2011 MA Sheep and Wool

This post could also be called the last of the May Adventures, I'm just a little late posting it.

Memorial Day weekend is always MA sheep and wool in Cummington, MA. It's become traditional for our family to go. We always see some shearing...


...and the past couple of years we've enjoyed seeing some sheep dog trials (this is the pen that holds that sheep that have already been herded).


The girls both wanted to do a workshop. We did the kool-aid dying last year so we tried the spindle spinning this year. Then the kids all got to weave a bit. The guild that runs that hands out these sample cards that have last years weaving in them.


Of course, other than seeing the animals the next best thing is checking out all the vendors. This year I was also picking out some fiber for my neighbor who couldn't go at the last minute - so I got her some fun Spunky Eclectic and Foxfire Fiber - both of which I've purchased and spun before, but not this year...



The bag there was purchased from a no-kill animal shelter near Pittsfield that had all sorts of bags to choose from. It's also the only item I didn't take a separate picture of.

This is from Into the Whirled

I've seen her fiber and yarn on etsy and ravelry - and I finally gave in and got a colorway I've been eyeing for years. I also let each of the girls choose something. Any guesses which color each of us girls chose?

This is from a booth that was called Frabjous Fibers.

There were in the middle of an open area we kept walking by, and they had a couple big bins full of different sized scraps, sold by the ounce - so the kids each picked (with my help) a length of fiber each.

While we were sitting in the kids play area (sand box turtle filled with feed corn, toy tractors to play with, bales of hay to sit on a run around) we bumped into some people we knew. They were showing us what they had bought and mentioned this one place where they had a big bin filled with different sized skeins of different colors of yarn. The catch was they were selling it by the handful. So my husband said he was willing and we went to get our money's worth.

This whole pile of yarn fit into one of his hands. It's 525 grams (that's enough for 5 pairs of adult socks)

So, on the way home we stopped at the grocery store for a couple of items. Since the little boy was sleeping my husband went in with one of the girls - and finally did what he's been threatening for a while. He's been telling the kids that if they wanted to go camping again they need to be brave and show a willingness to try new things....

So we had lobster for dinner that night! It was the first time for the kids, and they actually did a really good job of trying it. All three of them. It was only my third time eating lobster and I enjoyed it too.

Next up, current knitting and soon after that, some of our June adventures....

Socks, Vest, Tunic and More

When I posted about my birthday one item hadn't arrived yet... I had commented on this listing on etsy to my husband right around my birthday and he surprised me by ordering it for a late present.



I haven't been spinning lately, but I have plans this week to at least start some again.


Soon after he returned from a trip for work I (a month or two ago) had finished brown socks for my husband.



I forgot to take a picture right when I finished them, and he wore them the next day, so if they look a little stretched it's because he just took them off!



He already handed me yarn for another pair which I am planning to start within the next couple of weeks... I love doing the plain socks, I can knit while watching tv or while watching children - which means they got done quicker than patterned socks!


I finished my first steeked project!



Unfortunately I ran out of the green yarn about 1/4 of the way through the neck ribbing! Someone else on ravelry had listed the same yarn, same dye lot in their stash and was willing to swap me it for some of the yarn in my stash! I only had to wait a couple of days (Well, less than a week) for it to arrive. I worked on the brown socks and finished them while waiting and then finished up the vest as soon as the yarn arrived.



I love how the vest looks on me, but you will have to wait until I buy a new shirt to go with it, as I don't have anything that looks great under it yet! I will post pics here or on ravelry or both once I've made that purchase.



I originally made these slippers for my husband, but I left them in the washer felting a smidge too long and while he could fit into them they weren't comfortable. So I promised him a new pair in the fall and I felted these a bit more and gave them to my dad instead. My mom already purchased nice leathery bottoms for them (and got them in the mail) and just needs to sew them on and he'll have a great warm and non-slick pair of slippers!

I also finished the weaving!


I had done one set of napkins already and after christmas I warped the loom for another set. My family loves using large cloth napkins at meals and although we bought a bunch at ikea I really liked the look of the handmade ones. I finished weaving on my birthday in april and then finally took the couple of days needed and finished most of them for my daughter's tea party that she had for her june birthday. A couple of days later I finished the rest and now the loom is returned and the weaving yarn is back with the stash... perhaps sometime for christmas or spring I'll look into getting a cricket loom or another small loom that I can use for a while and pack away otherwise. I did enjoy weaving though!


