Beautiful

Look at this beautiful space and photography.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stocksphotography/sets/72157609629601114/show/

Which picture do you like the most? Mine is this one.

I love all of the crafty things in the picture

State Fair 09

My friends and I went to the state fair Sunday and had fantastic weather for it. This summer hasn't been like a real summer at all, much more rainy and cooler than normal. Not that I'm complaining at all because I really enjoy cooler weather. Anyway, this was the first time in a couple of years that I have gone to the state fair. It is also the first time I've entered anything at the fair.

We went all through the animal barns looking at everyone in the stalls, pens and tie stalls. I bet all of the exhibitors were thrilled that the weather wasn't roasting. No one had to worry about heat exhaustion. I really enjoyed going through the sheep barn because there were so many different breeds and some fleece judging was going on. There were some really nice ones there. I wasn't knitting obsessively constantly enthusiastically or spinning at all the last time that we went to the fair so I didn't take special note of the sheep then. My one friend made a friend for life because he gave a thorough head and back scratch to a ram who had been sheared recently. That big guy was definitely itchy. The one funny thing we saw was a ewe tied to the fence being shampooed and bathed. She was NOT THRILLED with the whole thing. The man who was washing her took her back to the barn toweled her head off and started combing her, getting ready for the show ring. All I could think about was felting fleece.

My friends and I then moved on to the natural resources area where we watched a demonstrations on water dogs. It was fun to watch the different dogs retrieving the "ducks". One dog had a very clean entry into the water. He would run to the edge and then delicately step into the water without a splash. Another dog there, on the other hand, took a flying leap and did a canine equivalent of a cannonball!

At the end of the day, we went to the Creative Arts building where all of the art things and cooking entries were housed. Some of the drawings and paintings were really impressive. The photography, however, didn't really inspire me. Ironically, the entries in my local fair usually do. I would have thought the people in the local fair would enter things into the state one. We kept wandering through the different rooms until we came to this. . .

That's right, second! I was so thrilled! I thought they were going to notify us if we won anything and hadn't heard from them so it was a complete surprise. The lady who won 1st in this category had a lovely wedding veil she had made for her wedding. She included a picture from the wedding which was very nice.

On to the next case and this. . . .

Another second! I think that is pretty good for a sweater I was still finishing on the morning we turned things in!

When I got to the semi-constructed case (from the looks of the entries no one else understood what exactly they meant by semi-constructed), I saw this. . .


A blue ribbon! I really liked doing this shrug and using the yarn so it was nice and sproingy. I can't wait to actually be able to wear it because this, too, was being finished the morning that items were due.

When I looked for my Morning Surf Scarf, I saw that it had been awarded first place and the best in category!!!


All in all, I'm quite happy with the results. I didn't place with my handspun yarn but, then again, I didn't expect to. I grabbed that skein at the last minute and definitely wasn't my best work. The way that they displayed the handspun skeins was quite nice and it was interesting to see all of the colors.


Speaking of displaying, I was glad to see the different items were protected in glass cabinets. One of Mom's friends mentioned how they had a problem with items being stolen in past years. I was definitely concerned that my projects would be stolen before I had a chance to enjoy them!

I wish that my camera battery hadn't been dying or else I would have taken more pictures. As it is, I have a couple of pictures of some of the other knit items that were just fantastic.





The quilts that were entered were amazing. I wish I could show you all of the detail in them. These pictures really don't do it justice but try clicking on them to make them bigger and you might see some of the exquisite quilting on them.








Some of the cake decorating ones really amused me. I hope they still look good when the fair ends on Sunday. The ones that had been made for tasting looked a little wonky in their display case.






And the last picture for this picture-heavy post. . . .

It could have only been better if that was actually bubble wrap and not just a paint job!

tdf day 18

I thought yesterday was the challenge day for the Tour de Fleece. When the bikers are having a challenging day, the spinners push themselves by either using a new technique, a new fiber, or doing some other personal challenge. My challenge was going to be spinning up an ounce of yak/tussah silk that I bought at the Spinning and Knitting Estonian Lace Workshop I went to in April. So I ended up doing my challenge one day early.


Spinning this fiber blend was a little tricky. It wanted to be spun so very thin. I had to remove almost all of the tension on my bobbin before it would stop flying out of my hands. I really can't wait to finish plying it and knitting it into a set of wrist warmers. They are destined to be a Christmas gift for a friend.

