I'm Back

Thanks for being so patient. Pretty soon I'll be able to tell you what I did over my summer* vacation**. But until then...

Memorial Day Weekend 2008 brought with it the same joys as Memorial Day Weekends 2006 and 2007. The Great Lakes Sheep and Fiber Festival was in Wooster again, and this year my friend Dani and I went up to spend the weekend with my mom and some fiber frivolity.

Knit Knack got a few of his closest friends (L-R: Curly, Meekins, and Chip -- Chip's from Canada, eh!) together to join us for the fun.

The boys got in a little trouble with a wool carder... Chip's always sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. Fortunately he was saved without too much wool lost, and we all continued wandering.

Mom and Dani made friends with a tiny gray bunny. Only $95! We almost took him home with us, but, as the common saying goes,
"Accidently winning a sheep at auction changes everything." Um, this statement transfers seamlessly to accidently buying a tiny gray bunny at a fiber festival. Trust me on this.

Knit Knack made a bunch more friends (and Mom came home with a bunch more sheep, enough for a whole flock! And I thought she collected turtles!), we found Lisa, our friend from Cincinnati, and we perused the crazy amounts of yarn and fiber at the Wayne County fairgrounds.

This next bit is a shocker, so you may want to sit down, if you're not already.

Everything I bought? Sock yarn. I know. But I warned you.

Sock yarn the first: Knitting Notions Classic Merino Supersock in Green Apple. I have been heart-ing this yarn at every GLS&FF and Wool Gathering I've been to, but somehow I always manage to find her booth after I've spent all my money elsewhere. This time I had money left, but the challenge was choosing just one color. I can't wait to find the perfect pattern for this yarn.

Sock yarn the second: Trekking Pro Natura in a strained-mango-apricot-puree shade. I'm not sure why this one jumped out at me like it did, but it did, and I like it.

Sock yarn the third: Fleece Artist Handmaiden (rock the) Casbah Sock. This stuff is 80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. And it's superwash! Supersweet! As you can see, this luscious, gorgeous, to-dye-for yarn is not meant for socks. It's meant for Elizabeth Zimmerman's baby sweater on two needles. (That's a ravelry link.) I am loving this pattern and hoping that knitting on size 3 needles is going to make a big enough sweater for a brand new baby girl. I've been wanting to try this pattern for a while, but didn't have a new baby girl to knit for. But, now I do.

To be honest, my mom wasn't the only one who went home with more sheep. The difference is, all my mom's new sheep have names. Mine don't. Any ideas?

In my next post, I'll tell you about the new yarn shop (new yarn shop!!!) in Wooster. New yarn shop! New yarn shop! Okay, I'm better now.

*May
**blog hiatus