open house at longmeadow farm

bright and early saturday morning, my car was filled with fiber friends as we made our way to freedom, ny for sandy' s open house. it's about a two hour drive from home, and i wanted to get there early to enjoy a day of lams, fiber and food! what more could anyone ask for?
the wool room was full of amazing colors and textures.....

sandy had been busy with yarn and a trip to the mill. she offered some -not to be missed- specials, so i got shopping. in the past, i've chatted and slowly made my way into the shop, not this year! i didn't want to be sitting there, disappointed that i missed out. i had lots of help filling my basket.... well it was really her sink.....

but fill it i did. i got just over a pound of two different colorways, and a small bump for the 'just in case' part of the stash. that little maple leaf on the shelf? yep, fresh maple syrup. sandy's daughter and her family have started making maple syrup. that's some of the first batch that they did. i've got it hidden tucked away in a safe spot to drizzle over something yummy.
it was wonderful to see old friends, and meet new folks. we visited, spun and ate a wonderful lunch. it really is one of my favorite events of the year.
we eventually made our way out to the barn to meet all those sweet babies that miles was busy making.....

this little darling would not stop asking for love. when i moved my hand to take the picture, she climbed up the pen after me. her fleece was sooooo soft. miles did a good job!
now i'll have to decide what fiber makes its way onto my wheel.

tick tock

when amythefibergoddess asked me to test spin & knit for her booth display, i quickly agreed and followed it with a not so gentle reminder that time was a wasting! tick-tock. well, she's not let me live that one down.

we spent tuesday out in the barn painting yarn......lots and lots of yarn.

she has such a great eye and always seem to have her finger on the pulse of what is trending for colors. me, i'm all about what will make me happy, so when she asks my opinion i have to remind her that i'm just the apprentice, she is the master ;)

amazing colors. restful, season less and oh so soft!
i'm still slogging away on the sample..... for the beaver lake fiber show...... in two weeks... tick tock!

lucky...

i was gifted with this lovely clothe in honor a st patrick's day from a dear and special fiber friend....

this one will be used and used......and each time i'll think of annemarie.

winter wonderland

hopefully winter has made it's last major impact on my life. i loved being inside, soup on simmer, my family all safe and sound......... but work is all topsy turvy. i think i've got it figured out and all will be well.
so with the snow days, i had fiber fun! i'm working on the second zuzu petals. i am making great progress, the pattern is getting very familiar and i'm not sick of it yet. considering i've got to make at least one more..... that is a very good thing.

here are the two bobbins that i've spun for amythefibergoddess. i'm following the path that the yarn harlot took when she made one from amy's fiber. i hope i stayed consistent spinning these babies. one is just 0.2 ounces more that the other. there are long block of color and the inside looks like this:

after they sit a bit on the bobbin, i'll start plying. actually right after the photo shoot, one rolled off the balcony and into a snow drift. so it will need to dry off ;)
finished and blocked? it'll look like this.....

yea.... got a few more in me.

GW 2014

i'm springing forward into the new week after a fantabulous weekend. our annual  'girls weekend' was hosted by my lovely cousin in emmaus, pa. we gathered on friday, all driving in from distant points. one car was from the boston area, and mine from upstate new york. we timed arrival perfectly and i got to visit her local yarn store, conversational threads. several years ago i had visited and liked it, but it has evolved into this amazing space filled with great stock.

if you've ever walked into a store and felt like you could settle in, this was the spot. staff was friendly and helpful.... in a good way. i wandered, fondled and purchased. the first purchase of girls weekend. we ate, shopped and chatted away friday evening.

saturday morning, half the group headed out to a 5k run, and the rest of us walked kathie's neighborhood. the walkers finished first and were ready to to go. on the way to the yarn shop, a used book store caught our attention. i dropped my two sisters there and went on alone to conversational threads.

i finished zuzu's petals on the trip down. with my penchant for repeat knitting, i was eager to cast another on. i talked my sister into one for her birthday gift and let her pick a color. or a non-color since she chose madelinetosh dk in subtle dove. there were a few other things that hopped in my bag, shawl swirls, key chain, malabrigo roving. perfect morning!
we met up with the rest of the gang at an outdoor mall, and continued eating and shopping!
sunday we parted, caught up on the latest family news!

i was able to get some knitting done on the ride home, and have zuzu #1 blocking.

hope to have zuzu#2 done this week!

sweetgum

my fiber friend joan created a beautiful cowl/wrap gift for her daughter. katherine modeled it at the january guild meeting and i've had a bug up my butt bee in my bonnet to make one ever since. i had some handspun (surprise) that i tried to make work. even as i was knitting, i knew it wasn't what i wanted, but i kept going. it  wasn't  what  i wanted.
i re-read the posting about the pattern, and decided i needed to spin the yarn. as i went through my fiber stash, i discovered that i didn't have the right roving. i casually mentioned to amythefibergoddess that i was desperate. being the kind, enabling friend that she is, i soon had about 6 ounces of gem toned roving. she overdyed black bfl, so the colors just glowed.

i ripped it apart to get long bands of thick, loosely spun yarn.

i pushed myself to spin to specifications. i had to remain mindful of my task, which is not always how i roll when i'm spinning. it was completely worth the effort.

the yarn was everything i wanted it to be: bright, soft and ombre. it was so much fun to watch the garment come together exactly as i pictured it in my brain. i have to admit, that i ripped back a few times and took out chunks of yarn so that my bands flowed better.

it fits perfectly. now, here's the best part of the story. i put it on for a model, show my honey, and he can't understand why i wanted to make something that looked like a straight-jacket.

there won't be any more vests for quite a while.