Happy Birthday

Tomorrow is my youngest daughter's birthday, she will be 10.  Ten!  I have no more children in the single digits.  Another rite of passage.  Time is moving faster and faster.  Anna's first year of high school is coming to an end, Emily is turning 10.  When I think back to the years I longed for a family, for children.  Thinking it would never happen to me.  And then I was not only blessed with Anna, after years of struggle and soul searching, I found our way to Emily.  And my family became complete.  At an age I never expected to be a mom.  But how blessed I am.  Who knew my two girls would be found thousands and thousands of miles away from me.  In another country!  And somehow I followed the tangled red thread to find my two best blessings in life.  At the perfect time. 

Emily is determined to wake up at midnight and open a package.  I told her that all the years I was in Dallas, when it was just me, I would wait until midnight and open my birthday presents.  Who am I to deny her that joy.  After all, like mother, like daughter.

To my youngest daughter.  I love you.  You brought spice and laughter and feistiness to my life.  And I thank you.  Jump into your double digits!  Can't wait to see what happens next.

Fun at Shepherd's Harvest

This was the best weather I've ever experienced at Shepherd's Harvest.  It was sunny and warm and amazing.  Emily and I went and worked our way through all the vendor barns.  Had a picnic lunch sitting next to the Yurt.  And when I returned home?  ummm I just may have walked away with over 5 pounds of fiber.  But oh man, what BEAUTIFUL fiber.  So let the fiber pictures begin....

I found this...amazing white, silk.  It looks like Rapunzel's braid....and my hair may be that color before I ever finish spinning this 16 ounce silk braid.  I so want to do it justice.  I want to spin it fine fine fine.  Which means time time time.  But can you imagine the yarn if I can get it the way my mind sees it?  Now just to translate what is in my mind through my finger tips and feet.

Then I stopped at Angela's booth, All for Love of Yarn.  I met Angela at Yarnover a few weeks ago, I have not spun any of her fiber and wanted to try, so I bought three braids, I've already got one predrafted in my spinning basket, but here are the other two I picked out. I picked out a variety of fiber bases, polwarth, merino, although they all had silk in them.  Hmmmm is there a trend I see?  Apparently I need more silk in my life....

Before I came to Shepherd's Harvest, I thought I was going to buy some raw fleeces and then get them processed.  Well that was before I actually saw some of the finished roving already in bags.  And all of the raw fleece thoughts flew out of my brain....resistance was futile!

I found this 2+ pound bag of a lamb named Stella.  A lovely soft gray.  I'm such a sucker for gray yarn...I think this will turn out so beautiful.  I like using the gray as a base for stranded knitting and so much of my wonderful yarn from Ginny's fibers are bright and lovely, they will shine with this gray as the contrast (at least I hope).

And finally I bought this ginormous bag of fiber from Marie, she is from the Dakotas, I sat next to her at Yarnover and we had such fun chatting that day, so I was happy to find her again and this time I had time to really look over her stuff.  And although I tried to walk away from this bag, actually got halfway down the side of the barn from her, I had to turn back and get it.  This is another 2+ pound bag.  It even has some sparkly stuff just barely there mixed in with deep greens and purples and reds.  I can't wait to see how this turns out.  So um, just how long do you think this will take me to spin up? 

Oh and just to make it interesting, I have another order from Ginny that should be shipping in the next few days.  Like 6 pounds of it.  So that makes a total of 11+ pounds of fiber in a month.  Isn't it grand?  grin....so many choices...so little time.  Really my day job is just so cramping my spinning life!  I do have some finished yarn as well, watch for those pictures in the next day or so.  They are currently drying on the rack.  And more on the niddy noddy waiting for a bath.  And did I mention I'm knitting too?  The baby blanket is moving along.  The pattern calls for 9 repeats of the main lace pattern.  I'm on number 5.  Life is good. 

Knitting again

For so long, I've been spinning constantly.  Happily, but I missed knitting.  With the news that there will be another baby joining our family in the next few months, I realized I needed to get with the program or there will be wee babes with nary a woolie item to be snuggled in.  So I took the beautiful Azurite roving, spun it into some equally lovely yarn.

I thought the white would come through more, but the blue really dominates the final yarn.  It is very pretty, but once again, what I think in my head will be the finished yarn is so far from the end result. 

Since this is SuperWash Merino.  I found the Baby Chalice blanket, a free pattern on Ravelry.  So far this is what it looks like.  I'm happy with it.  The yarn is soft and squishy.  It looks like it will be a small blankie.  One that can be easily used in a car seat or stroller.  One that can be easily dragged by a little one.  I hope it will be loved to pieces.  smile... 

Thoughts from Yarnover

At Yarnover, I had some samples knit from my handspun, the Floppy FairIsle hat showing how the variegated yarns look when knit up so it appears you used a lot more colors than you really did.  I also knit a simple baby hat to show what can be knit with under 100 yards.  My friend Ellen brought the beret and fingerless mitts I made for her.

