Webs Tent Sale stash

OK - a quick report on the Webs tent sale!

I went, it was fun, and I spent more money than I meant to.
Doesn't that sound familiar?

I bought:
1 bag of Lavold Angora in black to go with 9 skeins of vared colors in some scarves.
and
2 bags of Debbie Bliss Cathay to make myself a lacey summer sweater.

I've been looking for the Perfect Lacey Summer Cardigan for several years now.
I'm thinking that eventually (soon) I should give up looking and just design it.
Since I know what I want better than anyone else...

I also bought:
1 skein of Orangey yarn for a tiger hat for Miss Hannah
1 skein of a new Kureyon color and 1 skein Cascade 200 in dark grey to make a hat
and
a really cool Lexie Barnes bag to hold a small project.
Nice Day of the Dead type design, Lexie!
We met Lexie at Stitches East because her young son made frequent visits to our Peace Weavers booth to see the puppets...

And I also bought LOTS of Kureyon for my Lizard Ridge...
I didn't take a photo of all of it, just one of each skein:

Miss H got a pattern book and yarn to knit a cardigan in dark blue merino.
I hope the dark color won't make her crazy.
This would be her second started sweater and potentially her first completed sweater!

And now I will STOP BUYING YARN for a while.

I'll let you know how that works out...

Lizard Ridging!

I have been lured into the Lizard Ridge project... and now that all the hulabaloo for MS&W is over, I have started knitting squares.

I haven't knit with Kureyon before. I knitted a bias scarf with Silk Garden a few years ago, and I have some Kureyon garments on my wish list, but this is my first Kureyon project.
Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a before and after blocking square:Knitting these squares is a little like eating popcorn - I want to knit one more ridge, one more square - just to see how the colors come out.

This last square came out orange and green and ugly on it's first incarnation, so I frogged it and chose the colors on the next try, avoiding the orangey-green parts altogether. And the second try is so prismatic!

So I'm viewing this as an exercise in trying to use colors I wouldn't normally choose, and in learning how to use a ball of Kureyon effectively. There is a good amount of yarn left after knitting one square and I'm tempted to weigh my leftovers and remove this amount before starting the next square, because it would give more contrast, especially at the beginning.

I'm sure you'll be seeing more of these later!

True Confessions

We had a great weekend at Maryland Sheep & Wool! We sold more yarn & puppets on Saturday than we've sold in an entire weekend before. We were really busy and very tired at the end of the day.

I was so busy I didn't take any pictures! And I only bought a few things. I wanted to get two skeins of Brooks Farm Duet to knit a Wool Peddler's Shawl from the Folk Shawls book. Last year I went to look at their yarns for the first time, but I was so tired I just couldn't decide on a colorway. It was still a challenge to choose just one, but I plunged in and got the job done. It's hard to go wrong with blue in my wardrobe!

I also got a new spindle from Bill Hardy, whose wife Celeste I know from the Waterford Weavers Guild. It's just lovely. I haven't had a chance to spin on it yet, but I will soon.
And I bought a wee skein of Claudia Handpaint from our booth neighbors at Cloverhill Yarns. I just love the colorway, and I went back to my booth and picked out a coordinating color of Fleece Artist Sea Wool to go with it. And, OK, I ordered some Tye-Dye yarn to make the cute little top that is in the ads this spring & summer. But that will come later.

Here are the real confessions: I did a little online shopping last week, on the strength of our successful show. I felt like I deserved a few rewards... so I ordered some black & off-white sock yarn to complete the stash for my Jack Sparrow's Favorite Socks. (These are going to be for me!)

Then I went over to Two Swans and ordered the last ball of Kidsilk Haze that I needed for another project. I've been eyeing the Glade sweater in Rowan #40 since last September. There's something about the color and the stitch pattern - I just love this sweater. But it's a hefty investment in Rowan yarn, and upon further consideration, I realized that it wouldn't really fit into my wardrobe - I probably wouldn't really wear it. So I decided to knit a scarf using those yarns and that stitch pattern. I managed to collect 5 of the yarns from my spring travels - some from Yarntiques in Johnson City, TN and the rest from Ewe Knit Kits in Virginia Beach, but there was one more color of KSH.

