and then fun to watch the baler come through and turn it into giant wheels of hay.  The doggies got their chance (courtesy of Dale) to pose on top of one of the bales.  They loved it up there, but were happy to get down.  I love hay.

Hay was the inspiration for my latest small shawl.  It’s the Shaelyn pattern, but I named mine Haylyn since the colors made me think of the hay and straw on the farm.  It’s a simple feather and fan variation between rows of stockinette distinguished by single garter ridges.  It was a VERY fast knit and the pattern is memorized in about 2 minutes.  I started it because of the knit along started over on The Knitting Pipeline group.

Lots of colorway inspiration around the farm right now.

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And I’m still overturning rocks to see what is hiding beneath.  Do you think this is a salamander nymph or some young snake?  He (she?) squiggled off under the leaves pretty quickly, so I’m confident he was okay.

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And I reported on Ravelry that I finished  my Saroyan, Virtual Loungewear.  I only had a little yarn leftover which greatly pleased me as it was my first handspun.  And I’ve made a very cute little memento out of the leftover.  I’ll show you one day soon…some more work to do to finish it up.

Busy couple of weekends here — we’ve been working in the woods, the garden and trying to keep making progress on the unpacking.  We also went to a local benefit auction where we both got some great deals.  I’m particularly pleased with this shelf that comes with 5 bins that fit right into the shelf (as shown for the top shelf).  I got it for $35!  A little sanding and stain and it will be a most awesome addition to my studio.  I can’t decide if I’ll use it to hold yarn or to hold WIPs.

A few weekends ago (has it been that long since I posted?) we went to two big events for the Navy.  The first was the Lone Sailor Awards Dinner where the Fabulous Bridges Brothers and several other great Americans were recognized for having served in the Sea Services and then having gone on to do great things for our nation.  The second was the change of command between ADM Gary Roughead and ADM Jon Greenert.  ADM Roughead also retired in the same ceremony.  ADM Greenert is now the Chief of Naval Operations — an incredible guy (as was Roughead) that Dale and I know well and for whom we hold a lot of respect.  He’s the guy I’ll be asking to allow me to retire.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that he says, “yes!”  I want to be put out to pasture…literally!

Love, Jan