Fiber Revival 2010

There is an historical working farm in Newbury, Mass., where this year's Fiber Revival was held. There is also an alpaca farm down the road that brought over a couple of alpacas for people to view - no touching or climbing on the fence!

But the horse didn't mind getting some attention, and there was this turkey wandering around, as well as some chickens. It's a farm!

It was also a gorgeous day. The vendors provided thoughtful opportunities to enhance your stash...

There were classes throughout the day - I took a class for spinners on the difference between woolen and worsted spinning, with lots of interesting tidbits thrown in for good measure. Barbara, the instructor, brought many bags of fleece, and showed us the differences in the fleeces from different breeds, and how these differences resulted in different types of yarn. Several of us were caught sniffing the fleeces, and had to admit that we really liked the scent of the lanolin in the unwashed fleece...

I don't have pictures of the class because I was too busy spinning and sniffing.

There was a shady area where spinners set up their wheels...

Notice the custom-made cup holders on each wheel!

After all, it's summer, and spinning is thirsty work.

Summer of Lace

My Icelandic Shawl languished on the needles for over two years. Now all it needs is blocking, but all the knitting is done. I like shawls that will actually keep me warm, and this one will be put to good use!

I changed the browns in the original pattern to purples and teal. The yarn was orderd from Sarah's Yarns - she offered to put up a kit of the necessary yardages for knitters - and there is enough yarn left for several other projects. I'm actually using the white and greys on another scarf/shawl - Clover Fields Scarf, which is part of a knit-along on Ravelry.

I used a skein of lovely silk yarn from Yarn Sonnets to knit 198-yards of Heaven, a small shawlette/kerchief that I've been wearing as an accent piece, and pinned in place at the shoulders to cover a neckline that plunged a bit too much!

This is a picture of the Dancing Cranes Stole actually blocking! It's done! I used two skeins of Jojoland Cashmere for this stole, which was also a Ravelry knit-along. I seem to do better at finishing if I'm part of some sort of group. The stole was knit along its length, which made for long rows, but the repetition of knitting the pattern repeat made it easier to remember. I could just keep knitting the row. I find that knitting lace requires more concentration to keep the pattern in mind, but that patterns with multiple repeats go relatively quickly. Especially since I seem to make fewer mistakes, thereby avoiding the frustrations of tinking or ripping back.

Most of my knitting this summer has been on lace patterns. It's like something clicked on in my brain that said, "Lace, lace, lace!" I'm fine with that. I've finished several projects and am almost finished with my Clover Fields Scarf, and there is something very satisfying about finishing a project!