Sunday Sue and I attended the NH Sheep and Wool Festival and what a blast we had! It was a rainy, wet excursion but I preferred it to hot and sunny with crowded booths that feel claustrophobic with sweaty, jostling bodies. After a late start and getting lost only once, (we were so overcome with excitement chattering about her new puppy, Sinbad; that we missed an exit) we arrived to a near empty parking lot. We head straight for our workshops and engaged in a little learning. Most of what I learned at the dye workshop was basically what I had learned from a previous dye workshop with Julie at J. Knits. It was fun to dye a couple hanks of grey wool though instead of white. I didn't know you could achieve such a wonderful heathered depth by dyeing a grey base yarn. I was thinking autumn; when am I not? So I mixed an awesome green for one skein and a soft gold with hints of rust peeking out here and there for the other. I think these two skeins used in a fall vest pattern would look nice in some textured stitch design. 500 yds of worsted total and I apologize for not being able to capture the heathered look from the grey base yarn.
The bit of roving I played with was to spin something interesting but I fear it is too felted. I might try carding or combing this first. I can always use it for needle felting embellishments. I haven't really decided. It was really an experiment in mixing colors. None of these shades are straight from the jar. They are all blends of several colors together. I'm sure with the help of a color wheel I'll be able to do better but all in all, I had fun and learned some things.
Sue had her spindle spinning class and some private time with Debbie of Purple Fleece on her wheel. I gave her a bag of Golden Hisbiscus Louet merino/silk to practice on so I hope her journey has begun. I was thrilled to finally meet Debbie and put a face to the emails and contact we've had. I picked up three wreaths of lovely fiber to spin. One is a beautiful natural silver blue-faced leicester/silk blend. This was the base for last month's Gentle Rain. I finished spinning the month's offering and just have to wash it but was enchanted with the natural base color so I got it.
I also picked up a wreath of superwash merino/tencel in the Sable colorway I've had my eye on for a while. Lovely.
I also was caught by the little bit of color in this wreath of superwash blue-faced leicester.
So I have plenty of fiber to play with for a while.
I've added another project to the knitting wips too. I knew as soon as I saw the Elongated Stitch Sampler Top in the latest issue of Cast On that I had to knit it. I love samplers and this little top is full of them. I went stash diving and found the PERFECT yarn for it. I totally forgot about this yarn. It is Heather Spellman's Sereknity Satin Sock (merino/tencel) in Martian green. This yarn is lovely. I will definitely need to purchase more of this from her in the future. Her base yarn for this is soft and shimmery with a firm twist. I had two skeins, should be plenty for this top. It just feels wonderful to knit with and the stitch definition is superb. The textured patterns are popping out nicely already and I've just done the chain stitch ribbing and the horizontal lace stitch panels. Once blocked, this will look amazing. It's so hard to judge the beauty of finished lace and texture until the final blocking.
So all in all, a fun day was had despite the effect on my hips of standing for the whole workshop and walking around for a couple of hours of shopping. Turns out I missed a whole section somewhere with a bunch of animals and vendors I wanted to see. I just couldn't walk another step. I missed Yarn and Fiber Co, Sereknity yarns, Hair of the Dog (dog fur spinning) and more. drat
Thought for the day: Make peace with your past so it won't spoil your present.
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