emily

i arrived home from rhinebeck to find an email from a gal who raises lincoln sheep. emily recently moved to the area from rhode island with her flock of black lincoln's. she raises them to show, sheering twice a year and that saturday was sheering day. with ten fleeces she was looking for folks who like wool. a family member had been to our festival, so she gave me a try.
as it would happen, i was in her area last weekend so decided to stop and meet her and her wool!

my photography skills stink, but this is emily and the bags of wool. she had them all set out on a table, with the name of the owner (sheep owner that is ) on top. i had the best time going round checking out the names when i realized i should really be checking the locks! so round i went again, fondling locks, exclaiming over the curls and colors .... i'm sure she thought i was loony. on the third pass, i decided that bobbi needed to come home with me.

this lamb fleece is as soft as can be and is that same color throughout. i'm eager to get this washed and start playing with it.

even in the rain and mist her flock was lovely. as soon as i find a minute, i'll be diving into this project! i know where the other nine bags are ;)

rhinebeck 2012

for various reason there were only three of us making our way to the NYS sheep and wool festival that is rhinebeck. i was looking more forward to this event than i can say. it didn't matter what the weather would hold, how many of my fellow fiber lovers made it, i was filled with excitement and anticipation to be there. we left on friday with the ~woodbury commons~ outlet mall our initial destination. sandy needed a winter coat from eddie bauer and i needed to see the vera bradley outlet. don't know if it was the rain or time of day, but it was quiet.... perfect shopping. we were decisive ( and lucky) and were headed to dinner by five.

we treated ourselves well. after a yummy dinner, we retired to our hotel room to enjoy a lovely Riesling and watch sandy ply yarn (it is a fiber trip after all)
saturday dawned foggy and warm. we were on the road early to arrive at the festival by nine. we got right in and headed immediately to the spots that we knew would be crowded later.....

socks that rock yarn in ochroid for the color affection wrap that i am going to make. the sun was lovely, the breezes warm and the fiber-vibe amazing!
cc needed some tools for her wheel, so she and i were off while sandy visited her pottery provider. low and behold, mr. ashford was visiting all the vendors who sell their product. he was charming and happily agreed to a photo with cc .....

while i was waiting, i found myself fondling fiber in another booth. 4 oz of merino roving came home with me ;)

even though i expect it, the crowds do become oppressive. we found ourselves going through barns and not being able to make our way into booths. we called it a day at 3:30, on the road to home.
cc and i realized that this was our sixth rhinebeck visit. the appeal keeps growing.... i can't wait til next year!

little york fiber festival

early this spring, amythefibergoddess asked me to consider helping her at a new fiber festival that she was considering. of course, i said yes...... it's fiber right? a weekend away with fiber? we were soon giddy with the planning. then we found out that sandy long was going to be there and cc was helping her. we tandemed to preble in vehicles full of fiber ( and stuff ) to the cortland repertory theater. the venue was a lovely old building sitting on the bank of a lovely lake. charming area, but wait.... this is a lovely old building ( clue here..... old) and the summer home of the theater (another clue.... summer) with no heat. friday was lovely, but we awoke saturday morning to a balmy 26 degrees, had to scrape the ice off the windshield. we enjoyed all the friendly fiber folk, but we were cold. frozen cold. can't feel my feet cold!

it is such fun to sit and spin, people watch and chat with people that speak my language.

delightful event. next time??? ugh boots!

picker magic

my dear fiber friend joan made her way over to play with the picker. i love the picker. i want the picker. i'm so lucky that amythefibergoddess lets me carry on this love affair with her picker!

it seems that joan is joining me in the 'picker love'. from all our dyeing adventures this summer, she had several batches that, well, got a bit felt-ie. i highly technical term for fiber that she just kept messing with during the dyeing process that got matted. it is so tempting to want to touch the fiber, stir the fiber, fondle the fiber when it is drenched in all that color. the problem is that hot fiber will get... felt-ie. hence the picker. see how it comes out all fluffy and loose? perfect to card when it's like that. we chatted and picked and soon she had..... (here it comes...) three bags full :)

all lofty and ready to put through her drum carder. i love the picker!!