If you can, you should get some of this fiber. It is FABULOUS. The Trading Post in Pendleton, IN has some really great fiber blends. The website is a little interesting to use but, if you click on the picture of each fiber, you can get more information about each. Susan is really nice and has great customer service. She comes to a lot of the fiber festivals in my area. I can't wait to get more stuff from her at Yellow Springs.

Because the 22nd is the real challenge day, I guess I will start spinning up the other fiber blend I got from The Trading Post, a 50/50 merino/camel blend. It is going to be another challenge and delight to work with.

State Fair FOs

Last year, I listened to David Reidy's podcast (Sticks and String March 23, 08) and he was talking about entering projects in local fairs. His discussion about entering items was very inspiring. But I didn't get around to getting anything finished for the state and local fairs that year. Then I went to our local fair. Not to be a yarn snob but FUN FUR placed. FUN FUR. I was determined that this year would be different.

This Saturday and Sunday was the submission deadline for the projects for the state fair. I, of course, was not finished with the various projects. I entered 5 different items: a skein of fingering handspun, an item knit from handspun, a sweater, a semi-constructed item (why did I enter that one?), and a knitted lace item. I had a couple of projects that were already finished or so close that it would only take a couple of days to finish them. The skein of handspun was already finished.


I can't remember if I blogged about this and am too lazy to go back to look. This is a 100% BFL 3-ply fingering weight yarn and is intended for socks.

The item from handspun was going to be one of two scarves: the Morning Surf Scarf or the Waves of Grain scarf. Rereading the entry information, I realized that needed to have a skein of the handspun yarn. Well, neither one of these had any yarn left over. I think I had 2 inches of the one and maybe a foot of the other but, of course, I threw it out long ago. The Morning Surf Scarf has a bind off edge. The Waves of Grain is grafted in the middle. That means that one was significantly easier to get a skein of yarn from it. I ended up unpicking the bind-off edge on the Morning Surf Scarf, ripping back one row, and rebound off. I quickly washed the yarn and dried it with a hairdryer on my mini niddy noddy. Even though they probably didn't want it this way, I wrapped it around an index card just because there wasn't much of the yarn.


The sweater was one of those projects that was mostly finished but not quite. It is the Hey, Teach! cardigan from Knitty. I started this project back last year but just didn't get around to finishing it. I think my main problem was that it was knit in pieces. Sure the pieces go fast but the seaming (or thinking about doing the seaming) takes forever. In addition, I kept knitting the same sleeves over and over. I was going to make 3/4 length sleeves rather than the cap sleeves that the pattern calls for. The first pair I made were waaaaay too tight and would have cut off my circulation in a heartbeat. I started them again in the next biggest size. They were waaaaaay too big. (This is starting to sound like Goldilocks!) Saturday night, I made the decision to rip the second set of sleeves out and start over with the original size. Luckily, I wasn't deluded enough to think that I could get the 3/4 length finished in that amount of time (I still needed to finish the semi-constructed garment). The decision was made to knit the cap sleeves and, once the fair is over, I can decide to knit the 3/4 length if I want. That is the great thing about handknit sweaters; you can tweak them after they are finished.



When I realized I had entered the semi-constructed garment categorey, it made me wonder why in the world I thought that was a good idea. I mean, what in the world does semi-constructed mean? When last Monday rolled around, I realized that I still hadn't done anything for this category. A shrug seemed to kind of fit the bill but I wasn't sure what yarn I had on hand. Then I looked at the Dream in Color Classy I had bought in Pittsburgh when I was visiting a friend last November.


I bought this yarn with a shrug in mind. The skeins are 250 yds each and with two of them I probably would have enough on hand for a shrug. Then when I started looking around, I couldn't find a pattern that only used 500 yds and looked like something I wanted to wear. On Monday, I did a search on ravelry again for a shrug with my yardage and yarn weight. The Dream in Color Lace Shrug popped up and it was like the designer was in my head and could see the shrug I was picturing. And the pattern called for 500 yards of Dream in Color!


I really liked knitting this shrug. After finding an online store (the Dream in Color site was down when I was searching) that had the shrug as a download, I cast on at 10 pm on Wednesday. I ended up seaming it together on Sunday morning at 11am. It was a really fast knit whose lace pattern is definitely memorizable.

