The String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn Truck will be at Heavenly Socks Yarns on Saturday, November 12, from 11 am-4 pm (rain date: Sunday, November 13) with a whole truckful of yarn!

String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn ( STDHY) is a small independent hand-dyed yarn company in Blue Hill. Each skein is dyed with love by Tanis Williams. The STHDY Truck is bursting with color in weights ranging from lace to worsted, including new Reversing Falls Gradient Packs. Tanis will also bring many samples knit with her yarns to inspire your creativity. The STHDY Truck arrives at Heavenly Socks Yarns just in time for your holiday knitting and gift shopping. The truck will be parked in the shop's parking lot, which is next to Out on a Whimsey on Pendleton Lane, right across from the Belfast Co-op parking lot.

On Thursday, November 3, from 9-9:45 am, Francis Chester, of the Cestari Sheep and Wool Company, will host a meet-and-greet event. Light refreshments will be served.

Cestari is a small family-owned and -operated American manufacturer of knitting and crocheting yarn. At their farm in Augusta County, Virginia, they raise sheep for the wool that they use in their yarn. They also source wool from reputable ranchers throughout the United States. All of their sheep and wool products are always grown and processed in the United States. Their cotton products are grown and processed exclusively in Virginia. We're excited to welcome a shepherd and businessman promoting American-made

	Cestari Sheep and Wool (click for video)

fiber!

Find them on Facebook, Instagram, Ravelry and Pinterest.

On Friday, November 11, 10% of sales will go to Maine Veterans for Peace or any other non-partisan veterans' organization of the customer's choice. (Maine Veterans for Peace is a non-partisan, non-profit humanitarian and educational organization dedicated to the abolition of war.)

If you cannot make it to the shop on Friday, and would like to participate in this effort, please mention it to us on the following weekend and we will happily honor your request and veterans!

The buttons mounted on cards hanging on the spinning rack are now on sale at 50% off. They had been on sale at 25% off, but we want to clearance them so we can bring in a new line of buttons for that space. A decent selection of sizes and styles is still available!

40% off selected sock yarn skeins (click to zoom)

Also, if you missed our sock yarn sale, we are going to be putting selected skeins on sale at 40% off as we organize and restock our sock yarn area.

We love our Harmony Mittens, and we think our Fiber of Maine subscribers did too. If you want to make a pair of mittens with a thumb gusset that is different than the usual, you have to try these mittens! The Harmony Mittens pattern is available for $5 through Ravelry, and of course, through our shop.

The thumb gusset may be the easiest one you will ever do, and we've included directions to have either a plain top or your choice of three different designs. At present, it comes in only adult sizes; however, we think it can easily be made into a child size by knitting it with a smaller-gauge yarn and smaller needles.

We've named this pattern Harmony Mittens, because the thumb gusset is in "harmony" with the lifeline on the palm of your hand. Also, we wrote this pattern with Bartlettyarns in mind, and Bartlettyarns is located in Harmony, Maine.

We are stocking the new 2016 colors of Bartlettyarns in the two-ply worsted weight that we used in our mittens. One skein will easily make a pair. The 210-yard skein retails here for $9.50.

Many people have admired our stunning Burrow Shawl made out of Berroco's North Star yarn.

Burrow is warm and elegant. However, if you don't want to knit such a large project (eight balls), yet you would like to experience this yarn, we suggest knitting the Whirlwind Hat.

This is a free pattern on Ravelry, and with North Star, the result is a lightweight, warm and stylish hat. The only change we made to the pattern is that we cast on 71 sts. instead of the 57 sts. that the pattern specified. One ball makes one hat.

The holiday season is coming, and we may need more yarn to finish the gifts we had planned, or plan to start making soon. It's also the time of year that Berroco partners with local yarn stores to bring you the Shop LYS promotion -- a time of year when you can be rewarded for purchasing Berroco yarn.

From November 1 through November 30, for every $25 you spend on Berroco yarn at your LYS, you will earn one coupon code for a free Berroco single PDF pattern. They email you the coupon code -- you choose the pattern you want.

How It Works
Submit a copy or photo of your LYS receipt online (form also available online at Berroco). For every $25 spent (pre-tax, on Berroco yarn only), they will send you a one-time coupon code that can be used to purchase any of the patterns in their PDF Store. For example, a $25-$49.99 purchase = 1 coupon code; a $50-$74.99 purchase = 2 coupon codes.

If your receipt does not display any of the required information (shop name, date of purchase, items or prices), please add it in writing before taking a picture/making a copy.

Rules
This promotion applies to Berroco yarn only. Qualifying purchases must be made in person, at a retail store between November 1 and November 30. All receipts must be received by December 10, 2016.

On Saturday, November 19, the KnitMaine-ia team and the Women of St. Margaret's will be hosting their biannual Knit-a-thon from 8 am till 8 pm. All proceeds will be donated to H.O.M.E, an Orland-based organization that has been helping Mainers for 44 years. Homeworkers Organized for More Employment is "dedicated to keeping and enhancing the quality of life for low-income and homeless families." Through services, stewardship of resources, and shared responsibility, they address hunger, jobs, shelter, low-income housing, education and self-sufficiency.

