After a brief hiatis

It's been a rough year and I'm just getting back into the swing of things.  After a 13 year battle with cancer, my mother lost her fight.  It has been a rough year of coping.  She was our last parent, my significant other and I have no parents remaining.

But to the yarn.....
I was at MSW in May.  Maybe I have too much yarn at home, but I wasn't buying alot of yarn.  I bought mostly supplies.... Glass needles, glass cable needle.  And of course Sheep Incognito pictures.

Yesterday I went into the city with another yarnaholic and we went to Sophie's Yarn Cellar,
loop and Nangellini.  We had a blast.  All of the stores had very friendly staff and wonderful yarn.  Naturally I bought more than planned... But hey isn't that the reason for working??.

Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest

Whew ... just got back form Berryville, Virginia at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest.  We had a blast.  I was with my friend Eileen from Maple Creek Farms.  We did alot of knitting and talking.  Oh yeah - and yarn shopping....  Didn't go hog crazy because ... RHINRBECK is just a few short weeks away!!!

So here's what I bought...

Alpaca from Furnace Mountain Alpacas.  This is from one of their alpacas Gabriel.  I thought it was funny my nephew os Gabriel and my friend's son is Gabriel.  He's even the main picture on their page.  I just think alpacas are adorable!!! And they coooo!!!

ok - this is a place that I love her yarn colours ... Dragonfly fibers.  I still have some left over from last year but I couldn't resist.   Some sock and alot of lace!!!

 Now this was just FUN!!  I dont know that the colours are going to show up well - but its NEON!!!  This is from Wild Hare  they were across the isle from us and when I saw this - I just ran across and bought it.  I have GOT to cast on a pair of socks out of this TODAY!!

And my last purchase was this yarn bowl.  Isn't it pretty????  Now if I could remember WHO I bought it from..... I know their card is somewhere in either my purse, knitting bag or garment bag... but I'm not really sure where.... I'll post later when I find it.



Enough for blogging today - I got the day off and plenty to do.  Lunch with my sister and Aunt.  Then a dr appointment to get release for back issues ... Then make a birthday cake for a co-worker.
Whew ... back to work will seem like a breeze!

I dont have a problem... I can stop whenever I want.....

I hope there is no 12-Step program to stop me from buying yarn.  My fiancee may disagree, but I love yarn!!  I enjoy looking at yarn.  I enjoy fondling yarn.  And I enjoy bringing yarn home.  I can stop any time.  I just dont want to. Not an addiction, just an obsession.

I spent 3 wonderful days at the Michigan Fiber Fest in Allegan Michigan.  While it is true that on Saturday we had horrific thunderstroms and on Sunday lost power for most of the day, it was still wonderful.  And I did emerge with lots of new yarn!!!

From Left to Right:
first 2 Studio June Yarn,
next Heritage Hand Paint,
 last 2 Miss Babbs

The Studio June Yarn, the blue one is a fabulously soft Baby Alpaca lace weight.  The red and black is part of a collection I'm making of red yarns for a shawl.  My mother's name was Ruby, whenever I'd be at a show, if a yarn was called Ruby, I'd buy it.  Unfortunately Mom passed away last month, before I could make her something named Ruby.  So I'm expanding the collection to include Red/Grey/Black and will make a shawl incorporating all of these colours. The Heritage Hand Paint is a silk merino - not sure what it will become, but it was calling to me.  I just really liked the colour combos in the Miss Babbs yarn, and they had the perfect pattern to go with it.

From top to bottom:
Blackberry Ridge.
.

The pink yarn is a silk/wool blend lace weight.  They also had a beautiful lace neck scarf, with beads... while I dont usually like beads, I think it'll sparkle perfectly.  The blue/green/yellow variegated is a silk... need I say more?

From top to bottom:
Bleating Heart Haven,
The Weavers Loft,
the last 2 Socks that Rock

My friend J loves RED yarn, so I picked up this red for her.  I think she'll like it.  The turquoise/brown/purple is 2 different spins of  Rayon/nylon and cotton. I think they are going to get blended into a t-shirt type summer top. Socks that Rock ... need I say anything about what they will become????

