Sturbridge Village

This week flew by! I cannot believe it's been a week since I blogged. May as well just hop back on the horse, right?

Last weekend we had lots of fun. On Saturday the five of us went to Old Sturbridge Village for the day, and after that enjoyed some time with my side of the family. My parents invited us over for dinner, and my sister and her family came as well. The next day, Brian's parents came to visit at our house. Rarely do we see both sides in the same weekend, so it was really great to see everyone, especially for the kids. Old Sturbridge Village provided us with lots to see and do, and I enjoyed telling Irene, Keegan and Spencer all I knew about "the old days". Hopefully, most of it was accurate. Originally our plan for the weekend was to go to Rhinebeck, but in the end we decided it was a little too far to do in one day, and all hotels insisted on a two night stay, which we couldn't do. Sadly, I had to give up my Rhinebeck dream for this year, but you better believe next year I'll be making it happen! OSV seemed a decent alternative. It's not far away. We've always talked about taking the kids there. The cost is much less than driving to New York. And we'd still be doing a "family" type of thing for the day. Every once in a while, I'd think that I was missing the yarny fun, but we enjoyed ourselves so thoroughly that I pretty much forgot about it. There were some reminders, however:

There was yarn. Hanging in the very first building we explored, an animal barn, we found these beauties...



There were spinning wheels and looms displayed:



As well as many nifty knitted items--socks, stockings, very l-o-n-g stockings, under garments, knitting needles, etc. Most of this was very cool to see and they're so delicate they truly inspired. Somehow the thought of being able to make these, or trying to make these smacked of fun, excitement even, but the thought of having to make these, every year, no-matter-what changed my tune. Seriously, those women were saints. Seriously.



We even found a sheepy friend in the kid's play area!



Of course, most of the day did not revolve around knitting at all...

We impersonated oxen working the cider press.





Helped press apples by hand, too.


You wouldn't believe how many wasps (bees) swarmed around this contraption! Luckily, they like the apple cider better than us. Brian wondered how many bees end up on average in a cup of cider...

We pretended to carry water from the well in the town center to our home.


Brian said it was surprisingly comfortable, but I did not try it myself.

We played old fashioned games of all sorts.


Probably the most fun thing we did, actually. This is Irene and I playing a game involving a wooden hoop, and two sticks each. You can see the hoop in the air. It doesn't take much to amuse me.

We even got to take a horse-drawn wagon ride!



And then we were pooped.



Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Yes. I did plan to do that when I took the poop picture. C'mon--you'd have done it, too!

Lately, I've been reading a lot of blog posts about fall (or the lack-there-of, in some parts). So I took some pretty New England autumn leaves pictures for you:

This is by the saw mill, which was pretty ingenious, really.


And a little closer, same trees:


Many photos didn't make the blog cut because they either had a bunch of other stuff going on in front of the trees that was plain ugly, or they just weren't capturing what I was going for. (Or I was in the picture and didn't look good) Hopefully these cheer up some one's day.

In knitting news, I have completed my niece Holli's hat and mitten set. The hat is the Baby, It's You pattern from the Yarn Girls' Guide to Kid Knits, and it was really fun to make. I'd lent the book to Krista, so I had to call her and get the gist of the pattern. Not a big deal, but I wasn't sure how to finish off or attach the three tassels. I think they turned out all right, but I am really wondering what the Yarn Girls wanted me to do with that...I'll check when I get the book back. It's killing me! Then I created mittens based on the Classic Mittens pattern, but incorporated the stitch repeat from the hat. What do you think?


Best shot with the tassels


"What in the world are these?"


Holli approves.
"Thanks Auntie Jill!"

Isn't she sweet? The mittens are a little longer than I planned, but I didn't like the stripes if they were cut too soon, so I went with this. At least she has room to grow...

Updates on Brian's sock coming soon. I've turned the heel and finished the short rowing, so I should be done soon. Oh, and don't worry--the wasps (bees!) seem to be gone.