And again...more festival photos :)

I thought I'd share the last few festival photos I've collected from various festival participants. Have a great weekend everyone!


Carpoolknitter & Son
w/Overlook Manor Farm's Collie


Rosie again




Jadielady on the left and Careynev in the center!


Sedalia's View

Peace Fleece

At long last, I've found it!

Almost a year ago, my dear friend and fellow blogger, Marianne, gifted me a skein of Peace Fleece ("Kamakatchka" colorway) for my birthday. This past Christmas, my sock sister, Dianne, gave me another two skeins in the same color. I've been sitting on these three skeins, alternately hoarding and petting them, waiting for the perfect pattern to come along. I didn't want to knit just anything with them and was waiting for a pattern that "moved me." I found that pattern on Ravelry last week.

With all the festival planning in recent months, there was very little time for knitting, so this weekend was a double treat. I cast on the Peace fleece and knitted to my heart's content. It felt so good to have needles in hand again, as well as to work with this wonderful fiber that came from even more wonderful friends.

Meet my "Dragon Scales Shawl"....

Festival Goodies :)

I both purchased and received wonderful festival goodies from Sedalia. Below is Cascade's EcoWool from the Knitters Knook booth. I plan on using it to make a Barbara Prime stuffed bunny.

Andie and I both purchased a Studio 43 Pottery pendant by local artist, Sonya Forte.

Dianne and Linda surprised me with this wonderful gift! It's Socks That Rock in the "Hard Rock" colorway. The photo doesn't do the colors justice; it's gorgeous!

Three skeins of Takhi Scoured Irish Donegal tweed also came home. I cast on a very simple triangular shawl (the Lion Brand pattern).

My big purchase, which is being made now, is a Nana Sadie Rose knitting bag. I ordered a "Mavis" to be exact. I had been wanting one of Sallee's bags for over a year and I'm really looking foward to receiving it. When it's finished, I'll take a picture and upload it. Her bags are INCREDIBLE.

And last, but certainly not least, these beauties arrived at work Tuesday morning. They knocked my socks off; I've never received flowers at work and it was such an aweseome treat! THANK YOU DIANNE!

More festival shots to follow soon. Have a great weekend everyone!

Festival Photos

I'm pirating and posting the photographs of other people right now. I didn't have the time to take any myself. As soon as I have a chance, I'll photograph my festival purchases/presents and add them to the blog.

Here are some of the highlights:

Rosie, the lamb. She was as friendly as a pound puppy and suckled fingers. She's a Border Leicester/Cormo cross and the photographer, Careynev, described her as the "quintessential sheep." Andie and I had the pleasure of bottle feeding a couple of lambs Saturday morning. :D

WovenGems, one of our vendors. Diane's alpaca was amazing!
And Dianne, the M.C. She, too, was amazing and did such a great job! She entertained, called raffle winners, pointed out vendor locations and was just PHENOMENAL.

Mosaic Yarn Shop was another vendor and they had some beautiful yarns!Linda & Michelle - - they ran the table and the festival all day. They, too, were positively amazing! To top it off, Linda and her husband, Jim, and their grandson helped pack up multiple vendors.

Studio 43 Pottery - Andie and I bought ourselves a lovely pendant.

It was an amazing day! More to follow soon....

Eight Days to Go and...

... still not stressed. Everything's coming up roses and I'm so excited! :)

Temporarily Closed for Festival Planning

As the Sedalia Fiber Festival gets closer, I'm going to be very busy and probably not blogging at all. I do plan to keep up with your blog(s) and I'll be back after the 24th of May! See you then.

P.S. Here's what I will NOT turn into over the next three weeks.

Celtic Festival Survivors

Andie and I and a few of her friends spent part of Saturday at the Sedalia Celtic Festival. It was our first Celtic event. There were several jewelry vendors and they had some amazing pieces for sale. Another interesting feature was the clothing; we couldn't help but gawk at the period costumes and "Xena Warrior Princess" apparel. One vendor said, explaining the Xena-wear, "What's England without a few Vikings?" At the end of our visit, we were pummeled by both rain and hail and came home soaked to the skin, but we did have a good time.

