Tag: fiberfestival

Yarn Dyeing is Done and Some Knitting Happened

yarn drying

The rest of the yarn dyeing is done and I managed to make some knitting progress too.

Yarn dyeing

Thursday was set up day, and Friday, and Saturday were the Middle Tennesse Fiber Festival, as I told you in my last post. We had another fabulous show! It was great seeing all the attendees enjoying the day and having a blast.

Midddle Tennessee Fiber Festival booth
Midddle Tennessee Fiber Festival booth
Midddle Tennessee Fiber Festival booth
Midddle Tennessee Fiber Festival booth
Midddle Tennessee Fiber Festival booth

I took Sunday off to re-cooperate, but we were back out at the dye pots on Monday and Tuesday. We got all of the remaining yarn dyed. We had some wet and windy weather on Monday and early on Tuesday. We were able to work because of the covered area we built but we had to forego drying the yarn until late Tuesday and Wednesday. By yesterday afternoon it was all dry and ready to await labeling.

yarn drying
yarn drying
my office

I spent some of yesterday and today working on labels and updating the inventory. I still love my office space!

Knitting

I got some knitting time while in the booth over the weekend. I tried to work a bit in the evenings too, but some nights I was too exhausted. Nevertheless, I finished the first Glittering Snowscape Sock. I am very happy with the fit. I like lacy socks and these are going to be fun to wear!

sock
sock
sock
Dora

The Dora Cardigan is getting so close to the finish line that I am expending all my knitting energy on it. I was not totally sure that the color would show the lace but I like it. It’s the Classic Merino Superwash Sport in Damson Plum.

I am also getting to the part of the pattern that I will be revising. It will be easier than I thought to make the changes I want to make. I may also end up re-knitting part of the other two sizes after I make the changes so that I know they work and to update them to match the revisions. I can unravel the top of the yokes and just re-knit that part I think. That is the plan, anyway.

I think I may have this finished by my next post. See you next time!

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Back Home with Knitting and Dyeing Updates

yarn dyeing

I have been back home from Raleigh, NC for more than a week. I have tried many times to write a blog post with knitting and dyeing updates. Today is the day it worked out.

Carolina Fiber Festival

The festival was wonderful. We had a great turn out as usual and much fun was had by all. I am already looking forward to next year. I am sure I am not alone in being excited about the date shift which will mean we won’t be sharing the fairgrounds with the dog show. It will be nice to have easier parking access in the future.

Knitting

I was pretty busy the festival weekend and since I have been home, so the knitting has been less than I like. I do have some progress to share.

My first Glittering Snowscape Sock is almost done. I only have the toe to knit. I am glad I decided to make these in just a single color of Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn. I love the look and the textures. The three gradients look nice but it’s more work to change colors and these look fine with less fuss. There will only be two ends to weave in. I love that about socks.

glittering snowscape sock
I like the garter stitch heel
glittering snowscape sock
look at that texture
dora cardigan
lacy Dora Cardigan body

I am about halfway up the lower body of the Dora Cardigan. I haven’t touched it since I got home though. Once I got close to finishing my sock, I gave it all my attention. I am planning to get back to the sweater as soon as the first sock is of the needles.

Yarn Dyeing

I received most of the yarn order I was waiting for on Thursday. I spent the days leading up to that getting the dyes mixed. On Friday, I got all the yarn prepared for a day’s dyeing. Saturday was Day One dye day. We will have two more dyeing days next week.

yarn dyeing
yarn dyeing

There are two reasons that we have to delay the rest of the yarn dyeing until next week.

One reason is that we are still waiting for one of the yarn bases to arrive. It is delivering tomorrow. I will get that yarn prepared for dye Day Two when it arrives. I already have all the dyes and the other three bases prepped for that. I would probably be doing that on Thursday and then the Day Three dyeing on Saturday. The reason I can’t do that is because we have a local festival this coming weekend.

We will be at the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival in Dickson, TN on March 22-23, 2024. On Thursday afternoon I will be setting up the booth. This is a Friday and Saturday show. The hours are 10-4 on Friday and 9-4 on Saturday. We weren’t given our booth numbers yet, but I think I will be in the same place I was last year. If you are in the area, please come say hello!

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Just a Few More Rows to Take the Edge Off

sorrel small

As I was having my coffee this morning, some strong storms were rolling through, bringing cooler weather in its wake. It was good to have my knitting to calm my slight anxiety that storms can bring to me now. I used to enjoy stormy weather, as long as it wasn’t too scary. They all make me a bit edgy since the tornado in December.

