(For the record, I think I actually did sign up for a Twitter account one time, used it for a day and never went back. I did Plurk (a Twitter-esque application) for a while, but I quit because I didn't get it. The main reason to Plurk was to raise your Plurk karma and get rewards for doing so...but if you didn't Plurk in the first place, you really didn't know you were missing the karmic rewards, right? Uh huh. I mean, the dancing bananas were fun, but really? There are so many better ways to spend my time. Twitter? Sorry...I'm just not going back there.)
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy projects...
I finished Emma's DIC Shrug today...
Dream in Color Shrug. Yarn: Elenya (merino/alpaca blend) from Three Irish Girls; colorway Aiden.
The only changes I made to the pattern were that I did only about 2" of ribbing for the cuffs instead of the folded cuffs the pattern called for, and I only did eight pattern repeats instead of nine, which was a good thing because my daughter just isn't that broad. I probably could have even done only seven and it would have fit, because it stretched lengthwise more than I expected when I blocked it. It's a little roomier than need be under at the armpits in the back, but not so much that she can't wear it. Besides, she's a growing girl, so hopefully it will just fit her a little longer!
Anyway, this was a really nice pattern, very easily memorized and a very quick knit. And as I gushed in my last post, this yarn is wonderful and the colorway is nothing short of amazing.
With the shrug done, I've started another project...here are my pretty BamHuey skeins all wound into balls (I love how I ended up with successively smaller amounts each time I plied. I seriously need to invest in a jumbo flyer for plying.)
The picture does NOT do justice to the color of this yarn. As I was winding the balls last night, I was struck by how the fiber was so soft it felt like the silk on corn-on-the-cob when you're shucking it. And then I realized that the color of the yarn also resembles the color of the kernels on young, tender sweet corn cobs. However, Cheryl's colorway name of "Sun Beams" is much nicer than "Sweet Corn Kernels," don't ya think? LOL There is probably a reason no one has ever hired me to name colorways for their yarn company.
(Funny story...when I worked at the yarn shop, I had a penchant for describing yarn colors in the oddest ways, which people found amusing. One that sticks in my mind was the day a customer came in looking for a specific reddish-orangish color. I looked around and found one I thought was close to what she wanted, handed it to her and said, "Like this spawning-male salmon color?" Yeah. Can't figure out why no one has ever named their yarn "Spawning Male Salmon." Heh.)
Ahem...ok...moving on. After winding those balls, I could not stop myself from casting on for the Caricia shawl that it is to become...
These are the first twelve rows, which make up Chart A of this pattern. So far, so good. Seems like a pretty easy pattern. It is a lace knitting pattern (all of the WS rows are purled, except for the left and right edges), as opposed to a knitted lace pattern (in which there are knits, purls, YOs, etc. on both RS and WS...learned that distinction in Anne's lace class at Spring Fling). This level of lace knitting is comfortable for me right now. Eventually I will move up the difficulty ladder to knitted lace, but for now, semi-mindless lace knitting works for me. (Does it seem wrong to use the words "mindless" and "lace" in the same sentence? Yes. Yes it does. Hope karma doesn't bite me in the butt on that one.)
Lastly, I have now received all 18 squares for my afghan swap afghan!
I started this swap last July with a Rav group I'm in. It was originally for 12 squares (11 from other people, one for yourself). Then some of us wanted to do an extended swap so we'd have a total of 20 squares, which meant doing 7 more for other people and one more for ourselves. Got my last one in the mail yesterday. I waited to do my own squares until I had all other 18 so I'd know what colors I might need to add to bring it together.
Some people had very narrow color schemes for their afghans. Me? Not so much, as you can you tell. LOL I really wanted this to be a free form kind of project, and it definitely is that! I need to make myself one solid square (which I think will be orange, to play off the orange in the entrelac square) and one multi-colored (which I think will need to have some pink in it, also to pick up the pink in the entrelac square).
My plan for putting it together is to pick up and knit garter border strips between each square row-wise, and then put the rows together with garter borders (these border strips should help even out some of the sizes, as they didn't all end up exactly 12" x 12"...it can be kind of a challenge to knit an exact-sized square, though blocking is helpful), then finish it with a wide border all around. The process is much like how I understand piecing a lap quilt (not that I've ever finished a lap quilt...started, yes. Finished? :::sigh:::). I plan to do each of the individual border strips in different colors (which should be a great stash-busting exercise!), thus I should end up with a very cool, crazy afghan! Cannot wait to see how it comes out.
But before I work on my last pieces and putting it together, I need to finish my last square to send out. Should have that done in a day or two. In fact, I think I'll go work on it now!
Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! :)
Dream in Color Shrug. Yarn: Elenya (merino/alpaca blend) from Three Irish Girls; colorway Aiden.
The only changes I made to the pattern were that I did only about 2" of ribbing for the cuffs instead of the folded cuffs the pattern called for, and I only did eight pattern repeats instead of nine, which was a good thing because my daughter just isn't that broad. I probably could have even done only seven and it would have fit, because it stretched lengthwise more than I expected when I blocked it. It's a little roomier than need be under at the armpits in the back, but not so much that she can't wear it. Besides, she's a growing girl, so hopefully it will just fit her a little longer!
Anyway, this was a really nice pattern, very easily memorized and a very quick knit. And as I gushed in my last post, this yarn is wonderful and the colorway is nothing short of amazing.
With the shrug done, I've started another project...here are my pretty BamHuey skeins all wound into balls (I love how I ended up with successively smaller amounts each time I plied. I seriously need to invest in a jumbo flyer for plying.)
The picture does NOT do justice to the color of this yarn. As I was winding the balls last night, I was struck by how the fiber was so soft it felt like the silk on corn-on-the-cob when you're shucking it. And then I realized that the color of the yarn also resembles the color of the kernels on young, tender sweet corn cobs. However, Cheryl's colorway name of "Sun Beams" is much nicer than "Sweet Corn Kernels," don't ya think? LOL There is probably a reason no one has ever hired me to name colorways for their yarn company.
