Happy Festival Day

My day at the Merlynston Diverse Voices Festival was close to ideal.

I spent the day spinning and demonstrating to people of all ages.

The weather was fine. The people were friendly, helpful and genuinely interested in my work.

There was a great group of children who kept coming back to see what I was doing. Several of them had a go on my CD drop spindle. One girl--aged about 9, I think--stuck with it for a couple of hours until she had mastered the skill and then bought a kit to take home.

A woman told me she had "sheering a sheep; spinning and knitting a jumper from the fleece" on her bucket list. She too got started with a kit.

I had knitting needles and wool available so knitters could contribute to the bunting project.

I enjoyed watching people pick over the items on my stall, choosing just the right one out of the variety of colours, textures and sizes. I sold enough to justify the day in financial terms--it was already more than justified in terms of human value. I just wish I could find more opportunities like this in my neighbourhood. If I can't find them, maybe I'll have to help to create them.

Bitten by Bunting Bug

Up until last week I had managed to avoid catching the bunting bug. "It's cute", I thought, "but I dont' have to go there." This weekend that changed.

I received an email from the organisers of the Merlynston Diverse Voices Festival. I'm going to have a stall there next weekend, so I was already interested in whatever they're doing. It turns out there are a bunch of knitters involved in creating a long string of bunting to drape around the Merlynston Progress Hall. Knitted bunting! Who knew?

Saving the Merlynston Progress Hall is a major community focus. Making a knitted contribution hooked me right in.

The pattern is courtesy of the UK Womens' Weekly. It's a neat little knit: stocking stitch with shaped decreases. Easy enough to stitch through without any stress; interesting enough to hold my attention for the number of minutes required to get it done in one sitting. I thought I'd start with just one. Next day, I've made three and I'm dying to cast on another. They're due in tomorrow, so maybe not. Then again, they might be able to add to the bunting on the day. And it's an ongoing project, so it's never too late to join in.

Of course, while I'm knitting away, I'm designing alternatives in my head: different stitch patterns; big bunting; little bunting; crochet bunting; what about a double-knit version! So I think I've caught the bunting bug. I don't know if there's a cure. What's more, I don't care!