Last year when we went to the MA sheep and wool was when my daughters discovered their love for weaving and we originally borrowed the large floor loom from my wonderful neighbors. This year we went to sheep and wool and the family enjoyed seeing the sheep, shearing, sheep dogs for the first time, kool aid dying, lots of things for sale, friends (fun bumping into our neighbors and their friends and sharing their fries!), and a tiny hay maze and play area!




We kept our purchases in check as we are slowly realizing how anti-surplus-consumerism we really are (yes we have stashes, mine - yarn and fiber - fit into four rubbermade bins, my husband's fit into another two and I'm comfortable with that amount). We purchased some new fiber for each of the girls (the pink for 'curly', the yellow and half the brown for 'lily', the green and rest of the brown, and the bright colorful one for me) and some patterns and the yarn for them for my husband. All of my stuff is already added into my ravelry stash page - which I love for knowing what is in those four buckets when I find a new pattern I want to make! If you love the look of something and don't want to go searching on ravelry (or don't belong) ask me and I can tell you what it is!


Also for my youngest daughter's birthday I finished a tunic for her!



I was actually shocked, I worked on it for a couple of weeks and she never asked what it was... I guess they are used to me knitting strange things and just being so excited about them that I explain what they are randomly, but she never knew it was for her, until I was *almost* done with it on her birthday... I told her, tried it on her, finished the last set of pattern and then did the bottom edge and washed and blocked it.



She was very excited about it and twirled in it every time she's put it on so far. She couldn't wait to show her friends, so she wore it to a birthday party she was invited to less than a week after her birthday!

Projects and Sheep and Wool

I finished my traveling socks.



Originally this was a top down sock, I didn't bother doing anything to the pattern, so technically it's upside-down, but I don't care - looks good.




I also finished a teddy bear. My husband asked if I'd make one for a co-worker who went back to Japan, who's wife is due this summer sometime.


Kindof cute - now it just needs to be shipped.


So, suddenly, the day before MA sheep and wool, I didn't have any knitting projects. I had a couple spinning ones, but nothing knitting. So I cast on something I've been wanting to do for a while. Using some of the yarn I spun last July I'm making a Rivulet Scarf.



Originally the pattern gives no gauge and uses sport weight with a US6 needle. This gave me such a loopy wide scarf that I ripped out the 10 rows or so I had done and dropped down to a 3. I did about 15 rows and decided it was still too wide. I actually dropped down to a large US1. That's the same needle I just used in those socks I finished. I think I actually hold the yarn and needles differently (looser?) if I know I'm not working on socks, because it still is loose and drape-y but looks like a scarf instead of a wrap now, which is much better.


With apologies for the bad picture, I am also spinning on the wheel...


A friend of mine bought this wool for felting purposes and now, after using some for that, is ready to not have a big bag of wool in her life (or house) so I'm spinning it for her in exchange for probably some house repair advice from her...or something.



A few hours down, many hours left.... but it is fun - as she had no specs in mind for the yarn, so I'm just spinning it the way the wool and wheel want it to work.


I also got my May Yarn Pirate Fiber. This time it's BFL in colorway Zephyr. Pretty. :) I really want to start it right now, but have too many things going on at the moment.




Ok, so the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool was this past Saturday. Since we didn't go to any fiber fairs last year I was really looking forward to it, in fact, I think the whole family was happy about going. We looked through all the barns and stalls and saw the sheep, and then started going back and making purchases.

Curly has been wanting a sweater - most likely a Wallaby with a hood and pocket. I was spinning some yarn recently that she's tried to claim (and I probably will use it for her too) but this bag should be perfect...


especially since it has purple and blue :)


I then went over to the Journey Wheel booth and bought myself a 'real' spindle. I have a big ashford boat anchor from my mom, a spindlyn and a small ebay spindle (which is good, but not very sturdy). I chose a Purpleheart Featherweight. It's only 17 grams (.6oz) and it spins forever!



While buying the purple wool bag I also picked up just one small silk cap from Fantom Farm. I'm spinning it now on the new featherweight and will probably make a small kerchief for Lily with it.


I wish I had grabbed a couple more... oh well.

My husband picked out two projects he'd like to make, both are lacy, both use fingering weight. One will be blue, and one will be green, both from Sliver Moon Farms.


He also decided he wanted to at least try spinning, so when we walked by the Spunky Eclectic Booth he picked up some BFL in a nice green...


...and a little turkish spindle.


