Knitting Sandwich

2014 Unblogged

Happy New Year!!

I was looking at last years pictures on my phone and found a lot of blogable photos.  So in the spirit of closing out 2014 here is some stuff I could/should? have blogged. 

The birth of a new quilt

 

The birth of a sewing room

 

A growing pile of blankie

 

The most fun craft project inspired by a children's book.  (I might actually get around to writing a review of this book with the project, the book is THAT good!)

Finding inspiration a MFAH

More inspiration at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair

And even MORE inspiration at the International Quilt Festival

All that inspiration led to a new super hero: RAINBOW GIRL

Here's hoping for an inspired 2015!

-Lindsey

europe trip: of interest to knitters

one more vacation-themed post... things that might be of interest to other knitters/crafters...

like sheep in a cathedral in rome:

or a tapestry in the residenz dedicated to sheep sheering:

 the timing worked out so that i got to go to a sheep and wool festival with claire while i was in germany!

 lots of travel time equated lots of knitting time and i finished my matchy-match sister cowl (also known as rhythmic (rav link)) while in germany!

 then i cast on for my *8th* annual red scarf project scarf (this one's a 3x3 slip stitch scarf (rav link)):

 while in london, we made a pilgrimage to the holiest of holies - the cath kidston store:

one of the most amazing parts of the trip was getting to meet up with anna of anna's creative corner and her adorable son luke while we were in london.  we had lunch and then chatted while the kids played in a play yard.  this was our first time meeting in person, but it felt completely comfortable, like catching up with an old friend!  

 -melissa

the goods

lily's shopping haul:

my shopping haul:

now we both need to get those spindles a-spinning!

-melissa

lily's first fiber fest

this weekend was the 15th anual shepherd's harvest fiber festival.  saturday i went up with my knitnight friends and then i went back today with lily.  for as she told me when she found out i wasn't taking her with me on saturday, "i spin too!  i want to go to the fiber festival!"  and who could blame her?  

as you can see, she had a fabulous time!  and so did i!  and we'll be back soon with pictures of all the goodies we came home with!!

-melissa

 

a fiber fest report or how i'll never not have something to do for quite some time

i may have gone a bit over board with my purchasing at the fiber fest.  *may*.  it's hard to tell, because it's just all so lovely and i'm so so so so completely excited to spin and spin and spin.  i think only time can be the true judge.

up first we have four sweet little balls of bfl-mixed rovings from english garden lambs.  a sweet little kitty told me bfl is the way to go for begining spinners since it has such a long staple, so i tried to stick mainly to the bfl (blue faced leicester) for my initial fiber purchases. 

then i got swept away by all the luscious colors... this is "redwood forest" from frabjous fibers.

these two are "ginkgo" and "leftovers" from the extremely charming cloudlover.  she sweet-talked me into getting both so that i could learn to ply them together... oh the possibilities are endless, aren't they?!?!

and these are "a river runs through it" and the amusingly titled, "w/2 shades of brown combed in" from happy hands.

then, at the end of the day, i couldn't quite go home without throwing this sweet little baby in my bag as well.  it's a blend of icelandic and shetland wool from diamond d farm - you know both claire and i have a love for iceland, so how could i not pick up just one?

and so you know that i *do* intend to spin all these lovelies up - here is that lightest ball from the top picture already spun into a little skein!

i feel like i should be cackling maniacally right now and rubbing my hands together like mr.burns - i'm so crazy-excited about all this!!

-melissa

a fiber fest report or how does one get a job naming sheep?

last weekend i went to the shepherd's harvest fiber festival.  this was my second year attending and it was, if possible, even more fun than last year!

i became especially enamored with vendors who kept track of which sheep gave which fiber.  i decided dixie was the best sheep name (as you'll see below she almost didn't win, but due to a technical error on my part dixie won the day).

out of the corner of my eye i spied that basket of grey fleecey-goodness i saw the name glen and i thought, "glen!  oooooh!  that's the *perfect* name for a sheep!  ding-ding-ding, we have a winner!!" 

now the fact that the sheep was actually named "gem" disqualified "glen" and allowed dixie to swoop in and claim the title.  

anyway... back to the fiber fest, we got to watch an extra surly sheep get sheared.

she definitely gave that man a run for his money, but in her defense she was scared out of her mind and as i over heard her owner say, "she's a naughty sheep."  (i found the idea of "naughty sheep" completely charming.  i bet glen would have been a ringleader in the naughty sheep gang.)

this sheep was not naughty.  indeed he was very well-mannered, as well as a handsome fella, but i don't know his name.

this llama won the prize for "biggest llama tooth."

and here we have a four-way tie for ms congeniality.  (a) silk snacks, sweet tiny bags of dyed silk, the booth these were sold in came with a display of the entire life cycle of a silk worm.  i don't know why, but she didn't give her worms names... (b) yarn made from corn.  again, for some reason they didn't name the corn.  (c) a rainbow array of curly dyed fleece.  (d) a sweet felted bird house.

but i know what you're all thinking, "did she buy anything to feed her new spinning hobby?!?!"

the answer is yes, of course i did.  i bought quite a bit of stuff, if truth be told.  i think though, that i'll save that for tomorrow's post.  stay tuned!

-melissa

ps - if any of you have access to someone in charge of naming sheep i highly recommend you encourage them to use the name glen.  or karl, there were no sheep named karl either

report from my first fiber festival!

yesterday i headed up to lake elmo, mn with my two heathers, heather(1) and heather(a), to the shepherd's harvest sheep and wool festival.  it was my very first fiber festival and i had a blast!

there was fiber there in every conceivable stage of fiber-ness, all in it's wonderfully-wooly glory!

and the colors, oh my goodness!  so many gifted dyers, it can take your breath away!

they had at least three barns devoted to animals, and oh how sweet were they?!?  it almost made me want to run away and start my own alpaca farm!

we even got to witness a sheep shearing!  

before i left home i told myself i wasn't starting any new hobbies this weekend (my main concern being that i would be swept up in a spinning-frenzy and do something rash, but once i was there i also found myself wooed by the needle felters and the rug hookers...) but i did manage to find a couple little somethings to feed my current hobby quite nicely.

on the left is a skein of scrumptious (to borrow an adjective from cmv) 100% alpaca yarn from the enchanted meadows alpaca and goat farm.  and the roving and skein on the right are for a kit to make a thrummed hat from vantastic designs (i couldn't find a link to the hat pattern anywhere online).

all in all i would have to say that my first sheep & wool fest was a smashing success and the perfect way to spend a saturday!

-melissa