Friends and Family

Posted on October 20, 2019October 20, 2019 Posted in field tripsTagged celtic colours, farsan, North Sydney, saltfishforty

Our last concert yesterday was called Friends and Family, and it took place at a beautiful old church where Bob’s paternal grandparents were members, down by the harbor. We decided to walk down from our Airbnb (in the rain) and take in whatever sights we could on the way.

I love the colorful fishing boats.

Something took a bite out of this fisherman, whose eyes followed you when walked by. I was charmed and creeped out at the same time.

This event was my favorite, I think. I enjoyed every act and the venue as well. I bought another cd, this time for a band called Farsan.

The show finished with a band from Orkney called Saltfishforty. I would have purchased their cd as well, but by that time I had blown all our cash.

Even Bob is starting to enjoy a little bit of Celtic music. Here he is with his Mom at Friends and Family, being ornery.

Today we’ll be ON A BOAT!

I decided not to purchase any more Celtic Colours bulky yarn. I’m going to make some thrummed mittens out of the hank that I have.

Chéticamp Style and a Book Review

Posted on October 19, 2019October 19, 2019 Posted in fiber love, field trips, yarnTagged book review, celtic colours, Chéticamp, Halvis, hand dyed yarn

Last night we went to the Coal Town Celidh and I learned there are different styles of traditional music even in Cape Breton. The first act was a trio of two fiddlers and a keyboard player. The fiddlers were local to Sydney Mines, but they learned to play in the Chéticamp (French Acadian) Style. You can hear the influence it had on Cajun Zydeco. Here’s the only video I could find of our fiddlers, and I’m sorry the French Acadian keyboardist is not included here.

Today is our last concert. I’m a little sad. I’ve learned so much about Celtic music.

I finished “A Dark and Stormy Knit” by Anne Canadeo. Mildlygranola asked me for a book review, so here goes.

Maggie owns a yarn shop in a small seaport Massachusetts town, where, as it turns out, all kinds of mysterious and untoward things happen: knit graffiti, university art department politics, and murder!

While Maggie and her group of knitting friends – which includes a young student who works at the yarn shop – try to suss out who is responsible for what, they knit fun projects and eat delicious food. Props to the author for including links to knitting patterns and recipes at the end of the book.

This was a light and fun read for a holiday. The mystery was enough to keep me interested but it was also easy to put down. I give it a 3 out of 5.

Now I am reading “The Mermaid and the Bear” by Ailish Sinclair, which I preordered on Amazon. It just came out. I started reading it and it is quite good, so I made myself finish the knitting mystery first. Now I can freely enjoy my historical fiction selection.

We’re going to walk down to the harbor this morning to see the Newfoundland Ferry before our concert at 2 PM. We wanted to take the ferry but it’s 9 hours to Newfoundland so it would have to be an overnight stay. Maybe next time.

On the knitting front, I’ve decided I want to make a Halvis. I called Baadeck Yarns to see if they had anymore Celtic Colours specialty dyed in fingering, because I thought that would be amazing with the charcoal fingering Forbidden Fibers I received in the last Fibre Share. No luck, though. They are sold out, of course. I still want to make it. I need to find a substitute for the Celtic Colours yarn. It’s more difficult than it sounds. Here is the photo they shared on their Facebook page of the Celtic Colours yarn.

(Sigh) They do have three more skeins left of the bulky. Hmm… what could I do with four skeins of bulky merino in this colorway?

Sunshine and Seaspray

Posted on October 18, 2019October 18, 2019 Posted in field trips, knitting, sweaters, Works in Progress (WIPs)Tagged celtic colours, hike Cape Breton, Louisbourg, scout yarn, Weekender

We went back to Louisbourg today to hike the Lighthouse Trail. I wore my wool so I was plenty warm, although the sun was out.

We hiked the trail to Gun Landing Cove and then headed back.

I especially enjoyed the ruins of the old battery and original lighthouse.

I have been knitting in the car, and was surprised by how much gold is in my green Weekender sweater.

I still like it.

We went to a wonderful concert at the Highland Arts Theater in Sydney on Wednesday night. I fell in love with another band, Beolach, and bought another cd. I found a video to share with you, although it’s from 2014.