You knit the shrug as a rectangle and then sew the ends into sleeves, pick up the stitches around the opening, and knit some ribbing around that. After looking at some of the FOs on ravelry, I decided not to flip the cuffs up which would have meant seaming up the WS for a couple of inches and then switching to the RS. I also decided to knit 2 1/2 inches of ribbing rather than the 1 1/2 inches the pattern called for. It made everything look more balanced with the cuffs unflipped.


The yarn was so sprongy and fun to knit. It was so much fun that I could even do another shrug in the same pattern without being bored. That is saying a lot about both the yarn and the pattern.

The knitted lace was probably the easiest thing for me to have finished. I have a number of shawls around which are already finished but I wanted to take the opportunity to finish up one that has been hanging around for a while. The Queen Anne's Lace shawl has been a hibernating WiP since last year sometime. It was started last June when I was coming back from a trip to Maryland and I got stuck in the airport. I was in the airport so long that I finished the shawl I was working on and didn't have anything else to work on. I think I will be scarred for life with that experience. Luckily, I had more yarn and the shawl pattern so I immediately started making another one and called it the QAL 2.


I modified the pattern a little bit. The first lace section was knit on US4s, the next section on US 6s, and the following one on US 8s. I did the extended version of the shawl and used US 9s for that section. I would say that using the 9s was on purpose so that the edge would be nice and lacy but that would be a lie. I just couldn't find the 8s because they were in another project somewhere. As a final touch, I put pearl seed beads in some of the last rows. After finishing it, I wish that I had put the beads throughout. They gave the shawl a little flare.

The deadline for turning in items to the local fair is August 8th so now I just have to see what I have finished. Or rather what I can get finished by then . . . .

More TdF

The Tour de Fleece keeps rolling on. July 13th was the first rest day of the Tour which means the bikers and the spinners are both took a break. I used it as an opportunity to catch you guys up on what I've been doing (of course that doesn't mean I actually posted on that day!).

I've been busy pretty much every day of the Tour so far. The first project I was working on was the 4 ounces of BFL that I showed you last time. I finished spinning it yesterday morning and figured out that I have about 301 yards of 3-ply fingering weight.


As a sidenote, if you are in the Tour de Fleece group, have you seen the great photo mosaics that people have been making? I used fd's Flickr Toys for this one. I wonder if Picnik has any fun mosaic tools? If you have any suggestions for places to do mosaics, let me know.

Once the BFL was finished, I wanted to keep going and was poking around for something else to start. A few months (how has that much time passed?!) ago, I reorganized my fiber and yarn stash in hanging bags along one wall of my room. It has been very helpful to be able to see everything in the stashes. It's harder to forget what things are in there if it is right in front of you. Well, one of the hanging bags has drawers in it (IKEA, I love you) where I put some different singles that had been spun but not plied. These different singles were spun a long time ago. I just looked back at my flickr pictures and it looks like the one single was spun during the last Tour de Fleece!

This is some 100% soysilk roving I bought from Earthly Hues. The colorway is called Rainbow Feet and all of the colors are from natural dyes. I remember spinning the soysilk was like spinning with cobwebs. It would stick to itself in a heartbeat! It made joins super easy and you could spin it so very fine. I remember that I didn't finish plying this because I couldn't figure out if I wanted to keep the colors together or ply it with another color to create a barber pole or ply each end together for a different kind of barber pole. When I looked at the single again this Tour, I decided to use the chain plying technique I've had just been using on the BFL. The result is a very squishy DK-ish 3-ply.



I'm very happy with the result. I think it will make a very nice hat. The purple, blue and green section, though, is going to be at the top of the hat. The indigo has a tendency to rub off on your fingers. Wouldn't that make for a great look on your forehead? :)

TDF 09

On the 4th of July, the Tour de Fleece started with competitors off to a roaring start. And, oh yeah, there is a bike thing going on, too. If you haven't heard of the Tour de Fleece before, it was begun as a group blog in 2006 and has grown since then. Now, it mainly takes place on the ravelry group with people sharing pictures and details of their spinning. You set your own goals for the Tour from spinning 10 minutes a day, spinning up your stash, learning new techniques, etc. etc. The Tour de France goes from the 4th to the 26th with two rest days on the 13th and 20th. On July 22nd, the bikers are going through a major mountain challenge so the spinners challenge themselves in some way. For me, that challenge day is going to be spent spinning up either the merino/camel or the yak/silk blends that I got at the Trading Post in April.

