It’s that time of year again!!!
I am impatiently awaiting the Homespun Yarn Party–
( click to visit, natch)
Here are the stats, straight from the site–
What: Yarn Party! Check out local yarn vendors, sit and knit, meet new people!
Who: All your favorite local yarn dyers and spinners, plus some extra crafty goodness! And all our knitting/crocheting/spinning friends (you!) of course!!
Why: Who needs an excuse to get together and craft?! We wanted to get together and spread some fiber love!
In addition to some great crafty vendors, we’ll also have:
free lessons on knitting, crochet, spinning, and maybe more
fabulous door prizes to be given away throughout the event
weather-permitting, a sit and spin/crochet/knit area out on the deck
And we’ll be collecting knitted and crocheted items for local charities!
Admission is FREE!
I can tell you that this is the most amazing day of fiber fun and community! I am delighted to be a vendor there again this year. I will have loads of hand spun and fiber–batts & rovings– to tempt you. Please come enjoy the day with us!
I also happen to have a few photos in their contest. Voting is open until this Friday– go vote for your faves, there are some lovelies!! You can see them on here.
I’ve got 30 pounds of fiber in my Rumpelstiltskin-world right now. More news and photos to follow!
Yep, this siter has been *sitting and spinning. (*repeat from asterisk. for days.)
I have a basket full of string that I have been listing on etsy all day.
I have yet another basket in process that should be up there in a day or 2 and a handful of batts. I am binge spinning. It feels great, plus we have a sick bird ( hedwig) that needs some tests– please go shop!!
Thanks to everyone who has sent along great reviews so far. I spin because I LOVE to, but it is so nice to have my work appreciated and used so beautifully in other peoples work.
Also finished a November Ruffle shawl ( by Kate Jackson) It is a handspun silk and merino mix. Exceedingly delicious. I had to shorten the ruffle as the yarn just ran-the-hell-out. But it is ruffle enough for this spinny girl.
I also have some art to conjure for this round of spark ( see sidebar) more on that in the next week or 2.
That little whirligig shrug was finished by Sunday afternoon! We had a really adventure-full weekend. Next post I will tell you all about our trip to AVAM and the new show, until then here is the almost completed shruglette with a wonderful specimen of it’s namesake.
and here it is taking some morning air in the garden today. All done and ready to fly to a very cute little fae-girl.
The front is just a little raglan sleeve-slope with a bit of a rolled collar. It is WAY adorable. I highly recommend it as a quick and fun knit. Double-plus bonus that it looks so damn cute on! The handspun was glorious for it– and I have so much left! Marigold has started a pair of charmed fingerless mitts with it– looking really sweet already!
Tomorrow I want to talk about ART, so here is my favorite photo of the girls from yesterday–
Those my dears, are Super “Magnify Your Faith Binoculars!” Extreme faith for extreme times the box says… also it says “WARNING: Do not look directly at sun through binoculars.” You wouldn’t think you’d have to remind your children of basic truths like that, but you DO! REALLY! They looked right up there! Plus tried to WALK with them on. DANGER BABES, they are.
I aquired a pair myself, which I am counting on to give me super powers for that tiny knitting and miniscule art.
“happiness is a form of courage”– Jackson, Holbrook
I read that on a wall yesterday. Take it to the bank. Or at least stuff it in your mattress for safe-keeping.
I had the greatest spinny-girl episode last week.
It was off to Camp Pluckyfluff with me. I got to spend time in the company of not only the lovely Lexi, but met a few new-friend wonderful spinners, and also got to see some spinny friends that I have not seen in a while! It was really fun and challenged my spinning in some new ways. Then it was a full weekend of the MD Sheep and Wool Festival! Such a wet weekend, but we got to see some woolie-wonders, and buy some woolie-wonders, and I took a really great class from Judit MacKenzie McCuin and learned more about wheel mechanics than I could have dreamed! That woman is brilliant as can be. I am a bit tired tonight so I’ll slip to photos. As soon as I can, I will show you the spinnings from classes and get all of the goodies I have left up on etsy. I am aiming for tomorrow! Thanks from the bottom of my fibery-soul to everyone who stopped into the Cloverhill booth and purchased my yarn and fiber. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I did making it!
Baaaaah-bah.
NO bones… the REAL reason SOME people go…. Seriously.
Then of course for the SOME SHEEP.
Marigold rocked the camera here–
I got a nice little Jacob fleece. I have been longing to spin one of these because of a Cloverhill customer who spins them over and over and makes the most gorgeous sweaters. First the “processing” part, which is just a nice way of saying that I have to hand wash out a years worth of unmentionable molecules. I have never longed to do that. Ever. YIP!
I bought NO sheep and NO goat, though I wish I had. One of these years….
2 loverly skeins of Fleece Artist wanted to make a getaway from their booth and stow-awayed in my bag. They told me that they would love the be the Nightsongs shawl which Coleen has tormented me into making– that saucy temptress! They are peacock-ee in color and full of sea silk. Yum. Actually they were called “mermaid” I think. Natch. Then I got a few equipment and maintenance items. My old Ashford Traditional wheel got a pampering and spa-night on my return and I swear, is so happy. I have never been one to personify my wheel, but if it were one of those namey ones, it would probably be squealing with delight and asking to marry me.
Meanwhile… At a secret meeting room in Hyattsville…
Lexi Boeger,MollyMiller by appt. , Liz aka the amazing Hobbeldehoy, Cindy of Studioloo ( go gnomes!), Beth of Double-stars, Jonathan the DC potter extraordinaire, Red Hot Steph of Loop, Kate of Dragonfly fibers, dear Tal (write!), and Stacey are all pictured below. I so enjoyed spending a couple of days and spinning with you! I had serious withdrawal Monday morning!
