The In the Mean Time Two cowl is one of those easy patterns that looks more complicated than it is (you know how much we love those!). It's deceptively simple, and when knit with a subtly shifting gradient yarn, like Huenique from Ella Rae, it's very eye-catching.

The free Ravelry pattern consists of an easy four-row repeat, two of which are just knitting! Bulky weight yarn and size 11 needles mean this project will work up quickly. All you need is one ball of Huenique, and a solid color to set off the stitches.

Like the In the Meantime Cowl, we knit the Hanasaku Cowl as a double wrap cowl. And like the In the Meantime Cowl, this pattern is super easy; you knit every other stitch and slip the stitch in between. We recommend knitting it while at a meeting, visiting with friends or watching a movie - it's that simple - but with potentially dramatic results! We used one skein of Universal Yarns' Bamboo Bloom ($10.50) and one skein of their Classic Shades Frenzy ($8.50), and a #13 32-inch needle. Our double wrap cowl measures 52 inches wide and 9½ inches high. However, the instructions give you the option of a single wrap too.

This pattern is free here at the shop with the purchase of this yarn. (If you wish to make it with another yarn you will have to purchase it on Ravelry.) We like the yarns because they are a wool blend and not itchy at all, with interesting colorways and texture. Come in and see!

If you would like to read about Maine artisans and farmers producing yarn and items supporting the fiber industry in Maine, you may want to read the short blog posts on Fiber of Maine's website. We post about once a month as we travel the state looking for unique yarns to send to our subscribers and offer for sale on our website.

If you don't want to miss reading about places you may want to visit as well, sign up for our free newsletter. (You will need to scroll to the bottom of the linked page to sign up.) We try to remember to post our blog on Facebook, but the newsletter is a sure way to know about any new posts.

Thank you to everyone that donated with the first donation drive asking for donations of yarn and needles for refugees. There was an overwhelming response of donations and compassion. Approximately 1,000 skeins of yarn and 125 sets of needles were donated. Half of the donations stayed here in Maine and were distributed to local organizations supporting refugee resettlement in our communities. The other half of the donation traveled to Greece and was given to two refugee camps outside of Athens. The women expressed tremendous gratitude for the support and kindness.

Knitting provides mental, emotional and social well-being, and the refugee community (in Maine and in refugee camps across the world) experience significant challenges achieving well-being. Supplies have dwindled in Maine and in the camps. Winter will soon be approaching and the women would like to knit things needed to stay warm for themselves, family and friends. So this is a call for donations.

Need to empty out that supply of yarn and needles? Found some old materials you don't need? To donate, contact Jennifer Gunderman-King at [email protected] or 207-505-1452. If you would like to purchase materials and have it shipped, the mailing address is: Jennifer Gunderman-King, University of New England, Public Health Program, 11 Hills Beach Rd., Biddeford, ME 04005. Jennifer can also pick up materials from Belfast to bring them to Biddeford. (Heavenly Socks Yarns can be a dropoff point.)

The proposed border wall between the United States and Mexico is almost 2,000 miles long. Imagine if the massive distance of this wall was re-conceptualized and re-contextualized not to divide, but to include. Instead of a wall, a concrete line, to keep people out, what if lines of yarn became 3,500,640 yards of blankets to welcome people in?

A welcome blanket is traditionally created to lovingly mark the arrival of a new person into the world. In the Welcome Blanket project, each handmade blanket is a physical manifestation of this celebration of new refugees and other immigrants: "Welcome to the United States and your new life here! We are so glad you have arrived."

Make a blanket and share your story as a gift to a new immigrant to the United States. If a 40-by-40-inch throw blanket averages 1,200 yards, Welcome Blanket requires about 3,200 blankets to reach 2,000 miles of length.

The blankets you make, along with your enclosed notes, will be displayed together in an inaugural show at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago through December 17. After the show's close, the blanket packages will be distributed to refugees and other immigrants through resettlement organizations.

For more information, visit Welcome Blanket.

On Saturday, August 12, from 9 am to 3:30 pm, the New England Needle Festival will take place at the United Christian Church, 18 Searsmont Rd., Lincolnville Center, Me.

Spend the day at the Festival with fellow artisans. Shop the vendors: needlepoint canvases, rug hooking wool, stitching accessories. Visit with your friends over a day of stitching. Water, coffee and tea provided all day. Door prizes. Featuring rug hooker and McGowan-certified teacher Stacey Van Dyne, giving a talk on Color In Our Lives.

