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Much needed break

Sorry for the hiatus. After getting in about 5:00pm on Monday evening from Virginia I have been catching up on the usual after show work. I have also been feeling worn down from all the social contact and needed a little recharge break. I am naturally introverted and while I do love meeting knitters at shows and online, I do get overloaded at times and need to step back briefly. If that isn’t enough to do me in, then the sheer physical exhaustion of doing 6 shows in 7 weeks definitely finished the job.

I am not totally caught up on paperwork from the last two shows yet. I have more pressing tasks to get done first because while we do have a couple weeks home before SAFF, that goes by pretty quick, and some of the paperwork can always be done later. I would rather get it done as I go so the job is smaller but sometimes that is just no possible. I have to remember to be flexible sometimes. I have some dyeing to get done for one thing. We are low on some stock and I hate to run out of popular colors. I also have to go and get my trailer break system serviced. We discovered Sunday night after hooking up the trailer to the truck that it wasn’t working. I don’t know for sure if the problem is in the controller that is installed in the truck, the wiring, or the actual brakes on the trailer. Maybe it’s a combination of things. So anyway that will take a day in itself, since we have to empty the trailer and take it in to be serviced.

A tiny amount of knitting did occur since my last report. I finished the first Hedgerow Mitt and started the second. I was worried that my yarn supply might run short so I weighed the mitt and the remaining ball. Both are 35g. Yep, exactly. It is going to be close, but there are some places where I can fudge it, so I am not TOO worried.

Okay, I really need to get some work done today so I need to cut this off but I will leave you with some pictures from the Fall Fiber Festival of Virginia 2011.

Posted on October 5, 2011October 5, 2011 by yarnmama — 5 Comments

Good Times

We drove to Severn, MD to visit Heather, Garrod and Willow yesterday. Unfortunately my brother, sister-in-law and nephew took ill and couldn’t come over as was planned but hopefully we can catch up with them when they come to TN next month.

We had fun laughing over memories from their childhood. Sometimes it’s hard to believe these lovely young women in my life were little girls not so long ago.

And not to mention having little girls of their own now! I am still adjusting to the idea of being a grandmother. I don’t know how long it will take for it to feel real, but seeing and holding Willow is a treat.

She takes after her mama in looks and in the way she is outgoing and friendly.

I have no idea what was going on in this moment but I sure wish I did. LOL!

Elijah was much more open to Willow this visit. Part of that was probably the fact that it was not on his home turf?

Don’t you just love those big blue eyes?

So that was what we did yesterday. Today is our last day of “vacation” and tomorrow we move on to the next show site and it’s back to work, so we just hung around here and did some laundry and a little bit of shopping at the local mall.

I was looking for a new hand bag because the lining in mine was torn and I was losing stuff in there. I found this one at the Belk and it was 40% off too. I moved my stuff into it right there in the mall and tossed my old one in the trash. LOL! My poor Atrix has been without a cover too, since whenever I look there are only iPhone ones, but as we are walking through the mall there was a kiosk with some pretty ones. I asked if they had Atrix covers, which they did and this is the one I picked out. There weren’t any green options I liked, so purple and blue, which are my fallback preference, are what I went with. Then we wandered in the music store and I spied the new 20th Anniversary Deluxe edition of Nirvana’s Nevermind. I was going to get this eventually anyway and this way no waiting for shipping was required. Not to mention we did our part to support the local economy. Smile

Oh, and the new camera arrived right on schedule today from Amazon. We gave it a test run as you see below.

Perfect! Smile

Posted on September 29, 2011 by yarnmama — Leave a comment

Skyline Caverns

On the schedule for today’s outing, Skyline Caverns. Pictures from the last two entries are brought to you thanks to the photography skills of Meredith, which is why you see a couple with me in them. My camera got, ahem, misplaced yesterday somewhere along Skyline Drive, so Meredith was the only one with a camera except for my phone. I do use my phone frequently but hers came out better. I reported the loss to the Park HQ and it’s a long shot, but maybe it will be turned in. They will contact me if it turns up but I am not holding me breath. New camera is on the one here thanks to Amazon and free Prime two-day shipping. Sigh.