When we returned to the house, it was hot showers, warm clothing and a "survivor photo."



P.S. The kids say that they are not Emo. They just like "different." On the knitting front, I'm on my last skein of my sister's Feather & Fan. As soon as it's done, I'll post a photo.

Have a great week everyone!

Young American Teens

As a public service, I am publishing the following instruction manual for my forty-something peers. I hope you enjoy today's lessons.

Lesson No. 1: Emo (pronounced /ˈiːmoʊ/) is a style of rock music which describes several independent variations of music with common stylistic roots. As such, use of the term has been the subject of much debate. In the mid-1980s, the term emo described a subgenre of hardcore punk which originated in the Washington, D.C. music scene. Starting in the mid-1990s, the term emo began to refer to the indie scene that followed the influences of Fugazi, which itself was an offshoot of the first wave of emo. (Many thanks for Wikipedia for the definition).

Lesson No. 2: Yes, all of your son & daughter's friends look like this (and so does your child).

Lesson No. 3: Yes, they have changed their appearances since becoming teens.

Our son looked liked this several years ago:

Now he's striving to look like this photo.


Lesson No. 4: Remember that you are not alone and more importantly...

Lesson No. 5: Remember your own past. ;^)

Mad Science Saturday

This weekend, I decided to experiment with some of the alpaca fleece that was given to me by JoAnn of Fishwood Farm Alpacas. Having never worked with pure alpaca before, I wanted to see how difficult it was to clean, how quickly it felted and so forth.

I grabbed handfuls of fleece (white, rust and black) and washed them twice with a bit of Dawn detergent (as illustrated by Lara on her blog).

I then "carded" the fleece with purse-sized hairbrushes. :) Yes, I'm lame, but I wanted to see how it worked out before I invested in a pair of actual carding combs. [I'm shopping for them now/LOL.] I then rolled sections of the fleece into balls and packed them into one leg of a pair of pantyhose and tied it off as shown below.

Hairy balls anyone? ;)

I then felted the balls and removed the pantyhose. Note: Don't felt with pantyhose. The fiber ended up "bleeding through" pantyhose and I had to shave off parts the pantyhose with a disposable razor.

And voila! Fat, thick pincushions

They're actually prettier in person. You can see the color whorls in the felting and they're surprisingly heavy; the alpaca is very dense.

And every family has its "odd duck." I call this one the punk rock pincushion.

I also finished Aicha's Karaoke scarf.
Now that I've played and sampled, it's my hope to 1) get carding combs, 2) wet felt a lot of the fleece into 'dreadlocks' and then create felted drink coasters or maybe a braided rug. We shall see.... Have a great week everyone!

Crochet Lesson No. 1

aka "the not-so-young Jedi knitter goes

temporarily over to the Dark Side of fiber"

My apologies to the crocheters out there...I couldn't resist the joke. My first foray into any type of fiber was my seventh grade Home Economics class (circa 1979). Mrs. Bailey taught us how to make crochet bookworms like the one pictured below.

Last night, I had my first formal crochet lesson. I met up with Jan at Yarn Theory and I learned to chain, single crochet (sc), double crochet (dc) and several other stitches. I've heard from numerous people, including Jan, that crocheting is faster than knitting. Based on my struggles last night (how many times can Dana drop the hook? LOTS), I'll believe it when I can do it, but I don't doubt what they're saying. :)

I hope to make my way up to a granny square and beyond that, those amazing arigumi animals that can be found on Ravelry. While browsing there one morning, I found this little girl and I'm dying to make her. The pattern is called "Lavender Bunny."

Bookworm to Bunny...that should take me another twenty years....

Happy knitting/spinning and now, crocheting y'all.

Shame

Yesterday, the word, "shame" popped up in two separate and unrelated e-mails. Both e-mails were from friends and knitters. One wrote, "Until I actually start spinning... (as she holds her head down in shame)" and the other said, "hanging my head in shame..." [she hadn't completed a project]. I admire and like these women enormously. They inspire me on a regular basis, so I was so surprised by what they wrote.



