Sheep Shopper Weekly

"Fleece on Earth" t-shirt from Over East Farm. Diane was very nice to chat with and also gave me a "Spin Free or Dye" bumper sticker. I love it!

I got this adorable shirt at the Vermont fiber event, but I wanted it to have its own post. I've been trying to take a picture of it for two weeks, but its just not happening. The weather isn't cooperating. Life isn't cooperating. (i'm getting a big, fat 'F' in science these days. my car battery died last night. etc.) So here it is, picture stolen directly from their website. I am, however, wearing the shirt today and it makes me grin whenever look down.

Craftland, Providence RI.

Superwash sock yarn delivered to Craftland on sunday. Along with some merino roving and new spinning kits. The Craftland store space is HUGE. The building is still a work in progress, but i was very impressed with how well organized they are with inventory and check-in. I can't wait to see it turned into a shop on December 1st.


Bella has to be the star of the show.

alert the press

My new wheel has finally arrived home. I couldn't be more pleased with it. The living room must now be rearranged to fit Hyacinthe. (Its massive, compared to my little ashford traditional.) The double treadle action is smooth as butter. Its going to take a little while for me to get used to double drive instead of scotch tension. The workmanship is amazing. Here is David, of The Merlin Tree, just before he showed me how to take the wheel off and load it into my car. Did i mention how nice he is? His wife Kathy (sp?), is a doll too. I could continue gushing, but i'll stop now.


The event on saturday was the "3rd Annual Southern Vermont Fiber Event" hosted by the River Spinners guildin Brattleboro VT. It was a small, but very pleasant gathering of vendors from the area.
I bought some dehaired llama from Hemlock Haven Llama Farm. I picked the choclate brown from Bailey (click to see a really adorable llama face!) Another purchase was 8 oz of irresistable cormo cross roving from This and That Farm in Danby VT. I tried to resist, I really did! That little voice in my head made me go back to her booth 4 times, then finally buy it. It was a toss up between the roving or undyed Cormo / Tussah blend yarn that they had spun by Green Mountain Spinnery. I'm usually not drawn to yarn at fiber events; I lust for roving. This yarn is something special, let me tell you. If I could have somehow justified buying myself a sweaters-worth on saturday, i would have. (quick, call her and get it for yourself before i change my mind!)

they're listening?

Its so cute when our spouses/partners/children figure out how to relate to the knitter in their life by comparing something to knitting. Like when the video game playing child realizes that "let me get to the end of the row" is analagous to "let me get to a save point". Recently big Orange used knitting analogies twice to try to help me understand him.

1) He was really excited about trying out a new computer program/language/thing. He brought me into his office and boasted "look at this cool visualization that i made with that data! its so cool, because blah, blah, blah." (obviously, programming for 'fun' didn't really register with me...)
"Why would you want to do that? you already had that information using the other program."
"Yeah, but that's not the point. its just cool to try it out using a new program. Its like swatching a new yarn."

[awwwww!]

2) We were discussing violent video games. (he works in the video game industry. even though i don't play them, we end up in these kinds of dicussions often.) He said that he doesn't like playing them, but i pointed out that he does own a few notoriously violent video games.
"what about Half Life 2? you bought that."
"yeah, i had to. Everyone was talking about it and i had to see what it was all about. Like when you knit Jaywalkers. You wanted to know why they were so popular. same idea."

[double awwwwwwww!!!]

i'm, like, interviewed on, like, a podcast...

At the Boston Knit Out I was interviewed by Guido for the It's a Purl, Man podcast.

egads, please forgive the numerous times that I, like, say something, like, really ditzy? It was nerves, I swear. I am usually a very good public speaker, but I always practice talks many times. Even when teaching, I usually plan out the gist of the lecture beforehand. Having a freeform chat in front of a big microphone was something completely new to me.

Sheep Shopper: Ovine Cookie Cutter

Last weekend i saw the King Arthur Flour catalogue over at Zeebi's house. They have a whole catalog? who knew? (probably everyone but me.) They also sell baking mixes, all manner of nifty kitchen gadget, at this super cute sheep cookie cutter. i'm lusting after this cookie cutter. (yeah, yeah. i have a ton of cookie cutters already. and no time to bake complicated cookies. i care not. sheeeeep!)



In knitting: Has anyone started an Equestrian Blazer Knitalong yet? i'm in love with this sweater. I'm not a big KAL fan, but i'm always interested in learning from the experiences of others. I need something simple, but interesting to knit over thanksgiving break and think this is the winner!

creative kick start

We went to the Waltham Mills Open Studios this past weekend. This was the second year i've gone to this event. It features two huge factory buildings FULL of studios. Some of the bigger studios have built in lofts for living space, which is extra cool. Most of the artists are the same from year to year and it was very interesting to see what they've been working on this year; some went in a totally new direction, some just a little bit of a change. Definitely worth checking out next year if you're local.

The best part for me was seeing how people use and organize their space. It inspired me to run home and clean up my own (crap) craft room again. Yes, i know i've whined about this never ending cycle before. I clean it, i start using the space, i spread out and leave projects all over the house. Then we clean the house and everything that's mine gets shoved into the pit for me to deal with later. Yes, my mother did try to teach me to put away my toys after using them but for some damn reason it just never stuck. I'm just like a child who must take every toy out of the toybox and then move onto a totally new game. i'm weak.

After returning from the mills, i excavated a path to the sewing table and started working on Wedding Quilt #2 again. I've got 9 complete blocks and enough partial pieces for another 9 blocks. I can't remember how many i was plannig to make for this quilt... i think 56. In my mind, I see the pattern going all the way to the edge, with no border. Of course, I'm likely to give up and put a border on it. That's how quilts get made in distraction-ville.

Wait, i've got 10 blocks done. I gave one to the couple on their 1st wedding anniversary. As a promise that they would someday get this quilt. Other things going on quilt-wise:
- I still haven't put a binding on the pink baby quilt. baby was born two months ago. i have ONE STEP LEFT! geez!
- Wedding Quilt #1: piecing is about half done (wedding is this january - long engagement).
- Wedding Quilt #3: completely planned, fabric purchased. Won't let myself start cutting until one of these other wedding quilts is done.