I've mainly been using the spindle for these first two days. I pulled some muscles in my shoulder last week and using the wheel is more uncomfortable than using the lightweight spindle. It also means that I can spin wherever I am. The new horse, Ivy/Lily (we haven't decided what to call her yet because everyone keeps calling her Lily since she doesn't look like an Ivy), is absolutely fascinated by the whole thing. Of course, she has the attention span of a toddler so anything moving keeps her interest!

I've signed up for 3 different teams, Team SOS -- Spin our Socks, Stash Busters 09, and Team Spindle. Right now I'm working on 4 ounces of 100% BFL in a colorway called Peach Season from the stash. It originally wasn't my stash but the lady from whom I bought my Kromski wheel. I really am liking the colors and the way the BFL is spinning up. It is going to be a very nice 3-ply fingering weight that I'm going to use for my first pair of handspun socks. This picture is from the end of the first day.


This one is from the start of day 2.



And this is from the end of day 2.



You can see the true color of the yarn in that mini skein. Isn't it funny how the yarn vs. roving can be so different?

So far I've spun of 2 ounces of the 4. Now I've started thinking of which roving I should tackle next. Should I do a merino tencel or maybe the silk milk? Or even some more of the various fleeces which are hanging around? Or maybe that fabulous bamboo? Or the fun wools that have been marinating in the stash? Or maybe . . . .

A funny thing happened a couple of weekends ago

Did you go to World Wide Knit in Public Day either on Saturday the 13th or the 20th? I helped to coordinate one for our county on the 13th. A group of us met at the county courthouse gazebo for talk, knitting, spinning and eating. It was so much fun to catch up with friends and meet new ones. I ended up spinning most of the time because I'm on a major spinning jag.

The rest of the weekend seemed charmed beyond all belief. On Saturday, before going to the courthouse, I stopped by the local farmer's market at the WWKiP event going on there. While there, I happened to see a great wheel at a tag sale. I didn't really look at it, just noticed that it was there.

The next morning, I drove by again and the wheel was still there. One of the ladies in my spinning guild collects antique wheels so I stopped and took picture of it and found out the price for her. When I called Kim, she said that she already had one great wheel so was going to pass on this one. I posted the pictures on an antique spinning wheel group on Ravelry and asked the members if they thought the wheel was missing any pieces, if the two breaks in the wheel itself could be easily fixed, and if it was worth it for the price. They said, yes, the wheel could be repaired and, no, it didn't seem to be missing any pieces.

I was still considering during the day and decided to drive by again before I went riding in the evening. When I went by, I saw that the people were starting to pack everything up. I only had $50 on me and offered it to the lady. Even though that wasn't was she was asking for it, she sold it in a heartbeat. I think they really didn't want to pack it up again. I continued to the barn, got the horses in, fed them, borrowed a truck out there, grabbed winter blankets and leg wraps for padding, and headed back into town. In 10 minutes, I had a brand new (you know what I mean) spinning wheel. According to the people on the Ravelry group, this wheel is a Pennsylvania Great Wheel. Right now, it is in the basement waiting to be moved to the living room.

The other exciting thing that happened that weekend was that I was offered a horse. Michelle, a fellow spinner, moved out to Colorado in January and their house finally sold a couple of weeks ago. She had reduced her herd of horses down to one horse that just wasn't selling. Ivy is a 3 year old Appendix (part Quarter Horse and part Thoroughbred) bay filly who hasn't been trained for riding yet. A couple of friends and I went to see Ivy on Monday. On Wednesday evening, we drove the trailer down to pick her up. (Our barn is just down the road from Michelle's.) She didn't want to load since we were a whole bunch of strangers. We borrowed another horse from the barn, loaded that one, loaded Ivy and drove off with both. Once we were at our barn, Ivy came off and Curtis drove the other horse back to her barn.

