festival fun

wow, the 2010 fiber festival came and went in a blur! i didn't even have the opportunity to savor the anticipation, plan my days or stress about the display. hmmm, wonder what that means? too much other life events dragging me down perhaps? regardless, i had an absolutely fabulous time and learned about me. how? well i had two very different shopping experiences and i loved them both!

first, the festival. set-up on friday went smooth as silk. amythefibergoddess and i had many hands helping and the display was lovely.

guild folks really came through providing us with 26 gators for the display. i have to tabulate the viewers choice winner, but there are lots of votes!

saturday's weather was truly festival perfect, sunny skies and mild temperatures. i spent 2 1/2 hours at the ticket booth with joan and it was a hoot! such fun greeting festival goers and wishing them well. my only purchase was 1 1/2 pounds of nistock farms roving in blue jeans. i was quite proud that i scurried into robin's booth and asked what she had. i love her roving, so ppleasurable to spin and work with. so now my stash is fuller and i'll have that to savor. naughty was thrilled to see allison in the skein and garment display sporting a ribbon. she won second place in the felted accessories category.

sunday was cold and drizzle kept falling from the sky. amy and i did a quick (super-quick) shop in one of the barns securing several bundles of roving from susan's spinning bunny. the colorways are all similar, but the fiber content varies - merino/tencel, polworth and falkland. i'm interested in seeing if my falkland fascination continues with this. we had time constraints, so we decided quickly and purchased fast. later joan and i spent our time strolling into every booth, chatting with vendors and really studying the fibers. i ordered some from jill draper (she'll bring it to rhinebeck) and while i was wandering around a vendor grabbed me to watch her booth (bathroom run) as i was sitting there, i realized that she was new to the festival. we looked at all her stuff and both ended up purchasing. would never have done that if i wasn't her temporary booth guardian!

and lastly, a fleece. not just any fleece a lamb fleece. the twin won grand champion, and since sandy is a dear, she sold this beauty. joan and i are going to split this which will be great. i'm trying not to count my raw fleece accumulations, but i'll be doing lots of washing this week!

wonderful weekend, can't wait to sink my fingers into all this cool stuff!

excitment is building

saturday and sunday. fingerlakes fiber fest. yes, the excitement is growing here. i'm less overwhelmed this year, having done one festival as the guild leader. the display is clear in my brain and slowly working it's way to having all the parts completed. thank goodness for free, child labor!

amythefibergoddess will be selling these little gems in her booth this year.

last year she had the sock blocker keychain, so when she showed me this (and they come in different wood types) i offered to make the display. how cute is this?? i had the same red yarn in the stash left-over from some long ago pair of socks. can't even say why i held onto the two teeny, tiny balls that were left, but i did. the price of $5 is such a bargain as i saw them in the recent patternworks catalog for 5.99 + s/h. what great holiday gifts... i may need to get more

than one!

this is the next quick knit project that found it's way onto my needles last weekend. my dear partner wears the vests that i hand knit to work, and really frequently, so i decided to toss another one into the mix. mindless knitting....love it!

fair day

i love the fair. just love it. i look forward to the four hours of dedicated spinning time in the wool center, listening to the sheep chatting across the way and seeing all those fair goers. it's also a hoot to meet new fiber peeps and learn stuff. i met two gals this year who were just delightful. both spinners, one gal has a flock of sheep and the other adopted a bottle baby. yep, just one sheep that lives with her sisters goats (she live in the village and can't keep him there) he is a lap lamb that is totally unaware that he is a sheep. a herd animal that should be roaming the hill and pastures. nope, he eats his grains and waits for his mom to come and cuddle him every day. i know, i know, i can't go getting any crazy-pants ideas that this could work for me. (but it soooo could :)

this is what i got spun.... two bobbins on the right are the falling leaves wool/mohair blend from steam valley fibers that i thought i hated. my first batch was very sticky, but washed up beautifully. the bobbin on the left is coopworth from maple ridge farm in eggplant. i didn't know i had this when i went stash diving. i wanted to give it a try before rhinebeck to make sure i loved it just in case i needed to get more. i'm extremely glad i got a pound. who knew i was that smart?

visitors

my fiber friend joan paid me a visit. she brought along her daughter to play with fiber and see what all the fuss was about. we got her set up at the sink, wet felting bright colored roving into small balls. joan was excellent at this process..... mine were, well crap! she thinks it's all her play doh rolling that has provided her with such a skill. so, if you have small children, get them play doh rolllllllling.
after they had dried, we crafted them into wearable art.

behold....










how fun are those???? we're sending them to her to enjoy. love those fiber gals!

new to me

saturday was the guild 25th anniversary picnic and since i'm the gal in charge (so to speak) i was anxious that it be a fun day with lots of food and fiber fun. it was. the facility was perfect for our needs and in spanking new condition. some folks gathered on the patio, many of us stayed in the great room and the community of spinners was a blast. we actually had an original member there who took us through the early years of the guild and then we progressed through the years to now. good times!
i also had a delivery of my new-to-me wheel. several weeks ago when we went to sandy's, she had an ashford traditional in her dining room that was needing a home. since it was spoken for, i bemoaned my luck as i would have given it a home. well...... it's now living with me! it's from the original owner, complete with extra bobbins, lazy kate, jumbo flyer and lots of extras.

it is an entirely different spinning experience (and really makes me appreciate my majacraft!) when i get the kinks worked out, i'm going to get the kids in motion.

here's my treat yarn from this years tour..... 4 oz of BFL from high bid farm in susies summer...

milestone

twenty-seven years ago, i walked down an aisle in a long white dress and started on an amazing odyssey. who knew in 1983 that we would still be together, working our way through all sorts of adventures. i never really thought about how long we'd be together, and let's be honest at twenty-one ten years seems like a life time. choosing a partner is a formidable task and really it's a good thing that i was young. there is no way to know or learn how to make it work until you are in it!
so here we are. life is good. i just may have another twenty-seven in me!

the lady with the alligator purse

my sister is naughty. really, that's what we call her and she revels in the fact that she alone is allowed to be .... naughty. she gleefully with take that last treat, make sure your kids visit mcdonalds, have ice cream for breakfast, hide your fleeces..... you get my drift. she also has a gator fascination. she has them in her bathroom, hiding in her gardens, always there for the unsuspecting person to happen upon them and be startled. if you scream it's all the better. several years ago i made her a gator scarf from a moorehouse merino kit. it was the most fabulous item to craft and she has it displayed in her bedroom.

so this year as her birthday approached, i knew that i needed to find just the right gift. since i get the weekly updates from moorehouse, i had my eye on another kit..... a felted purse. an alligator purse. it was easy to make, but i will admit that it was labor intensive. lots of scales to knit and form. there is a knitted lining inside so it is very usable. i had in the stash the best handles, but there was bloodshed attaching them.

i had found just after christmas, the board book of 'the lady with the alligator purse' and knew that would be the finishing touch in the gift. i put it on top of her gift bag, and she opened it first. she even read it aloud to all of us gathered. she read with glee as the story progressed and the lady was so naughty! at the end of the book, she reached into the gift bag and pulled out her purse. so, my naughty sister is now offically the lady with the alligator purse.