Spinning & Knitting Event

Last night I took time to make some Buttermilk Orange-Cranberry Scones. I used this recipe as the basis for them. I also had a box of Krusteaz Scone Mix that I baked up. Made an orange glaze for the one and brought a jar of raspberry jam for the other. I was told they were good. I was busy helping, checking and encouraging people to buy things that I had a hard time drinking the coffee I brought! Susan asked about the jam and was raving how good it is that I sent the half jar home with her with the request of a return on the jar and ring.

Moving the tables around this morning for the vendors and moving the chairs out of the way was exciting as they were walking in to get setup. They were great and pitched in and helped. Took a bit of re-arranging of the normal space but it all worked. Vendors lined up around the outside and spinners and knitters in a big circle on the inside.

Everything was all setup by 10am and then it was just waiting for people to show up. It started a little slow and I never did do an official head count but I think 40-50 people were there through the day. We had people that just came in and shopped the vendors and then off to other events and some that came/shopped/left/came back and spun. I think that all the vendors had sales of some kind and definitely recovered their $5 table fee. ;-)

I ended up coming home with 8 ounces of gorgeous black Icelandic fleece that is going to more than make up for my previous experience in the spring. Its so soft!!!  It's from Ann's farm - Dolce Farm. We may do a 'field trip' up there in April to help skirt her fleeces when she does her shearing. (Oh no! Playing with sheep!)

Zena is the lamb this came from.

I picked up a vinyl sticker from Holly. She's starting a business to help you 'trick out your wheel'. StoneCairn is her design name but looks like the website is in holding right now.  My sticker is called Triad Dance and I'll try to get it on my wheel tomorrow so you can see. She has very nice instructions for how to place it.

We had a destash/swap table and Duffy brought a bunch of coned yarns that had been given to her. I saw it and immediately thought of my mother-in-law the weaver and that she could possibly use some for her loom. Left vm and she did show up later and take home a couple of cones that talked to her. I had a couple of huge balls of dusty rose 2ply unknown yarn talk to me. We did a burn test and the flame zipped right up the yarn until I blew it out because it was getting too close to my fingers. There was a little ball at the end so we all agreed it might have a little wool but it definitely had a nylon type source to it. I'll add it to my Ravelry stash but won't bore you with the awful flash photos here.

Tammy brought some of her stash and I quickly snatched up two skeins of Sock Candy in Blue Boo. It's a cotton/nylon yarn in pretty purple/blue/rose colors. Also seen as a stash addition. Looking forward to the socks they'll become!

Photos of the event:

Glady's the Therapy Dog. She was so good! She just chilled on her blanket.

I managed to get in a half an hour of spinning. Talked to a lot of people. Gave away great door prizes - thanks to all the vendors who shared! There were a lot of helping hands that helped put all the pieces back to the way the originally were and everyone was out of there by 4pm. Well except Shelia, Tammy and I. Brandon had the car at work and I had to wait for him to come get me, so they nicely hung out with me until he arrived. This gave me time to pick Shelia's brain and get Tammy's thoughts on different wood stuff related to spinning. Oh the ideas I have and now I just need to be let loose in the garage and some help from the dear husband and you might see a new business out of me. ;-)

FO Friday

I finished up the scarf last night, used up every last bit of the skein too. Was a tiny bit concerned because it was only coming to about 48 inches. A soak in SOAK this morning, roll up in a towel then a bit of a stretch out with the blocking wires and we ended up 9 x 56 inches. Looks great, but by the time it was dry it was already dusk. I might be able to get daylight photos in the morning, until then there are these. Stitchjones House Blend Waffles Scarf:

 

Tomorrow is the knitting/crochet/spinning event I've arranged at the Aloha Grange. It's also a Spin-in event for the Northwest Regional Spinner's Association. We'll have a variety of vendors for people to be tempted by their wares. I plan to take photos to share tomorrow evening.

Still a Cone of Doooom

This afternoon a package arrived with my llama in it. I was surprised at how small it was. It easily fit in the gallon bag with no problem. I took it out and looked at it and while there are some little white spots that have me wondering, and a fair amount of vm, it doesn't smell like a barnyard.  A couple of pictures then on to the scale and my 3/4 of a pound turns out to be just over 1/2 a pound. I did jot a note off to Brenda to let her know that it had arrived and she says her scale must be off, so will be sending more along its way.

Next door neighbor, Dwight, of Quiet Bear Flutes, left me a nice surprise on my walkway. A whole bunch of exotic woods that he isn't going to use for his flutes.  Woods like purple heart, pink ivory, olive, some Kauri, I saw some ebony too.

