follow the pattern

i was on the hunt for some yarn, and that turned into a huge cleaning frenzy. i up-ended baskets, bags, bins sorting everything into proper groups.... tossing away bits and nasty stuff.... i was ruthless. in the process i stumbled across a partial sock, on a holder with no pattern in sight. sigh. this is really not like me at all! i ripped it out, balled it up and set it on the counter. i felt sad that this yarn and project just languished. i kept looking at it, moving it out of my way and finally decided to measure how much yarn there was. then i hunted for a pattern. i didn't go far when i realized that i was going to make another 198 yds of heaven. it seems that this has become my 'go-to' shawl knit. i've made it twice in handspun modifying the directions to create a larger shawl/wrap. this time i had just enough to actually follow the pattern and make it the way the designer intended.

it was lovely, but very small. i used up all the yarn (see that little bit left). i put it on my trusty blocker and then it looked like this.....

lovely, but still petite. soon, anyone that walked past it asked 'what happened to this one?' when the residents of the house start commenting on the project, it starts to give you pause.
then i put it on.......

success!!!!

Fiber Festival Fun



 

saturday dawned sunny and brisk. perfect festival weather. yes, there were puddles, but the rain did not make another appearance for the weekend.

 

the grounds were filled with fiber folks and everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. the committee decided to implement a new parking plan and i spent most of saturday greeting attendees and helping in the parking lot. the volunteers were amazing! there were some great suggestions to help make the process roll along a bit smoother, and all in all it was a success!

soon it looked like this.....

for our guild display this year, we had a knit along using the lala shawl pattern. there were 51 shawls created by members and placed into the display. it was amazing! the talent and skill was just stunning. i kept saying that this was a wonderful testament to our members. so many agreed to participate, and then put all their hard work into our hands for this purpose. . . .

the festival goers vote on their favorite, and this year the choices were many. i 've yet to count them (i may wrangle some help for that one:)

 

it wasn't until sunday afternoon that i made my way to the skein and garment exhibit. the gals that coordinated it told me that i had a prize waiting. since i only entered one thing, i knew what item won, but i didn't know where it placed.

it was the traveling women shawl that i had made this spring. the yarn had been entered several years ago as the handspinners basket, part one. then the yarn kicked about the house for a while before finding its way into a tote in the basement. earlier in the year when i was searching for some yarn to make my own lala shawl, i happened upon it. i had planned to make the sunrise circle jacket and as i looked at the yarn i wondered what i had been drinking..... it was a terrible idea. i brought the yarn into the house and decided to try the traveling women. amythefibergoddess was knitting one ( and i'm always quick to hop into a new pattern) so why not?
i was flabbergasted ( and really quite shocked ) to have received the award. what a great way to end the weekend!

festival set up

this weekend is the annual finger lakes fiber festival in the lovely finger lakes region in upstate new york. plans have been made, vendor arrived, set up commenced.
this.......

soon became this.......

after living in moderate draught conditions for the summer, today..... yes today it decides to rain. not just water coming out of the sky, but pelting water hurled upon us! we lost power on the fairgrounds, and thankfully the guild display was done. i'm hopeful that tomorrow will dawn dry and bright.
amythefibergoddess has oh-so-many tasks to do that i was able to trick convince her to let me come home with six pounds of freshly made roving to prepare for sale. it was amazing the least i could do to help a friend. i had to touch all six pounds of wool and silk, winding it into balls to sell.....

( i even got to spin some up...... hopefully she'll get all of these tomorrow ;)

sample knitting.... done!

so my sample knitting was hampered by the end of summer, beginning of fall. suddenly my knitting time was non-existent and my brain was full of too much life stuff. i made it almost to the end, realized that it wasn't right, kept on knitting somehow thinking that it would spontaneously correct itself. it didn't. so..... i ripped it out. ripping out two stranded knitting is a pain in the basket. you've just spent all that time twisting them together only to tug them apart and try to form two separate balls of yarn. yuck. on a positive note, the fiber held up beautifully ( although i don't think this would be my marketing strategy)
on the second try, i was successful. wove in the ends, gave it a hearty dunk in warm water then blocked it on a dinner plate.

 it's a beauty! i was worried that there was too much green in the handpaint to have it stand out, but i was wrong.....  yeah!!

hopefully amy will be pleased!!!

the day at the fair

i love a tradition. for me there is something wonderful about the continuity. i enjoy the known part of the event, and all the surprises that can then spring up.
the new york state fair has become one of those annual traditions for me (and my herd) i started going as a very newbie spinner way back in 2007. i had no idea what i was doing, what my wheel was doing or even where i was going... but i was in.
now i've got a set day ( the last friday of the fair ) and time (first slot in the day) and companions (my herd from home). i drop my stuff off in the wool building, and then visit the sheep. first thing in the morning they are cool and happy to see humans.

we had one gal who just wanted to be rubbed and loved. soon as you stopped, she moved to the next person and started butting their hand. gotta love a sheep!
i have sat with the same ladies for three years now. we chatted, spun and before you knew it.... we were done!

we all were spinning similar tones of fiber, it was just liked we planned it :)
then i was off to the dairy barns, butter sculpture and 25 cent milk. i love my milk, it's just about the best thing there! sadly it was hot. really, really hot. 93 degree hot, so while we still wandered about, the fun was sucked right out of it. still managed to get my potato and see the sand sculpture.

all the sculptures had an olympic theme this year.
still, the best fun you could have!