what happened to september?

i've sat down to write a post several times...... and still haven't been successful. it seems like yesterday that we were at the fair, then labor day was upon us ( awesome time at the lake) then it was back-to-school, helping amythefibergoddess get ready for the festival, getting myself ready for the finger lakes fiber festival, then it was set up at the festival.... you see what happened. so let's talk about the twentieth anniversary event.

this is where i spent most of my time. i lead the volunteer crew in parking. it is an awesome crew! i have my regulars and a few new faces this year. each and every one of them rocks. hard. they are the first impression that attendees get of our festival and i couldn't ask for better representation. we had almost 2000 people attend on saturday, which is a lot of cars to park. after previous years, we learned that it's better to guide people to safe parking, and i'm pleased to report no injuries (to vehicles or humans) no dogs left in cars and no one got stuck. yes, folks had to walk. but it really is all about perspective. once you got onto the grounds there was a lovely wagon to transport you about.
i did get to visit a few booths on sunday and the winery in the farmer's market. i think she took pity on me and was being generous with my samples. :)
this year, i entered a few skeins in the competition. knowing that we had a wonderful judge, i decided that it was a good thing to get some feedback. how did i do?

not too shabby! i appreciated all the comments. now i need to remember what i was going to use those skeins for.
monday i was able to take Barbara Parry's class on color. wow. it was amazing. so many of her thoughts and observations really resonated with me. the class started with observations about colors in roving and how to work with them. having had many of her same experiences, i was eager to learn how to gain better control of my spinning without loosing that special something that makes spinning work for me. you know what i mean? if i have so spend too much time deliberating about what path to take, it sucks the fun right out of it! she offered lots of suggestions and observations that really made sense.

she put us to work. we made singles, two-ply, chain-ply, and even cable ply. it was over way to soon. i've got a list of techniques to try when winter comes.
so that was my festival weekend. just wait until you see what i did this week!

summer's best show in show

yes, it was time again for the NYS fair. it really never gets old for me. the day couldn't have been better, sunny with a light breeze and temps in the lower 70's. i took the herd ( plus one... my niece joined us) for a day of good fair fun. i settled in with my spinning regulars.... and my hansen

yes, there was a starbucks stop along the way :) my table holds all the essentials, a drink, wheel, glasses, fiber. i debated about taking this or my regular wheel. to be honest, this one was picked because it is just so darn transportable. it was a breeze to carry it from the parking lot ( hint to securtiy: clear box with visible batteries is more of a threat than a little girls purse) and i was set up and spinning in no time. i've come to expect to see the two gals who spin the shift with me. we catch up on fiber happenings and the time just flies!

i found that there were less people this year, especially considering the weather. we stowed my stuff at the end of my shift, and made it to the horse coliseum to see the percherons. i just love that! we 'got milk', visited the butter sculpture, the sand sculpture, ate our potatoes, loved on the state police hound dogs (oh my gosh were they dear) and then headed home! i can't think of a better way to end the summer...

roving

while i was buying my baskets at the maryland sheep & wool festival, i bought some roving. i think i bought 12 ounces of targhee and 16 ounces of merio. there were 4 ounces in a baggie and i grabbed several. it was white, commercial top and ridiculously cheap! it's been sitting in my parlor, waiting for a turn in the dye pot. Yesterday i spent the day with amythefibergoddess dyeing up all sorts of goodies for the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival.  she was also getting her roving dyed and ready. i tossed my bundles into a pan, soaked them with water and started playing. it's really bad when you don't have a plan, but it can also give you some amazing surprises..... behold....

drying between the raindrops are 8 ounces of ombre in a southwestern colorway and 8 ounces that looks like a watercolor painting with greens, blues and purples. i couldn't be happier.
now i've got to get fiber off the wheel and this batch dried so i can spin on!

it's not fiber.....

after spinning my way through the tour, i became a real slacker! i'd spin a bit here and there, but didn't have that same drive to do it every day. plus life stuff seemed to pop up. my focus shifted to  participating in a fund raiser for ontario-yates hospice. i have been a strong advocate for hospice services and last year our family used their support for my mom. hospice is an amazing organization that works with families at the most challenging times in our life.  the care they gave us was extrodinary, so when i heard about this opportunity i knew i had to help. so, following a beautiful sunrise, my daughter and I, along with 22 other swimmers, were boated across Canandaigua Lake to begin the Ontario-Yates Hospice Swim.

