fiber fumes!

maryland was a blast! sadly, my travel companion has a back injury that mad the trip agony for her... but as a true fiber-addict she toughed it out (and had great drugs :)
the travel was wonderful, even when i got lost it was easily fixed (no thanks to gps.. just a good sense of direction)
the weather was sunny and comfortable, the crowds manageable and it was a fiber-fantastic time. we started in the barns, this gal is a merino from california whose fleece is delicious. these babies were winning in the show ring and also the fleece judging. next year i may just come home with the shirt off her back.









gayle's fiber art was my first and biggest hole. i left her a sizable financial donation for a ton of lovely fiber. her colorways are so beautiful and well dyed that once i got buying i was out of control.












and the fleece sale. yes, i did. a silver gray cormo mix is being split by joan and i. i'll post pics soon of all my finds, but for now..... happy mom's day!

because you may run out

trying to get everything settled in my head and home before i venture off to maryland for the sheep and wool festival. this will be my third visit and i'm still feeling like a (well, i want to say virgin... but that's a bad 80"s reference and would really date me) newcomer. i've been scouring the website and ravelry adding vendors to my list. i even sorted through some fiber to make sure i don't do a color repeat. this is the reason that i need an ipad, but that's a different post.
so here is my travel fiber. sandy and i are going alone, so there's plenty of room to tote wheels and it is a fiber festival and she is the first travel companion i 've ever had who not only suggested it, but insisted that we should! it's gonna be a great trip. as i was standing there debating if i needed more, my partner asked 'don't you buy this stuff there?' well, yeah. but it just makes complete sense to travel with 8 ounces of spinnable fiber. never mind that it would probably take me days to spin all that, but you never know. it's going! now to work on clothes.

project hell

this is my hand-covering exchange. it hates me. i am starting to hate it. we must get past this. quickly.
the guild has a fiber exchange program that we do in the fall and return at the may meeting that then becomes our display for the annual fiber festival. great idea, loads of fun.... unless you are me. i got my fiber spun right up, and after little debate chose the perfect project. i was deep into all my other mitten, hat and sweater knitting, so let it slide. then i wrecked my elbow. no knitting for three l o n g weeks. i started gradually and all was going well. until.
i knit the first mitten. it was a bit big, but i was willing to let it go. knit the second and saw that i was not going to have enough yarn. ripped it back and reknit it following the directions to make a smaller size. still ran out of yarn. ripped them both back to the fifth row, steamed the yarn to remove the wrinkles and i'm going again. same pattern modified for size ( and yarn amount) my elbow is not holding up well under the stress-knitting. it doesn't matter, these will be done. for next weekend's meeting.










on a happier note, i took the yarn winder for a spin (hah) with this beautiful yarn. it is falkland -i love the bounce and softness- in blueberry patch by spinning bunny. this is my second batch of falkland and i really enjoy it. since i'm headed to the maryland sheep and wool festival this weekend, i may just try to find some more there.

going down memory lane

amythefibergoddess and i were chatting over coffee this week, when she showed me some pictures of her recent discovery. it seems she found a great wheel and skein winder that a neighbor had stored that belonged to his mother. following her death, he put them away thinking that maybe, someday, his kids might have an interest in wooly adventures and want grandma's things. time moves on and those beloved items start becoming a chore to move around, dust around and just have taking up your space. so he was looking to see if amy wanted them and how much they might be worth. i'm listening to the story and as she tells me his name, i complete it. stunned, her first question is how do i know him? well, our parents were great friends and we grew up together. this was a time when families would get together on a saturday evening, make a meal, play cards and have long conversations. kids would play outside, play games and not disturb the folks. there were no tv's, videos, dvd's and barely music. usually it was us playing the piano or guitar and singing like loons! i was at his wedding, his folks were at mine, and i was there at the grave site when his dad died. his mom followed a few years later, shortly after my eldest was born. over the years my folks would hear from him or stop in to visit, but i hadn't seen him in over a decade. egad, does that sound old! amy stood there and gave me his number, telling me that i was meant to have this wheel. she would just put it in storage and really? the fiber goddess was giving us a sign.

i gave him a call, and went over to see the items. we visited for two hours, just like i remember our folks doing. we met on a price, and i promised that they would stay with me for as long as i was around.

i know each and every time i wind a skein or spin on the wheel, carol will be with me.

color

at our last guild meeting we were able to dye our handspun yarn. i have been eagerly awaiting this program..... even though i have the best dyers in the world for my friends, it was a piece of magic that i needed to own. i have patiently spun my two-ounce skeins, wound them each very loosely into yarn patties, and soaked them overnight.

we drained the excess water out of the yarn, then filled our microwavable containers with about an inch of water and added 2 tablespoons of vinegar,then the dye choices. kool-aid in a variety of color/flavors yielded a softer color, easter egg tablets were vibrant. i did both. (of course :) i used kool-aid in orange first, setting my yarn patty into the color bath. then they were rotated through the microwave, heating to just below boiling to prevent felting. when cool, you repeated the liquid adding another color. i went with a watermelon/strawberry. my second yarn patty you see here in vibrant yellow and orange. wowser! these colors are amazing!

i have no idea what i could possibly create from these yarns, but just looking at them makes me happy.... and sometimes that's enough!

spinning companion

i usually find myself alone with my fiber in the evenings. everyone heads off to bed, or maybe to watch some tv, and i'm left sitting in my parlor with my wheel. it seems my littlest has decided that she likes to have this special time together. this is what my spinning has been like for the last several days. little miss etta rae has grown so huge that she can't fit around the wheel anymore. she really tries to do her best, but her body is just growing so fast and so big. and really, it is so hard to stand all this adorable.

stella maris

last weekend was the spinning retreat held at camp stella maris. now, when i say 'camp' it brings to mind cabins, sleeping bags, outdoor fires. that's not what's happening here. located on a smaller lake, the wegman lodge (yes, i did mean that wegman) is luxurious with a lovely fire place, huge windows and decks, comfy beds and bathrooms.

we gathered on friday afternoon and the fibery adventures began. some folks spin, some knit, read about knitting and spinning, it's a very relaxed atmosphere. there were a multitude of projects ...

the time was unstructured with only two workshops offered, one in decoupage the other needle felting. i took the opportunity to pester a master knitter into teaching me continental knitting. i learned both knit and purl stitches and sadly hounded her all weekend to monitor my progress and correct my mistakes. she was such a good sport and i am definitely feeling confident in the process. good news is that my elbow allowed me to power spin all weekend, bad news is that it is still sensitive to knitting. must be the constant positioning, but i am trying to slowly ease back into it.

with all this yarn i'm contemplating entering it into the fiber festival spinners basket. i have a project in mind that this would be awesome for.