I remembered that Two Swans was a Rowan stockist (that sounds so posh!) so I went to her website and found what I needed... and I found some Sakatieli that I didn't need but that I suddenly really wanted. I was going to buy two skeins until I had a look at the Ilga's sock pattern (Nancy Bush, Favorite Socks)and decided, what the heck, I just made some money - and I bought 7 skeins. It is just gorgeous. I love it. It is going to make some wonderful, special socks. Isn't it beautiful?

And then I ordered some Lanaset dye from ProChem. We used this dye at the guild dye day a few weeks ago and I lurve it. Especially how well it takes up and how little rinsing is required. So there is a project for the summer... I have a bag full of undyed yarns, longing for some color...

And that's all. No more yarn purchases until I get some FO action and unload some more old stash! Although my trip to Northampton this weekend just happens to coincide with the WEBS tent sale...

Getting ready for MS&W!

First, I want to show you what is happening in my part of the world right now:

This is a Stayman apple tree. We live on almost 6 acres in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It's a long, narrow piece of property, and most of it is in disused pasture, but when we bought our house, the whole front section was an orchard. There were mainly damson plum trees, with two apples, a few apricots and four pear trees, but the trees had been neglected for many years and although we carefully pruned them every year, eventually almost all of them died.

The two apples remain, and they are so beautiful this time of year.

Here is another color riot to share! This is my order of Fleece Artist and Handmaiden yarns to sell in my booth at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. I have gotten everything priced and ready to go. I've got lots of Merino 2/6 sock yarn and the new Seawool sock yarn - a wool and Seacell blend that is very soft with a lovely sheen.

I ordered an assortment of rovings in merino, BFL, wool/silk, and alpaca/wool. And a little bit of cashmere...and puppets!

Wooly sheep from Folkmanis:

And the
new fluffy ram hand puppets.

We will have an entire menagerie to play with in the booth.
If you want to see more, come and visit us:
- Peace Weavers - in the big building, 3rd booth on the right hand wall.
We will also have lots of Peace Fleece yarn, patterns, needles & buttons.
My sisters are all coming to help, Miss R & friends, nephews, nieces.
It's going to be a lot of fun.

I'm knitting up a storm - I've finished my Clapotis scarf in Fleece Artist Scotian Silk. This is the yarn that I tried to make into an EZ Ribwarmer vest. I have two skeins of Scotian Silk in a lovely blue-green mix to have another go at the vest now.

I've got a plain sock finished in the Seawool, and the Bordello sock pattern to the heel flap. I felted my Fiber Trends Felted Clogs this morning - I'm still trying to rinse the soap out. The clogs are knitted in Fleece Artist BFL Aran - they look great. I'll try to get a photo up tomorrow.

I've got a Fiber Trends Nuts About Squirrels felted squirrel about halfway done - I'm working on the tail. I need to finish the squirrel so I can felt it next weekend so it has plenty of time to dry.

And the Peace Fleece corgi is languishing...I have two sides knitted but I am hung up for some reason on the underbelly. I think I just need to draw the colors in on the chart and get back to the knitting. I'd like to have it done to show off the new Lauren's Coral color. We will see.

Spring Break

We've been taking our annual family vacation during Clarke County public schools spring break for the last 6 years. Because our Bluemont events are so busy all summer long and over the winter break, this is the best time for us to get away.

This year we returned to Sandbridge Beach, ten miles south of Virginia. It was our third visit to Sandbridge; we like it there because it's only 4 hours from home, and it's convenient to Richmond (Lily) and Irvington (Peter' Mom). So with a little planning, we can get both our Moms and most of our daughters together.

Hannah actually flew to Richmond midweek and did some interviews there for prospective internships for the coming summer, and then she & Lily drove out to the beach Thursday night - so we were all together Friday and had an early birthday party for Mrs. D (Peter's Mom). Between Lily's friends and Ruby's friends we had a total of 14 people staying at the house, but not all at the same time!