The only unanswered question? WHY IS IT CALLED A LAZY KATE?? Someone must know right?
Now that you have suffered through wooly overload, you might demand to know WHO is the big WINNER of the “Your Own Private Fiber” contest? It’s YOU Chronographia!!! The random generator picked you, plus that was one smokin’ knock-knock joke. I’ll find you.
WHOOoooo, the fuzz is flying around here! I am plum DIZZY from the spinnings.
Here’s a glimpse of some of the things headed for the Sheep and Wool festival, lest you think I have just been over here snoozing.
There will be loads of yarn and enough fluffy, yummy batts to spin for miles.
So so much swirling. Got a bit of gardening done. Earth Day is bringing lots of good stuff our way this year. A composter sale– where we acquired another big black cooker for the garden. We emptied the other one into the basil beds Sunday and WOW! was that some lovely dirty goodness. The girls loved finding an eggshell here and there, and were very helpful in getting a bunch of planting done. It felt so good to be out in the dirt and see all of my friends waking up. Garlic and strawberries and blueberries. We are making plans to expand a bit more into what has been our parking area. Looking forward to that for some high rent things like vines and asparagus.
Also for Earth Day, I am happily attending a really cool movie with Marigold’s class tomorrow– check it out. Looks so luscious…
We also have the last year of Science (STEM) Fair at this school to commemorate–
Little Rosemary had the best comment on this photo… I overheard this being sincerely pledged to her sister:
“You know what? You would look totally like a rock star here if you just had blood dripping down from the sides of your mouth a little bit and maybe some spikey bracelets.”
“Erm, thanks. Maybe just the bracelets though.”
w.o.w.
Lastly this is sort of a big aging day for me. Did you know that Robert Smith of the Cure is FIFTY YEARS OLD TODAY??? I mean, HOW? Just HOW did that happen?? The second shocking discovery was that today– 20 days before my 43rd birthday– I found THIS!
NAY! You are not looking at a stray fiber of sparkly Angelina! THAT is a grey hair from my very own head. The first one I have found– sticking straight up off my head, silver and curly! What that means for my future coif, I can’t be sure. One thing I know, and that is time waits for no mama.
I deliver my fibery goods over the weekend and should have more time for blogging after that. Jacey over at insubordiknit has a great spinning challenge going that I am excited to try. Twin and Evil twin. I could use a little stretching after all of this whirling and dervishing.
I did say I was going to give away something good to celebrate the festival though didn’t I?? How about a skein of handspun or a batt custom created for some sweet person who leaves a comment and tells me the best knock knock joke?? Extra points for fiber/sheep content.:) I’ll pick on May Day, the first. DON”T FORGET to leave a way for me to contact you!
Booth D2 & D3 Main Exhibition Hall– on the front right as you walk in.
This sassy little banner says it all. Visit the blog/countdown and catch the excitement as a new fiber artist is featured each day. Today is the knitting gnome’s turn in fact! There are amazing contests and f-u-n.
As a bonus– the blog is there all the time and a great new “finger on the pulse” of the fiber-full days at Cloverhill. Give that banner a click!
I am thinking about what I’ll be giving away here in fact as the awesome event nears. Stay tuned….
Tomorrow– Gnomes made for swapping and a roving hedgehog!
You might have noticed the little yarn party button to the right ——>
That is for the 2nd Homespun Yarn Party– happening on the 15th of this month! If you click on the button it will web-transport you to the blog for this fiber extravaganza. Every couple of days they feature one of the artists or sponsors and you get to “meet” them and get super excited about going and getting a pre-sheep and wool festival fiber-fix! There are so many great folks there this year–I am so excited! I will have my very own table there this year– along with my sister Matryoshka of the lovely Felt Forest needle felting wonderland. We will have needle felted magical-beings, lots of fiber-orbs and handspun yarn. There’ll be stitch markers and other goodies too. Sure hope you can come by and visit! We’ll be at Md Sheep and Wool this year as well. You’ll find both Gnomegarden fiber-stuffs and Felt Forest at the Cloverhill Yarn Shop booth– main d2 and 3. Jolene’s booth rocks with the best of the indie-fiber world. Make sure you visit!! They will also do a countdown blog as it gets closer. Watch for it!
I thought that it would be fun to have a give-away to celebrate! All you have to do is leave a comment here and tell me you favorite color and I will draw a random name on the night of the 14th and the winner will get a free skein of my handspun yarn!! In that color if I have it!!( I can bring it to the party– or send it to you. ) Wait there’s more! I’ll also pick 2 more folks who will win a 4 pack of stitchmarkers plus a 25% off coupon for use at my etsy shop after the show! Yay! That’s a pretty good give-away, right?? You might want to keep an eye on my flickr I’ll have a yarn party set there where you can get a preview of what’s coming with me! Here’s just a smidge of what I’ve been dyeing…. I’ll have 10 more pound of wool cooking soon!
I’ll be carding and spinning my head off for the next 11 days. It might be sort of quiet around the blog. I’ll check in now and then and let you know what Esme and I are up to.
In the meantime… I was working at my computer yesterday when I noticed that Hedwig had dropped in on her for tea! Esme was sleeping off a late-night wheel marathon and meal worm bender, of course. Hedwig poked around her cage for a bit, left her a note, and went home.
One last bit of awesomeness– no extra charge!– Marigold is now on Ravelry! HA! It is so groovy to hear your kid say ” OH, I have to go check my Ravelry!” She is all signed up for our spring gnomeswap and so into the whole experience. You can find her stitches at cocoaloco.
! go to the ETSY! Please share it with your fiber loving friends and family!
