where've you been?

I've been meaning to put something new on the blog since maryland. i don't know what happened, but it is the end of may and i'm just getting around to it.
the shepard's market was the second saturday of the month and it was wonderful.....lots of beautiful fiber and fiber folks. having just been to a ginormous festival, with everything available to see, touch and buy, i was struck by the quality and variety we have right here at home. beautiful yarns, rovings, fleeces that come from fiber folks that work hard to have a lovely product. and of course, there was fiber that needed to come home with me and hop right on my wheel!
so what else? my little fiber friend earned three ribbons at the skein & garment competition and purchased  her own wheel. an ashford traditional with lots of extra's that she will need. i had a great time 'showing and telling' about her progress.
the second medusa is done, and just in the nick of time. i had dyed this yarn (BFL) with amythefibergoddess hoping that it would complement an outfit for a wedding that i'll be attending. my cousin is getting married next weekend on 'good harbor beach' in gloucester, massachusetts. the beach. in the evening. i keep joking (not really) that i'll be wearing polar-fleece to brace against those ocean breezes. at any rate, i'll have a stunning wrap around my shoulders....

the colors are vivid! the wrap coordinates perfectly with the dress and jacket. i'll take lots of pics next week of it in action.
which left my needles bare. as i get to the end of projects, the anxiety builds until i know for certain what is being cast on next.

amy and i got these paint-box gradients from fiber optic in maryland last year. she even talked me into buying the kashmir yarn nad i've been forgetting waiting to cast it on. i knew i would need mindless car knitting for the 7 hour drive, but something that would be fun , so it went on the needles today. because i'm me, i can't seem to put it down, so i've already started pondering my next knit to have it at the ready.

mary~land

i can safely say that is has become a tradition to travel to the maryland sheep and wool festival each may. it is truly my favorite trip of the year. my travel companions remain consistent, and we work very well together. we are a group of pretty interesting personalities, and everyone rolls along...laughing at ourselves. in fact we had one incident, where we were laughing so hard, we finally told the instigator that we were laughing at them, not with them. so, the festival.

we traveled down on friday, staying in our usual hotel a marriott residence in. having two bedrooms and baths is perfect for a group, and the shared living room is comfortable for chatting, knitting and spinning. this year the hotel was full of fiber friends, so we wandered down to the lobby that evening, letting the excitement build. the weather was perfect, warm and sunny. everyone heads there own way, sometimes together depending on what we must see. i had two things on my list to purchase and found the first right away. a lovely hand of merino/silk for a hitch hiker scarf. my sister had requested a knitted item to give as a gift, in very specific colors, so i was thrilled to find that right off. of course, several items fell into by bag as the weekend wore on. the best was a hand-turned nostepine (for balling yarn). i watched this being made and i'm thrilled that it was put into my hands!

i had never seen the parade of sheep before, so this was an unexpected delight. it was awesome to see so many different breeds next to each other. the best was the border Leicester  siblings in matching wool scarves...

i brought home three skeins of yarn, three hanks of roving, a fleece and a basket. a pretty good haul.

romney

since our trip to rhinebeck last fall, i've been doing the sheep study with our guild. it has been stressful, frustrating, a pain in the a#%%, challenging to keep up with two little ounces of fiber. i'm always excited when i get the fiber at the meeting. i love hearing about the different ways folks are washing, spinning, knitting their samples. i try to take it out of my bag right away ( so that i don't forget about it). sometimes i leave it on the kitchen counter where it gets shuffled about and discussed by my herd. i've also taken it right into the bathroom and set it by the sink. that usually leads to it being dumped into the towel basket, forgotten, until i go on a frenzied hunt to find it.
this time, i put it right in a bath of lavender scented laundry soap as soon as i got home. it was drying in the beautiful sunshine sunday morning while we searched for eggs!

it was clean, and soft, and i remembered why i love, love, love this wool. i wanted to really treat this well and learn from the preparation so.....

i pulled out the set of hand-combs. it seems that the deck railing accommodates this perfectly.... plus i get to soak up some vitamin D .....

my little fiber balls came out perfectly! i got better using the diz and rolling the roving as i went along. i couldn't wait to see how it would spin...

beautifully! it's resting on the bobbin, waiting to be plyed. so, i'm done in record time. look at what a little sunshine will do ;)

beaver lake ~ cny fiber frolic

amythefibergoddess and i were trying to remember just how many times we've been to beaver lake. after a while, it just hurt our brains to try to figure it out. she went solo the first year, and i've been going with her since, i'm thinking that this was our third year ( or maybe the fourth, my brain is still tired). anyway, it's a great way to spend a saturday. the nature trails were busy, spring seems to finally be showing itself here in upstate new york. peepers are out, windows are open and the snow is finally melting!
so, beaver lake. really it's the cny fiber frolic and frolic we did! all the dyeing that amy has been doing was on display....

lots of yarn and roving and project bags found new homes today. there were lots of folks that have shopped with her before...

i love seeing the finished projects return for a visit. this gal made 'lala's simple shawl' from a coordinating pack that amy put together. she took three more home with her... i hope we get to see those done. on the drive home, we both agreed that there are some pretty awesome fiber folks!
so what is on my needles? i've just started a vest, for me, from a pattern i found online. still not sure if we can work well together, but i do want to have something fibery to wear in mary-land. i actually finished the knit-a-long for this year's fiber festival. after much ( and i do mean much) b+*&^ing and moaning, i got through the wingspan. as is often the case, it was user failure at it's finest. i chose the wrong yarn and just would not give it up. then, last month i saw one completed with almost the exact roving that was on my wheel. yes, i cast on......

it turned out even prettier than i imagined! so of course, i need want to do another. we'll see, my chairs are all quite warm with all the shawls that are stored on them. i may need to find real human ones.

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.