Yarnover Aftermath

Yarnover was a blast.  While it started out in the cold and rain, it was so invigorating to see that many yarn lovers and knitters in one place.  The girls and I arrived in a steady rain at the Hopkins high school just before 7 am on a Saturday morning.  Now that is a lot of fun, getting kids up before 6 on a Saturday!  But they did great.  We were able to get the van unloaded between the three of us in only 2 trips.  But we were a bit soggy afterwards.  The yarn I protected, my hair?  Not so much!  smile...but shoppers were there by 7:45 a.m. and it was steady throughout the morning.  While it slowed a bit in the afternoon, the attendance was great.  I sold yarn which made me happy.  To hear so many nice compliments on my yarn was also gratifying.  Sometimes when I'm pedaling away in my room, I can loose sight of really how pretty the yarn is.  Hearing the nice comments from others was good for me.

In addition to selling yarn, I met some of my favorite bloggers which was great fun as well.  I also met and got some promising potential ideas for some future events that may be really exciting.  More on that after things are firmed up.  But thank you to every one who stopped and looked and stroked the yarn.  Y'all made my day.

You know you spin too much when....

you lose the skin from two of your fingers.  The two fingers that the roving whizzes over as it feeds into the bobbin orifice. 

You also know you spin too much when even though you've lost the first layer of skin, you keep spinning, after all, you have SEVERAL layers of skin.

See you at Yarnover!

Hellooooo!!!! Spring?

Are you out there?  Really?  This is what we woke up to this morning...and it is spring time?  Well yes, I guess in Minnesota.  Now there is good news here, it is going to be 60 on Sunday for Easter, which means we can have an Easter egg hunt outside...that doesn't always happen up here in these northern woods...

I'm spinning like mad to get everything ready for Yarnover, I'm having fun, but I am getting ready to just GO!  A week from Saturday you can find these lovelies at my booth.  The first one is a favorite, I'm calling it Apple of My Eye.  Poufy squishy Polwarth...just great.

I'm not sure what I'm calling this one yet.  More muted than I thought it would be, but still so pretty and soft.

And finally, this pink, it is not quite this bright, but it is one of the prettiest pinks I've got.  I think it would make a beautiful hat and mitten set, maybe using it in fair isle with a cream and or brown...wouldn't that be a nice combo?

Yarn Hop aftermath

Oh my I had fun this weekend.  Nine yarn shops in the Twin Cities banded together for a weekend packed with more yarn goodness than should be legal!  You start out with a card and you get it stamped at each of the participating 9 shops.  Once your card is filled out with all the stamps, you leave it at that last store and it is entered into a drawing for one grand prize and 9 first place prizes.  But even though I'd love to win, just traveling around to the different shops was the best.

There was a bit of a stir when they increased the number of shops from 6 to 9.  That is would be too hard and too much distance to get to all the shops in a weekend.  So they extended the time frame so it was over a 4 day period instead of 3 days.  It worked out just fine for me. 

I had the best time.  I don't go every year which I think just makes it more fun the years I do go.  And just look at what I bought.

I laughed when I got home and saw my color ranges, seems I do love me some blues, browns and creams. 

I also bought the Spud and Chloe on the farm book.  I love how Susan B. Anderson creates her little critters. 

For myself, I bought The New Stranded Colorwork book by Mary Scott Huff.  In fact I already started the bag in the lower left of the cover.  I just happened to have those exact colors in Cascade 220 sitting in my stash.  Perfect project for me to work on my two handed knitting.  Felting will cover any imperfections as I work to increase my skill level.

I also found a lovely small project bag from Lila and Claudine's, it is made from oil cloth and was very reasonably priced.  Lila and Claudine's is one shop I had not been to before, well, maybe once?  And I think it is one I will go back to again, especially when it isn't quite as busy as during Yarn Hop.

Another new shop I want to go back to and really visit is StevenBe's.  I found this lovely Three Irish Girl sock yarn.  That just jumped into my hands and wouldn't leave.

   

I know all the workers in the yarn shops must be exhausted after the last four days, but this is one happy shopper, who just loved exploring new places and finding new yarns.  Thank you!

Spinning in a frenzy

I'm getting geared up for Yarnover, which will be held the end of April in Hopkins.  I've been spinning virtually every night.  Knitting has been pushed to the background.  Funny how when I spin I eventually long to knit, when I'm on a knitting binge, I long to spin.  I'm fickle apparently...who knew?  smile...

This is called Tex Mex.  I just finished it last night, it was still drying this morning, it is a favorite of mine.  Just reminds me of Texas.  I'm longing for a Texan spring, now it may have to do with the piles of snow still outside, the cold breeze, heck, wind that hits me everyday, or even the sight of the rotten ice on all the lakes.  Can't imagine why I'd be longing to see fields of wild flowers waving in the gentle breeze...sigh...moving on...

The next skein is a combination of wool and silk and reminds me of underwater world.  I'm going to have the girls sit down and help me name all the skeins for me.  They are so creative and fearless in their naming conventions.  I love them!  My ideas?  Pretty boring, so I defer to them often.

And finally, I'm really torn to put this little baby up for sale.  I think it is the most gorgeous finished yarn and some of my best to date.  It is a perfect blend of yellows/tans/browns.  So many ideas fly through my brain when I see it...I think it would be perfect in color work project, I think something along this line, Gramma K's Fair Isle Tam or the Picot Hem Stranded Snowflake Hat would use this beautifully along with another neutral.

And what is becoming painfully clear?  I need to do some work on my photography...but in any regard, my handspun basket is over flowing, I'm approaching 90 skeins...lets hope others will love them and want to take some home with them from Yarnover!

And for further incentive, if you mention you read my blog, I will give you a 10% discount at Yarnover!

9 Bowls of Peas

The last week was a bit stressful.  Emily had another surgery for her cleft issues.  This was a big one, we had to stay in the hospital a couple days, finally got permission to leave on the second day but at 9 pm.  My girl is a tough cookie, the next day, she asked not to take the pain meds anymore because she didn't like how they made her feel.  Swore she had no pain etc.  So we stopped and she slowly came back to her normal self.  Her face was so swollen, slowly walking with a limp.  She can only eat soft foods for the next month.  I see lots of KFC mashed potatoes and gravy in our future.  But her continued strength and grace is nothing short of miraculous.  But she did tell me that she would rather eat 9 bowls of peas instead of having that surgery again.  Did I mention she HATES peas.  So I herby proclaim, peas are banished from our household from this point forward.  There are plenty of other green vegetables that she can ignore on her plate.  So no worries my girl, there will be no peas on your plate.  You've endured enough.  Thank you God for continuing to bless my child with humor and resilience.

The Winter that will not end

March is a tough month.  Intellectually you understand you will have snow yet but when you look out and there are literally mounds 7 feet high surrounding your driveway you think it will never end.  And add to that when you wake up there is another 3 inches of fluff to shovel.  It could make a person weep.  I refuse to listen to the weather anymore, all they talk about is more snow.  Wednesday, more snow.  March 19th BIG SNOW!  Seriously, we are talking about the 19th?  sigh...I give. But even I'm to the point of blubbering when the weather comes on.  Please make it stop...they are taking bets about how long it will take for some central snow dump sites to fully melt. (baby mountains, 30+ feet high, just as long) Bets are heavy into JUNE.  And that is only if we get no more snow.  Wonder if I could place a bet for July!