back to the fiber

when i was in maryland, i went crazy in the ~gayle's art~ booth. i am captivated by her colorways, how they blend together and (most importantly) how they spin.
so i bought this random hank of 'show special' which was 4oz of a corriedale mix in colors that only i loved. i've been spinning it and anyone that walks by my wheel is also captivated by the bands of color.... even the naysayers! i had thought about plying it, then toyed with the notion of navajo plying, then decided i liked the singles. i've got an idea about what i want to do with it..... my vacation knitting :)

and the chemo caps. well, i'm still working on the continental knitting. i am so very slow that it is almost painful to watch. but as practice makes perfect, i will keep going. i decided to use up the scraps from my previous caps and thought these went together nicely. i've got another cast-on in more masculine shades with a more manly pattern that is making me learn to purl.

success

this post is completely unrelated to fiber. a while ago, i decided that i needed to run a 5K and that i needed to accomplish this before i hit a landmark birthday. well, the birthday is approaching so it became apparent that i must get serious. now, i've never been a runner. never. i walk, and i can put the casual walker to shame, but running? my commitment to a goal is crazy-stupid. as i've proven with fiber, i just stick with it until the end.

starting in february i got serious. i got a recommendation for a training website, and was off. walk-run-walk, lengthening the time of the running piece and shortening the walks. i thought i was going to die. the time that i took to accomplish this was sad, really sad. but, i kept with it.by march i was able to run the entire way, staggering into the driveway thrilled that i got there. i kept at it, found great music to run to (eminem is my go to guy :) finally bought real running gear and saw my time improve.

today was goal day. i entered my first official 5K race. yikes. when i got there this morning there were all sorts of real runner-type folks. serious stuff. i got into the middle of the pack with my running companion and at the sound of the horn, we were off. i was so conditioned to my own rhythm that i kept a consistent pace. and i did it. ran the entire race and crossed that finish line. it was awesome.

i may have another in me :)

cupcakes

ages ago, my dear sweet cousin asked me to make 'bridal shower cupcakes' i immediately agreed(wow, huge surprise there) and promptly forgot about them. life got full of stuff, as life will do, and i was certainly glad when she called to give me the flavors. chocolate cupcakes with butter cream frosting, the shower colors are purple and yellow. well, what to do? it seems that i have become way to invested in throwdown with bobbie flay. i refer to anyone who helps me as 'miriam and stephanie' and i have to analyze tiny details. not a good combination for someone with my already enhanced sense of compulsive isms!
so i researched cupcake baking, batters, tricks and hints finally deciding to stick with my tried-and-true recipe. i purchased white liners and tinted the frosting a delicate yellow, then accented them with purple hearts. i found sparkly purple card stock the i punched with a heart punch. i put them together on a silver twist tie the i cut in half.

how cute are they? 48 cupcakes and one special large cake with two hearts for the bride to be.

in fiber news.... i finally have the yarn for my sweater sleeves. now i just need to dig out the pattern and get knitting!

shepard's market

this morning as i was sitting at the end of my drive, waiting to be retrieved by amythefibergoddess, i realized that if all the doomsday predictions came true, it was a good life that i was leading. my family is together, safe, healthy and happy. i hold all my siblings close to my heart. my friends are true, self-less and loved. and i have fiber. lots of fiber.

the sun (which hasn't been seen in days) was shining on us as we made our way to the 4th annual market. i was thrilled to not have any agenda to attend to, just spin and be amy's minion!

all the fiber peeps were there... chatting & spinning.

joan purchased the most amazing pelt from nistock farms, long curly heavy creamed colored locks. simply fabulous. being an honest friend, i encouraged her to purchase the one that i loved the best..... and then decided i needed one exactly like it. they are one of a kind.

so, i placed my order with robin for possibly next year. we spent the entire day sitting with it draped over our two spinning stools and i was in tactile heaven!

handcovering

every time i looked at my ravelry page, i felt like a big slacker. no new projects started, still working on the arm-less sweater. it was depressing.
the reason was that all of my knitting focus was on the handcovering exchange. last fall, the guild started a handcovering exchange of fiber. it was to be kept top-secret so the recipient did not know who was working on their fiber. really, i couldn't even remember the fiber that i put in or who had my name and i was the facilitator of the project. but anyway, i acquired a bag of baby alpaca in a light brown. spun it very fine, in fact it was some of the nicest spinning i've done. then the pattern. knowing who would be wearing these mitts, i wanted them to be perfect. i checked out her ravelry page, watched what she had on her hands during the winter months, and found the pattern. the only pattern that would do.
this was about the time i wrecked my elbow, so the parts all sat together in my project bag waiting. i started knitting about mid-april knowing that i could just whip these babies up. well, i ended up knitting them six- s i x- times. the first was finished, and i was cruising on the second when i realized that i was going to run out of yarn. i ripped back to the beginning, removed some rows and reknit. i still was not going to have enough, so i ripped again and shortened the cuff. well, it seemed better so i ripped out the first and reknit it. as i was finishing the second mitt, i was literally felting pieces of yarn together to complete them. i wove in the last ends at 9:00 pm the night before the exchange. the next morning i learned that my recipient wasn't going to be there.
but the mittens are done!

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.