New Hampshire Sheep & Wool

Another fine time was had at NHS&W this year. Susan couldn't make it this year so I promised her some beautiful pictures of fiber.

Yummy fiber!That's the guy I usually buy fleece from. I never know what I'm going to find! This year's big score was a Dorset fleece. There seemed to be a lot of Dorsets around this year which is interesting because some years you just can't find them. I like it because it makes good socks and is not supposed to felt. That fleece and several others went back to Zeilinger in the trailer. We should see them back here sometime in early August.

By far the coolest thing that happened all day was when Ty and I went to see the alpacas. Now, alpacas have never had any use for me. Whenever I go look at them, they hide at the back of the pen. Not so with Ty. She started talking and suddenly they started humming to her! Look how they are looking at her! They just loved her voice! We went over to another pen and tried it again and that alpaca started humming to her too. I think she's the alpaca whisperer.

More Sock Club Yarn

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I have a bunch of posts in my head and I may just post them all in a big cluster rather than trying to do one a day. Frankly, I'm just not always in a posting mood so I should strike while the iron is hot.

Sooo....

Yesterday I dyed May's sock club yarn. It was another flower inspired yarn, iris this time. All the bearded irises look so great this time of year! I was inspired by the ones that are more blue than purple with that little touch of yellow inside.

Once more I started out dipping the two halves of the yarn. Then adding the highlights in different colors.

Something I didn't notice was that my gloves had a hole in one finger. This, unfortunately, gave me gangrene finger when I was done. I did manage to scrub most of it off. I just look like I've got a dirty finger nail now. Hey, what are you gonna do.

I need to find somewhere new to ride!

I have had it with the bike path! I almost got into a huge accident this morning involving a pack of about ten women runners who felt the need to take up the entire path and a ten-year-old boy on a bike who popped out from behind them trying to pass at the same time I was. I'm still not sure how I managed not to hit that kid!
One of my goals while riding is not to end up in a heap on the ground especially not after having crashed into someone's child. I actually felt safer after I got back onto Mass. Ave!

Gore Place Went Well

Gore Place went very well this year, though it was as hot as I've ever experienced it.

As you can see, I ended up bringing just about everything I could.

Annie and Regina showed up at 6:50pm on Friday and stayed to help pack. They turned what was going to be about a two hour job into one that took about half an hour.

Then they showed up at 8am with their friend Eamon who is 6'4" and able to sling shelves full of yarn around like tinker toys.

Consequently, the booth was set up in record time and the shopping began!We even got an impromptu Morris Dance performance from some guys visiting the booth across the way.

I did actually get out of the booth more than any other year but, thanks to the heat, didn't end up going far. Our booth really was the best place to be.
Thanks to Annie, Regina and Eamon, the booth was broken down, moved back here and the shop put back together by 6pm that night! You guys are the best!!

Off to Gore Place

I'm sitting here waiting for the shop to close so that I can start packing for Gore Place. I can't decide what to take and not take. I just want to bring it all!

Festival Season Begins!

Saturday is the Gore Place Sheepshearing Festival. This is one of my favorites and is the only one I ever take a booth at. The festival is a great time and the thing that makes me the most happy is that you can get there on the #70 bus from Central Square, Cambridge. I love me some public transportation! If you'd like more info on the festival check here.

Anyway, because of this, I dyed 28 pounds of yarn on Monday. This is about twice as much as I dye in a day and eight pounds more than I have ever dyed in a single day by myself.

Here's some of it on the couch waiting to be wound and labelled.

Here's the rest as it is getting put on the shelf. I filled the regular shelf with it and am starting on another.I dyed 22 lbs of sock yarn and 6 lbs of the merino superwash. I had quite a good time and have cooked up several new colorways for everyone's enjoyment.
In other news, I finished the wrap sweater from Big Girl Knits and it is officially my new favorite sweater!

The strap that goes around my back is about three and a half feet long and I have to be really careful not to drag it all over the floor when the sweater is untied!This is my first wrap sweater and though the finish work is fiddly in the extreme, the result is really worth it.

Hope to see everyone at Gore Place. I've got Annie working with me for the whole day and I'm look forward to actually getting out of my booth and seeing more of the festival than the port-o-potties and the Fudge Guy.

Spring has Sprung!

Okay, I'm finally over the tax thing. It took me couple of days, though.
Today, however, I had just about the best bike ride I can ever remember having! I went up the bike path to Bedford and back (about 20 miles). As I was howling down the path at 23 mph on my way back, I just kept thinking "Who's legs are these?!" Sending all my money to the IRS aside, I'm having a wonderful spring. I feel healthy and energetic for the first time in a long time and I'm really, really enjoying it!
Back to knitting content in my next post. Promise.