Registration fee: $15. Registration on the day (if available): $20. Shop the vendors only: $5 donation to the Lincolnville Community Building Fund (available after 10 am).

For more information, visit Needle Festival, email [email protected] or phone 207-930-9860.

Fiber College 2017 will take place on September 6-10. Fiber College has grown over the past twelve years in so many ways. As in years past, there are fifty classes in knitting and spinning, quilting and woodworking. For details, click Workshops and Booths.

This fall, the biggest change in the schedule will happen on Friday, September 8. Entrance is free to everyone and Friday is Market Day. Set up a $10 table and sell what you create. Offer a lot, offer just a little, but enjoy the day connecting with friends, family and other makers. Celebrate products, music and art produced in the studios, kitchens and farms of New England. The hours will be noon-8 pm, followed by live music and stories with Hawk Henries.

Shopping is fun, but as always, the Fiber College focus continues to be on education. This year the planners have assembled dozens of wonderful teachers who will offer short sessions Friday through Sunday that require no pre-registration. They're called Rolling Classes and already there are workshops in spinning, felting, jewelry making, knitting, fabric painting and dyeing, nature printing and plasma cutting. (What's plasma cutting? It's sheet metal cut with a torch. Imagine creating your own signs or fiber art armature with spinning plasma energy -- let the sparks fly!)

Rolling classes are $20/hour plus a nominal materials fee. Sign up when you get there. Your Saturday/Sunday gate fee ($8) will be applied to your first hour of rolling classes. The classes will be different each day; you can stay posted at Fiber College or find them on Facebook.

Fiber College is an event created by the volunteers of the Makers Guild of Maine, hosted at Searsport Shores Ocean Campground on Route 1 in Searsport.

In knitter Michele Thornley's words:
I first heard about Knitted Knockers on Facebook. I made my first few for my mom, who had a mastectomy two years ago. She found that the standard prostheses were very uncomfortable. She finds the Knitted Knockers to be much more comfortable. Because of how much she likes these I decided I would like to make and donate the Knockers to local hospitals to be given away to women in need. I have a group within the Knitted Knockers organization called Mid Coast/Central Maine Knockers. If anyone would like to donate or help me make some of these knitted or crocheted Knockers, I would be very glad to make sure they get distributed to local hospitals. By visiting Knitted Knockers, you will find free patterns and also information on how to contact me.

Writer/historian Richard Rubin will present an illustrated talk on America's role in World War One, and its crucial involvement in securing the peace, in a special program marking the 100th anniversary of the War on Tuesday, August 1 at 6:30 pm at the Belfast Free Library. The event is free and open to all.

Rubin is best known as the author of The Last of the Doughboys, acclaimed interviews with the last surviving veterans of the War. His talk will be based on his newest book, Back Over There: One American Time-Traveler, 100 Years Since the Great War, 500 Miles of Battle-Scarred French Countryside.

Maine connections in the book include the war journals of Mechanic Ralph Moan of Eastport; chiseled carvings, in an underground chalk mine, by Allie Ardine of South Brewer; a memorial to 18-year-old John Elliott of Bangor, just visible in blue ink deep inside a mine; and in Sipayik, Maine, the grave of Moses Neptune, son of a Passamaquoddy Indian chief, who was killed on November 10, 1918, just 24 hours before the War was ended.

For more information on Tuesday's program, phone the Belfast Library at 207-338-3884, ext. 10, or Left Bank Books at 207-338-9009.

Please join Betts Gallery at an opening reception on Friday, August 4, 5:30-8 pm, for their late summer show entitled Comfort Zone. The show features paintings by two expressive midcoast artists, Kathleen Mack and Carol Sloane. Mack divides her time between Round Pond, Maine and Italy, and Sloane between Washington, Maine and Nova Scotia. In Mack's oil and wax paintings, she explores the idea of wanderers, "living on the edge" in search of a comfortable place, while Sloane's oil paintings explore the mutual affection and devotional relationship between people and their pets.

The show runs from August 4 through September 2. The Belfast Framer and Betts Gallery are located at 96 Main St., Belfast, and also may be entered on Beaver Street. For more information, phone 207-338-6465 or visit The Belfast Framer.

Join Belfast Flying Shoes on Friday, August 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.

This month's caller is Steve Zakon-Anderson. A skilled and seasoned caller, Steve is organizer of the monthly Peterborough, N.H., dance, as well as the special annual dances in Peterborough: the Fall Ball, Snow Ball, and Play Ball.