The current was incredibly strong, with white caps in the center, but we swam all the way! It took us over an hour and a half to reach the shore where we were greeted with cheers from the crowd of family, friends, and our fellow swimmers. two fiber friends donated their time to paddle along with us.....

This was one of the most physically difficult things that i've done. as i swam along, i kept thinking about different projects to start or fiber to spin or where all that fiber was. it was a perfect distraction to what i was really doing and now if i can just remember all those plans, i'll be set. 

Stages 16-21, riding into paris...

what a trip! there are many things i love about this challenge, but the one i love the most..... spinning every day. whatever wheel is needed is at the ready. my majacraft gets carted out to the deck, front porch, wherever i am. the little tray with the hansen gets put in the trunk, set on the kitchen counter, put by the pool. my family and friends have come to expect me spinning at every opportunity, so it seems weird to stop. i also dig finding out other spinners have been quietly pedaling along with me (hey vicki & anne marie). it's like we've become a little family, connected by the fiber.
i didn't post as regularly as i wanted to. some days it was just the repetition of alpaca/corriedale and who needed to see that? i did spend a day with amythefibergoddess dying yarn. stunning.....

get yourself to the 20th annual Fingerlakes Fiber Festival to see these beauties in person! the list of classes and special events is on the website... what a stellar line up!
here's another completed skein, merino from fuzzybunnyyarns.....

i had intended to ply this banding the colors together. opps. still a pretty skein.
and all the pretty skeins ...

yep, made it to paris without mishap! that alpaca/corriedale is soooooo soft! it matched up perfectly when i put it together....

headed to the stash, i'll have to decide what they need to be!

stages 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15

lots of spinning, very little posting! i've met my first goal with ease (spin on every wheel), in fact i've enjoyed it so much i keep rotating them. as i slog my way through the ombre roving, the monoteny has been lessoned with wheel fun. each spins a bit differently and i remember why i love my rose. probably a good bonding excercise that i wouldn't have done without a push.

last night i finally got all the alpaca/corriedale fiber on bobbins. i've started plying some lovely merino that i spun from HCl. my espinner is the cat's pajamas for this and it is so very transportable. with the heat of summer returning, i can be lifeguarding at the pool or porch sitting with my wheel on the tray.
amythefibergoddess has started the prep for the Fingerlakes Fiber Festival. we spent an afternoon retraining caroline working with wool with more planned for this week. i had my camera and didn't get any shots. next time for sure.

stages 7, 8, 9 & 10

weekend spinning. it's always more of a challenge with life obligations. with summer, it's picnic's, graduation party's, festivals, and just finding time to enjoy summer. friday i worked on the ombre roving... every little bit i would make time to sit and spin just a bit more.

saturday i was at the cornhill arts festival in the emerging artists expo. there is a young artist in the family creating in hand crafted jewelry. here's were all my festival experiences paid off! we arrived at the site to check in at 7:15am, which meant leaving the house by 6:30, which meant having the car packed and ready to go friday evening. the space was provided, but had to be emptied ( of everything) at day's end. we also could not bring the vehicle back until 1 hour after the end of the show. knowing this was going to be a long, hot day, i suggested taking the little red wagons to load the stuf into and wheel it to the car. you should have seen the faces it got. but, everyone was game to giving it a go and it worked like a charm! so did the cooler with ice water, power bars, comfy lawn chairs..... i'm such a mom!

the space was beautiful and there are lots of happy necks, arms and ears with 'get juled' pieces today. so what did i do? our friend has a home in the area, so i set myself up to spin... this is the tour!

i tossed the stash and found this, merino/tencel in 'bermuda'. i can clearly remember buying this at rhinebeck way, way back in 2008 from a vendor -the sheep shed-. i have no idea why i got it, but i'm sure that the reason i didn't spin it was that i was a newbie spinner and i needed to hone those skills. well, honed or not it's on the wheel. the colors are lovely, still bright enough for summer spinning. i'm going very fine with this and mixing all the colors to hopefully get a fingering weight.
yesterday it rained all day. with the limited tent space, i was able to stay home to do house chores. yeah! so, i kept working on the ombre roving.

and did a little baking.....

rhubarb oatmeal squares. these require a bit of effort but are worth it! i was able to use fresh rhubarb (thanks to amytherhubarbgoddess) and my own strawberry jam. the family was very happy to find these for dessert in the evening.
to i'm still slogging through that ombre roving. such is life on the tour....