(Funny story...when I worked at the yarn shop, I had a penchant for describing yarn colors in the oddest ways, which people found amusing. One that sticks in my mind was the day a customer came in looking for a specific reddish-orangish color. I looked around and found one I thought was close to what she wanted, handed it to her and said, "Like this spawning-male salmon color?" Yeah. Can't figure out why no one has ever named their yarn "Spawning Male Salmon." Heh.)
Ahem...ok...moving on. After winding those balls, I could not stop myself from casting on for the Caricia shawl that it is to become...
These are the first twelve rows, which make up Chart A of this pattern. So far, so good. Seems like a pretty easy pattern. It is a lace knitting pattern (all of the WS rows are purled, except for the left and right edges), as opposed to a knitted lace pattern (in which there are knits, purls, YOs, etc. on both RS and WS...learned that distinction in Anne's lace class at Spring Fling). This level of lace knitting is comfortable for me right now. Eventually I will move up the difficulty ladder to knitted lace, but for now, semi-mindless lace knitting works for me. (Does it seem wrong to use the words "mindless" and "lace" in the same sentence? Yes. Yes it does. Hope karma doesn't bite me in the butt on that one.)
Lastly, I have now received all 18 squares for my afghan swap afghan!
I started this swap last July with a Rav group I'm in. It was originally for 12 squares (11 from other people, one for yourself). Then some of us wanted to do an extended swap so we'd have a total of 20 squares, which meant doing 7 more for other people and one more for ourselves. Got my last one in the mail yesterday. I waited to do my own squares until I had all other 18 so I'd know what colors I might need to add to bring it together.
Some people had very narrow color schemes for their afghans. Me? Not so much, as you can you tell. LOL I really wanted this to be a free form kind of project, and it definitely is that! I need to make myself one solid square (which I think will be orange, to play off the orange in the entrelac square) and one multi-colored (which I think will need to have some pink in it, also to pick up the pink in the entrelac square).
My plan for putting it together is to pick up and knit garter border strips between each square row-wise, and then put the rows together with garter borders (these border strips should help even out some of the sizes, as they didn't all end up exactly 12" x 12"...it can be kind of a challenge to knit an exact-sized square, though blocking is helpful), then finish it with a wide border all around. The process is much like how I understand piecing a lap quilt (not that I've ever finished a lap quilt...started, yes. Finished? :::sigh:::). I plan to do each of the individual border strips in different colors (which should be a great stash-busting exercise!), thus I should end up with a very cool, crazy afghan! Cannot wait to see how it comes out.
But before I work on my last pieces and putting it together, I need to finish my last square to send out. Should have that done in a day or two. In fact, I think I'll go work on it now!
Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! :)
Friday, May 8, 2009
Stash enhancement run-down...
So, between the Spring Fling a couple weekends ago, Maryland Sheep & Wool last weekend, and some other fiber procurement opportunities (that makes it sound so much better than "buying more stuff"), my yarn and fiber stashes have been appreciably enhanced.
Wanna see?
Of course you do!
So, sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful -- oh, wait...never mind. You won't really hear anything. This is an audio-free blog. But I've got pictures! Oh yes I do! I've got pictures, how 'bout YOU?! (I'm sorry...truly I am...it's late, and I'm a little punchy.) I've also included all of the specifics of each item, but feel free to just peruse the pictures if you aren't interested in that!
Here we go...first, the yarn...
Top left: Yarn from Spring Fling -- Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 (colorway was Moss, I think...it's not marked on the tag); Araucania Itata, superwash wool, silk and bamboo (color 1003); Sockittome yarn from Ancient Threads Farm, superwash merino/nylon (colors cochineal, lac, black walnut); Shaefer Nichole, superwash/nylon (this was in our goodie bags, and I don't see a colorway listed on the tag...it's a pretty blue/gray, though).
Top right: some handspun of mine from some YarnLove roving, more of which is pictured below.
Bottom left: Yarn from a Loopy Ewe order I placed the freakin' day after I got home from Spring Fling...I KNOW! Insane, right? Three skeins of Enchanted Knoll Farm yarn, all superwash merino, two sport weight (colorways Red Dirt Girl and Cleopatra) and one fingering weight (colorway Tia Dalma...this one is also nylon reinforced). But see, there was a good reason for this order. I got to meet Josette, the dyer behind EKF, at the Fling...in fact I had breakfast with her Sunday before we left, and she was lovely! Sweet woman, great sense of humor, really enjoyed getting to meet her, and I really wanted to add some of her yarn to my stash! So there! Good reason, right?
Bottom right: From MS&W, Foot Prints sport weight, superwash merino, from The Unique Sheep (colorway Zombie...how could I pass that up??).
And now for the fiber...
Top Row: From Spring Fling -- Scarlett Fleece Roving (Mexican Sunflower and Raisin Berry colorways...I actually have some of their sock yarn in the Mexican Sunflower colorway, so it will be interesting to see how closely my handspun looks to their yarn...my guess is that it won't look anything alike, LOL); YarnLove roving (Jewels of Autumn and Blue Plate Special colorways -- it is the Jewels of Autumn that made the handspun in the yarn pic above, and I still have the second half of it to go); Alpaca with a Twist Handspinner's Dream Baby Alpaca combed top (moorit colorway...and OH MY GOSH, this stuff is sooooofffftttttt!); From MS&W-- Dragonfly Fibers merino/silk roving (Starry Night...and I just realized I bought a skein of her yarn back at the Homespun Yarn Party in March!).
Bottom Row: Cloverleaf Farms Merino (sunflower); also Cloverleaf Farms, wool/silk (Surf -- my word, but this colorway is AMAZING...I cannot wait to spin it and see what happens!); three bags with two ounces each of Icelandic Wool Roving, two from Aboundingful Farm and one from Cedarland Farm. I love that they put the names and pictures of the sheep the wool came from on the tags; an assortment of hand-dyed curly locks...can't remember who I bought them from, but they're kind of fun, and I also bought a set of hand cards at MS&W, so I figure I can comb them and add them to other rovings, just to play.
As you can see (I think), I really wanted to concentrate on roving moreso than yarn, though it is hard to resist the call of a rogue skein here and there, you know?
A couple of other goodies I picked up at MS&W...