Sharing the Flying Shoes stage with Steve will be Polaris: Marta Bartholomew, fiddle; Rose Jackson, fiddle; Sam Zakon-Anderson, piano; and Jesse Ball, accordion, guitar, hammer dulcimer and foot percussion. A quartet of talented young musicians raised in the rich traditional music scene of Vermont and Western Massachusetts who founded their band in 2015, Polaris has already wowed dancers in such respected venues as the Guiding Star Grange in Greenfield, Mass., and the Concord Scout House in Concord, Mass.

Sound by Glen Loper.

For more information, phone 207-338-0979, email [email protected], visit Belfast Flying Shoes or find them on Facebook.

Our Town Belfast will host the ninth annual Belfast Street Party Monday, August 7 from 5-10:30 pm. There is no admission fee for this outdoors street event, held on High and Church streets, from Main Street to the American Legion Hall in downtown Belfast. There will be music, dancing, performances, bounce houses, carnival rides, food and beverages for purchase, kids' area with face painting, and much more.

In addition to live acts from Don Nickerson and Country Mist, and Middleground, DJs Erik Klausmeyer and Z Lite will keep the dance party going through the night.

Tickets will be sold for activities like the climbing wall, bucking bronco and trackless train. Wristbands are available for unlimited use of the bounce houses and rat race in the brand new children's area on Church Street, and a $20 wristband buys access to the entire slate of rides and games. The new-in-2015 Church Street area, dedicated for kid-specific fun, will feature DJ Z Lite spinning tunes and keeping the younger crowd going.

In addition to music and rides, attendees can look forward to great food from dozens of local vendors, tons of activities for kids and adults, games, and giveaways by local businesses and nonprofits, as well as an adult beverage area hosted by Darby's Restaurant.

For more information, visit Our Town Belfast, phone 207-218-1158 or find them on Facebook.

On Tuesday, August 8 at 6:30 pm join Derek Lovitch, the author of the new book Birdwatching in Maine: A Site Guide for a free, illustrated talk at the Belfast Free Library.

With nearly 450 species of birds recorded, Maine offers an abundance of birding opportunities for people of all levels of interest and experience. Birdwatching in Maine fills an important niche for the birdwatching community by offering comprehensive entries detailing the best locations for finding birds throughout the state. It contains descriptions of 201 birding sites in Maine, with explicit directions on how to get there.

Derek J. Lovitch, author of How to Be a Better Birder, has written for birding magazines and also guides birders throughout Maine. He and his wife, Jeannette, own and operate Freeport Wild Bird Supply.

For more information, phone the Library at 207-338-3884 ext. 10.

The tenth annual Harbor Fest, presented by the Belfast Rotary Club, will take place from August 18-20 in Belfast's Steamboat Landing and Heritage Park.

Friday, August 18: Rotary Charity Gala to support Waldo County Woodshed: live art auction, silent auction with food from local restaurants, full bar and music from Miner's Creek.

Saturday, August 19: National Boat Building Challenge, Bug Run/Walk 5K, blueberry pancake breakfast, Classic Small Boat Show, Come Boating! regatta, tours of Front Street Shipyard, music, food, kid's activities, beer garden, Frogtown Puppeteers presentation, BBQ dinner and music by People of Earth.

Sunday, August 20: Cardboard Boat Races, Habitat for Humanity, Lobster Gala, Juke Rockets Blues band, Come Boating! rows.

For more information, visit Belfast Harbor Fest.

Join the Belfast Art Walks every fourth Friday, 5:30-8 pm, in August, September and December. Venues include:

Belfast Bay Shade Company
Belfast Clay Studio
Betts Gallery at the Belfast Framer
Evolve: Sanctuary for the Soul
Finch Gallery (through August only)
Front Street Pottery
Kris Engman's Studio
Lewis Cisle's Studio
Maine Farmland Trust Gallery
Parent Gallery
Randall Jason Irvin Studio
Small Space
Studio 153
Treasured Leaf Tea Company
Waterfall Arts

Explore imaginative art galleries that brighten up downtown, featuring both local and nationally recognized artists. Follow the sound of music, where on any corner a fiddler, crooner or cool jazz soloist will entertain, or across the way a lively dancer will leap and whirl, a persuasive poet will wax eloquent, and perhaps a mime can charm you with silent illusion. And look for the Farm to Gallery food tastings during the August Art Walk. Participating galleries will offer a variety of local foods -- fresh vegetables, cheeses, meats, baked goods and even chocolate -- harvested or produced by farmers and makers who call Waldo County home. The tastings are free to attendees and open to all.

For more information about Art Walks, email [email protected].