Another busy month has flown by. Last weekend we went camping and hiking at Greenbriar State Park. This weekend we visited the Baltimore Herb Fest, had sushi in Bethesda, and have a super-special project to work on. :) Oh, plus a BBQ tomorrow. Mmmm.

In the middle of all this, I've gotten a little spinning and a little knitting done. My multi-talented knit night friend Kerry has opened her own Etsy shop, Fluffy Stuff Yarns & Fibers. Right now there's washed fleece, dyed roving, hand spun yarn, and hand dyed yarn up, all of it gorgeous! My first purchase was some of the Targhee fleece that she picked out at Sheep & Wool. I have 4oz, and it is incredible. Pictures can't do it justice (though it looks just like hand-whipped whipped cream), because it's the softness that really sets it apart. I wish you could feel!



Kerry was wonderful and loaned me her Ashford cards so that I could get my 4oz. carded and spun. I think I spend more time oggling the fiber than actually getting any real work done, though....

Sometime last week, I finished spinning up singles from a braid of Fat Cat Knits Falkland Wool in "Clay Pigeons."



I had originally envisioned fingering weight 2 ply, but my singles themselves were fingering weight (oops!), so that was obviously not happening. I settled for a 2 ply sportish weight, but when I went to ply, I hated the look. My singles didn't have enough twist, and I didn't like how the colors were mixing and getting muddied. So, I wound it all off, gave it a hot/cold/hot/cold bath, and then smacked it against the side of the tub. Ended up with this:




Couldn't be happier! I think it's what I had in mind for it all along. (I love the long color repeats.) It's 530yds, 18-20wpi.

And finally, Squirrel pictures. I feel terrible.. every time I post photos of my beautiful kitty, she's doing something ridiculous and looks like a dork. But these were too funny to keep to myself! (Plus her grandma will appreciate them!)

Squirrel will eat any green plant she can reach, so we've kept the deck mostly barren. Ryan had the idea to build her a box with grass that she can gobble up to satisfy her green craving. (So that we can put more plants out.) And gobble up she does......








I love animals!

Sheep & Wool

I can't put it off any longer - I must make a Sheep & Wool post! Unfortunately, while I lugged my camera around with me all day, I only took one photo!



Yes, it's well established that I am a Dork. Oh well.

Mom and I arrived bright and early, which turned out to be a very good idea. By the time we got there, the lot had at least 100 cars in it already. And that was an hour before opening. By the time Ryan and family showed up, the (HUGE) lot was full and they had to park down the road and across the street. After waiting 1 1/2 hours to park. Not fun, I'm sure.

Mom and I had a blast though, despite it being completely overwhelming and crazy. My prize purchases are my new Bosworth (shown last post) and 6 ounces of North Ronaldsay fiber from Spirit Trail. Mom picked up a spindle from Spanish Peacock as well as some very pretty yarn and fiber. Though I hear that she's not spinning as much as she should..!!!

So that's it for Sheep & Wool 2010. At 3:30, Mom and I had an appointment for a photoshoot at the barn (just down the road from S&W). This is Scout, the barn manager's new lesson pony. Isn't he cute?!



While family was up, we also went to the Cylburn Arboretum (in Baltimore) and the National Arboretum (in D.C.). I highly recommend trips to either if you're ever in the area.






That's all for now - time to start the day! Here's to another awesome weekend!

Ply on the fly

There should be a huge post coming up, since my mother and in-laws just left and Sheep & Wool has gone for another year, but here's a quick one. I think my (crafting) life has just completely changed because of this:

Ply on the fly.

[Okay, so I might be a huge dork. But if you're reading this, you probably knew that already.]

And the epiphany might not be entirely due to plying on the fly. I think the real Big Deal might be my gorgeous new Bossie. So perfectly balanced it's incredible.




Either way, I no longer dread plying. And I think my sweater knitting might be on the backburner for awhile!