We let Ivy out with everyone else that night. It is always better to introduce everyone quickly rather than letting them injure themselves by fighting over fences. We let Ivy out first to let her have a chance to look at her surroundings before introducing everyone. Next, we let Java out to meet the new girl. He sniffed her and then went to get a drink out of the waterer. The next horse, Jazz, was in heat so badly that she didn't have eyes for any other horse than my gelding. (The girls have convinced him that he is a stallion.) Next, Bo was let go and he really wanted to be Ivy's friend. The last horse locked in was the head mare, Cali. She was slamming the door with her hoof, pinning her ears, and almost snarling at Ivy. Everyone got to a safe place and we let Cali out. She tore out of the stall and immediately put herself between Ivy and the other horses.

Ivy is to the left. The white horse in the middle is Cali.

They all ran around for a while. Cali was only able to herd Java because Bo kept escaping to see Ivy and Jazz had finally noticed the new horse.

By the next morning, Jazz and Ivy were joined at the hip. Both of them seemed perfectly contentent to come in the stall together to get fed and didn't understand when the silly humans wouldn't allow that.

Java and Ivy

After a little more than a week, Cali has given up on keeping Java away from Ivy. She has decided eating is much more exciting than herding her gelding around.

Save Ohio Libraries

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

from http://www.olc.org/news_story062009.asp

6/20/09 Governor’s Budget Proposal cuts the PLF 50%. Act Now!

Many of the Ohio’s 251 public libraries could close or face significant reductions in operations as a result of the Governor’s latest proposal to balance the state’s 2010-2011 biennium budget.

Public libraries in Ohio are funded primarily through the Public Library Fund (PLF), which receives 2.2% of the state’s tax revenue. Since 2001, public library funding has been on the decline. As a result of the current downturn in the economy and decreasing state tax revenues, public libraries are currently experiencing a drop in funding from the Public Library Fund (PLF) estimated at 20% or more as compared to 2008. At a news conference on Friday, June 19, the Governor proposed an additional cut in the PLF of $112.5 million in fiscal year 2010 and $114.8 million in 2011 as part of his “framework” to fill the $3.2 billion gap in the budget that must be balanced by Ohio General Assembly’s Conference Committee by June 30. This will mean a more than 50% cut in funding for many of Ohio ’s public libraries.

With some 70% of the state’s 251 public libraries relying solely on the PLF to fund their operations, the reduction in funding will mean that many will close completely, close branches, or drastically cut hours and services.

The Governor’s proposed funding cuts come at a time when Ohio’s public libraries are experiencing unprecedented increases in demands for services. In every community throughout the state, Ohioans are turning to their public library for free high speed Internet to access information on employment opportunities, children and teens are beginning summer reading programs, and people of all ages are turning to the library for information and entertainment.

Ohio ’s public libraries offer CRITICAL services to those looking for jobs and operating small businesses. Public libraries are an integral part of education, which Governor Strickland says is critical to the state’s economic recovery. But it is unlikely that many of Ohio ’s public library systems, especially those without local levies, can remain open with these proposed cuts.

About 30% of Ohio’s public libraries have local property tax levies that supplement the state’s funding. However, with the Governor’s proposed drastic cuts in the PLF, even those libraries will face decisions regarding substantial reductions in hours of operation, materials, and staffing.

During the next nine days, the Ohio General Assembly will decide whether or not to accept the Governor’s proposal. We cannot allow that to happen; we cannot wait. ALL public libraries throughout the state should immediately notify their patrons, by e-mail if possible, of the Governor’s proposed library funding cuts and the devastating effects that will result. Patrons should be urged to contact their state legislators and the Governor’s office by phone or e-mail to voice their strong opposition. We have no time for letters. Library boards of trustees should meet as soon as possible to evaluate the impact of the proposed funding reduction and formulate plans to reduce services or shut down their libraries. Make sure your patrons know immediately the actions you might have to take. This is a drastic measure proposed by the Governor and it will require a dramatic and immediate response from the libraries and our patrons.
The General Assembly Conference Committee will likely make their decision about this proposal this week. Here are the things that you should do IMMEDIATELY:
E-mail your patrons and ask them to e-mail or call your state representatives and the Governor (614-466-3555) Immediately!

Make signs and handouts for all of your buildings. In some cases, it is appropriate to say “This Branch May Close If The Governor’s 50% Cut Is Approved - Call the Governor at 614-466-3555 and State Representative(fill in yours) and State Senator (fill in yours).