Pewter cape clasp from The Rams Horn Studio. They have some crazy amazingly beautiful things in their shop, especially if you love Celtic designs. I could have gone nuts here, but it was early enough in the day that I was still able to exercise restraint.
One of the famous sheepy knitting mugs from Jennie the Potter! I first saw one of these on Amy Singer's Knitty blog (I think?) a while back, so I was really excited to get one of my very own! There is a white sheep on the other side, and the red yarn winds around to a ball with two needles in between the two sheep. Totally cute. She's got all kinds of very cool ceramics. I wish I could have bought more, but again...restraint. :::sigh:::
Oh, and while this is not related to either Fling or the festival, there is also this yarn residing in my stash...
This was my inaugural shipment from the Pick of the Knitter club from Three Irish Girls. Ok, yes, the fact that I've joined a yarn club (my first ever, I will point out) means even MORE yarn will be coming to me, at least for two more months, but honestly, I LOVE 3IG's yarns...Sharon's colorways are indescribably gorgeous. She has a true gift for dying, um, dyeing. Sharon is also the queen of customer service, going above and beyond. I can't say enough nice things about her and her yarn.
I recently started my first project from some of the other yarn I've bought from her. This is the DIC Shrug (Rav link) that I'm making for the girlie out of 3IG Elenya (a merino/alpaca blend) in the Aiden colorway...
I mean...look at these colors! Sometimes I just sit with it on my lap and stare at them. They are so amazing.
And see? Isn't it nice to know that I'm not just stashing yarn, but I'm knitting with it too? Yes. This is key. Otherwise some day I'm going to die and my children are going to inherit a roomful of yarn, which they'll probably box up and give to Goodwill, and then I would seriously have to come back and haunt them. It's just better that I knit my stash whilst I'm still among the living, dontcha think?
More knitting...
This is a Jaywalker sock being knit from some Wollmeise in Miss May. Only it is not really being knit now, because I am stoopid. Gauge, people. Sometimes gauge really does matter. OK, most of the time, gauge really does matter, but I haven't been bitten in the ass by bad gauge karma enough to worry about it all that much. I've been lucky. And I mean, it's a SOCK. I've knit a bunch of socks, and size has rarely been an issue. I use my fingering weight and my US2s and I usually get a nice, wearable sock. In this case, though, I heeded the cry of those who came before me saying how less-than-stretchy the Jaywalker is due to the chevron design, so I measured my foot (in the St. Louis airport, to be exact) and chose to knit the next size up, as I was between sizes, totally disregarding the fact that the pattern called for using US1s, not 2s. Thus, I have the beginning of a sock that would fit an elephant. Yeah. :::sigh::: I am going to frog it and start over with the smaller pattern size and the same needles...I like my 2s. I'm stubborn. (But it looks pretty, doesn't it? That Claudia...she does color well!)
This is seriously the pride and joy of my spinning experience so far. It is just under 900 yards of (almost consistently) fingering weight yarn! I am so psyched about this! It was spun from New Hue Handspun's new BamHuey fiber, a merino/bamboo blend. Cheryl is another amazing dyer, and this colorway just makes me feel warm and happy every time I look at it. The yarn is so incredibly soft, too! I bought the fiber with the intention of spinning yarn to make a pair of Wendy's Sunflower socks, but I had no idea I'd be able to get such yardage from 6 oz. of fiber (I'm still learning about how certain amounts of fiber yeild certain amounts of yarn when spun at various weights), so I've decided instead it is going to become a Caricia shawl instead, since I'm anxious to knit an Anne Hanson shawl now that I've taken her lace class at Fling.
this little stuffed heart took no time at all to make, including the stitching and embroidery. Cute, no? The pattern is from MochiMochi Land. This blog has some of the cutest knitting patterns...cute and quirky, like a knitted resistor for the electronics geek in your life, and the knitted toilet paper, which I think would be too funny as a gag with someone who is really drunk, LOL, and knitted grass! You don't have to mow it! It makes me want to just knit nothing but stuffed silliness for no other reason than the cuteness factor! :}
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Maryland Sheep & Wool
The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival is taking place this weekend at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD. One of my fiber-related goals has been to go to a fiber festival. Rhinebeck is my big fiber festival dream, but Maryland is much closer (three and a half hour drive versus seven hours...day trip versus weekend committment). Having traveled so much lately, I was on the fence about whether or not to go. I set my alarm Friday night and figured I'd just see how the spirit moved me on Saturday morning when it woke me up at too-early-o'clock. As it happened, I was totally in the mood to go, and I'm so glad I did. It was a wonderfully fun day!
Almost exactly three and a half hours after I left the house, I pulled off I-70 and into the big parking field for the fairgrounds...welcome to my first ever fiber festival! Yeay! The forecast had been calling for rain off and on all day, but thankfully it never came (though it had clearly rained before I got there, things were a little muddy in spots), and the temperature was perfect for walking around at this kind of event, not too hot, not too cold.
Some of the many sheep at the festival...check out the dude in the middle. He's got four horns! At first I thought he must be some freaky anomaly of a sheep, then I found out that he is a Jacob sheep, and they can actually have as many as six horns! That's pretty neat! My sheep pictures are a little dim because I turned the flash off...figured it wasn't necessary to blind the poor critters!
I've been going to county fairs and tractor shows for much of my life and I found that, for the most part, a fiber festival is quite similar, just sheep and fiber specific. There were buildings full of sheep in pens, there were sheep judging events and demos for sheep herding and shearing. Just sheep, sheep, sheep! Then on the wool end, there were buildings full of yarn and roving and spinning wheels and looms and myriad other sheep/knitting/weaving/spinning/etc. related items. That included food -- lamb kababs, lamb burgers, lamb cream cones (ok, I made that one up!). I personally enjoyed the best lamb gyro I've ever had. And a funnel cake, which had no lamb in it as far as I could tell.
In addition to sheep, there were a couple of small pens of other fiber-bearing animals, such as...
...goats! Don't they just look like little toys? The kind that you'd see on a wheeled platform that a child could pull by a string? They were adorable! And there were...
