This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Dontcha just love how that chicken is herding those sheep in my new header? They are afraid of Miss Chicken….she might be dining on fiber. I would not have believed it to be possible if I had not seen it myself.
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!
The naming contest for my little sheep was fun. I decided on Shirley Woolhelmina. I asked her what she thought of all the names submitted and I swear she said she needed 2 names. My nightlight will be Ewenice and my little sheep puzzle can be Dolly!
I finished my latest weaving project (weaving finally!!). It is my first attempt at doubleweave. There was a definite problem at the fold. I will have to figure out how to fix that before I attempt doubleweave again. I thought I was being SO careful with keeping the fold edge without draw in but I know that it sure looks better where the warp and weft colors are the same! I have since read that you can sley some of the threads at the fold at a wider sett. But whatever, it is still a warm blanket for home use. It is made of Wool-Ease and Plymouth Encore so as to be washable and dryable in the machines invented for that purpose.
THe knitting continues on Juno Regina. I am nearing the end and am working on the lace charts prior to decreasing at the tip.
Spinning has been feeling left out lately, but over the past few weeks I finished the spinning the shetland lamb roving that was purchased at the 2007 Montpelier Fiber Festival. It was quite neppy and frustrating, therefore the singles were not really as consistent or fine as I wanted. So I plied it and am not happy with the plied finished product. I wish I had left it as laceweight singles. Ah well.
I have awakened with a massive headache for the past 2 days. I think I need a different pillow. I have at least 4 pillows on my side of the bed. One of them should be right but I can’t find it. I have buried M in pillows and alternately yanked a preferred (for the moment) pillow out from under his sleeping head just to get to a different one. I am surprised that we are still married because if someone did that to me repeatedly I would buy a bigger bed. Oh….we did that already.
The previous little paragraph was a long and roundabout introduction to this post’s true purpose. M and I will have been married 25 years on the 21st of August.
Awwwww, bless their little hearts.
To repeat an unfortunate phrase I uttered a few years ago, “it seems like forever”. Of course, you must know that M and I have known each other since we were both 18. (It was the mid 70′s, UVa, coed dorm. No, I don’t believe in them and wish they didn’t exist but that is another post.) Not that we are the same people now by any stretch of the most altered imagination. But then again we are the same in so many ways. I still try anything new. He still uses the same deodorant.
It is admittedly a little early to be posting about 25th Anniversary but I am nearing the end of the work on my present for M. Feel free to listen to Traffic’s “John Barleycorn Must Die” on your record players, cassette decks, cd players or iPods while you read on. I still have a functional turntable and the vinyl…and an iPod.
First, I bought the raw fleece from Zack, the Virginia Border Leiscester. Then I……..
Washed it. And let it air dry, supported on an airy hammock.
Teased it. (Hee Hee, it didn’t think the teasing was funny.)
Carded it.
Spun and plied it.
Designed and redesigned the use for it.
Knit it and changed the design while knitting it.
And finally finished it.
What is it?
I think I should make myself a pillow. And go play in Traffic.
