Monday, April 28, 2008

Surprises

The past two weeks have been full of them!



1. I enjoy baking my own bread. I'm fiddling with whole wheat recipes. It's so much more satisfying when you can bake something simple that tastes so much better (and costs significantly less) than store bought.



2. Pavé socks--my new favorites. Who knew? It took me three tries to get these socks going, but it turns out that they are the best fitting socks I've ever knit. Thanks Anne!








3. The Spring Fling. Wow. Looks like I missed a good time. I'll try to go next year.



4. Sheepshearing Festival at Gore Place. That's right--a fiber festival in my own back yard!

There was a sheephearding demonstration by some phenomenal border collies:





I got uncomfortable when I saw how the guys manhandled the sheep. Here he's showing how he flips one. First he twists its head (Now that's gotta hurt) and has him sit on its rump.


Then we watched a shearing demonstration. I was a little amused that they called it a Sheepshearing Festival. I don't think more than a dozen sheep were shorn in the six hours it was open.



There were other animals such as miniature horses, and these llamas:



And there was yarn!

There was a "fiber tent" but it had only two exhibitors. An LYS which brought a strange assortment of yarn like Noro and Ranco, single magazine issues, books, etc. Nothing too interesting or unusual.

Bartlett Yarns from Maine was the other vendor. They had a huge assortment of their wool on cones, ready to sind it up into any yardage you wanted. There was also a few racks of this:

Nothing in my color palate though.

Then there was the craft fair, which is where I found Ellen Joseph of Ellie's Reclaimed Cashmere. Ellie doesn't have a website, but if you're interested in her stuff just drop me a comment--I have her email address.

Ellie recycles old cashmere sweaters into new fibers, often plying two different fibers together to create a new yarn. See that one at the top right? I bought one of those. It's a gentle sage green heathered with white.
Here's some more.

It was a pleasure to speak with her, and I'm happy to support such a great little business.

5. I could tell you I bought some more yarn, but that wouldn't be such a surprise now, would it?

Book #15 Stuffed: Advenures of a Restaurant Family

Book #16 She Got Up Off the Couch and Other Heroic Stories from Mooreland, Indiana

Book #17 The Handmaid and the Carpenter

1 comment:

Laura said...

Hi! I was a the Gore Place festival the other day too. I thought my 2yo would love the sheep herding demonstration but she didn't really get into it. She loved the "dirty sheep" (in the pen with the pygmy goats) though.

I hope you don't mind me pointing out a couple of things about your post. I believe the picture of the hanging yarn is actually Nanney Kennedy's "Sea Colors" (I think she's also from ME, like Bartlett). The LYS who came was Mind's Eye Yarns in Porter Sq. I agree that she did have an odd assortment but she did have some of her hand-dyed yarn which was really nice. I bought a skein of pewter sock yarn which is going to make a very shiny pair of socks!

I chatted with Ellie for a little while as well. A friend of mine gifted me with 2 skeins of her yarn that she bought at the festival last year and I still have no idea what to do with it. What are you making with yours?

Great post - I love all the pictures!