...bunnies! Seriously, these three were up for sale, and I was so dang tempted to bring them home. They are Lionhead rabbits and they were just too cute. But I resisted and left them there and brought home some tomato plants instead. LOL (The farm that had the rabbits there, though, is only an hour from my house, so I figure if I really want to pursue the rabbit business, it wouldn't be that hard.)
And then there were these little guys...
...alpacas! Alpaci? Hm...anyway...they just looked soft enough to squeeze, though I did not. I'm not sure if they were for sale, but I'm certain one would not have fit well in my car, so...moot point, eh? LOL
Between looking at the animals and going through the vendor booths, I also got to watch some demonstrations including a sheep dog demo...
...I love watching sheep dogs work. It amazes me how they can be trained to do such a variety of things to get the sheep to do what the shepherd wants. And the dogs don't bark at the sheep, nor did I see them nip at them. It's all in their movement. Pretty amazing. (Have you seen the LED sheep video? That's a pretty cool example of just what a sheep dog can do...and what shepherds with crazy amounts of creativity can accomplish.)
And I also caught part of a sheep shearing demo...
I ran into a friend, Pat, and her husband who live near me, and they have a small flock of sheep. Pat was telling me that this shearer, Kevin Ford, is like THE major sheep shearing guy in the business. (Maybe like Tiger Woods to golf, or Dale Earnhardt to racing, this guy is to sheep-shearing.) He hand shears, using hand blades instead of electric equipment (which makes me wonder if that is how we got the word "shears" when referring to certain scissors?). He sure moved smoothly and had control of that sheep. It was pretty interesting to watch.
Another fun aspect of the day was the people. Honestly, for going to something alone, I was surprised by how many people I ran into that I knew. In addition to my friend Pat, I ran into Deb (who I've known for years through an online writer's group we were both part of, and we recently reconnected on Facebook), and I ran into a few people who'd been at the Spring Fling last weekend -- Lou, Carrie and Lyn. Also from Spring Fling, I ran into Anne Hanson, who not only remembered me but gave me a hug and introduced me to her husband David. I believe David is kind of a celebrity in his own right due to being featured in a lot of Anne's knitting photos on her blog, so it was fun to get meet him.
I also got to say hi to Sharon from Three Irish Girls...Cloverhill Yarn Shop had some of her yarn at their booth and she was there when I first got there. Her yarn was going fast, but I managed to scoop up a skein of superwash merino in her Maureen colorway, which will be perfect for my last afghan swap square I need to make.
Ravelry had a meet-up at noon at the Rabbit Building, and while I hoped to run into a couple other people who I knew were going to be there, I instead ran into Lolly. She looks exactly like her pictures on her blog, and I had one of those weird moments when you see someone whose face you've seen a lot but then you realize you don't actually know them nor they you. It's good to remember that before you have the impulse to run up to them and give them a hug. LOL As it was, I just introduced myself and told her how much I enjoy her blog and then I let her return to her group of friends that I'd kind of butted into. :}
I also was excited to get to see Laura Chau (cosmicpluto) and Ysolda, and was the total groupie with them and asked to take their picture...
...aren't they just the cutest? And just when I thought I wasn't going to get to meet her, I finally found Amy Singer -- yes, THE Amy Singer of Knitty! -- at Jennie the Potter's booth...
...she was just so nice! She gave me one of her new little Knitty shwag buttons and we chatted a bit about the drop spindle I bought from one of her destashes one time, and how I might have more success with it since I still feel woefully inadequate as a drop spindler.
There was also music to enjoy throughout the day. This group, at the actual music tent, was wonderful...
...I assume they are a family, as the kids looked very much alike. They played wonderful bluegrass music, and of the three seated kids, the girl on the left with the guitar and the boy on the right with the fiddle sang, and they had the most wonderful harmony. I am also so in awe (and just a little jealous! LOL) of people with this kind of talent.
Then, not at the designated music tent but hanging out by a big propane tank between two buildings, there was this group of guys...
...I have no idea if they are an actual group of if they are just a bunch of guys who are friends and like to play music (I kind of think they were the latter), but oh my, they could play! More bluegrass, which was fun (I don't so much like much country music, but I do enjoy bluegrass, especially the instrumental variety). One of them would suggest a song and start playing it and then the rest would start joining in. What was especially fun was watching the little kids who would come by with their parents...I love watching children react to music. They usually do either one of two things: they stand and watch with very serious expressions on their faces, intent on watching what the fingers of the musicians are doing to the instruments to make them play, or else they dance...they just let themselves feel the music and move their legs and bodies and heads in time to the tune, totally oblivious to anyone else around. I saw both reactions yesterday, and it was just joyful to watch.
Lastly, of all the people I saw yesterday, this guy was one of the most interesting, for a variety of reasons...
...this is the Kilt Guy. (I have his business card somewhere with his real name...will have to add that later.) He was standing outside one of the vendor buildings, and I saw him at a distance and noticed the kilt (hard to miss, as this was not really a kilt-wearing crowd, unlike some Celtic music events I've been to where kilts are de rigeur). Then I noticed the fabric of the kilt, so I went up to him and asked, "Is that leather??" (and my brain was also saying, "Yowza!") and he said it was. And I said, "That is just so cool! I've never seen a leather kilt!" (and my brain was saying, "Dude, you are totally hot!") And he then went on to explain that he makes these kilts and unlike some other leather kilts that are on the market and are of a heavier, biker-type leather, his are made from a lighter, softer leather...and he was fingering the flap of the kilt to demonstrate the softness. I did not ask if I could feel his flap (my brain was alert enough to know that a) that might be an invasion of personal space and b) I might give in to the temptation to pull that flap back and see what men REALLY wear under their kilts! AHAHAHahaha...ahem...sorry...I'm 12, ok?), though I imagine he may well have been fine with that. He did turn around to show me the kilt's lace-up feature in the back, which made it adjustable for a comfortable fit (and my brain just kind of melted at that point...besides looking good in the kilt, the guy has amazingly beautiful butt-long hair...oh my...). Managing not to make an ass out of myself, I did ask if I could take his picture (though I did not ask if I could have my picture taken WITH him, which just seemed like it might be a tad inappropriate, LOL). He was quite kind and seemed happy for me to take his picture. I hope he has good luck with his leather kilt-making business, because he was so hot very nice.*
Ok...so, um...what was I talking about? Oh yeah...sheep, and fiber...um...and yes, yarny things. I did make several purchases, but I think I'll save that part of the recap for another day since this post is so long already. And I need to go fan myself for a bit. Leather is so...hot... ;)
*Ok...really apropos of nothing else in this post, my kilt guy thoughts are totally reminding me of The Pink Panter movie, where Steve Martin is Inspector Clouseau and he and his sidekick Ponton are supposed to be interviewing the singer, Xanya, about the murder of her boyfriend and seemingly simultaneous disappearance of the Pink Panther diamond. Ponton keeps asking Xania these normal, police-like questions when Martin's character finally says (in his crazy French accent), "Zstop brow-beating ere! Can't you zee zshe'z SEXY??" Just cracks me up. :}
Almost exactly three and a half hours after I left the house, I pulled off I-70 and into the big parking field for the fairgrounds...welcome to my first ever fiber festival! Yeay! The forecast had been calling for rain off and on all day, but thankfully it never came (though it had clearly rained before I got there, things were a little muddy in spots), and the temperature was perfect for walking around at this kind of event, not too hot, not too cold.
