Wanna' See...

...what I got yesterday?

Okay, but don't be judging.

At the Fun Fiber Festival, which was Fun, and had lots of Fibery things, from fleece, fabric, baskets, lace, yarn, and much more, along with a Festive atmosphere, too...

I bought roving! Lots of roving!

One pound balls from Brown Sheep. Yep, one pound each.

8 oz of Teeswater. This is from Black Pines. She had the best fleece for sale, from critters she keeps covered. She had some I hadn't seen before, too. Her critters are pretty much her pets, she said.

Then I traveled to the Alpaca Extravaganza southward, which had alpacas, and maybe was rather extravagant...

I bought more roving! And some fleece, too!

8 oz of rose grey alpaca. Needs some processing, but I fell in love with the color. From Switzerland Alpacas.

9 oz of black alpaca This stuff was a sweet deal! And it's really black, unlike this photo. I will probably go blind spinning it.

3 oz of suri with silk (97:3) These last two were bought from Annie's Alpaca Ranch.

Remember. I said no judging.

I guess this means I am way off the 'spinning up the stash' goal. Ah well. I hang my head in shame, and will try to redeem myself in the 'knitting up the stash' category.

I better. Because I am going to have a heck of lot more yarn when this stuff is all spun up.

An Award...Cubed

Well. I am not going to do this proper, but if I wait any longer, I fear I will be even more upside down on this.




I am very, very flattered to have been picked by three (3!) other bloggers to recieve a Kreativ Blogger Award.


I try to be. Creative, and a blogger, you know. So thanks and a shout out to...


Megan

Lunaticraft, and

BeebaBottoms


Here's the part that has me flummoxed. Upon recieving this award, said Kreativ Blogger is to name the one the award is recieved from (check), then pass the award on to eight others.


See. That's 24. I guess not really cubed...that would be 512...but it might as well be, because these blogger awarders? They have used up alot of those I would be awarding to! (Not even close to being checked!)


What to do? If I wait any longer thinking who to award this to, I may have to come up with 48. Some may have mile long reader lists. I do not.


So I point you in the direction of my sidebar, to 'Some That I Link'. There are some real Kreativ Bloggers over there.


And if any of you would like to grab this little award, feel free!

Another Sister

All these goings-on about the SisterProject, and thinking about a suggested memoir assignment from there, and the ‘D is for Dearest Sister’ post…well, it’s got me swimming in the pool, as it were.

Dearest Sister and I are not the only siblings in the family. There are the ‘big kids’, older siblings with at least a decade’s separation, and Wisest Sister is the eldest of them. Deeply Missed Sister came two years after, and in many ways was to Wisest what Dearest is to me. In many ways, and in special ways, but not quite the same.

See. They had a younger brother. And they were raised with Daddy. Daddy died when Dearest and I were barely potty trained, and Only Brother was pretty much out of the house by the time we were in school. Makes a difference, I think. Actually I know. Their upbringing was different in many ways to do with family structure, the times when they were raised, and family finances.

Wisest Sister is that, wise in many ways, and very, very talented. She has learned/inherited/adopted many of our mother’s sewing talents and skills, and has for many years been the go-to person for such things. She taught me all I know about having a real fabric stash…and shared with me the line about ‘who has the most stash when they die, wins’.

Wisest, Only, Momma, Deeply Missed, Dearest, and Ironneedles

At least, I remember it that way. I have found that is what sisters are mostly for. To correct the remembering. Wisest has commented to me that when Deeply Missed Sister passed, she felt she had lost half her memories. Dearest corrects me often when I am wrong. Or so she says.

Back to the stash… Dearest Sister may be giving Wisest a run for her money now, with her vintage fabric collection. I do believe that my yarn stash beats both, though, and nobody in the family has fleece….so yeah….I win there! And that would bring me to the next point…do ya’ think we are competitive much? I would like to believe in only a friendly, loving, and sisterly way.

And that's Grandbebe Girl!

Wisest Sister also reads. She loves mysteries, and lately asked me if I had heard of the Maggie Sefton series, which takes place in a yarn shop. Why, yes, I have. The author has based the yarn shop on one of MY local yarn shops, the one where I have taken my spinning and sock and French knitting classes, and she is often there (during their semi-annual sales!) to sign her books. (When I related this conversation with the manager of the yarn shop, she told me to tell Wisest that one of the characters is based on me!) Now I would buy the set, and get them all autographed for Wisest, but she is also an avid user of the library. It’s how she has read all of the Yarn Harlot’s, and all of Ms. Sefton’s books. And I thought buying through the used book sale was thrifty!