Contact your editorial boards on Monday and ask for a meeting as soon as possible.
Hold an emergency meeting of your board to discuss this cut and make sure to invite your local press.

Put a message on your Web site and include links to your state legislators e-mail address and the Governor.

Do a press release on the impact this will have on your library. Remember this cut begins July 1!

Work together with other libraries in your area.

This must be accomplished THIS WEEK.

The OLC is working with the Ohio General Assembly to make sure they don’t accept this proposal. We are developing a press release for Monday morning (we will send that to all directors). We are working with Jon Iten on a memo that will review the legal steps necessary to close or merge libraries should that become necessary. We will keep you apprised of the situation.

For more information, contact:

Ohio Library Council - (614) 410-8092
Doug Evans, Executive Director - (614) 216-0678 (cell)
Lynda Murray, Director of Government and Legal Services - (614) 746-0895 (cell)
Mackenzie Betts, Director of Communications - (614) 203-2656

To find your Ohio Senator:
http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/SenateZipSearch.html

To find your Ohio Representative:
http://www.house.state.oh.us/

Addiction

Hi, my name is Anne and I'm addicted to sheep fuzz. All things fiber are appealing to me with the exception of finishing my various projects!

I'm definitely going through a spinning jag right now. The spindles I got in Seattle aren't helping any. Or this fantastic video for a new drop spindle technique. It's like navajo plying but not. I've been using this technique for the 4 ounces of Falkland I got at the same time as the spindle and am loving it. It takes a little while to get the technique down but is great. I've already spun up 2 of the 4 ounces of roving.


In other spinning news, I broke down and rearranged my yarn and fiber stashes. Now they are very much out in sight and all of it is harder to ignore. Well, not ignore, but forget about how much is really there. Thanks to rearranging, I've made it a goal to start spinning up some of it. When I bought my Kromski wheel, the lady who was selling it was also getting rid of her fiber so I bought that, too. So on top of the fiber I had already had, I put much more in. Some of the new fiber definitely wouldn't have been the colors I would have picked so this is definitely expanding my horizons. I've made it a goal this month to spin up between 16 and 24 ounces of the already prepared top (i.e. not any of my raw fleeces) from the stash.

So far I've spun up 4 ounces of 100% BFL (I think I love that fiber) into a 3-ply fingering yarn in a colorway called Watermelon. Now I don't think I would have bought this color in roving form but I really enjoy the finished yarn. The wool is very sproingy and the colors are just fun together. It is a really red red, a strong green, and brown for those watermelon seeds. The socks aren't going to match perfectly but will be fraternal twins whenever I get around to knitting them.

Right now I'm working on a 4 ounce wool/bamboo blend (the percentages weren't written down on the label) in a color called Flirty. The color mix is really growing on me. It has white, light gray, dark gray/black, pink and blue in it. My wheel's previous owner had bought 4 braids of this colorway (16 ounces total). I have a strong suspicion that 3 of the braids were dyed at one time and 1 after. The colors aren't that different but they just appear in slightly different places. What I mean is, 3 of the braids have the dark sections at the ends of the braid but one of them has those dark spots in the middle. Right now I'm spinning up that odd ball braid. The plan is to also spin this into a 3-ply fingering weight for more socks. I may be knitting down my sock yarn stash but I seem to be spinning more up.

In addition to all of this already prepared roving, I've been working on my fleeces. I've been spinning and plying up a laceweight yarn from the tan shetland fleece.


The first skein of this yarn ended up being almost 700 yards. I've already wound it up and cast on for a shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia.


The plan is to try to get this finished for the state fair. Our local fair doesn't have a category for handspinning but the state does. (No, instead the local fair has a category for FROG FIGURINE COLLECTING. Yeah, that's right. FROG FIGURINES. That just doesn't seem like it should be a part of the arts and craft entries.) I'm also trying to get some other projects finished for both of the fairs.