Some of the many sheep at the festival...check out the dude in the middle. He's got four horns! At first I thought he must be some freaky anomaly of a sheep, then I found out that he is a Jacob sheep, and they can actually have as many as six horns! That's pretty neat! My sheep pictures are a little dim because I turned the flash off...figured it wasn't necessary to blind the poor critters!I've been going to county fairs and tractor shows for much of my life and I found that, for the most part, a fiber festival is quite similar, just sheep and fiber specific. There were buildings full of sheep in pens, there were sheep judging events and demos for sheep herding and shearing. Just sheep, sheep, sheep! Then on the wool end, there were buildings full of yarn and roving and spinning wheels and looms and myriad other sheep/knitting/weaving/spinning/etc. related items. That included food -- lamb kababs, lamb burgers, lamb cream cones (ok, I made that one up!). I personally enjoyed the best lamb gyro I've ever had. And a funnel cake, which had no lamb in it as far as I could tell.
In addition to sheep, there were a couple of small pens of other fiber-bearing animals, such as...
...goats! Don't they just look like little toys? The kind that you'd see on a wheeled platform that a child could pull by a string? They were adorable! And there were...
...bunnies! Seriously, these three were up for sale, and I was so dang tempted to bring them home. They are Lionhead rabbits and they were just too cute. But I resisted and left them there and brought home some tomato plants instead. LOL (The farm that had the rabbits there, though, is only an hour from my house, so I figure if I really want to pursue the rabbit business, it wouldn't be that hard.)And then there were these little guys...
...alpacas! Alpaci? Hm...anyway...they just looked soft enough to squeeze, though I did not. I'm not sure if they were for sale, but I'm certain one would not have fit well in my car, so...moot point, eh? LOLBetween looking at the animals and going through the vendor booths, I also got to watch some demonstrations including a sheep dog demo...
...I love watching sheep dogs work. It amazes me how they can be trained to do such a variety of things to get the sheep to do what the shepherd wants. And the dogs don't bark at the sheep, nor did I see them nip at them. It's all in their movement. Pretty amazing. (Have you seen the LED sheep video? That's a pretty cool example of just what a sheep dog can do...and what shepherds with crazy amounts of creativity can accomplish.)And I also caught part of a sheep shearing demo...
I ran into a friend, Pat, and her husband who live near me, and they have a small flock of sheep. Pat was telling me that this shearer, Kevin Ford, is like THE major sheep shearing guy in the business. (Maybe like Tiger Woods to golf, or Dale Earnhardt to racing, this guy is to sheep-shearing.) He hand shears, using hand blades instead of electric equipment (which makes me wonder if that is how we got the word "shears" when referring to certain scissors?). He sure moved smoothly and had control of that sheep. It was pretty interesting to watch.Another fun aspect of the day was the people. Honestly, for going to something alone, I was surprised by how many people I ran into that I knew. In addition to my friend Pat, I ran into Deb (who I've known for years through an online writer's group we were both part of, and we recently reconnected on Facebook), and I ran into a few people who'd been at the Spring Fling last weekend -- Lou, Carrie and Lyn. Also from Spring Fling, I ran into Anne Hanson, who not only remembered me but gave me a hug and introduced me to her husband David. I believe David is kind of a celebrity in his own right due to being featured in a lot of Anne's knitting photos on her blog, so it was fun to get meet him.
I also got to say hi to Sharon from Three Irish Girls...Cloverhill Yarn Shop had some of her yarn at their booth and she was there when I first got there. Her yarn was going fast, but I managed to scoop up a skein of superwash merino in her Maureen colorway, which will be perfect for my last afghan swap square I need to make.
Ravelry had a meet-up at noon at the Rabbit Building, and while I hoped to run into a couple other people who I knew were going to be there, I instead ran into Lolly. She looks exactly like her pictures on her blog, and I had one of those weird moments when you see someone whose face you've seen a lot but then you realize you don't actually know them nor they you. It's good to remember that before you have the impulse to run up to them and give them a hug. LOL As it was, I just introduced myself and told her how much I enjoy her blog and then I let her return to her group of friends that I'd kind of butted into. :}
I also was excited to get to see Laura Chau (cosmicpluto) and Ysolda, and was the total groupie with them and asked to take their picture...
...aren't they just the cutest? And just when I thought I wasn't going to get to meet her, I finally found Amy Singer -- yes, THE Amy Singer of Knitty! -- at Jennie the Potter's booth...
...she was just so nice! She gave me one of her new little Knitty shwag buttons and we chatted a bit about the drop spindle I bought from one of her destashes one time, and how I might have more success with it since I still feel woefully inadequate as a drop spindler.
There was also music to enjoy throughout the day. This group, at the actual music tent, was wonderful...