Well now that I've caught everyone up on my yarn purchases ... I need to get caught up on house work.  It rained all weekend, so B couldn't mow and now the lawn is OUT-OF-CONTROL!  The cats are well... cats and the house needs vacuumed.  So no knitting today ... I gotta CLEAN!!

Alpaca Festival

So to keep my mind off of the loss of my mother - one of my friends took me to an Alpaca Festival up above Quakertown PA area.  It was just a little show - not alot of people and not alot of activity.   Steeple View Alpacas a small farm with some of the cutest alpacas!!!  We got to go into the field and see them.  It was a really hot day but they were happy little animals. Then we watched a demo on dying with Kool Aid.  It was very interesting - now I need to get some un-dyed wool or alpaca and give it a try.  Which is good as I'm heading to Michigan for the Michigan Fiber Festival this week.  I cant wait!! New vendors and new fibers!

I cast on travel projects this week.  I was looking thru French Girl Knits and found several projects I liked.  One is cast on and enough rows started that it should be good traveling knitting.  One project I have cast on three times - and not happy with any.  So that was is not meant to be.. so it shall become something else.

More the rest of the week from the show!!!!

My Other Obsession

 In addition to knitting, my other obsession is dolls.  I have 200+ Barbie dolls, 6 American Girl dolls and 7 Adora dolls.  And these are some of the older pictures.

Family portrait of the Adora dolls.  I still have my doll beds from when I was a kid.  All of the dolls have a place to sit.








See I dont sit and knit ALL of the time.  I do other things.

MSW - what a great show!!

Maryland Sheep and Wool was fantastic!! We got down Friday morning early and got the booth all set up  Being a vendor has its privileges - we got our t-shirts Friday afternoon and even a few from years back.  Saturday I didn't get out of our booth.  I rarely get out to shop on Saturdays.... I always shop on Sunday... can be a bummer as alot of booths sell out of the cool stuff on Saturday.

So anyways ... once i did get out - I got socks that rock - one for me - one for a friend.  Grit likes earthy colours so she got the skein on the right - I got the skein on the left.

This is 100% silk, the colour name is "Ruby" that's my mom's name and I wanted to make something lacy and pretty for her.  

I stopped by Brooks Farm to get some of their Mas Acero in the heavier weight.  Also picked up a cute pattern.

 I had to stop by Spirit Trail... I love their colours!! I got this in lace weight... I got a pattern from Wendy Knits Japanese Garden shawl.  I also picked up a few patterns for some lacy scarves and shawls.  I have to do something with this accumulation of sock yarn.

I had to stop by Kiparoo Farms to get some of their Silk Road yarn.  I love this stufF.  They also had a really nice pattern for it, so I got that also.

So as we packed up I picked up some sock yarn for pattern ideas.  Yes - I work the booth at Maple Creek Farms.... thanks to everyone that stopped by!  It was great to see some familiar faces and meet new people!





I did get the funniest pattern book EVER!! Rachel Danger's Monster Knits.  The cutest knitted monsters!! I had a pattern of hers from a trip to Webs.. but these monsters are the cutest!!

And to round out the weekend - I fell in the parking lot as we were leaving a restaurant.   Being the amazingly graceful person I am, I didn't see the curb transition from concrete to the macadam parking lot.  In my defense, the concrete sidewalk extended out into the parking lot and I couldn't see the actual step down.  So here I am the second year in a row on crutches.  This time however I did not break my foot, only a bad sprain.  And I can still drive!!

Maryland Sheep and Wool

It's still 2 weeks away, but I'm already planning my purchases.  I may treat myself to a pair of Signature needles.  I have enough yarn to open my own yarn store, so unless I see something that I HAVE to have.....  And we know I will.

I try to keep it organized by type of yarn... sock, lace, DK, etc..  Sometimes if I know what it wants to be, I keep it in a project bag.  Or sometimes I actually buy a kit project.

I've been trying to finish the UFOs in my various knitting bags.  I've got one bag with 3 projects.  2 bags with 1 project each.  A bag in my truck with 2 small portable projects.  Like I said ... like I need more yarn.

But since I have no will power .... I'm sure I'll come home from MSW with more wool.