Home is my favorite place to be. It’s a glorious blue-sky morning and I was glad we got to have coffee on the porch today before we hit the dirt. Hubby’s taking the dog to the vet, grabbing some chicken wire and getting our boat serviced, I’m headed to Augusta for a meeting and then back to clean up after being away for a couple of days.

I had the pleasure of traveling with friends to Compton, Quebec this weekend so that we could attend Julie Asselin’s Needle in a Haystack event. This is the third year, I think, and despite foul weather (it was damp, windy and cooler than we’d have liked) it was a lot of fun.

On the way to Quebec we stopped by the Wire Bridge in New Portland, Maine. I hadn’t ever visited this historic landmark and it was fun to see!

I booked an airBnB in Compton and we were the only inhabitants of the house with access to the common living room. It was quiet and clean and very pleasant. We found Erabliere du Village in Compton where we had an early dinner and a late breakfast the next morning. The food was simple and delicious and an incredible value.

Needle in a Haystack is a community event with some vendors, all Canadian indy yarn companies, dyers, makers of yarn-related accessories and an opportunity to taste the cheeses at the Fromagerie la Station on whose land the event happens. Because of the weather we huddled in the two barns to get out of the wind. My friend, Michele, from Montreal and two of her friends and our friend Cindy from Northern California were all there and it was fun to sit and knit with them, catching up on the years between our visits. There is something so sweet about the people I’ve had the luck to connect with over yarn and needles over the years. There are some people who are extra special like Michele and Cindy. I am grateful for their friendship! I am also grateful for the women I’ve met at the store who are willing to get up and go when I come up with a crazy travel idea. Knit City, Needle in a Haystack, and there will be more to come! I am so glad I threw my Easy Foldover Poncho into my suitcase at the last minute … I really needed it (and could have worn a true sweater!)

I used a lot of self-control and only bought three hanks of yarn from a delightful shepherd who was knitting such a pretty sweater with her own sheep’s wool … the sheep, Gordon (Sir Gordon Ramsay) is an Olde English Baby Doll Southdown sheep in a natural colorway. Gordon’s wool over the years has gone from quite dark to lighter and I bought a shade in the middle. Leystone Farm is in Pontiac, Quebec and the wool was milled in Manitoba. I think it’ll make a really fun vest or sweater and the memory of chatting with the woman will linger every time I wear it. I’m really excited about it – and it’s so soft and wooly!

My friend Cindy felt badly about our long, never-ending winter gray weather and she gifted me some sunshine! She even makes the beautiful stitch markers! I will be so happy to use all these sunshiny knitting tools and will remember her every time I use them.

And I made some new friends while waiting for my turn at the porta-potty!

A fromagerie needs milk, right?

Gone knitting.