Village Day, a neighborhood celebration

 

DH and young performer in cheetah puppet meet and greet.

On October 3, our neighborhood of Newton held its annual Village Day.  Activities included a dance performance by young members of a local dance studio, temporary tattoos for children, vendors selling everything from pet treats to jewelry, information tables for local conservation groups, and an excellent high school jazz band.  Yours truly helped curate the Little Free Library stall.  Since it's an election year here in Newton, politicians canvassed, but set partisanship aside long enough to dedicate a memorial plaque to a late, beloved local councilor too.

The stars of the show, though, were the volunteers wearing the puppet costumes borrowed from a puppet library in Boston.  Of course I may be biased as my husband is inside the frog get-up in the image below; in the background is the oldest surviving wooden mill building in Newton, recently beautifully restored.

Tall amphibian meets young human.

Local knitter Katie B. yarn-bombed parking meters.

Wearable puppet with a surprisingly affecting face.

Itty-bitty Halloween knits

Little Witch, Cat and Tiny Pumpkin.

I was lucky this year and was able to snag a kit from Bartlett Wool Co.  Missed out on the kit last year, and it sold out again this year.  However, the patterns can be purchased on Ravelry, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/little-witch-charm-set

Very cute, I think. I weighted the witch with two metal washers from the hardware store, and used one washer for the pumpkin and cat. The witch is a bit wobbly, so I might modify the pattern next time and use the base set-up from Churchmouse Yarns' Jolly Wee Elf pattern.  

The items are knitted in the round with size 4 or size 3 needles, so a bit fiddly, but worth it.  The instructions are very clear and detailed.

I'm now knitting while watching Downton Abbey again, and measure knitting time in units of episodes. Each pumpkin takes about one Downton Abbey Unit, or DAU.  The cat, with body, tail and ears, took about two DAUs. The witch has many parts, not to mention ends to weave in, and her construction extended over half a season's worth of episodes.

My pumpkin patch.