We had an interesting conversation with Bob’s Uncle Basil about the difference between traditional Scottish music in Scotland versus Nova Scotia, and how Scottish music has evolved in Scotland but in Nova Scotia it is still in the old style. When Scottish students want to learn the old style, they come to Cape Breton.

I did notice a marked difference between the Scottish bands and the Nova Scotian bands. I love the blending of different influences in Kinnaris Quintet, and I love the traditional fiddle and pipes in Beolach. They even danced during their set. I love it all!

Another concert tonight, and a matinee tomorrow afternoon. Our time here is really flying!

All Fiber Friday

Posted on October 11, 2019October 12, 2019 Posted in fiber love, field trips, knittingTagged baddeck, celtic colours, fibre festival, knitting, yarn shops9 Comments

Today we drove to the village of Baddeck for the Celtic Colours Fibre Festival. It was mostly weaving and quilting, which was lovely to look at, but it didn’t take long to find my treasure, this fingerless glove kit from Celtic Raven Fibres!

Celtic Colours has rules about not taking photos at musical events, but I asked when we arrived at the Fibre Festival and was told it would be OK. However when I took this photo, someone was a little prickly with me, so I didn’t take any more photos. But I did take home the kit!

We ran into family there and my Aunt-in-law, who makes the most gorgeous quilts, had these clever little cache stashers for sale. She said they were for your sewing table, for threads, but of course I realized they would also be wonderful yarn ball holders.

The weight holds it on the table (or couch arm) and also makes a great pin cushion.

I admired this one and was going to purchase it, but she gave it to me! That was so sweet.

I tried to see if she sold these online anywhere, and didn’t find anything. But her name is Theresa and she is on Instagram as Galloping Crow Quilts.

As if that wasn’t fiberlicious enough, I found out (from Theresa) that Baddeck has a yarn shop, Baadeck Yarns! I picked up their specialty dyed Celtic Colours colorway and this book, Saltwater Classics, Caps, Vamps, and Mittens from the Island of Newfoundland.

I want to make everything in this book, but especially these mitts and trigger mittens!

All that shopping made me hungry, so we stopped at Lynwood Inn for a Beyond Burger on a gluten free brioche bun, where I saw this sign and asked if I could photograph it.

I try to be the former instead of the latter. 😆

Our final stop in Baddeck was Victoria County Creates, a fun little gallery of art and handmade by local creators. One of the things I wanted to get was something that said Cape Breton on it. (I know, I’m such a tourist.) I hadn’t seen anything I thought was right for me until I found this shirt.

Phew! Hang in there, I’m not done yet! Here’s a scenery intermission.

It was so beautiful, we stopped to take photos both coming and going!

Okay, next stop, back to Sydney to the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design for another fibre festival where I found these gorgeous handwoven cotton tea towels and a catnip toy for JoJo.

This visit reignited my desire to weave.

My last stop was at The Bobbin Tree, a little Fair Trade / Rug Hooking / Yarn Shop in Sydney.

Adorable spot. Check out that bicycle! I pottered around in here while Bob checked out the comic store.

Hats off to Bob who supported me on my fiber quest today. It’s supposed to storm tomorrow, which is the perfect excuse to hole up and knit. If we do get out, I’ll let you know!

Monday, A List

Posted on September 23, 2019September 25, 2019 Posted in field trips, lifeTagged bloomington indiana, celtic colours, marianne netflix, nos4a2, nova scotia, unspirational, yarn bombs13 Comments

1. I know no one wants to hear about my workout, but I’ve recently started circuit training at the gym: 15 minutes rowing, 15 minutes elliptical, and 15 minutes interval walk/run on the treadmill. Today I ran for 7 minutes straight, and I was so happy. I never thought I would run again.

2. This weekend was our Strategic Planning Retreat for work, so today’s unspirational quote is on point. I’m glad when I took the Game of Thrones quiz I was Jon Snow and not Daenerys Targaryan.

3. Yarn bombs in Bloomington, IN.

4. On Sunday, while in Bloomington, we went hiking at the Amy Weingartner Branigin Peninsula Preserve. It was beautiful.

5. Hair goals above, only salt and pepper. This is also a pretty good show, if you like horror. But, we recently watched Marianne on Netflix, and it was so good, I’m ready to binge watch it again!

6. We will be in Nova Scotia in 2 weeks and 2 days!

headknits

Tag: celtic colours