In thinking about their e-mails, I realized that the three of us - - and probably more of us - - are in a similar boat. Specifically, we're trying to overachieve and when we can't do it all in a nominal amount of time, we feel badly about it. When did knitting become a "destination point" instead of a "journey"?


In all honesty, the last six to eight projects I've completed are a blur because I was so focused on "get it done" that I really don't remember (and more importantly, didn't enjoy) the actual process of knitting. Well, I've decided that there will be no more of that. My goals now are as follows:

1. I will enjoy knitting first and foremost;
   
2. I will not press myself to complete the project;
   
3. I will not apologize when my life supercedes my knitting time a.k.a. "if it takes me twelve months to finish, that's perfectly fine;" and
   
4. I will commit to no more than I can reasonably accomplish.

As for the "shameful knitters," well, they have nothing to be ashamed of. Both have busy lives and take care of numerous people in one respect or another. They've both had an incredibly eventful year (and not all of it fun or pleasant). So ladies... you know who you are...repeat after me... "I am NOT ashamed!" ;)

P.S. Here's the last example of my overkill. I knitted the Lopi tote in a day and felted it the next morning.

I've also been plugging away at the Karaoke scarf for my niece in France and now, I'm going to slow it down and enjoy the feel of the New Tweed.

Finally, and on a much lighter note, the kittens send their regards.

Alpaca Weekend

Hi everyone!

I had a fun and intesting weekend. On Saturday morning, I went to Fishwood Farm and met JoAnn Wood and her alpacas. JoAnn was a font of information and I really enjoyed spending time with her. The alpacas, themselves, were sweet natured, curious and lovely. It was really something to see them up close.

Photographed below is Pintura, a mother alpaca with very nice fur. Lara is now spinning some of her fleece.

The caramel colored alpaca (Rory) and the brown & white alpaca are being weaned. The chocolate brown and the white/black alpaca are yearlings.

And fleece...lots of fleece. JoAnn sent me home with five bags of fleece. There's a half bag of Suri, a bag of "seconds" (which I've earmarked for Linda) and three bags of "thirds" which are great for wet felting. Does anyone want some? Please say "yes" - - there's so much! Let me know and I'll mail it to you or if you're local, I'll bring a sack into work & meet up with you in town.

JoAnn also extended a broad invitation. If anyone wants to visit the farm and meet the alpaca, they're welcome to come. Just give her a call and set up a date and time.

At long last

For several weeks, I stopped knitting because I simply couldn't seem to find the time or energy. I picked up the needles early last week and cranked out Connor's baby blanket, finishing it off Friday night. Oh how I looooove Mission Falls!

I found this pattern, "Oh My Baby! Booties" on Ravelry. Great pattern, easy knit, but mine are, admittedly, not cute. I'm going to do another set in a solid color (with sock yarn) and see how they turn out. I used "Porto Cervo" cotton on a size seven needle and they're just too large (even after washing & drying).

And finally, I'm offering prizes! What do you have to do to win a prize? Nothing! You've already won just by reading my blog. Pick your color!

(And don't even think about not leaving a comment. I know who you are and quite likely, where you live, so again, tell me what color you want!). ;) LOLOL

Madeleine, the stray, is currently holed up in our basement with her little squeaking brood.

Noro...beautiful Noro...

For a long time now, I've heard a number of people express their love of Noro's Silk Garden. Being the slow puppy that I am, I finally got around to getting some. What was the catalyst? Nikki's scarf. At the Knitters Knook grand opening, Nikki was wearing a scarf that I fell in love with at first sight. It's the diagonal bias scarf and hers was made with...you guessed it...Noro. I bought two skeins and here is the end result.


I wore it Monday, Wednesday & Friday of last week. I washed it on Saturday so I could wear it some more this week. :) It feels soooooooo good and the photo doesn't do the colors justice. Now I see (finally) what all the fuss was about.

Happy Knitting/Spinning all.

Hi, I'm Dennis Miller...