Anyway, so the caverns were a nice little diversion so let’s get to the pictures, shall we?

He couldn’t quite figure out what animal sound would represent this creature. It was so cute when he was moo-ing and baa-ing. LOL!

These are Anthodite Clusters which are according to our guide only known in one other North American cave, Carlsbad Caverns.

More of those in the 61 room. These were very cool! It was one of my favorite parts of the tour.

More anthodites.

This was my other favorite section called the Fairyland Lake.

I think this was the part called the Painted Desert room

This is the Rainbow Trails section, I think.

I recommend this if you are in the area and be sure to visit the website first and print out the internet coupon before you go. It will save you $2 a ticket.

Posted on September 27, 2011 by yarnmama — Leave a comment

At the Summit

We decided that after having a somewhat leisurely breakfast that today would be a good day to go hiking in the Shenandoah National Park.

Joanie and I did a little grocery shopping again while Meredith packed lunch and we set out for the afternoon.

We decided, upon asking at the visitor’s center for recommendations, that the Stony Man Trail was a good place to start. With a toddler in tow we needed something on the easy and short side and preferred to have a site to see as a payoff. The Stony Man Trail leads to a view at a peak height of 4010 ft. Cool!

As we are driving the 42 miles down Skyline Drive we were encountering lots of fog and thought, hmm, this may be less than spectacular since we are going up into the clouds. We continued optimistically thinking maybe it will clear up. Could happen right?

It was needless to say still drizzly and foggy at the parking area, but hey, we were there and darn it we were going to hike! So off we set.

It was a little chilly but once we started walking and got the blood pumping it was not bad. The walk was really pretty short and before we knew it we had reached the overlook.

Yeah. That was the big payoff. LOL!

Oh well, it was good exercise and it was better than hanging out in the hotel.

Plans for the next two days are Skyline Caverns and a trip to Maryland to see family and maybe make a trek into DC to go to the Smithson Museum of Natural History.

Posted on September 26, 2011 by yarnmama — 2 Comments

Some actual knitting content

Well don’t get too excited. It’s not a lot, but there will at least be some pictures that I took in the booth today. Not great but better than nothing. I made it to the point where the thumb stitches are on holder. Riveting, right?

We had no more rain over the weekend to speak of, so that’s good. One more show under the belt and trailer is all reloaded for next weekend at the fall Fiber Festival of Virginia. As a matter of fact we got all packed up in record time for us; 45 minutes. If you have seen our booth, you will know that is pretty amazing. It’s got a lot of stuff and it usually takes at least an hour and a half, though we have been known to break it down in an hour and fifteen minutes on occasion. The packing usually takes only 30 minutes or so, 45 minutes at the most. We have a pretty good system down and we didn’t start out this efficient. The time consuming part is if it’s a long haul to the trailer or if the walk ways are congested by all the vendors trying to use a small walkway at the same time. Well, at this show we were fortunate to have a booth space right near a door where only a couple other vendors were also loading and we were able to back up the trailer right to our booth. We didn’t even need to use the hand cart. That’s why it was so fast. Just pack up a carton and walk right out and there was the trailer. Open-mouthed smile

I don’t know for sure what we will be doing this week, other than visiting Heather and Garrod. The girls said they would like to go to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Meredith and I went in 2007 when we were in Baltimore for Stitches East. We’ll see if that works out for something to do. We will probably check out Skyline Drive or something too.

Later!

Posted on September 25, 2011 by yarnmama — Leave a comment

Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival 2011

We are in Winchester, VA for the week. We arrived yesterday evening after a 12 hour drive. When we were 6 miles from our exit for the hotel the traffic on I-81 came to a dead stop. Thanks to my smartphone we were able to get off one exit down and re-route. Whew!

We got unloaded in the hotel and got some supper and settled down for the night. We awoke this morning to rain. Not so fun for unloading the trailer but we have done that in worse. Smile

Thankfully when we arrived at the fairgrounds we found that we are in the Horticulture Building (booths #17-18) and could pull inside to unload, so that made it much easier to keep everything dry. Yay!