Knitting

I am just a few rows from finishing my Sorrel. Okay, there is also grafting the underarm stitches and then applying the button loop and button. But that is probably, altogether, about an hour’s worth of effort.

sorrel small
Sorrel small
sorrel small
Sorrel small
classic merino superwash sport yarn - damson plum
Classic Merino Superwash Sport
Damson Plum

I am going to try to get back to my Spiral Splash Sock, but there is also another booth sample I want to start.

I designed Dora about 7 or 8 years ago. I want to make a large size, which I have not knit before. When I do that, I think I am going to revise the neck shaping a bit. I am planning to use Classic Merino Superwash Sport in Damson Plum to make it. I like the idea of having both a light and dark color example of this in the booth. I have the small size in the same yarn in Lichen. I have the medium-sized sample in the natural color Organic Cotton Sport.

Dora Small Classic Merino Superwash Sport Lichen
Dora Cardigan Organic Cotton Sport
Dora Medium Organic Cotton Sport

Festival Season

It is almost time for our first festival of 2024. I will be in Raleigh, NC, March 6-10, for the Carolina FiberFest. We have gotten a lot of the preparations done. I have been packaging new Shawl/Hair Sticks this week. They are on the website, and I added the singles, which is new. We used to only have those at shows. Since we have over a hundred now, I decided to go ahead and list them online as well.

walnut shawl-hair sticks
purple-heart-shawl-hair-stick
padauk-shawl-hair-stick
osage-orange-shawl-hair-stick
sshawl and hair sticks packaging

As I am writing this post, the storms have passed. I should probably get my day’s work started. I should have a finished project and a new one cast on soon.

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MKAL’s; What Do You Think?

Geogradients clue 3 in progress

What do you think about the MKAL trend? I have never been a joiner and thus far have not paid much attention to the MKAL thing. I did join one or two about ten or fifteen years ago, before they were as popular. I had mixed experiences and figured they aren’t for me.

Geogradients

This is the first time since then that I have felt drawn to participate in an MKAL. It has been a fun change of pace. I am not a big fan of the constant changing of colors and weaving in the ends. It is otherwise entertaining and I love how it looks. I have been working on my Geogradients shawl exclusively when time permits. I am halfway through with Clue 3 at this point.

Geogradients clue 2 complete
End of Clue 2
Geogradients clue 3 in progress
Halfway through Clue 3

I do love how the colors look together. This is going to be a spectacular shawl! I saw a knitter wearing one this past weekend at the East Texas Fiber Festival. I wish I had thought to ask for a picture of hers because it was beautiful!

Travel and Knitting

I should have a lot of knitting time for the next couple of days. I am camped out in a hotel this week in between festivals. As I mentioned above, I was at the ETFF last week and I will be vending at the NWA Fiber Fest this coming weekend.

I drove straight to Fayetteville, AR from Texas yesterday. I am comfortably settled in at a hotel with a full kitchen so I did some grocery shopping when I arrived. I will definitely not starve, LOL! I think I may have over bought. It’s still hard for me to shop and cook for one after all my years of cooking for a crew. No worries though, I can take anything I don’t use home. I am glad I don’t have to venture out each day to get restaurant food. It’s okay to do that occasionally, but it gets to be a chore when it’s a daily necessity. I doubt I will even leave my room until Thursday when it’s time to set up the booth.

Knitting Notions booth ETFF 2023
Knitting Notions booth ETFF 2023
East Texas Fiber Festival 2023
Knitting Notions booth ETFF 2023

NYE MKAL

So, getting back to the MKAL topic, I have another one that I am sort of involved with. I may not join in on the knitting this time but I have been invited to provide Yarn Sets for the NYE MKAL. Hilary Latimer of Criminal Knits is putting on her annual NYE (New Years Eve) MKAL with the theme of Postcards from Abroad. The idea is to imagine your dream vacation destination if money and time were no object. She is launching the pattern clues on NYE, but signups are open now. She hosts her signups and discussions from her group on Ravelry. If you are tempted by the prospect of knitting a big, colorful shawl this winter, go check it out!

Here’s a sampling of a few of the Yarn Sets that I put together. Click the link to all view twenty-one sets. :-)

MKAL Yarn Set Greece
MKAL Yarn Set Sicily
MKAL Yarn Set Saint Tropez
MKAL Yarn Set Nashville
MKAL Yarn Set - Paris
MKAL Yarn Set Vancouver Island
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Flames and Lace and the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival

I have published my pattern for the shawl. I named it Flames and Lace because there were a lot of other designs already that were using my initial idea, Candle Flames. I have it on the website and on Ravelry for $6.

