sun and blue sky, oh my!

we are all pinching ourselves out here; this is the third day of brilliantly blue sky and sun. we can’t get used to it! i had a couple of days off over the weekend and it felt so great to resume regular activities, especially writing. my thoughts began to drift to spinning and the fact that i haven’t done any in a couple of weeks. i have some beautiful fiber upstairs just begging to be spun.

and then i also realized that, while working so much, the month just disappeared on me. suddenly, memorial day is coming on fast, and with it, the Great Lakes Fiber Show, or as we locals call it “wooster” (because it takes place in wooster, OH). this our local/regional version of maryland or rhineback, though MUCH, much smaller. however, the quality of the event is quite high and it grows bigger every year; i love going to this particular festival. i made my olympic project, the wooster shawl, entirely from fiber that i bought at the 2005 show, and then spun specifically for this piece.

our region has quite a large number of fiber producers and this is our chance to see many of them and sample anything new and different that’s grown in our back yard, so to speak. we get to talk with each one and become familiar with their work. that’s not so possible at the bigger shows. last year i bought a gorgeous cormo lamb fleece (first clipping), and dropped it off for processing with woolly knob fibers, a local-ish mill. that fleece is absolutely gossamer. though i have not spun much of it yet, it is near the top of my next-to-spin list (to be fair, i didn’t get it back from processing til late fall, so i haven’t had it a whole year.)

also there are classes, and this year annie modesitt is teaching (among others). i signed up to take a mini-course in combination knitting and also a class in cabling without a cable needle. i already do some cables and twists without a third needle, but i need to learn more abut doing the larger cables that way. i love working cables, but they slow me down, which i don’t like so much! i’m really looking forward to the classes.

this year i am going on both days; saturday with my friend annette, who is taking the classes too, and sunday with beth for more shopping. i’m sure we will meet up with other friends there as well. i’m going to try not to buy very much; i did good last year—i just bought that fleece and a few odds n ends. i am going with an eye out for anything i haven’t spun yet (which is a lot, but i don’t have to buy it all). maybe some nice jacob, or if i could find some finn, i’d be in heaven; i’ll know the right one when i see it. i definitely want to get a fleece again, and debbie j will split one (or two) with me.and there is one lady that sells hand-dyed lincoln longwool that i’ve always wanted to try, so maybe 8 oz. of that from her. uh-oh, this is starting to sound like a lot. hmm. must remember that there will always be more wool.

ok, enough of that, let’s have some shrug action! i have achieved FO status and i am even happy with the results! figured out an edge that i like and the size looks about right.
ok, drum rolllllll . . . .

i love it! now i have to make another one, but i am already thinking that the one for the younger girl should be different. more shruggy, less sweater-y.

(this is my favorite part—the daydreaming bit).

in the meantime, i decided on the olive green alpaca for the feather stole sample i am making and i have a bout 3 inches done on that. i should have taken a picture while it was still daytime, but i got busy and it all got away from me. i’ll put some more length on it tonight and take a picture in the morning.

so, i hope everyone is planning on entering our contest—i’m SO looking forward to your entries (and the mailbox was strangely quiet today . . .). i hope it was clear that you do not actually have to knit something, just TELL us about it! and have fun!