What am I going to do with all of this wood goodness? I'm thinking some spinning tools - wpi gauge, nostepinne, maybe a niddy-noddy or two and hopefully a whole bunch of turkish spindles. I just have to drag Brandon out to the garage to do some more straightening and show me how to use the lathe and a few other dangerous tools. I already know how to use the scroll saw. ;-)

Today we thought was going to be a good day for Norbert. The day he had his buttons removed and no longer would have to wear the "Cone of Dooooom". He had it off for a couple of hours and then the yeast infection that the vet thought was under control under his chin drove him crazy and he scratched a HUGE section under his chin and neck raw. In to the shower he was marched so that he could be cleaned up and then he was re-fitted with "The Cone".

He'd been back to eating well the last week and a half. Tonight he's depressed again and not eating. He's moping on the couch and looking really scruffy after being dried off. He's still a little damp in this shot:

The ear curled back is the one that used to have the buttons. I trimmed up his nose hair so I can see his eyes and keep them from causing eye goop. He's one depressed little guy tonight.

Over 200?!

My Ravelry stash has gone over the 200 items mark. Luckily I think this also includes handspun items and I think its numbers are not totally accurate. Why do I say that? Cause whenever I click on the 'handspun' tab in my stash it always shows stuff that I've used up/gifted/traded in the pics displayed.

Does this mean that I added stuff this afternoon and why I know I just ticked over into 201 items showing? Ummm, yes, it does. ;-)

I was going to get the lovely Crimson from Sharon tonight, but she came to spinning and hung out and knitted on a pretty orange sweater and brought in her worsted weight yarns. I saw Cinnamon that was not shown to its best in the dim lighting of Haggen's last week. It's a pretty red-brown. It just looked so 'manly' and since its intended for a scarf for my dad, will work out really well. Still loved the looks of Crimson and if the budget allowed, totally would be scoring a skein or two of it also.

Here's Cinnamon:

The awesome Gail is also sharing 1/2 of her 1/2 pound of Louet Cultivated Silk Top she scored at SOAR. I plan to blend it with the black llama that is coming from Brenda in Mississippi. Since Angela and Tammy both will want to use the drum carder with their washed alpaca (Tammy you are going to wash yours soon right? ;->), when we rent it from Susan again I'll run it through then.

I spun up one ounce of the Louet Garnet that Gail gave me last week. It's really nice to spin up and I have my fingers crossed that there will be enough for a cowl.

I haven't forgotten its Veteran's Day. Thoughts of various family members who have served in World War 2, Viet Nam and during times of 'peace' in the Navy, Army, National Guard and a classmate of William's is going through advanced training with the Marines.

Scarf?

I started the Waffles Scarf using Stitchjones Dyepot Superwash Worsted in the House Blend colorway. A really nice warm brown suitable for any guy to wear. It's been a few months since I've used any of Sharon's worsted weight yarns. This one like the Salmon Dave is squooshably soft. The receiver of this scarf won't mind wrapping it around his neck.

I like that the pattern is reversible. The pattern isn't identical but looks nice on both sides. I'm calling it the House Blend Waffles Scarf:

I'd gotten an email letting me participate in the Tasting Tuesday at Burgerville. So I tried their turkey burger with cranberry and jalapeno salsa (patty was WAY bigger than the bun and that annoys the heck out of me). It was okay, but most likely not something I'd try again. The cranberry bourbon baked beans were much better. I ate some and saved the rest so that Brandon can try them, he likes baked beans. The pumpkin smoothie was like slurping down a pumpkin pie. Went nicely with my pumpkin spice coffee. ;-)

I'll have to wait until next quarter to try for another tasting.

Shipped off the jacob to Mississippi and have heard that the llama is heading this way. My fiber stash bin is overflowing full. I managed to get the lid on but its bulging. Must get more spinning done!

Inbetween project

I needed something simple and something that I could pick up and put down fairly easily. The Three-Cornered Scarf can be done large enough to become a shawl and with the trade yarn I should have plenty. Thought it would also be nice to have for Thanksgiving.

I have a little bit on the needles needles now but need to start on the next Christmas project. Think I might do a scarf or a pair of mittens. I have the yarn ready for both. May go with the scarf as it too is a simple straightforward pattern. Size 8 needles should also help it go quickly.

Progress so far on shawl:

 

Cap Success

I cast off the Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap for Cole tonight. Then whipped up a couple of i-cord ties for it. Pulled out one of the teddy bears to model and a few photos later we have this:

 

 

The yarn pooled a bit as you can see but that's okay I think it still works. It's the Bernat Sox. I'm going to wash before I give to them so that it has a chance to soften up. I imagine that Cole is going to have dark hair because Robyn's is dark brown. He'll be able to wear it at Christmas when he receives it.

Robyn has had a difficult pregnancy and had to have her cervix stitched closed. They're taking the stitches out on November 17th. She's supposed to arrive at OHSU with a packed bag as they expect that it might trigger her labor. He would just be a month early. We just hope he arrives healthy!