...I assume they are a family, as the kids looked very much alike. They played wonderful bluegrass music, and of the three seated kids, the girl on the left with the guitar and the boy on the right with the fiddle sang, and they had the most wonderful harmony. I am also so in awe (and just a little jealous! LOL) of people with this kind of talent.Then, not at the designated music tent but hanging out by a big propane tank between two buildings, there was this group of guys...
...I have no idea if they are an actual group of if they are just a bunch of guys who are friends and like to play music (I kind of think they were the latter), but oh my, they could play! More bluegrass, which was fun (I don't so much like much country music, but I do enjoy bluegrass, especially the instrumental variety). One of them would suggest a song and start playing it and then the rest would start joining in. What was especially fun was watching the little kids who would come by with their parents...I love watching children react to music. They usually do either one of two things: they stand and watch with very serious expressions on their faces, intent on watching what the fingers of the musicians are doing to the instruments to make them play, or else they dance...they just let themselves feel the music and move their legs and bodies and heads in time to the tune, totally oblivious to anyone else around. I saw both reactions yesterday, and it was just joyful to watch.Lastly, of all the people I saw yesterday, this guy was one of the most interesting, for a variety of reasons...
...this is the Kilt Guy. (I have his business card somewhere with his real name...will have to add that later.) He was standing outside one of the vendor buildings, and I saw him at a distance and noticed the kilt (hard to miss, as this was not really a kilt-wearing crowd, unlike some Celtic music events I've been to where kilts are de rigeur). Then I noticed the fabric of the kilt, so I went up to him and asked, "Is that leather??" (and my brain was also saying, "Yowza!") and he said it was. And I said, "That is just so cool! I've never seen a leather kilt!" (and my brain was saying, "Dude, you are totally hot!") And he then went on to explain that he makes these kilts and unlike some other leather kilts that are on the market and are of a heavier, biker-type leather, his are made from a lighter, softer leather...and he was fingering the flap of the kilt to demonstrate the softness. I did not ask if I could feel his flap (my brain was alert enough to know that a) that might be an invasion of personal space and b) I might give in to the temptation to pull that flap back and see what men REALLY wear under their kilts! AHAHAHahaha...ahem...sorry...I'm 12, ok?), though I imagine he may well have been fine with that. He did turn around to show me the kilt's lace-up feature in the back, which made it adjustable for a comfortable fit (and my brain just kind of melted at that point...besides looking good in the kilt, the guy has amazingly beautiful butt-long hair...oh my...). Managing not to make an ass out of myself, I did ask if I could take his picture (though I did not ask if I could have my picture taken WITH him, which just seemed like it might be a tad inappropriate, LOL). He was quite kind and seemed happy for me to take his picture. I hope he has good luck with his leather kilt-making business, because he was Ok...so, um...what was I talking about? Oh yeah...sheep, and fiber...um...and yes, yarny things. I did make several purchases, but I think I'll save that part of the recap for another day since this post is so long already. And I need to go fan myself for a bit. Leather is so...hot... ;)
*Ok...really apropos of nothing else in this post, my kilt guy thoughts are totally reminding me of The Pink Panter movie, where Steve Martin is Inspector Clouseau and he and his sidekick Ponton are supposed to be interviewing the singer, Xanya, about the murder of her boyfriend and seemingly simultaneous disappearance of the Pink Panther diamond. Ponton keeps asking Xania these normal, police-like questions when Martin's character finally says (in his crazy French accent), "Zstop brow-beating ere! Can't you zee zshe'z SEXY??" Just cracks me up. :}
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Spring Fling Recap
Ok, so it's taken me three days to get around to posting a Fling recap. I've been in recoup and re-entry mode. This traveling thing...seems so fun and glamorous when you're planning it, but then you actually do it and have to deal with the reality of going away and coming home again to real life! It's true...I usually need a vacation from my vacation!
But enough of that...how was Fling, you're wondering? Well, it was great! I didn't go last year, and I've never been to any other knitting retreat event, so I had really no preconceived notions of what it would be like. In fact, to be honest, I signed up for it on a whim, knowing that only a limited number of people's names got picked in the lottery for it, thus I figured I probably wouldn't get it. When I did get picked as one of the lucky 100, I figured it was meant to be and I was just open to whatever that turned out to entail, including me spending three days with 99 strangers, one of which would end up being my roommate!
I needn't worried. With only one very odd and bizarre exception (and I won't bother going into it because it was just so random that I'm sure there was probably a good explanation for it), everyone I met at Fling was lovely! Knitters generally are anyway, right? Everyone was there to have fun and knit and it was great. My roommate and I actually paired up via the Ravelry Spring Fling board beforehand, so it wasn't a complete surprise.
Janice and I could not have been better suited. We ended up having so much in common, and we talked and laughed late into the night the whole weekend. Totally wish we lived a little closer to each other so we could meet up in person more often!
And now is when I have to admit: I was terrible about taking pictures. I had my camera with me all weekend, and it turned out that I took TWO pictures the whole time. Sad, I know. The one of Janice and I above would be one of them. The other would be one of Cookie A. during her Sock Innovations class on Friday morning...
Here she is explaining the mathematical madness of "cable suckage" -- the phenomenon of losing width due to the stitch crossover in cable patterns. I'd read much of her new book before going, so the concepts she talked about weren't completely new to me, but it was interesting. This was a design class, and while I have no illusions of being able to design socks as fabulous as hers, I was encouraged to realize that my design process, while different than hers, uses many of the same ideas. So I feel like I'm doing something right.
On Friday afternoon, I took Wendy's class on toes and heels for toe-up socks. I've never done a toe-up sock, but I now know how to do Judy's magic cast on and a slip-stitch heel going in the opposite direction that I'm used to, so I'm all set to give it a try. Wendy also has a new book out, so I'll likely try one of those patterns. I have to say, Wendy is a hoot...great sense of humor and a wonderful teacher.
