Fiber Fiesta Fun

I was able to attend the First Annual Fiber Fiesta in Greenville Saturday. I ended up going alone, but that was ok. Friend Rachel, who had a booth at the festival, also owns a pizza shop there. So I spent the day, along with many of our spinning guild members (vendors and shoppers) and then feasted on BC Pizza before heading home.

The location was a big pavilion with walls and roof like canvas. You can see from the background above how bright it was, even though inside. It made for great picture taking. I loved the shawls in this booth. I may have to dig out my small looms and piece together a woven shawl.

Here are Evelyn (from the Old Farm Girl) who will be hosting her own fiber festival Memorial Day weekend (Friday and Saturday) in just north of White Cloud, and Cindy. They were manning their booth, while simultaneously channeling their inner "Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz." I loved the fact that Cindy bought a bunch of wool even though she didn't have a spinning wheel or spindle. The wheel was ordered today.

Rachel is another member of our Wooly Friends spinning guild. She has Counting Sheep Farm and lovely wool, fleece and animals. Never a dull moment when she is around! Since she was by herself, once I finished wandering and shopping (mostly) I brought in my wheel and spun in her booth.

Several other members of our group were there as well. Another fiber friend hopes to close on a farm just south of the county line. Easily close enough to join us for spinning and other fun stuff.

Mary, Yvonne and Sue Ann was among the group from spin guild who enjoyed that delicious pizza. Here we are preparing to waddle out to our vehicles to trek on home. Rachel had the gang put out the buffet for us, even though they usually do not have it out on Saturdays. Yum!

For the most part I did show good restraint. I did get a yarn pack and pattern in dove gray for a shawl from Yarn Hollow. I also got 2 balls of lovely soft merino roving in deep green, cream and rose pink, a shawl pin and 5 patterns.

Oh yeah. I also got this:
That is 5 and a half pounds of polypay roving. Squishy, bouncy and I think I hear a sweater calling my name in there. I couldn't help it. The vendor kept walking buy with this huge bag and I had to know why. There was a momentary blur, and the next thing I knew, I was ripping a check out of the book. Oh well. But doesn't it look nice?

Six Does Not Equal Six

Huh?
Let me explain.
I was diligently working on my Marl Yoke Raglan last week at Knit Nite. I was SOOOOO close to the end of the body and place to join the sleeves that I kept knitting so I could say I had the sweater that far.
Since the shawl I am making for Evelyn is a bit too complicated to take to Knit Nite (I tend to talk a lot there.), I wanted to have the sleeves ready to work on. I dug out a pencil and my copies of EZ's Opinionated Knitter, and Knitting in the Old Way and started calculating. I figured out how many stitches I needed to cast on, how many rows it would take, how often I would have to increase if I did it this way or that way. And so on.
I was so thorough.
Finally I cast on with a set of Plymouth bamboo double point needles and knit about 6 rounds or so.
Then something made me pause. The ghost of Elizabeth Zimmermann perhaps?
Anyway, something made me stop and put away the size 7 needles tips that I had out. And while I was at it, I checked the tips I had used for the sweater body. The needle gauge I was using showed the size 7 slot loose and sloppy.
But wait! So was the size 6. I had supposedly been using Size 6 in my Harmony Options. I dug out another needle gauge and the size 6 fit perfectly.
Hmmmmm.
Then I looked at both gauges. One size 6 was a 4.25mm. the other was 4.00mm. I checked the double points I was using for the sleeve. Size 6 all right. but 4.25 not 4.00
Sigh.
I just knew if I continued with the the sleeves with size 4.25, the gauge wouldn't match when I joined the sleeves to the body. So I ended up logging on to KnitPicks and placing an order for size 6 4.00 mm double points and also a 16 inch circ (and some lace weight yarn, and books. Oops, the mouse must have slipped.) I frogged the bit of sleeve I had started and waited. Yesterday my package came--in just 5 days!
Maybe now I can knit with peace of mind.
Or not.

Big Boys Toys--Part Two

Older Son has been avoiding my camera this past week. And he has been busy hauling manure, so he has been in a much smaller tractor. He stopped by and had supper with me last night and I managed to get a picture or two of him, with the "smaller tractor."
Yeah, really small.

However, you will notice that this tractor has tires, not tracks and no hinge in front of the rear wheel.
Thoughtful child that he is, he came with his large and dirty manure spreader. This is the clean side.

He was going on the night shift when he left here. He said he would be using the Big Tractor then. But not till after dark. Too late for a ride and picture.

Besides, that one doesn't have a passenger seat.

Darn, I wanted a ride.

Shoulder Shawl Update

I haven't posted an "in-progress" shot of the rayon blend Shoulder Shawl. I am enjoying working with this single ply yarn and when finished, I think the lace will block out to show up nicely.

I am currently on the 6th ten row pattern repeat. I am getting better with it and can even knit a little when Hubby is in the house. But not if he talks and wants responses. But it is going pretty well.

Here in the close up you can see the colors pretty well. The pieces needs stretched to really show the cherry leave pattern.

Gilbert the mighty farm poodle says, Mom, you are spending way too much time on knitting and not enough on scratching tummy.

Clearly he has different priorities

Big Boys Toys

Older Son has a new ride.
His boss leased a new Case IH and apparently it belongs to Older Son--his mobile office with a view.
I have been trying to catch him with my camera. Either I see him tooling along in a field, while I have no camera.....Or I carry my camera around but can't track him down, or he is doing some non-tractor work for a while.
This tractor is HUGE! A big red tractor with tracks in the place of each of the usual 4 wheels, on each corner as my uncle said. And in front of the rear tracks is a pivot. I saw an Ertl 1/64th model yesterday at the farm store that I think is the same model. The model was almost $17, much more than most of the model tractors. I can only imagine what the real think costs.
On second thought, I don't think I can.
No wonder food keeps getting expensive.
I will get a picture yet.