I am also making a shawl for a friend out of some yarn I got last year in St. Michael's, MD. I don't think I ever entered it into my ravelry stash. It was from a nearby dyer and definitely was out of my normal range of yarns. It is a purple with slight variations in hue and a thread of gold metallic running through it. In addition, the yarn is 100% rayon. It feels soft and has a great drape but the yarn fumes must have gotten to me. I've been imagining a shawl with this yarn since I bought it but couldn't find a good pattern. Last week, I realized Michele is going to be leaving soon (duh, I knew that for a year!) and I needed to get a move on with her project. So I decided to do a Swallowtail shawl and immediately cast on. This will be the second Swallowtail I've made and I've come to the conclusion that I love it for a fast pattern. I've been working on the shawl since Thursday (with a lot of spinning time thrown in there) and I'm already to the nupps section. I think another reason for my love of the pattern is that I get to do more nupps. I think I have an addiction.

Oh, would you like to see a rather bad picture of the cotton spindle I bought in Seattle? Here you go. I haven't worked with it yet so I can't tell you what I think about it yet.


Mom and I went to a fiber festival up in Wooster at the end of May. I liked wandering around and seeing everything and everybody. We had some fantastic lamb sandwiches. The vendor also had lamb hotdog (lamb dogs?) but we didn't try that. We did get one for dad but I don't remember what he said about it. I ended up buying a small 1 yard niddy noddy and a skein of sock yarn. Doesn't it look so different wound up?


I already cast on for a sock with it. The spinning, though, has interrupted the sock progress.

Seattle

I went out to Seattle last week for a very whirlwind trip. I flew in Wednesday night, had Thursday there and flew out Friday morning. It was AMAZING how well all of my hotel, plane and car arrangements worked. It was like the whole trip was charmed. I landed a little bit late (stupid Chicago weather) but got to the car counter right before the guy left for a smoke break. Getting the car at the offsite location took a total of 15 minutes and 10 of that was the drive to the car lot and 3 of it was me inspecting the car and figuring out where the various switches were. I ended up with a Subaru Impreza with which I was really impressed.

My hotel room was at an Extended Stay in Lynnwood, a community north of Seattle. We have friends of the family who live there and I was hoping to make things more convient if we could meet up. It turns out that Pam and her family lived 5 minutes away from my hotel. Also, all I had to do to get there from the airport was take I-5 north and the hotel was right there. It was so easy to get down to Seattle, too.

I probably should confess this, being a librarian and all, but I didn't do any research for this trip really. Well, except for the yarn stores. But I didn't even do a google map for the hotel or where I was going in Seattle. I just looked at the little guidebook map. On reflection, I'm really happy I picked up the guidebook on Tuesday when a patron asked me to show them the Alaska guidebooks and I happened to see it. But, like I said, everything was charmed.

I had an appointment in the middle of the day in downtown Seattle so I found a place to park the car (10 blocks away) and remembered the cross streets. I got to my appointment early so I had a chance to cool off from my hike. After it was over, I took a detour to Pike Place Public Market and roamed around for a bit. I got a fabulous thing of mac and cheese at a cheese store/deli and some flowers for Pam and her family. I drove back to the hotel and got ready to meet Pam.

You know the best part about visiting Seattle? Pam is a knitter. Pam knows yarn stores. Pam had a plan and a map of the stores we could get to. Pam is a native and can find her way around so much better than I could. The second best part? The Seattle yarn stores were having a yarn crawl that weekend starting on Thursday. If you were able to get to all 23 yarn stores in the near Seattle area, you were entered into a drawing for a set of Addi Clicks. Pam and I knew our limits, though, and were happy to make it to 4. We went to The Fiber Gallery, Bad Woman Yarn (hysterical name!), Weaving Works, and Pam's LYS, Acorn Street Shop. Because it was a yarn crawl, every store had a free pattern and would stamp your yarn crawl booklet. It was so much fun! I didn't buy and yarn but fell down hard with the fiber and fiber tools. I blame the delightful Weaving Works!

I came home with 4 ounces of Falkland fiber, 1 ounce of cotton roving, 1 cotton spindle and 1 wooden drop spindle made in Kent, WA. I should have never picked up any of the Cascade spindles to try them out. I tried a couple and they didn't click. I tried the .95 oz one and knew it was going to come home with me. Then you can't leave without fiber because what else would you do in the airport? Knit on the 2 different projects I had brought? Ha! Of course I spun in the gate waiting area! I came home with the cotton and cotton spindle because I've never seen those in fiber stores and, the last time I was looking for one, I couldn't find one. At Bad Woman Yarn, I picked up a bluebird needle felting kit. Mom has been watching a bluebird family in our backyard so it was the perfect present for her.

