Rhinebeck: New York Sheep & Wool Festival

For those of you that missed the Rhinebeck show I have created a mini tour for you. The weather was gorgeous; the perfect day to be outside and amidst the many others who were there to enjoy the sheep auctions, sheep herding events, fiber, yarn and jewelry for sale, food, Ravelry get-together, special events and meeting cool folks.

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I wore my mystery stole (photo) and everywhere we went I got stopped and asked about it (mainly those who haven't completed theirs - keep going I'd say, you'll love it when you are done). I was even interviewed for a pod cast so when I know when it will be broadcast, I'll let you know.

Terry wore his " I Work So She Can Knit" shirt

(photo) and he was an absolute hit.

He must have been asked by a dozen ladies if they could take his photo.

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Terry and I started in Barn A so I could look at Golding spindles (yes, I bought one - I am almost too scared to try using it). Since we had to pass Socks that Rock (and there was no line to speak of) both Terry and I bought a skein or two. I must say the yarn is as soft as I imagined and the colors are terrific.

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Terry purchased a lambskin for the baby booties project he is working on (photo).

Let's see, I also purchased a lovely shawl pin from Moving Mud, and a bit of fiber to spin.

We toured the barns to view sheep, alpaca, goats, rabbits (photo) and then got off our feet at the sheep auction. Careful! Scratching your nose might mean going home with a ewe.

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After lunch I had the pleasure to meet "Mama E" (Erin) of C*EYE*BER*FIBERS (photo) who is shipping us her gorgeous sock yarn and spinning fiber TODAY! You will be amazed at her colorwork. Of course we ran into several friends and customers. Next time I'll remember Lisa's great idea of bringing a small cooler so I can buy cheese. And wine, organic bread, dip mixes, cookies, etc.

We got off our feet again watching the border collies herd sheep (I forgot to take a picture). If you ever watched the movie Babe, this is the real thing. The dogs are incredible, even with the most stubborn of sheep. Later, there was a dog/frisbee event but we missed that.

The drive to and from over the back roads of Connecticut was a treat as well. The foliage was delightful and just being together on a day off from work was the perfect date.

Back to work! Laura

Starts & Finishes

This has been an incredible October! I finished Matt's Christmas gift sweater (photo) made out of sock yarn on size 2 needles. I love it! I hope he does too. (I don't believe he reads my blog so I'm not worried about spilling the beans...)

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Berroco Jasper coat - I have one more sleeve seam to sew up (it's done - Deb was there) and it' s done - I'm liking it more and more. It's basically 5 rectangles sewn together; very freeform. The yarn is sooooo soft and the color only gets better and better. And I've heard that this yarn actually brightens when you felt it. But I don't think I'll be throwing my coat in the washer to see if this is true.

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Rowan Kid Classic cabled pullover - it's all put together; I just need to pick up the neck stitches and do the turtleneck. This is a winner with lovely waistline shaping and large, lazy cables. It will be a class after the holidays (are you ready Val?).

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Starts:

Ravelery! I finally received my invite and actually set up three projects before I noticed that I misspelled my username. I don't know how to (or if I want to) delete my username as I might have to get back in line and wait a kazillion months to be re-invited. So maybe I will stick with my (now) silly user name. It's amazing what a difference one little letter can make.

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Koigu, lace and wristlet - well, it was going to have beads but I couldn't find anything I liked so I knit a lace pattern instead.

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Boxy Jacket - my own design! Half the back is done; more work tonight. It needs a kicky name, not Laura's Boxy Jacket. Well, I could call it the LBJ Jacket and then folks would ask what the LBJ stands for. Any ideas (sight unseen?)

I think that's enough for one month at this point. I need to get some of it into Ravelry. And if you haven't joined, what are you waiting for?

Later, Laura

Cat Bordhi's Coriolis Sock

While I've been busy knitting the Berroco Jasper coat (blocking as we speak), I've kept busy with a couple of Julie's Nutmeg Mitts trimmed in luscious angora for that special touch and.....my second Coriolis sock.