Because of our father’s vocation, the ‘early’ family lived in several states, and Wisest went to something like 14 different schools before her senior year. When Daddy took a job that would settle the family down up north, she had to stay back and finish school in our hometown of Greensburg, or risk not graduating. This was not the first time the family was split for one reason or another. Sometimes, when Daddy’s job called for a move, we all just couldn’t go, like when Momma was 8 months pregnant with Dearest Sister. I am pretty sure these times were looked on as an adventure, and yet I feel there was another side to it, too.

She took us to Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm!

I have always felt that when it came to ‘the big kids’ that the sun rose and set in us ‘little girls’. Well mostly. Only Brother loves to tell how he had it made until the arrival of me. (Poor fellow, dethroned at ten, by a little pink bundle!) The feeling was mutual. How us little girls idolized the big kids. And their friends. So grown up and glamorous!

Want to know how glamorous? Wisest and Deeply Missed were airline stewardesses for TWA! Before there was a politically correct term for it! When there were weight nazis to keep them down to size! Back in the day, when little girls from a little rural town in Kansas only had mothers, teachers, or nurses for role models, this was heady stuff. It was all I wanted to be when I grew up. Maybe still!

Wisest Sister is still looking out for me. Posting comments which encourage me, sending me ALL her Elizabeth Zimmerman (she knew about EZ! So smart!) books in a package stuffed with cotton yarn, or coupons to JoAnns with a brief note.

Thanks for everything you've taught us, all the places you've taken us, all the hugs and all the love, all the acceptance.

All A-Flutter

Remember the reference to The SisterProject a while back? I shared my D is for Dearest Sister post within their group on Ravelry.

The Sisters shared my post with their readers. Oh. MY!

And welcome, if you have come here by that course, and the above link will take you to that particular post. I hope it lives up to their claim!

Also. Kay Gardiner of Mason Dixon Knitting favorited my MLCB on Ravelry!

Gosh. I am almost famous!

Is It Spring?

We have had some great weather this week, with temps in the mid-60's. Now tomorrow and the weekend will be more typical for late February and early March, but my point is that the warmer days are just around the corner. I am not getting out in the yard yet. I know myself that well, but I am beginning to get ready to get excited about the prospect of the growing season.

How's that for some caveat?


Today, six years ago, Wonderful Guy gave me an engagement ring. He picked it out on his own...well, with Best Dog Ever's help...and gave it to me over dinner. Taking the relationship to the next level had been discussed in generic terms. The ring was a surprise. Also perfect.




Wonderful Guy has suggested we go out for a bite to eat tonight. I asked if I was going to get another ring...


Probably not. We are going where we have coupons now. Ach! So far we have fallen from the romantic days of yore.


In other news, Wonderful Guy and Only Step Son are heading south to visit his mother and sister on Saturday for a few days. I will be on my own. What ever shall I do with all my time?


Well, I will tell you.


There are two fibery types events on Saturday, a Fun Fiber Festival, then an Alpaca Extravaganza. I intend to take in both.


I will spend sometime on some papercrafting. There are birthdays coming up that require cardage.


I will quilt like a demon, having completed roughly four of 25 blocks/sashing already, and...


...as God as my witness, I will knit 'til the acres of garter stitch are plowed...I mean, done...well, that probably won't happen. Upon realistic consideration, there is too much there to do considering how long it has been taking for each skein. BUT I am on my last two skeins of Patons, and have only four more of Cascade 220, and one of those will go around as 'binding'. So yeah, closing in on the finish line. Also, if I knit all that up in four days, well, I can spell tendinitis.


I spun (as on Betsy, the flying Lendrum) on Sunday for the first time in about five months with a group of Ravelry spinners. I really needed something else to do beside quilting and knitting garter stitch. It was fuh-uhn! I broke out of the baby alpaca, too, and worked on some dyed merino I bought at the wool market last summer. Speaking of which, Estes Park Wool Market, June 13-14, with classes on June 11-12. So exciting! Fleeces! And all sorts of fleece growing critters! (Baaaaa ram ewe!)

I have started on two small knitting projects, just to give myself a bit of a break from the MLCB, as beautiful and interesting as it is. And it is, just...big...and ginourmous...and so much garter stitch. One is a little bow tie thingy I am KAL-ing with the Sister Project Group on Ravelry. I am using some of the first hanspun I ever made. Not perfect spinning, not perfect yarn, but still workable. Good practice for me, not having to be perfect. Good thing, because I hardly ever am! The other is going to use up some of my cotton yarn scraps. I am going to knit me up some Easter Eggs! Stay tuned for those puppies!