Now I never got a picture of the beret after it was finished, but it is Jared Floods Beaumont Tam.  And I got such a big response at Yarnover over that set.  And I didn't have any more of the Tamerisk yarn used in both the hat and mitts.  Good lesson, if you have a sample, have the yarn available!  So today I placed an order with Ginny from Fat Cat Knits and Tamerisk was included again.  So the next time, I will be better prepared. 

Our summer is also shaping up rather quickly, our vacation is planned for Texas in June.  I can't WAIT.  I need some Tex Mex.  I need laughter with my friends.  I need Texas.  Anna will be going on a church trip in July.  Right after she gets back we are going to head up for a long weekend to Grand Marais and attend the Dragon Boat Festival.  I have a demonstration of spinning in Duluth in August.  Good Grief!  We are getting all booked up and it is only the beginning of MAY!  Time is going to fly.  But first?  Texas....I'm already dreaming.

Whew!

Yarnover 2012 is done.  And what a wonderful day it was.  The past 5 weeks have been a frantic race with the clock to ensure I had plenty of beautiful yarn to offer for sale.  I got up way early for a Saturday, was on site at Hopkins High School at 6:15 am.  Got everything unloaded and started setting up my table.  The people at the Minnesota Knitters Guild do such a great job organizing this event.  I had my table set up in short order and was ready to go by 7:30.

I then sat down and started to spin as I waited for the first attendees to arrive.  And by 7:45 the market place was buzzing with knitters ready for a day of fun and classes.  I had a blast.  Several people SEARCHED for me.  Actually took the time to find me.  sigh.  Can't ask for more than that.  My yarn sold.  The fiber sold.  The Hodgepodge babies sold.  (Hodgepodge yarn is what I make from left overs at the end of some bobbins.  I simply ply two odd duck singles together.  Interesting color combos are created.)  It was an invigorating day.  It is such fun to watch people stroke and feel the different skeins of yarn.  I had braids of roving to demonstrate what I started with and how the yarn turned out.  That is something that has been the most fun for me, when I look at the roving, I'm never exactly sure how it will turn out in the end, so sharing that with others was fun.  Several people just wanted to watch me spin.  Even people who have knit for years, may not have ever seen roving or how it is used to create the final product we all use for knitting. 

Several people from the Duluth area stopped by, they first saw my yarn at their LYS, Yarn Harbor, and knew I was going to be at Yarnover.  I was sure to tell them that I'd be in Yarn Harbor for a demo day on August 4.  That should be another fun day with the air filled with plenty of fiber fumes and yarn.

I also want to say hi to two big cheerleaders for my yarn.  Hi Jess!  Hi Chris!  Both of these ladies have been so kind and generous too me over the last year.  Thanks for all your encouragement...I so appreciate it.

And to all the other people who chose my yarn, it means more to me than you can know, to hear that you like my yarn and value it. 

Now that I have some breathing space, I can keep spinning, but also toss in some knitting.  After all, I heard some wonderful news on Sunday.  My favorite nephew and his wife are pregnant!  My favorite niece and her husband are also pregnant.  So I see some baby things creeping into my knitting time.  Also more superwash roving will be selected for spinning.  So many things to knit for babies....so stay tuned!

Still here

Tomorrow is Yarnover.  In the last 5 weeks, I spun 22 skeins.  TWENTY TWO.  They are beautiful.  They are pinks and greens and blues and lavenders.  They are variegated, they are solids, they are wool, they are silk.  They are chunky, they are fine.  And I'm tired!  But come tomorrow, my table will be overflowing with beautiful, handspun yarn.  I have 76 skeins of yarn.  28 braids of Fat Cat Knits fiber.  And a sale basket filled with more handspun.  There is something for everyone.  I can't wait.  Please let me know if you stop at my table that you read my blog...there may be a wee giftie involved for readers.

Tonight I will load up the van with yarn and fiber, baskets and boxes, and last but not least, my Julia wheel...next up?  I'm spinning some superwash yarn to knit a baby blanket for my niece who will be having her first baby this summer.  Even a Florida baby needs a small blanket?

Finished Skeins

For the last 3 weeks, it feels like every waking moment that is not spent at work or with my girls has been at my wheel.  Now normally I wouldn't complain, but even I have my tipping point.  But it is hard to not enjoy spinning this...meet Hemlock.. a surprising mix of oranges, browns, and spruce greens. 

To change it up, I picked DragonFly Wings...  These are really "my" colors.  Greens and purples.  Love this one so much.

And another favorite color range is my golden yellows and browns...this just warms me up from the inside.

Yarnover is a week from Saturday.  I was terrified I wouldn't have a good selection but now I'm really happy with where I'll be.  I'll get another 5-6 skeins done, add the 25+ braids of Fat Cat Knits roving I'll be selling and my table will be overflowing with fiber goodness.  Hope to see you there!  Hopkins High school, April 28, market place open from 8-5, no charge to get into the market place.  So if you need a yarn fix, this is the place to be.