Flames and Lace Stole Knitting Pattern

I did get it written in time for the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend. I even wore it in the booth and got many compliments on it. We also have a new batch of Yarn Boxes in some woods we have been out of for a time. We have Mahogany, Oak, and Cherry for $60 and Walnut for $65. They were very popular in the booth!

I am currently in Ohio for the Wool Gathering festival at Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs. I will be getting the booth ready tomorrow. This festival is all outdoors in big tents. We usually have pretty nice weather so I hope that holds true this year too. The market opens on Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 10-4.

I have a few hours of downtime this afternoon and hope to get a bit of knitting done on Saltarello. Here’s how it is looking at this point.

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Posting from Raleigh

Good morning again! Last week you may recall I was in Pittsburgh for the Knit & Crochet Festival there and in the final stretch on my Holbrook shawl. All went well at the festival and I drove from there on Monday morning to Raleigh, NC, where I am currently for the Carolina Fiber Fest. I have had a couple of days here of down time, so I mostly hung out at the hotel and made good progress on my booth sample knitting.

I finished the Holbrook last night and while it is impossible for my to block it here in the hotel I will show you how it looks right off the needles and will update on it later once it is properly blocked.

So, last night after finishing that project I immediately cast on for the next one I had in the queue, Kimani, which I had brought the yarn with me in case I got to this point while away from home. I am re-knitting this one also to replace the sample I have in this pattern because I decided I wanted to try it in a new lighter color. I am using the same yarn I used before, Knitting Notions Classic Merino Superwash Sport in Honeydew. I have completed the first chart so far. I like how it is looking in this color. :-)

I have to go get the booth set up right now so I need to get the trailer hitched and head out for the afternoon. Next post I write will probably be from home. I love doing shows, but am sure going to be glad to get home. I miss my people. See you soon!

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Update From Minnesota

Hey there blog!

I am happy to report that we got all the yarn labeled before I left for my mini vacation. I was pleased to be able to meet that goal and relax and enjoy the trip.

I had a fantastic time in Chicago, where we went for the concert and then visiting one of my daughters. Steven Wilson and the band were awesome as usual and Jerry and I had a lot of fun alone time. We saw the show both nights at the Vic Theater and did some exploring around the area.

StevenWilsonTTB2018 (1)

We stayed at the hotel just around the corner and saw the band’s gear being unloaded into the venue on the afternoon we arrived. I tried to play it cool and not look like a fangirl but I was totally losing it inside, LOL!

StevenWilsonTTB2018 (2)

We bought the tickets for the first night’s show as a last minute idea so we were in the balcony that night. I didn’t take any pictures from that show but I am so glad we went since the setlist was slightly different both nights and we would have missed out on one of the songs we were most waiting to hear if we had only seen the second show. I had bought the tickets for the second show when they went on fan pre-sale so we were in the second row for that. I did take a couple pictures but restrained myself from taking more since they asked for no filming the first night.

StevenWilsonTTBT2018 (1)

This was pretty much how close we were when they came to the front of the stage. I only cropped these pictures a bit, no zoom was used. It was amazing!

StevenWilsonTTBT2018 (4)

On the day between shows Jerry and I walked down to the lake front park and puttered around for awhile before lunch.

ChicagoTrip5-2018 (3)ChicagoTrip5-2018 (5)ChicagoTrip5-2018 (7)

We went to visit Meredith and Luke the next day and had a great visit with them, but I forgot to take any pictures. Oops! We also missed the new baby by a day and a half. She was born the day after we got home. They named her Samantha Claire and she looks very much like her beautiful mother did as a baby.

SamanthaClaire05-05-18

Speaking of babies, I did finish that onesie I was knitting on the night before I left for Minnesota. I didn’t get a chance to take a picture before I left so I will do that on my return. In the mean time here’s a knitting progress shot of Carolan, which I have gone back to work on. I was able to find my place without much trouble and have knit quite a bit on it in my down time at the hotel last night and the night before last.

Carolan-wip (4)

I am headed over to the fairgrounds to set up my booth shortly for the Shepherd’s Harvest Festival tomorrow. Here’s a shot of my truck and trailer I took Tuesday before I left Nashville. As you can see we are in full spring/summer mode there, but not so much here in Minnesota today. It’s only mid 40’s today, but I see the forecast for Saturday and Sunday look sunny and warm. Hope it’s good turnout! See you again soon.

05-08-18truckandtrailer

 

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