He says that if he like spinning it will be his for good and I can buy another one sometime soon - and if he doesn't like it then we made sure that I also like the one he chose. He has dabbled a bit now and seems to enjoy it. So far he's using some of my mill ends white superwash (mostly the pencil roving bits) and he's picking it up pretty quickly...-


We also stopped at The Wheel Thing and got some fun tools. I haven't tried them out yet, but hope to soon



We also sat through a senior (teenagers?) class sheep show that had a variety of breeds and listened to the judging, got to watch one shearing, saw the winning fleece and knits and yarn, and the girls had a chance to weave - they now want to borrow a loom and do some more 'real' (not potholders on a peg loom) weaving...

To finish off the day I ordered a tiny bit of yarn for a vest and helped one of my friends pick out a pattern and yarn for a sweater I'll be making her (she did some sewing for me), so I have a bunch of things I'm working on, and a bunch more planned. Fun Fun Fun!

Post 21

I just realized it's been over a month since my last post, and only 20 for the whole year. (Getting close to the 200 total posts!) It's been a busy crazy year - mostly fun and a lot of trying to get stuff squeezed in (like sleep?). I do have some things done...

I finally finished the slippers for my husband (I still need to take a final picture of them with the leather bottoms on)



I also worked up a shower gift. I love this hat. Curly had helped to make one like it for the Little Tomato and it fit forever since the rolled brim kept getting rolled less and less, in fact his just now doesn't fit. I hope this one will fit the new baby for a long time.


I just realized that I never took a picture of a earband and cowl that I made for Lily - so pics and details of them next time.

We took a break on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and went to see some things we've missed this past year...






We've never been to this farm before, although I have seen them at some different fiber events. It was a fun drive and very relaxing (especially as we drove by the mall and saw the nasty full parking lot and traffic) and of course, the whole family enjoyed seeing the animals and the yarn and fiber for sale.

I've also been working on Christmas presents that I won't post about until after Christmas. ...and knitting, and cooking, and cleaning, and decorating, and schooling, and baking, and sleeping, and holding the baby, and being social, and shopping, and reading, and such. Enjoy!

Hats, Skirt, and Sheep

Quick blog note: I recently went though and listed the finished projects of 2007 on the side bar, linking to posts containing pictures (and hopefully some information) on those projects.




A couple of weeks ago, at my monthly craft night, I took 3 skeins of knit picks sock yarn that my husband had gotten for himself and then decided he didn't like, and I carefully put all three together, and used a US 10 (I think) and made these three hats. Two are baby sized, one is more toddler sized. I thought that'd be great to bring to the Yarn Harlot event at Webs soon. I'm thinking of making a couple more of these for Dulaan before I close and ship the box(es) - which will be after my brother's graduation (as my mom plans to knit during events until then and will probably have a couple more projects to squeeze in)





Last week at Webs, they had the fiber fair going on in the parking lot, and I picked up a big bag of alpaca. I washed a couple handfuls and teased and carded it, and then spun it up on my lace drop spindle. After making it into a 3 ply, I knit this Barbie skirt.

I ended up putting a big hook/eye in the back. I think it came out pretty cute, that theory was supported by the fact that my girls were (slightly) arguing over who was going to be the owner of the skirt when it was done (while I was sewing on the hook/eye). We decided that it will belong to the older daughter, but she will have to share.


On Saturday we went to the MA sheep and wool fair. It was our first time, and I brought my sweet husband and the two girls and my mom - who had not been to it before either. The girls were great and we lasted for 3-4 hours of looking and sheep...


and goats....


walking around and watching sheep get sheared....


...and touching soft fiber and yarns (and occasionally buying some)


(pictures of the contents of these bags to come in a couple of days, along with more highlights of the day)

I think we all had fun. The girls kept wanting to go back to the barns and see the sheep, until they were done and then they just wanted to keep me moving in the direction of the car. Unfortunately I didn't make it to see any of the contests etc, since by the time I was ready to look, they were ready to go. We did make it to a couple of booths that had angora bunnies. One of which was allowing them to be held, so everyone got a turn holding a bunny. It was fun to see Jenny in person again, and meet her friend. It was also nice to connect a face and voice with a couple of names from the spindlers list (Sheila and Jackie) My mom walked away with both a rakestraw and a plying paddle... I'll have to visit her house to explore those sometime soon.

On the recent socks, thanks for the compliments, and thank you Dot for your comment (and thank you Jenny for gushing about them on Saturday!). It is so nice to have the feedback.

In the US today is Memorial Day. It is nice to have it 'off' and get some spring/summer stuff done around the house, but it is important to remember why we do. Thank you to all those we honor today!