...and this is your weekend update. :)

First of all, thank you so much for your messages of support and love. They meant and mean the world to me. I was heartsick all week and as of Thursday evening, quite scared too.

Mohamed did get checked out and the ECG and blood tests came back normal. His heart is beating regularly, but it is too slow. The physicians who treated him at the hospital where he works put in a call to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where his cardiologist is based. As luck would have it, Mohamed's cardiologist was the one on duty Friday night and I understand that they exchanged information and test results. Dr. Welch is bringing Mohamed in this week (as opposed to his originally scheduled appointment on 4/2/08) and we'll simply take it from there. Mohamed hasn't been experiencing any more chest pains and he's no longer feeling weak. He feels a great deal better and naturally, so do I. The tests and just being vetted by doctors gave us some real peace of mind and comfort. We don't know the "why" yet, but we're hopeful.

Arabella, too, continues to improve each day. In fact, she tries to walk too much now and is beginning to develop "cabin fever." We have a small, beagle sized crate for travel and a very large crate to contain her in the house. The cats walk by the crate and just glance at her like, "Ha! You can't get us now." Yesterday evening, Bella tracked them with her eyes and her expression read, "Just you wait...".

Dad and Joan returned safely home to a surprise. They live in rural Mississippi and when they pulled into their driveway, they immediately noticed that the chain on their gate (leading into their property) was cut. As it turned out, there was a fire in the woods not far from their house and it was a decently sized one. The firetrucks arrived and were locked out. Get this...their insurance doesn't (yes, DOES NOT) allow them to cut chains and open locked gates. Dad's neighbor, whom I guess called the fire department in the first place, ran to his house, grabbed his bolt cutters and took care it himself. Once the gates were "unlocked," the fire department did their thing.

Ahhhhh...it's Sunday and the start of a new and fresh week!

THANK YOU AGAIN MY FRIENDS!

RANT TIME

This is your warning - - if you don't like a rant,

sprinkled with the odd profanity,

walk away now 'cause I'm in a mood and

I intend to vent.

- - - - - - - - -

My week SUCKED ASS because...

1. On Monday afternoon, I watched my little dog, Arabella,

get struck by a car.

2. My dad and stepmother stayed at our house for

only 36 hours.

3. Mohamed had chest pains last night.

- - - - - - - -

Now, for the updates....

1. Bella (the yarn thief, snuggler, howler, four-legged fiend whom I adore) survived. She has several small pelvic fractures, a broken femur and must be crate-confined for the next four to six weeks so that everything will heal well and properly. I brought her home last night and Andie and I learned how to "towel walk" the dog. We had to place a beach towel under Bella, raise the two ends of the towel to support her pelvis and/or butt end, so that she would walk easily.

She's been a real trooper and I am amazed by her - - really amazed.

Like her adoptive mother, she, too, enjoys the occasional painkiller. About twenty minutes after I gave Bella her evening dose of medication, I went to the crate to check on her and I swear to you, the dog was smiling and cross-eyed!

2. Dad & Joan were anxious to return to their home and I can't hold it against them. I wish we could've had more time together, but I'm glad for the the time we had. We laughed, talked, played cards and it was WONDERFUL!

3. Mohamed promised to get checked out tonight (he works at the local hospital) so we'll have to see what they say. I'm hoping it's just a matter of readjusting the meds (he has an irregular heartbeat that was diagnosed for the first time not quite two years ago).

I hope your week was better

and thanks for sharing my rant (it helped a lot).

XOXOX

Knitters Knook - Grand Opening

Saturday morning was fabulous & fun!

Becky hosted the grand opening of her new yarn store,

Knitters Knook, and it was a party.

There was food, drink, fiber and friends...what more could you ask for?

Becky, sock guru & owner
(Behind her is the Mission Falls wall).

Fiber - - beautiful fiber.

Mission Falls wall.

Plymouth's Encore at the back

And Linda! Linda won the first door prize and chose a beautiful skein

of Socks That Rock sock yarn.

Dianne won the second door prize, a "stained glass" hat kit from Green Mountain Spinnery.

Thanks for a great time Becky!