(I'm having the darndest time getting "spacing" to work. Can someone give me a hint on how to do this in my blog?)

I used a new sock yarn, Maxime Print, from Tahki Stacey Charles which has flecks of pink scattered throughout. Since I adore bead knitting, I added rose beads to the Coriolis swirl. No, I won't wear these with shoes, they are strictly "feet feeling yummy" socks. For the first sock I used a traditional toe up cast on (figure 8). For the 2nd sock I used Cat's moccasin cast on just to challenge myself into learning something new. The second sock goes so much more quickly once you've got the hang of the design. Oh, and I did an attached Icord bind off at the top to be consistent with the swirl.

If I were to do another Coriolis pair, I think I would lean towards a more solid color; I think a variegated yarn would hide the Coriolis too much and after all, that's the beauty of this sock!

Next up! Spindle spinning.... I took the plunge and enrolled in one of our own classes. After the first session I got, well, um, very frustrated and picked it up two days later. I am proud to say that I am no longer spinning super bulky thick and thin. In face, I have a nice little lace weight strand going at the moment. So, keep tuned; I'll show you some of my progress next time.

Matt's Christmas present

My wonderful son-in-law will finally receive his Christmas sweater present! I'm finishing up the final touches (neckband and hem). As you can see, I used self patterning sock yarn on size 2 needles and he is a healthy 6ft 3in sort of guy. With the shop and all, it's been a couple years in the making. I'm very pleased with it (Terry tried it on last night and the sleeves will be perfect) and I'm also glad it's almost on its way.

I include a bit about my (sometimes) need to knit perfectly; I started striping the sleeves to match the body of the sweater. This meant that I knit 2 rows, broke the yarn, and started the next two rows with the next stripe as the sleeves (at the wrists) are no where near as wide as the body of the sweater. Call me nuts!

Mystery Stole 3

Here it is! I am so pleased with the results; really, my first serious lace knitting. Sure I've incorporated lace into sweater patterns in the past, but this is the real thing.

The theme is Swan Lake; one end of the stole representing the long neck and beak (top right); the center section (right) and the other end being a wing (bottom right). While the two major characters in Swan Lake would best be represented in white or black, I chose these beautiful colors of Helen's Lace by Lorna's Laces. Some have suggested they are peacock colors. Hmm, that fits into the theme.

Anyway, we have been working diligently to get the new newsletter and class schedule out, class samples ready for photos and placement on the project board, summer yarns rearranged so we have show you the yummy new fall selections and on and on. I can't say it is all done yet but I had a tiny break between sending out emails so I wanted to get this updated for you all to see.

If you are the "least" little bit interested in lace knitting, I have to tell you it is addicting. And knitting along with others on this project was just so much fun. To get you ready for MS4 next year, we are offering two lace classes. One is a one skin scarf if you are the type that just wants to tiptoe into the topic of lace. The other is a triangular shawl that Ellen M. designed. Although it looks complex she has designed it quite simply; it should be done and ready to wear this fall. So, I am off to the land of email and resuming the sending of newsletters, etc....

New Sock Yarn that I hope you will love...

I forgot to bring in my camera with the pictures of my most recent (vacation) knitting so I thought I would sneak this bit of news in.

I recently ordered sock yarn (and some spinning fiber) from C*EYE*BER FIBER and expect to receive it in early September. Erin hand-dyes her yarn and I do believe she has a keen eye for color. Here's a preview of the order:

sock yarn - 80%superwash merino, 20% nylon in all 48 colorways
sock yarn - 70% superwash merino, 30% Tencel (adds a nice little shine to the yarn) in 12 colorways
fiber - Blue Faced Leicester - assorted
fiber - 100% Merino - assorted
fiber - 50% Merino, 50% Tencel (nice to practice with before moving on to silk) - assorted

As so many of you enjoy knitting socks I am always on the lookout for new sources of quality yarn. The bad news is that Blue Moon Fiber Arts (Socks that Rock) informed me earlier this summer that at their current production level they would not consider me for their yarn until at least the end of this year. That is why I picked up C*EYE*BER Fiber. If you have other sock yarn favorites, Please let me know and I will hunt them down.