We were all set up in a few hours and snapped off a few pictures before we left to get some groceries for the week. We are in a studio suite with a kitchenette and so can save some by cooking some simple meals instead of eating out everyday. Plus believe it or not pizzas and burgers can get old after awhile.

After the shopping we got back to the hotel and made some supper. We have had a minor issue with the Wi-Fi here but hopefully that is worked out now. We are online tonight at least. Smile

I worked on my fingerless mitts a bit this morning and decided they are fine after all, so no frogging needed. I will try and get a new picture by my next post.

I’ll leave you with these two silly pictures of us as we were on the way out of the booth.

Posted on September 23, 2011 by yarnmama — Leave a comment

Wool Gathering 2011-Yellow Springs Ohio

Ack! So sorry for the tardiness in posting. Six festivals in seven weeks makes for a lot of work and not much time for knitting or blogging. I did get a tiny bit of knitting done in my booth this past weekend, but not much. In fact I think I am going to have to rip back several rounds on the mitts since I don’t like how I was doing the increases in pattern. That’s what I get for doing it in my booth with frequent interruptions. Sigh.

Anyway, we are off tomorrow for our fifth and sixth festival in as many weeks, which are both in Virginia. The Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival is one that is new to us but the Fall Fiber Festival of Virginia is one we have been attending since 2007. I love going to this beautiful part of the country. since we are staying for ten days and will have 4 or 5 days of down time between shows we are planning to take in some sights. Maybe do some hiking and see some of the many historical places near by. Also since we will only be about 120 mile from my daughter’s place we will probably go for a day to visit and see her and the family. Smile

I did get some pictures of the booth at Wool Gathering, which is all outdoors in tents so excuse the funky lighting. It was lovely weather most of the time and we had a fabulous time as usual. We really like this show. The enthusiasm and friendliness of the attendees is such a joy to be a part of. Thanks to all who faithfully come out and support the festival every year!

I’ll see you in Virginia!!

Posted on September 21, 2011 by yarnmama — 2 Comments

Just what I needed

I did a little shopping this weekend at two of my friends’ booths because they really have wonderful stuff.

First, I have been looking for a new pair of earrings since my usual pair that I wear are missing some stones and I am kind of tired of them after several years of wearing them. I am not one to own a lot if jewelry. I will find something I like and never change them until I need new ones because I lose or break them. I am the same with bags and shoes.

So I am visiting with Jennie the Potter who has such fabulous stuff and low and behold she has lovely jewelry too. Who knew? I had her pick me out a selection of green earrings to choose from and of course I needed a charm to match for my necklace.

What do you think? I like :-)

Another thing I had been keeping an eye out for are some little pouches for my knitting notions that I carry in my knitting bag. I had a plastic container with a lid that I held together with a rubberband. Not the greatest. While chatting with Chris of Briar Rose Fibers I saw just the thing. She had these beautiful little zipper bags and I didn’t waste any time snagging a couple. :-)

We are driving home tomorrow and I will probably finish The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest on the drive. I am really enjoying these.

Oh, I have been working on my Sprossling lately. I am almost finished with second front. I also started a set of fingerless mitts with the Bel Air sweater leftovers. It is Hedgerow Mitts which are free and can be found on Ravelry.

Okay I am going to have to cut this off for now. I am writing from my phone in my booth and but is getting busier. Sorry too for the slightly inferior pictures. My phone actually takes pretty decent pictures, but the lighting is not stellar in the buildings here.

Posted on September 11, 2011September 11, 2011 by yarnmama — Leave a comment

Wisconsin Sheep and Wool

Self portrait made possible due to cool feature on my Atrix which reverses the camera so I can see the display while taking the picture. Who knew?

We are in Jefferson, WI for the Sheep & Wool. We got the booth set up this morning and had the afternoon free.

Since the weather is fabulous, as usual, we decided to spend some of it outside. The girls went in the pool and Elijah and I hung out on the patios after he got tired of the pool.

