Year: 2003

Well, at least I keep telling myself that! Actually, I found this site, ICanSpin.com, which has some helpful videos showing different aspects of using drop spindles.

I am, of course, impatiently waiting for the day when my hands figure this out and I can produce enough consistent yarn to actually use for something. I seem to have two choices at the moment: consistency or speed…although I almost managed to figure out how to draft the fibers at the same time the spindle was spinning last night. Almost.

Sorry, I’m probably going to blather on about my beginning spinning efforts way more than I should for the next couple of weeks. New hobbies are dangerous!

So, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with my new lace-weight yarn. I have the Folk Shawls book, and I just purchased this butterfly shawl pattern. Although there are a couple patterns I really like in Folk Shawls, I don’t think I have enough yarn to do many of them – except maybe the Highland Triangle Shawl. I love the butterly shawl, but I think the yarn is too thin, it would be a very open stockinette/garter pattern. Which might be ok. The swatch shows the yarn by itself (bottom), and with a very thin mohair (top)…neither is quite to gauge, and I really prefer the orange yarn alone. Oh, decisions, decisions.

In the meantime, I’ve been working on mystery knitting. I’m getting close to finishing up a Christmas gift or two! Yay!

The following items were actually from my wish list: a nostepinne (a swedish ball-winder that makes center-pull balls of yarn), a yarn swift (at a fantastic price!) and two (yes, two) drop spindles – a beginners’ spindle (with sheep faces drawn on it) and a lovely green swan spindle. (OK, I confess, I really only had one spindle on my wish list – the other one just had to come home with me too.)

I also bought some roving (well, I need something to use with my drop spindles!) The heathery-purple roving is the softest merino (which I will need to wait to spin until I get a little better at it), and the blue, blue/green and white balls of roving came with my beginners’ spindle.

I also bought a few orange things (well, what did you expect, with all the tempting fall colors scattered around the place?) The orange/yellow/red roving is blue faced leicester wool, which is most likely destined to become a felted hat or something; the variegated lace-weight yarn is project-less for the moment. Also, some other little goodies: a sheep mug and a beaded row counter.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with my new stash! I’d better start saving my pennies now for next year, especially since I now know what to expect.

Oh, and does anyone know exactly how Sleeping Beauty was supposed to have pricked her finger on a spinning wheel? I saw many, many spinning wheels, and none of them seemed to have any sharp things on them…

OK, I promise pictures of my goodies tomorrow – I was too tired (and lazy) to take pictures today. And too busy playing with my drop spindle. In the meantime, here are pictures from the festival. Enjoy!

So I’m sure you’re dying to hear about our weird coincidental encounter. We stopped at a rest stop near Utica for dinner. We were sitting down already with our food when a tour bus rolls up…consisting almost entirely of women in their 20’s – 50’s. (Hmmm…wonder where they’ve been?) I overheard one of them say to another, “well, we’ve been on the road a little over two hours, so we’ve probably got another two left.” (Hmmm…that sounds a lot like our trip!) Using the fact that I had forgotten napkins as an excuse, I got up to get some, and lo and behold, one of the ladies was wearing a souvenier sweatshirt from…the Dutchess County Sheep & Wool festival (aka Rhinebeck)!

Well, long story short (ok, not really), I asked if they had just been to the festival, and where they were from. Get this: it was a tour bus out of Rochester, organized by the Genesee Valley Handspinner’s Guild…which conveniently meets just down the hill from my house! Be still my beating heart! They said to absolutely come and bring my drop spindle and fiber, and they’d be more than willing to help me out.

I think I have another hobby to add to my ever-growing list of things I do in my spare time. Heh. Good thing I’m gainfully employed, or I wouldn’t be able to afford myself!

That’s the first word that came to mind when my mom and I got to the fiber festival. We saw wool in every form, every blend, every color, every weight I’d ever imagined, and several combinations I hadn’t!

Let’s see…other than fiber we saw: a lady spinning a bunny, several breeds of sheep, alpaca and llamas, and lots of cute sheep dog puppies. I got to meet Carolyn and Claudia, as well as several other knitting bloggers. That was pretty neat! Claudia was kind enough to show me how to use the beginners’ drop spindle I bought…check out my first yarn!

So, what other goodies did I get besides a drop spindle? You’ll have to wait and see! You’ll also have to wait for the weird coincidence story – I’m much too sleepy to write about it right now!

I think that the Rhinebeck festival is going to be an annual “take time to fondle the fibers” trip. Only, next time, I’m not staying at the Ramada Inn (the pillows were hard as rocks, and they could have substituted sandpaper for the towels – they would have been softer that way!), I’m not stopping at any rest stop that contains a Roy Rogers (ummm, I was able to wring the grease out of my sandwich), and I’m staying for two nights (if I have to get in the car anytime in the next three weeks, it will be too soon!). Oh, and I will, next road trip, remember to test the @!#$% audio book on my iPod before I leave, so at least I’ll be prepared when it won’t play.

• Maps…check.
• Full tank of gas…check.
• EZPass…check.
• Mile number (127) of Thruway rest-stop with Starbucks…check.
• Wishlist…check.
• Checkbook…check.

Looks like I’m ready for Rhinebeck!

(Oh, yeah, I suppose I’ll pack some clothes and a toothbrush. And maybe my camera. And it would be a good idea to have some knitting along with me, just in case. Oh, and since I’m the primary driver this trip, will someone please remind me to take my sunglasses?!?)

Just eight days after casting on the first one, the aran sandal socks are done! That’s my personal best for a pair of socks! Now I just need to find a nice pair of fall clogs to show them off with.

I’ve also finally put up the pictures of the finished kureyon tote, and the multi-directional diagonal scarf that I started a few weeks ago. I’m so far behind in posting updates to my craft pages! After all the major Christmas knitting is done, I think I’m going to go through my entire craft room and document everything. Then maybe I won’t be surprised when I find half-finished things in there that I’d even forgotten I’d started!

Some progress has been made on both mystery knitting projects, although I can’t really post pictures…and I’m soon going to be starting two more. Oh, well, I’ll just have to start a few more projects so I can post more pictures! (Pictures which would be easier to take with that new camera I want. You reading this, Santa?)