Progress is good....

If akin to the movement of the earth's tectonic plates, LOL!  More on that in a minute. I have to share

what a wonderful time I had last night.  Two friends of mine from St. J's, Mike and Sue M., and I went to the home of a colleague, Meg and her DH, Harry. and had the time of our lives. Mike plays in the bell choir at St. J's, and, though he works in another field altogether, is an accomplished musician and composer, with the credentials to prove it - a Master's from the Peabody Conservatory here in Bawlmer.  He also plays Irish music on his fiddle like nobody's business.  Mike and some of his cohorts were the musical entertainment at a Ceilidh (pron. Kay-Lee) held at our church to raise money for our outreach program.  I was hooked immediately.  When Meg told me her entire family were well versed in Irish music and that they had house concerts and sessions afterward with anyone who brought their instruments, I was lucky to attend.  

The first few times I went, I had to satisfy myself with the concert only and some nice times with some lovely people, because the DH works graveyard and needs the car back before 10.  Not wishing to turn into a pumpkin, I dutifully left before the next phase of the fun began.Not so this time.  Mike drove.  He also brought his fiddle.

And. What. A. Treat. 

Every single solitary person in that room knew EVERY one of the beautiful melodies by heart.  There were flutists, pipers, drummers, guitarists, and fiddlers.  As Sue and I watched from the back of the room (not far from the wine, LOL:)), I so wanted to join them, but I don't know one of those tunes and my flute would have done me no good.  I later told our hostess that I felt like a kid who came to a pool party but forgot his bathing suit, LOL:).  From what I understand there are opportunities to learn at different places not terribly far from me.  Would dearly love to learn more and might just go see what it's all about.

As for the concert, we were beguiled with the incredible talents of Laura Byrne (flute), Rose Conway Flanagan (fiddle), and Pat Egan (guitar and vocals). Laura is classically trained and Rose has a lifetime of learning from her father and others in her home, being second generation Irish, while Pat was the one of the trio directly from Ireland. Each one of them were incredibly talented.  It was a joy to listen to them.  There is nothing in the world like live music, but I will be looking to get some of their CDs.  Who knows? I might learn something!

KNITTING:

So there is one finished object for my ravelry page - my version of the Nennir Cowl from knitty.com by Lucy Hague:

 Modifications: Worsted weight wool instead of fingering, did cabling pattern only once, then switched to a mock rib pattern for the "back," made it long enough to reach around the neck, attached with 3-needle bind-off. Looking forward to wearing it hopefully tomorrow!

Am still working on the other project that has maintained my focus this month - the Garland Necklace Yoke pullover.  It is slow going right now because I frogged quite a bit of it.  It was truly way too big, as I had increased far too many stitches after the ribbing, so I ripped back down to the ribbing, added some more ribbing and then increased only 10 stitches.  So far, I am getting a lofty fabric that seems to be the right size for me.  Decided to do this with only one strand of the Unspun Icelandic for a drapier, lighter and, as previously stated, loftier fabric.  Now to get through the next 16 or so inches to the armholes....:)

And then, the sleeves, the joining and the COLORWORK:)!!!! I am a firm believer in delayed gratification, can you tell?:)

Hope someday to see a larger version of this:

in these colors:

God be with you 'til we meet again!+