Now, back to composing "what I did on my summer vacation" complete with photos.

Summer Vacation

OK , it was more like "summer long weekend" but I did manage to get away with my devoted husband "Terry", our dear friends and thier two adorable children who happen to be my god-children. When I woke up this morning I seemed to be thinking (or was it dreaming?) about what my essay would be had my teacher asked....what did you do on your summer vacation?

I guess it was a mix of playing with D. and V. (my 6 year old god-children; whose identities are to remain anonymous) , knitting and eating lots of great food and not necessarily in that order as you will soon see.

D. and V.'s parents (who are non-knitters) were constantly amazed when I pulled out yet another knitting project. Actually, I packed 5 projects for this mini-vacation:

1) my mystery shawl

2) sleeves for a Rowan cabled pullover that Val wants as a class project

3) a fingerless mitten in new yarn - Llama/Silk

4) my Berroco coat with the new Jasper yarn (getting too big and warm to knit on these days)

5) sleeves for my son-in-law's Christmas or birthday gift - whichever is closest to when I finish this project.

More on these projects later....

We had a blast watching the kids learn to swim in the lake, go tubing, fishing with Terry while the rest of us slept, hiking a mountain with the best view ever, and making smores on the campfire. While they have so much more energy than we do, their enthusiasm kept us going. Our little guy is an amazing story! He was adopted at 5 months when he was nothing but a grey/blue skelaton with chronic bouts of pnuemonia. He would truly not be alive today if he hadn't been adopted and received the help he needed. Now he looks like a little model for J. Crew or some other All-American advertisement. You should see him get excited over catching a fish. You can't help but get excited yourself. His sister has no fear when it comes to the water and would swim across the lake if you let her.

OK back to knitting projects.

my mystery shawl (stole) - I'm loving this lace proeject and I promise you, if Melanie does another one next year we will advertise it like crazy. This year there are about 7000 knitters worldwide making this shawl. She has the directions translated into 9 or 10 languages. Several of us meet on Friday nights after the shop is closed and work on our stole. Desserts are shared along with the eventual mistakes we all make bacause the conversations distract us from our yarn overs, knit 2 together.....

sleeves for my son-in-law. You are going to learn a little bit about me in this and you might even recognize yourself. I once thought that a pullover sweater made out of self patterning sock yarn (on size 2 needles) for a 6'3" guy would be a cool project and it was, until....the sleeves. Think about the striping for a minute. The front (and back) are both about 22 inches wide while the sleeve (at the cuff) are about 7 inches wide. That means that the striping on the body of the sweater is 1-2 rows wide but on the sleeves the stripes are much wider (more like 5-6 rows each). And I am being so anal about this that I am cutting the yarn every 1-2 rows so the stripes match! Am I certifiable nuts??? Yes, but I do have one sleeve done and the second one is almost to the elbow. THERE IS HOPE that I can finish this sweater. I just hope he likes it after all this effort.

To break up the delicacy of the lace shawl and the size 2 sleeves I knit up a fingerless mitten using Plymouth's new yarn Royal Llama Silk. I love the tweedy effect and it is so soft (but not limp and there is none of that "silk" smell). The pattern is free with yarn purchase.

I mentioned the other two projects but they don't look like much in the photo so I'll save them for later when they take more form. I will say that I am enjoying the new Berroco yarn, Jasper as it is so soft (100% merino) and easy to knit with on size 9 needles.

I expect my teacher would have lots of material here to critique. I hope you enjoyed my vacation, Laura