After our mini yarn crawl, Pam and I went up to the ferry landing for Whitby Island and met Pam's sister, Nikki, for dinner at Ivar's, a local seafood place. It was so much fun to see both of them and catch up a bit. Pam and I arrived right as Nikki's ferry was landing and, as we finished dinner, a ferry was arriving. Talk about timing! If we had taken any longer, Nikki would have had to wait until 11.

The next morning, I was worried about getting to the airport and Seattle's notorious traffic. After consulting with Pam, I decided to leave at 8 just in case. It definitely wasn't a problem getting up and out that early because I was still on Eastern time. By 8:30, I was getting ready to drop the car off. Can you believe that? I didn't even hit any sort of slow down. Definitely charmed. All I had to do with the rental car was get out, let the attendant scan the barcode, and get a receipt from him. The ride back to the airport was 10 minutes. By 9, I was in line getting ready to check in for my 11:30 flight. It was fantastic! I had plenty of time for security and getting caffeine. And spinning.

I guess the only downside is that I am back on the terrorist watch list. Have I mentioned this before? About 2-2.5 years ago, I couldn't check in online for a Southwest flight. Now, this was for the return trip. I was able to check in online 3 days before for the outgoing trip. At the airport, I tried the kiosk check-in and it went through all of the steps but, before printing the boarding pass, told me to go to the desk to check in. So I waited in another line. What being on the watch list means is that you can't use the curbside, online or kiosk check ins. You also might get more security. I got copies of my social security card, passport, driver's license, and birth certificate notarized and sent in to the TSA in order to get off the list. After many months later, I could check-in online again for my flights. Suddenly, 2 years later I can't check in online again. It's so frustrating! I guess I will go through all of that again sometime soon.

Bad blogger

I went to Seattle last week but did I take pictures? No. Did I tell you about it before hand? No. Did I have a fun whirlwind trip? Yes. Was there yarn? Yarn crawl, yes, but buying of yarn, no. Buying of fiber and spindles *cough* yes. I'll let you guys know more about my whirlwind trip later this week.

Shock

I'm going to SOAR at the end of October. I just did the retreat option rather than the workshops and retreat. My retreat sessions are going to be:

• Spinning Next to the Skin
  
• Making the Most of Your Hand-held Combs
• Spinning for Socks
• Silk Work Sampler

I'm a little bit in shock.

P.S. Registration is today and classes are filling up fast. The two classes I had originally thought of taking were waitlisted within 15 minutes.

My own NaKniAnyMoDo

You remember NaKniSweMo, right? National Knit a Sweater Month in November where you knit a sweater in a month. Well, some people took it a step further and created NoKniSweMoDo, National Knit a Sweater a Month Dodecathon (i.e. one sweater per month for a year). On the Stash and Burn ravelry group, the members modified that extremely ambitious project into another one, NaKniAnyMoDo. What does that mean? National Knit Anything a Month Dodecathon so you make a goal to knit 12 of anything. For some people that means cleaning out the stash, for others finishing up UFOs and for others working on 12 of a specific project. For me, it means socks.

I love making socks but recently I've been distracted by other projects. This was the perfect opportunity for me to replenish the handmade sock collection and to use up some of my copious amounts of sock yarn in the stash. So I've been working on my one pair per month and have pretty consistantly met my goal.

April's socks were started right before leaving for the Knitting and Spinning Estonian Lace workshop. That was April 22nd and I realized I still hadn't started a pair of socks for the month. I figured having the car trip and some down time in the evenings would be the perfect opportunity to finish a pair. I ended up finishing them on May 2nd, though the majority of the sock knitting was done in April. I didn't get the pair done on April 30th because I thought I was going to run out of yarn and couldn't stand the thought. So for 2 days, the socks sat around. Then I bit the bullet and finished knitting the toes. It turns out I had plently of yarn left (well, a yard)!


Pattern: Pomatomus from Knitty by Cookie A
Yarn: Koigu my aunt gave me for a Christmas present
Modifications: None that I can remember
Notes: Now I remember why I don't like top down socks, you might run out of yarn at awkward times. I really like the way that this yarn and pattern look together. I'm glad I didn't just do a plain vanilla sock with it.