Look at that incredibly blue sky. After the deluge we were getting all weekend in Nashville, the warm sunshine was most welcome to us.

I brought out my constant companion and got in some reading while Elijah played in the sunshine and grass.

Here’s a few shots of the booth.

Hope you can come out and enjoy the festival this weekend. I think the beautiful weather is going to continue. The market is hours are on the website but I had to hunt to find them so I’ll post them here for you:

Friday-10am-6pm
Saturday-9am-6pm
Sunday-9:30am-3:30pm

Posted on September 8, 2011 by yarnmama — 2 Comments

Weekend Visitors

Sorry for the sporadic posting lately. We are in the thick of fall show season and it won’t get less busy for awhile, but I will do my best to post as often as possible, like at least once a week. We leave on Wednesday for Wisconsin Sheep and Wool, which is quite a jaunt for us but worth the trip. Smile We have been attending the festival since 2008. Our booth is in the East building and we are usually in the center aisle towards the back, a little down from Briar Rose Fibers.

We have had a fun Labor Day weekend that we have been looking forward to for months. Our second daughter Heather and son-in-law Garrod brought the grandbaby down from Baltimore for her first visit to see the whole family. Jerry and I went with Elijah and Cassie (daughter #4) when baby Willow was born, but we have only seen her on Skype since then (late February), and the rest of the family hadn’t seen her in person at all. It still doesn’t feel real that we are grandparents, even though it looks completely normal for me to see Heather with a baby. I guess since she spent much of her time growing up helping with little ones that it looks natural to me, but I still have a baby myself, so it’s a little weird. It’s a good weird though. Open-mouthed smile

On Friday night Willow was having a hard time settling down for the night with all the noise and commotion which she’s not used to, so I took her outside for a walk in the quiet moonlight where the only sounds were crickets and my voice to bore her to sleep. Winking smile During the course of our alone time before she passed out from sheer boredom, LOL, we agreed that I would be Nana to her. It fit better than any thing else I could think of, so yeah, we’re good with that. Everyone else agreed too.

She is such a little social butterfly! All of our children, especially when they were babies, were stranger shy. So, when Heather walked in the door with Willow and saw all of us, really complete strangers to her, I didn’t expect her to jump into the arms of one after another of us and just be all smiles and laughs. It was wonderful that she wasn’t leery of us, but it did surprise me.

Now, you know I took tons of pictures right? Of course! None of me, mind you. The babies are what you want to see anyway. Winking smile I don’t like having me picture made unless it’s a candid shot, and even those can be dicey since my mouth is usually moving and that’s never good. Laughing out loud

From left to right: Ian, Kyla, Emma, and Elijah; then Willow is up front.

Such a silly boy! He’s going to be her favorite uncle I bet, LOL!

Cassie with Elijah and Joanie with Willow.

Elijah trying to suavely remove the ball from my trailer hitch.

Notice that Cassie now has Willow and has a big smile? Check out the next picture.

Someone is feeling a little insecure about that I think. He did pretty good after they had been here for awhile but it freaked him out at first when Cassie or I, in particular, were holding Willow.

She was just so smiley and friendly!

Heather, the mommy, and I hope she won’t kill me for this one, but it was the only one I had from the visit. It’s not a bad picture to me but see there the mouth is open? That’s what always happens to me too. Sorry Bean. Winking smile

EDITED to add some more I forgot about. Smile

This one was taken minutes after they arrived, and see? She went right to Kyla like she has known us all her life. LOL

Uncles Josiah and Elijah

What a ham, right?

This was the suspicion which Elijah regarded Willow for the first hour or so. LOL

Okay Heather, I did find a better picture with Emma claiming the spot light for a few minutes.

The visit was all too short though and they are on their way back home today. We miss you already!

Posted on September 5, 2011September 5, 2011 by yarnmama — 4 Comments

Much needed break

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Good Times

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Skyline Caverns

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At the Summit

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Some actual knitting content

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Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival 2011

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Wool Gathering 2011-Yellow Springs Ohio

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Just what I needed

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Wisconsin Sheep and Wool

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Weekend Visitors

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