All ages are welcome to participate for as little or as long as you would like. Knitting and crochet support, laughter, yummy food and great friends! Don't knit? Not a problem. We can teach you, or simply come to show your support of the event. Any and all handcrafters are welcome. Get sponsors ahead of time, or make a personal donation the day of the event. Mark your calendar for November 19 and meet up in the library of St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Belfast. For more information, phone Sara at 978-325-0045, or email Jillian at jillianliver@gmail.com.

You may recall that we had a call out for yarn and needle donation this summer. Due to the generosity of Maine knitters, a women's group of New Mainers have formed to knit. As many knitters already know, knitting is therapeutic for the body, mind and soul. It also creates a social opportunity for people to connect. Many New Mainers encounter challenges transitioning from danger in their home countries to unfamiliar communities in Maine. Some were avid knitters but needed to leave everything behind and do not have the resources to purchase new supplies.

The Maine Access Immigrant Network ( MAIN) is coordinating the knitting circle using donated yarn and needles. They are also distributing supplies to women who are not quite ready to join a group. Currently some of the items created will be brought to Greece and given to refugees living in camps who will soon be experiencing cold weather in dire living situations. Thank you to all those who donated!

Coastal Quilters will hold its 2016 biennial auction with Georges Valley Quilters on Saturday, November 12, at the Camden Lions Club on Lions Lane. The doors open and the preview begins at 9:30 am. A 10 am meeting will be followed by the live auction at 10:30 am. A silent auction will continue during the entire meeting, which will end around noon. There will be breaks for refreshments.

Auction items, made and/or donated by members of the two chapters, will be of particular interest to quilters and other stitchers, although everyone will be sure to find beautiful handmade gifts for the upcoming holiday season.

As always, everyone is welcome and the meeting is free. The auction proceeds will benefit the two Pine Tree Quilters' Guild chapters. Coastal Quilters' proceeds go toward paying for programming for the next two years, so please "bid high and bid often"! Cash and checks will be accepted; no credit cards.

On Sunday, November 13, at 1 pm, join A Wrinkle in Thyme Farm in Sumner, Maine, for a wild afternoon, learning about the only Cashmere Center in the world dedicated to the nomads of India's High Himalayas.

Wild Fibers editor and publisher Linda Cortright will give a presentation on the Cashmere Center she built in Pangong, India (altitude 14,500 feet), dedicated to helping the women create value-added to the cashmere that is harvested from their goats.

Now entering its second year of operation, the Center helps more than 80 women spin, weave and knit cashmere from the comfort of a passive solar-heated building made of rammed earth. In 2017, a special team of volunteers will spend one week working at the Center to help the women and their families.
 
All donations are tax deductible and will benefit the 2017 training program. Bring your knitting if you like. Please RSVP by November 1 by email: info@awrinkleinthymefarm.com, or by phone: 207-212-4058.

On Tuesday, November 1, at 6:30 pm at the Belfast Free Library's Abbott Room, Maine author Debra Spark will speak about and read from her new novel, Unknown Caller.

Debra Spark's fourth novel tells the story of a brief, failed marriage and its complicated aftermath. Leaping effortlessly across decades and continents, it works to uncover the reasons for Idzia and Liesel's disappearance and the deeper puzzle of Liesel's identity. Spark's candid, intricate novel highlights the near-impossibility of truly knowing another person, the pain in failing relationships, and the joy in successful ones.

Debra Spark is a professor at Colby College and teaches in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She lives with her husband and son in North Yarmouth, Maine.

For more information, phone the Belfast Free Library at 207-338-3384 ext. 10, or visit Library Programs or November Events.

The Women of St. Margaret's are hosting their annual Harvest Tea and Bake Sale on November 5 from 11 am-2 pm. The tea is a full-blown English Tea comprising cucumber sandwiches, scone with clotted cream and home-made jam, tangy lemon cake, and one of Lytle's cookies, all served with a pot of freshly brewed tea. There are tables laden with fresh baked goods ranging from pies to bread to cookies and bars, and maybe some relishes or jams. The Refurbished Jewelry Boutique is the ideal place to purchase gifts at an almost give-away price. The Silent Auction will offer a variety of items, and there will be a table with Holiday Cookbooks -- just in time for the upcoming festive seasons.

Bring a friend, your mother, your daughter or granddaughter and browse the tables before enjoying a relaxing tea. Cost of the tea is $10 for adults and $5 for children, and all funds raised will be divided between H.O.M.E. in Orland and Broadreach Community and Family Services.

All of the above takes place in St. Margaret's Parish Hall at 95 Court St., in Belfast.

Join Belfast Flying Shoes on Friday, November 4, for an evening of contra dancing at American Legion Post #43, 143 Church St. in Belfast. The evening begins at 6:30 pm with a community dance called by Chrissy Fowler. The contra dance begins at 8 pm and runs till around 11 pm.