Saturday morning was my opportunity to go shopping at yarn mecca, er, Loopy Central. (This event is organized by Sheri of The Loopy Ewe fame.) Oh. My. Gosh. It was amazing! What a wonderful store! If only all LYS's could be like TLE! And to think TLE is mainly an online store, with very limited in-person shopping hours. Anyway, I mainly study to buying roving, and I found some absolutely gorgeous stuff (from Scarlet Fleece and Yarn Love)...I did take pictures of that, but they are on my phone, and I have no yet figured out how to get them off. So, they'll be coming later. LOL I picked up a bunch of patterns as well, and of course a few skeins of yarn hopped in my bag as well. I just couldn't help it. All told, though, I stayed right at my budget for what I planned to spend there, and I paid cash, so I felt mighty virtuous about it all.
Saturday afternoon was my final class, advanced lace, and it was with Anne Hanson. Can I just say Anne Hanson is my #1 knitting & designing idol? She is amazing. Her work astounds me. If there was ever a knitting celeb I was going to stalk, it would be her (but of course I WOULD NEVER stalk a knitting celeb! That would be creepy, right??). In fact, I was so worried that upon meeting her, I was going to start to babble endlessly about how much I loved her work and her blog and thought she was totally cool and her husband has great hair and I want to be her new best friend that I actually avoided her all weekend until her class. LOL Seriously. I saw her throughout the weekend and I could have gone up and introduced myself, but I was certain I would suddenly be crazy and stupid that it would prompt her to back away from me while frantically feeling around her knitting bag for her pepper spray...so I just didn't. I observed her from afar. (Even that sounds creepy! It's not like I had binoculars though, ok? Sheesh!)
Anyway, her class was great, and I now feel equipped to tackle an actual knitted lace pattern like her Bee Fields shawl. After class ended, I did have the chance to introduce myself (and she seemed to remember me from comments I'd left on her blog), and I took the opportunity to show her my Rivolo scarf, remember the one I made last winter out of some of my first handspun yarn? She was so nice about it and liked it enough to take a picture of me with it on and she even posted it on her blog! (OMGI'monAnneHanson'sblog!!! Howcoolisthat???) Apparently I was perfectly normal and not scary to her as she even sat near me that night during free time in the lounge.
(Anne, if you read this, seriously...I'm a normal person...really...I just think you are cool and awesome and really enjoyed getting to meet you!)
The rest of the weekend was largely spent knitting in the lounge and eating. And eating. And eating some more. And did I mention the eating? Holy cow, Sheri made sure we were fed well at all times, and though dinners were on our own, there were so many good restaurants right there that you just could not go hungry!
Oh, yeah, the knitting...I managed to actually finish a few things while I was away! I finished the first sock of a pair I'm designing, which I started when I was in Florida...it's working name is Brickle...
It's made of Regia Bamboo, and while I like how the texture works with the color, I think I'm going to make the pattern out of a semi-solid before committing to publishing it.
I also started and finished these You Snag mitts for the girlie out of Austermann Step...
Aren't they fun??
And since I've been home, I've started this...
It's the Dream in Color Shrug, the pattern for which I picked up at TLE. I've been seeing this pattern around and it looks so nice, so I wanted one for me. However, upon getting home, the girlie saw it and said she'd like it, so this one is for her. The yarn is Three Irish Girls Elenya (a merino/alpaca blend) in the Aiden colorway. I've had the yarn for a while and this is a perfect project for it. I absolutely love how the colors are playing out in it! They are fantastic! I'm about half done...it's a very quick knit and easy pattern to memorize.
Ok...there is probably a whole lot more I could say about Fling, but these are the highlights. Mainly: it was great! Would love to do it again! :)
But enough of that...how was Fling, you're wondering? Well, it was great! I didn't go last year, and I've never been to any other knitting retreat event, so I had really no preconceived notions of what it would be like. In fact, to be honest, I signed up for it on a whim, knowing that only a limited number of people's names got picked in the lottery for it, thus I figured I probably wouldn't get it. When I did get picked as one of the lucky 100, I figured it was meant to be and I was just open to whatever that turned out to entail, including me spending three days with 99 strangers, one of which would end up being my roommate!
I needn't worried. With only one very odd and bizarre exception (and I won't bother going into it because it was just so random that I'm sure there was probably a good explanation for it), everyone I met at Fling was lovely! Knitters generally are anyway, right? Everyone was there to have fun and knit and it was great. My roommate and I actually paired up via the Ravelry Spring Fling board beforehand, so it wasn't a complete surprise.
Janice and I could not have been better suited. We ended up having so much in common, and we talked and laughed late into the night the whole weekend. Totally wish we lived a little closer to each other so we could meet up in person more often!
And now is when I have to admit: I was terrible about taking pictures. I had my camera with me all weekend, and it turned out that I took TWO pictures the whole time. Sad, I know. The one of Janice and I above would be one of them. The other would be one of Cookie A. during her Sock Innovations class on Friday morning...
Here she is explaining the mathematical madness of "cable suckage" -- the phenomenon of losing width due to the stitch crossover in cable patterns. I'd read much of her new book before going, so the concepts she talked about weren't completely new to me, but it was interesting. This was a design class, and while I have no illusions of being able to design socks as fabulous as hers, I was encouraged to realize that my design process, while different than hers, uses many of the same ideas. So I feel like I'm doing something right.
On Friday afternoon, I took Wendy's class on toes and heels for toe-up socks. I've never done a toe-up sock, but I now know how to do Judy's magic cast on and a slip-stitch heel going in the opposite direction that I'm used to, so I'm all set to give it a try. Wendy also has a new book out, so I'll likely try one of those patterns. I have to say, Wendy is a hoot...great sense of humor and a wonderful teacher.
Saturday morning was my opportunity to go shopping at yarn mecca, er, Loopy Central. (This event is organized by Sheri of The Loopy Ewe fame.) Oh. My. Gosh. It was amazing! What a wonderful store! If only all LYS's could be like TLE! And to think TLE is mainly an online store, with very limited in-person shopping hours. Anyway, I mainly study to buying roving, and I found some absolutely gorgeous stuff (from Scarlet Fleece and Yarn Love)...I did take pictures of that, but they are on my phone, and I have no yet figured out how to get them off. So, they'll be coming later. LOL I picked up a bunch of patterns as well, and of course a few skeins of yarn hopped in my bag as well. I just couldn't help it. All told, though, I stayed right at my budget for what I planned to spend there, and I paid cash, so I felt mighty virtuous about it all.
