1.13.11 A couple of things….

Fair Warning: This post is going to be random. And lacking in proper sentence structure. A flight of ideas.

My friend Maureen has been working very hard. She is one of the founders of food tourism in Richmond: Real Richmond. If you have lived in Richmond VA all of your life or if you just happen to be here for a little while you need to check it out. Here is an article about a recent tour of the Shockoe Slip neighborhood! If you think Richmond is just Monument Avenue, Civil War sites and somewhere to have toll money and not to have a flat tire on I-95 in between Washington and the beach then you could have something to learn. And it would be fun. Plus, most of the toll booths are gone. Phantom Toll Booths as it were.

There has been a newfound interest here at Chez Lady in my old friends the spinning wheels. Last Sunday, I attended a meeting of the local spinning and weaving guild Clothos Handspinners for part of the annual spinning retreat weekend. I have known about Clothos for a long time and actually had my first spinning lesson from a member, after I saw her demonstrating spinning on a great wheel at a Maymont Park Farm Days 20+ years ago. But not being much of a joiner of groups (a prissy girl bit me in kindergarten) I have not been a member. That is not to say that I would not have enjoyed being a member of Clothos Handspinners for all these years. I think I have been missing out all along.

So, I sat and spun with Mary and Barbara and Nicky and had a fibery time! We were all spinning different fibers. In the large room there were all sorts of wheels and fibers, a couple of weavers, some knitters and crocheters, a show and tell table, a make your own needle felted name tag table, a wheel for sale, fibers to fondle, a freebie table with a sewing machine on it, a contest of sorts with prizes for the UFO with the most potential and (I think) the least potential. There is a fiber challenge (I selected CVM fiber) to create a yarn inspired by a person, place or thing in VA history. There was planning for the upcoming Meadow Farm Museum Sheep to Shawl in April. The shawl will be handwoven of handspun Gulf Coast Native fleece from the sheep who live at the farm!

70 yards of 2 ply alpaca

I have a skein of 70 yards of 2 ply alpaca to show for my day and a renewed interest in spinning which is an end in itself for all of us sitting together at the meeting. Who knows what we will make from our handspun. None of us wants to be asked that question.

Finn roving, hand dyed on Suzie Alpaca wheel

More merino on the Ashford traditional.

Trindle spindle, Qiviut/Merino/Silk fiber

In my spare time I have started a simple cardigan sweater. Plain and simple with mock cables. Knit in pieces because I want the structure seams will give it. Mindless, meditative stockinette.

Patons Classic Wool, cardigan sweater

And lastly:
Yesterday there was a fabric design in the ice outside my back door. That must be a sign of something.

Slate and Ice Fabric

Guard! The prisoner has escaped!

The Trespasser.

5.3.10 The Aftermath: Hurray Hurray the First of May….

On the First of May, Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival (MS&W) was like heaven and hell. It was divine and it was overwhelmingly hot. I was among people who understand my fiber obsessions but it made me not a little ill to see how much materialism is involved in fibercraft these days. We all need a 7 Step program I think. Still, I am glad I went with my friends Linda, Issy and Barbara from TNK!

Of course I came home with a bag of items that I am happy with. Being a MS&W first-timer I really just wanted to go for the sake of being there at least once. I had no real mission to carry out which for me is the way I roll, maybe to minimize disappointment. I have been to numerous fiber events and know that if I get my heart set on something it will probably not cross my path in the adventure. I am also not determined enough to enter booths that are packed with people grubbing for things I probably already have.

I don’t have any photos of the actual experience. That was an “on purpose” due to the fact that I would have had to carry my camera. And I had other things to carry, namely water. Anyway, a camera can focus attention or distract. There are probably lots of other blogs out there with pictorials of the people (and poor animals!) sweating and panting in the 90-something degree heat. I do wish I had a photo of the young boy scout taking his turn with a sandwich board advertising sandwiches. He was staggering up and down the hill in front of his troop’s booth. He deserved to get his photo taken and put on a blog. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about fiber but he was doing his part.

I do have photos of my swag.

From our stop at FibreSpace in Alexandria. This is a gorgeous friendly shop in Old Town on Fayette Street. You need to go there if you are in the area. The yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine and it is started to be a Miss Woodhouse Shawl by Wendy and the ball became a tangle. I have my work cut out for me as soon as I finish this post. The little project bag is a “Pretty Cheep Project Bag”. Cute eh?:

From the HGA booth with very friendly ladies and info about Convergence. This is 18oz. (+/- 3150 yards) of “Silky Too” which is 75% rayon and 25% silk, hand dyed by Laura Bryant of Prism Yarns. Plans for it to be a warp for the loom.:

From Gretchen at the Solitude Farm booth:
I will put a picture in later. It is 2 skeins of Karakul in a bright red. Very scratchy but guaranteed to felt any yarn held with it.

From Barbara Gentry at Stony Mountain Fibers. I always patronize Barbara’s booth wherever I see her. I bought my first wheel from Barbara in about 1991.:

From Deirdre and Greg at the Still River Mill booth (they sell gorgeous yarns with cashmere, yak, bison and qiviut). I had my first fleece processed by these nice people.: This is 1 oz. of a gorgeous blend of 50% qiviut/25% silk/25% merino called Spring Fling.

From Gale’s Art booth, a Trindle. This was the only thing I sought at MS&W. Don’t really know why. The Trindle drop spindle is the brainchild of trindleman on Etsy. Probably best to read his statement there. It is difficult to photograph a Trindle, this one weighs 0.7 oz and is production #929. Can you imagine making over 1000 of these? I wish I could remember what the shaft is made of but the beads are raku.:

From a booth that I can’t remember, a block print and some bargain yarns:

And lastly, the finches are almost fledged. Their parents sit on the banister and scream at them to get out of the nest and get going. I am screaming as well because I want to get that nest down and scrub the wall!

1/20/10

Fichu? What does that mean? It sounds bad.

I started the 2nd shawl for Ravelry group “10 Shawls in 2010″. I doubt I will make 10 shawls this year but it is certainly fun to try. So, this is the Ruffled Fichu of Jane Sowerby from Knitter’s Magazine #88 from Fall 2007. The red/purple is Claudia Hand Painted kid mohair and the gray is handspun wool/silk, fiber from The Bellwether, spun on a spindle.

Ruffled Fichu

I have been searching for shawl patterns on ravelry when this one was in an old issue of Knitter’s magazine from 2007. I don’t think I ever even looked at this issue and who knows why I bought it, I think maybe to take with me on the UK trip. It was the issue before her marvelous shawl book came out. Knitter’s is not my usually my favorite magazine for a lot of reasons, and I have become less and less inspired by the patterns in knitting magazines in general. The designs are overdone. The garments are too fitted for me to feel comfy wearing them. And for me things are all about comfort.