Cycling Through Summer Vacation

I just can't believe it's the end of July and that today, I went back to school for the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year! It was over so fast-what the heck happened to my holiday?
Well, I can't say that I don't know, I do. We had Shannen the first 2.5 weeks of the holiday. It was nice to have her here and for the most part, it went well and without incident...except for the infamous "SALAD INCIDENT" of which we do not speak!
I turned another year older-what else is new? More gray hair, feeling the twinges of old age creeping in...talk about what happened to the years!! We watched the Tour de France again this year-pulled for Schleck (such a cutie...if I were 40 years younger!!) and cheered for Armstrong, as always. What an athlete! I also did the Ravelry Tour de Fleece and spun some lovely yarns. That was fun. See photos. I wanted to finish Tom's sweater (begun this time of year in 2009-see blog)but never got around to it. I am having some kind of mental block with that and I think it's because I am afraid Tom will be critical of it-not in an intentional way to criticize me, but I'm such a sensitive person. I am also afraid the spinning will not be up to snuff and it will look all weird. Silly me, silly fears-I need to push on with it and complete it!
My yarn...I had some great spins this year. Mohair lace weight yarn turned out gorgeous. A small skein of silk and faux cashmere has potential of a bigger spin and perhaps dye job. Mohair locks...I found that blended with Merino makes an absolutely fabulous yarn-so pretty! Another spin that was great was my tweedy Ivy's Hen yarn. Looked like speckled chickens. Just lovely. I almost hate to use it for anything and it is a hodge podge of fibers of all sort.
My niece Beth got married last week. She's a girl after my own free-spirited heart! She wore a green tapestry bustier over her wedding gown and underneath-green high top tennis shoes! Way to go, Bethie!! Actually, it was just too cute. Hubbie looked spiffy in Kilt and Prince Charlie-always a grand look in my humble opinion!! You can't beat a guy in a kilt for good looks!
So, that was Summer for me. It's an early day tomorrow at school-schedules to sort out, classes to assign and the phone ringing off the hook...normalcy. sigh

STITCHES SOUTH PART B

OK...Part B of Stitches South...I think I can remember everything, althogh, it was a fiber induced delerium on that Saturday! OMG, I've never seen so much yarn and my wallet wasn't anywhere near prepared for what I wanted to spend. Thankfully, my sister was with me...Thanks Laney...and kept me in line!!! However, I did get some very nice yarn and a couple of braids of roving for spinning...also a pattern for the Swirl Shawl which I have coveted ever since I saw it on Ravelry. By Ravelry standards, which are pretty high it seems, my stash from Stitches is kind of small, but here is what I got:

1 skein of Bugga Tomato Frog(red, red, red) from Sanguine Gryffon-gorgeous and it is now knit into and almost finished a Multnomah Shawl-also very gorgeous!
2 cones of Silk and Cashmere laceweight yarn from Webs in Gray Teal...destined for something as yet undetermined, but I had to have it.
2 4oz braids of Green With Envy from Frabjous Fibers which is so very pretty and it's destined for laceweight singles which will also make something great but don't know what yet.
And of course, the pattern for the Swirl Shawl.

That's it and enough to get me through until SAFF in October!
As for Stitches South-it was the best and I can't wait until next year! I'm taking more money and I'm going to go more than one day I think. I don't know about taking a class thought, because I would be afraid I'd miss something good-but, we shall see. I saw some of the most gorgeous knitted items and it really was inspirational. I talked my sister into trying to learn to knit-its good when you can enable a relative, thereby having an accomplice and a co-enabler. It's good. I've never seen so much knitting stuff either-wowsers! I want one of everything!! I also tried out the new Kromski spinning wheel-what a nice wheel. I definitely have it on my want list.

When I get my computer, I'll post pics of my stash and whatever I've finished. Almost done with the Multnomah Shaw.

Stitches South

PART A:
I'm writing this pre-event, so I hope the enthusiasm I have for it will be continued in PART B, post-event.
I'm really looking forward to the Market, which is all I'm really going to get to do this year, although I have signed up for a mini class in Stranded Knitting. Since I only have Saturday, I want to spend most of my time shopping for fiber and the like. I have sort of a shopping list, but you know how it is when you get in a place that just overloads you with goodies that you like-well, who knows how that will go. Sometimes I get too much of a good thing and I get stymied. Then, again, if I'm in the groove and all the forces are working, I can spend like a woman out of control! Frankly, I'm aiming for something inbetween the two!!
Of course, spinning fiber is on the list, but if I happen to see yarn that is, as they say, "to die for", then I may add that to the list. I'd also like a spindle-a nice spindle, and maybe some stitch markers, and perhaps some glass needles, a book or two, some cute buttons would be nice and a shawl pin. I figure $200 will do me just fine~but just in case I'm in out of control mode, I'm taking the magic card....forget the rent! I'm in fiber paradise!!!!
Well...here's looking at PART B and the aftermath of Stitches South, Atlanta, GA.....

DISTAFF DAY

I didn't know there was such a thing as a whole day devoted to the Saint of Spinning-St. Distaff. Evidently there is and I am grateful to him for it!
Yesterday this wonderful day was celebrated by the lovely folks at the Peachtree Handspinners Guild and I was invited to attend. Attend I did and had a great time! I'll be joining The Peachtree Handspinners Guild at their very next meeting!

The reason I got interested in attending was from a discussion on Ravelry about Gulf Coast sheep. I love trying new types of fiber and I'd never heard of it before,so, long story short, a lovely lady named Rosemarie raises these sheep, is a member of the PHG and offered to give me a fleece...free!!! I jumped on that, of course...dollars being what they are these days in our household, free is the right price!

One of the ladies there, Gale Evans, had braids of fiber for sale...I succumbed to purchasing one braid to spin some socks, or something, for Shannen. She had gorgeous fiber! I want more, please!
The other awesome thing was the Gulf Coast wool I got from Rosemarie. Oh my! She gave me a whole trash bag full and is it ever gorgeous once it's washed and carded....yummy! Photo above with rolags is the washed and unwashed fiber. It's so squishy that all I want to do is squeeze it! Gulf Coast fiber is not quite as soft as Corriedale, or some of the other "next to skin" yarn, but it is, nonetheless, soft and will make nice gloves, hats and could possibly make a nice warm shawl-I do plan on knitting a bit of it into my All Sheep Shawl.

I went to the meeting, it isn't very far from where I live, which is great, and I met and sat and spun the whole day! What could have been better? The people were really nice and I think I am going to enjoy belonging to this group. They meet on Saturday's, which is great for me-no weekday meetings-and they do a lot of things as a group. I like that too.

Peachtree Handspinner's Guild...you have a new member!