Hannah cut her hair off when Lily's hair began to come back in, so they both have very, very short hair. They both look really cute, but Lily's hair is soft and fine and Hannah's is coarse and thick - like mine. I didn't take many photos at the beach, but I got Hannah & Lily in Richmond:

Visiting Penland

My friend Beth Johnson is teaching an 8 week fiber intensive class at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. She invited me to come down to be a guest instructor for 2 days and although the timing was tough, my husband and my work partner said I had to go - so I went!

Spring is a wonderful time to drive south. Every hour brings new species in bloom. I got so excited when I spotted the first redbud blooming! Here is a view from the school:

And the weaving studio:
My primary role was to conduct a wool waulking - the traditional Scottish method of finishing wool tweed and blanketing after it comes off the loom. The web is sewn end to end into a loop and wetted thoroughly. Then it is placed on a table, and a group of people grasp the cloth, thump it down on the table and pass it to their neighbor, in a sunwise or clockwise direction. The rhythm is maintained with songs sung to a steady beat: the singer sits or stands at the head of the table and starts the song. The songs generally have a chorus, which the participants join in.

We had lots of cloth to waulk:

And we had a blast, singing, thumping, laughing. There were libations, and snacks - Marge Warren supplied shortbread and haggis rolls! Here is Marge in her traditional garb:

Marge and Beth both teach at the Campbell Folk school - that is how we met. They both teach tartan weaving, among other things. Marge very generously shared with me her notebook from her District Checks class. I am planning a Tweeds & District Checks class to teach the The Mannings this fall, and I was glad to see her work and talk with her about yarn sources.

I also did lecture/demos each morning on 18th c. rugs, Acadian weaving traditions, and early linen weaves.

Beth has studied weaving in Japan, and the students were wrapping skeins of cotton for Kasuri ikat weaving. I wound a set of skeins and dipped them in the indigo pot and brought them home to weave sometime. Ikat is a fascinating tradition - I just love the cloth. Here are skeins ready dyed and a student sample on the loom:

Beth had a book a fabric samples from one of the studios where she had studied.


I'm going to try to get her to come up to Virginia and teach a class on Kasuri/ikat dyeing and weaving. Anyone want to come?

Here are my skeins drying on the clothesline and the bucket with all the resist ties - I liked the way they looked...

OK, I've been busy!

Really, I have. Since I last posted, I have traveled to:
Medina, Ohio to teach a tartan weaving class
and present a program for the Medina Guild meeting,
Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina to be a Guest Instructor for 2 days,
and Sandbridge Beach for a week with my family!

Whew.

It was all good. I managed to fly out of Dulles airport in spite of the ice and then snowstorm on a day when 40% of the flights were cancelled. The Medina Guild was delightful and I've started a new set of tartan weavers on the road to happy tartan weaving. I sang a program of sheep/spinning/weaving songs for the guild meeting and gave a brief talk about tartan history and design.

I had a great time staying at Laura's house and talking for 5 days - every once in a while, I meet a woman who is nearly my same age and there are chapters of life context that we already share and we can just plunge into the serious female life talk, like sisters. It was fun.

Here is a blurry Laura, feeding her sheep.

She & her husband live in a wonderful old house full of antiques, old stuff. They are 17th century re-enacters,and Laura is an accomplished seamstress. She showed me some truly beautiful clothes she has made - gowns, tartan trews for her husband, a truly hysterical wig made from merino roving! I had to confess that the dress I wear for 18th c. fairs has a zipper in the back... but it's always covered with shawls. I'm inspired to make a better costume now.




We visited the Shaker Museum in Shaker Heights, spent a happy hour in a terrific Goodwill store and she gave me a lesson on making shirred rugs. She has made several - there was one in my bedroom, and a chair pad on this rocker:

I will leave you with some tartan richness and do a separate post about Penland.