Saturday afternoon was my final class, advanced lace, and it was with Anne Hanson. Can I just say Anne Hanson is my #1 knitting & designing idol? She is amazing. Her work astounds me. If there was ever a knitting celeb I was going to stalk, it would be her (but of course I WOULD NEVER stalk a knitting celeb! That would be creepy, right??). In fact, I was so worried that upon meeting her, I was going to start to babble endlessly about how much I loved her work and her blog and thought she was totally cool and her husband has great hair and I want to be her new best friend that I actually avoided her all weekend until her class. LOL Seriously. I saw her throughout the weekend and I could have gone up and introduced myself, but I was certain I would suddenly be crazy and stupid that it would prompt her to back away from me while frantically feeling around her knitting bag for her pepper spray...so I just didn't. I observed her from afar. (Even that sounds creepy! It's not like I had binoculars though, ok? Sheesh!)
Anyway, her class was great, and I now feel equipped to tackle an actual knitted lace pattern like her Bee Fields shawl. After class ended, I did have the chance to introduce myself (and she seemed to remember me from comments I'd left on her blog), and I took the opportunity to show her my Rivolo scarf, remember the one I made last winter out of some of my first handspun yarn? She was so nice about it and liked it enough to take a picture of me with it on and she even posted it on her blog! (OMGI'monAnneHanson'sblog!!! Howcoolisthat???) Apparently I was perfectly normal and not scary to her as she even sat near me that night during free time in the lounge.
(Anne, if you read this, seriously...I'm a normal person...really...I just think you are cool and awesome and really enjoyed getting to meet you!)
The rest of the weekend was largely spent knitting in the lounge and eating. And eating. And eating some more. And did I mention the eating? Holy cow, Sheri made sure we were fed well at all times, and though dinners were on our own, there were so many good restaurants right there that you just could not go hungry!
Oh, yeah, the knitting...I managed to actually finish a few things while I was away! I finished the first sock of a pair I'm designing, which I started when I was in Florida...it's working name is Brickle...
It's made of Regia Bamboo, and while I like how the texture works with the color, I think I'm going to make the pattern out of a semi-solid before committing to publishing it.I also started and finished these You Snag mitts for the girlie out of Austermann Step...
Aren't they fun??
And since I've been home, I've started this...
It's the Dream in Color Shrug, the pattern for which I picked up at TLE. I've been seeing this pattern around and it looks so nice, so I wanted one for me. However, upon getting home, the girlie saw it and said she'd like it, so this one is for her. The yarn is Three Irish Girls Elenya (a merino/alpaca blend) in the Aiden colorway. I've had the yarn for a while and this is a perfect project for it. I absolutely love how the colors are playing out in it! They are fantastic! I'm about half done...it's a very quick knit and easy pattern to memorize.
Ok...there is probably a whole lot more I could say about Fling, but these are the highlights. Mainly: it was great! Would love to do it again! :)
Friday, April 24, 2009
Checking in from Spring Fling!
Coming to you, LIVE, from St. Louis! :)
I arrived yesterday and immediately got into the groove of Fling...meeting my fellow Flingers, eating cupcakes, eating Mexican for dinner (complete with margarita, of course) and eating dessert. Are you noting a theme? Uh, yeah. Lots o' eating going on. Hm.
Today was our first full day...I had two classes today, one with Cookie A. and one with Wendy. Cookie's class was a sock design class based on her new Sock Innovations book. It was interesting, though I'm tend to go about things more organically/intuitively when I design and use less of the math that Cookie was showing us, though I think I end up with similar results. It was good to confirm that at least how I do things makes sense, even if it isn't the exact same process. Wendy's class was heels & toes for toe-up socks, which was really good...I've never done a sock toe-up before, so it was great to learn the different cast ons and how to do a slipped stitch heel going in that direction. Wendy's got a great sense of humor, too...fun class!
Tomorrow I get to start my day off with an in-person shopping trip to Loopy Central (woohoo!) and then my last class will be in the afternoon, Anne Hanson's Advanced Lace class...I so cannot wait for that!
But now, I'm off to my room to grab some knitting and head down to the lounge for some social time. More later!
I arrived yesterday and immediately got into the groove of Fling...meeting my fellow Flingers, eating cupcakes, eating Mexican for dinner (complete with margarita, of course) and eating dessert. Are you noting a theme? Uh, yeah. Lots o' eating going on. Hm.
Today was our first full day...I had two classes today, one with Cookie A. and one with Wendy. Cookie's class was a sock design class based on her new Sock Innovations book. It was interesting, though I'm tend to go about things more organically/intuitively when I design and use less of the math that Cookie was showing us, though I think I end up with similar results. It was good to confirm that at least how I do things makes sense, even if it isn't the exact same process. Wendy's class was heels & toes for toe-up socks, which was really good...I've never done a sock toe-up before, so it was great to learn the different cast ons and how to do a slipped stitch heel going in that direction. Wendy's got a great sense of humor, too...fun class!
Tomorrow I get to start my day off with an in-person shopping trip to Loopy Central (woohoo!) and then my last class will be in the afternoon, Anne Hanson's Advanced Lace class...I so cannot wait for that!
But now, I'm off to my room to grab some knitting and head down to the lounge for some social time. More later!
Monday, April 20, 2009
St. Louis-bound...
With barely a week behind my Florida trip, I'm gearing up for The Loopy Ewe's Spring Fling in St. Louis this weekend. I have never been to St. Louis before, nor have I been to a knitting retreat before. Should be great fun! I'll be taking classes with three incredible knit designers: Cookie A., Wendy Johnson and Anne Hanson. How cool is that?! I'm giddy just thinking about being in the presence of their knitterly awesomeness! I'll also get to enjoy shopping in person at The Loopy Ewe and hang with a bunch of other cool knitters, all without having to stop and make dinner or do laundry! I soooo cannot wait!
Lots to do between now and the airport on Thursday...not sure I'll be around much between now and then. I'll be sure to post a recap of the weekend once I return, though! Promise! :)
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