This month's caller is Syracuse, N.Y.-based David Smukler. Active on the dance circuit in the Northeast for over thirty years, David is also a traditional-dance scholar and writer, and a prolific creator of new dances.

This month's band joins Dave Langford, Glen Loper and Bethany Waickman, in a trio too new to even have a name. Fiddler extraordinaire, guitarist and teacher Dave Langford is best known as a member of the Latter Day Lizards. Mandolinist and tenor banjo player Glen Loper picks also with Frigate, Steampacket and Riptide, among other bands. Bethany Waickman is the rhythm section of the dance trio Anadama, but her clean, driving DADGAD guitar has also backed such luminaries as fiddlers Lissa Schneckenburger and Rodney Miller and accordionist Jeremiah McLane.

Sound by Eric Weest Johnson.

This month's dance features the annual Lost-and-Found Auction. All proceeds will be donated to Waterfall Arts, in Belfast.

For more information, phone 207-338-0979, email belfastflyingshoes@gmail.com, visit Belfast Flying Shoes or find them on Facebook.

A free rabies clinic is scheduled for Saturday, November 5, at the Liberty Community Center from 9-11 am. Dr. Jocelyn Burke of Little River Veterinary Hospital will administer the shots.
 
On December 10, a rabies clinic will be held at the Lincolnville Fire Station, Camden Road, Lincolnville, from 9-11 am. Dr. Sarah Caputo of Belfast Veterinary Hospital will administer the shots.
 
Rabies shots are free to animal owners residing in Waldo County. Pets from other counties are welcome to come for shots for a small fee. Donations will be gratefully accepted. Please bring all animals on leashes or in portable pet carries. It is also important to bring proof of a previous rabies shot so your pet can receive a three-year rabies certificate.
 
In addition to the rabies shot, coupon discounts toward the cost of having pets spayed or neutered will be available. For information about the clinics, phone the Waldo County Humane Society at 207-852-5033, or find them on Facebook.

The fourth annual Glow Show takes place at Waterfall Arts on Saturday, November 12 from 6 to 10 pm. This All Ages Art Happening (AAAH) is inspired by holidays around the world that "light the darkness" of late autumn, and by the illuminated artwork of the organizer, Bridget Matros.

The Bridge Studio on the first floor will feature a magical gallery of work by Matros and her students, as well as the many super-fun light-up toys from years past, the Wall of Lite Brites being a favorite. Downstairs, the Fallout Shelter will be exclusively lit by black lights, and there will be a dance floor, a Neon Fashion Show and a Glowtography Booth. There will be Glow Show souvenirs for sale in addition to the refreshments, and fun prizes will be given away at random.

Tickets at the door are $5, $3 for kids under 12. Recommended for ages 6 and up, parental supervision required.

Waterfall Arts is located at 256 High St. in Belfast. To learn more about AAAH events, classes, exhibitions and studio rentals, visit Waterfall Arts or find them on Facebook.

The Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition ( BBWC) offers the following community events in November:

Sunday, November 13, 10 am-1 pm: Hike the new trail at Mainstream Preserve (Coastal Mountains Land Trust) in Stockton and Prospect.
Meet at 10 am at the Irving Station, Rte. 1 in Searsport, to carpool to the trailhead. Bring water, lunch, warm layers and rain gear. Wear sturdy boots and orange clothing.

Thursday, November 17, 6:30 pm, Belfast Free Library: A Journey inside the Maine Woods National Park. Experience an extraordinary journey to one of the last great, unprotected wilderness areas within the U.S., the proposed 3.2 million-acre Maine Woods National Park. The award-winning professional photography team of Lee Ann Szelog and Thomas Mark Szelog will personally guide you into the proposed park to experience and learn more about this fragile, priceless ecosystem.

Wednesday, November 30, 6-8 pm, Belfast Free Library: The Nature Principle book discussion group. The community is invited to discuss our next book club selection, The Nature Principle, by Richard Louv. The immediacy of Louv's message in his earlier book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, galvanized an international movement to reconnect children with nature. Now, in The Nature Principle, Louv reaches even further with a powerful call to action for the rest of us.

The BBWC is a Belfast-based, member-driven nonprofit which supports conservation and stewardship of natural and public resources of the Belfast Bay watershed through research, community building, and education. Their programs and field trips are free and open to all. The Belfast Bay watershed consists of the Goose River, Little River, Passagassawakeag River and Wescot Stream watersheds totaling 69,656 acres and 108.8 square miles.

At the Belfast Dance Studio, during the month of November, two people can come for the price of one to any of these three dance classes:

Hip Hop Fusion Level 3 (teens) with Shana Bloomstein, Mondays 5-6 p.m. $10.

Hip Hop for Teens (ages 12 and up) with Jenny Cobuzzi, Thursdays 4-5 pm. $10.

Tap for Adults and Teens (ages 12 and up) with Jenny Cobuzzi, Thursdays 5-6 pm. $10.

Bring a friend and come bounce, rock and groove. For more information, phone 207-338-5380 or visit Belfast Dance Studio.