This year is our 10th year at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival and it seems like just a blink since the first year when we were back in the corner next to the kitchen across from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I am always up for a party and to celebrate our “anniversary” Lann and i wanted to do something to give back to the community we love and that has been so good to us.
One conversation at Sock Summit led to another – Judy Becker has a new book coming out (Beyond Toes), Larissa Brown has a new book (My Grandmother’s Knitting), Deb Accuardi’s 2012 Knitter’s Datebook is just released and Ilisha Helfman’s book (Jazz Knitting) is hot off the press – what better reason for a celebration than this! So Saturday afternoon and early evening we are having a book signing and party. Starting in our booth in the 4H building we’ll have books and authors and contributor’s and photographers and garments! Once the market closes we will move out to the camp area and gather to see the work of all these great designers and celebrate their success and get our books and patterns signed!
Bring your books, bring snacks and drinks to share, bring your projects from any of these great books and join us in celebration!
This blog has done nothing but generate spam for a very long time. I am trying to figure it out and get current. I am going to take a picture of our campsite and try to figure out how to change the lead photo and add pictures (something i have never been able to figure out.) I am working on a recaptcha thing to slow the march of spam. Ahhhh the things i will do to avoid paperwork!
Right now i am on my way to Stringtopia in Lebanon, Ohio where i am teaching with Abby Franquemont and Jacey Boggs. I am so looking forweard toto just being there. Maggie and i have been camped in various place thru out Tennessee and Kentucky and have been working (some), weaving (more) just sitting and watching the wildlife (mostly). Every time i try to do a little work Maggie decides it is time to sit on the computer – at home she sits in the printer but when she is sitting on the laptop keyboard she definitely gets in the way (or manages to turn the thing off or upside down!)
i don’t know about other cities but in San Francisco the city cleans each street once a week – more accurately it cleans one side of the street on one day and the other side of the street on another day. There are signs on every street posting the time and day of street cleaning and if you are parked there you will get a ticket. for us street cleaning is Friday morning – posted as between 9 and 11am, but in reality the street cleaner comes between 9:15 and 9:30 most Fridays. Many of my neighbors just get up and go to work but about a dozen of us gather to do an elaborate dance of moving cars and trucks and 1 YarnV. We all go out and sweep our sidewalks and chat about what is going on in the neighborhood and drive onto the sidewalks or across the street or in my case around the block to pull back into the parking space in front of the house after the meter maid and the sweeper have gone by – the Friday morning goes around is a weekly ritual when i am at home.
This morning as i usually do – i swept the sidewalk and drove around the block and then came in to finish moving things around in the shop for the weekend sale. It looks like the weather will co-operate and give us a lovely wekend so we can spill out onto the sidewalk with all the colorful fiber and books and yarn.
New things added to the sale list
silk top
cotton roving
a single treadle Fricke spinning wheel with a woolee winder (not BOGO but a really good discount – currently they are going for $572 – i am selling this one for $300
Who knew that planting passion flower in San Francisco was a mistake? When Lann and i moved into our house in 1999 we decided to plant our tiny garden for the butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. So we cleaned out all the trash and weeds and put in lots of fertilizer and food and clean dirt and then busily planted jasmine, butterfly bush, fuschia, lavender, a few roses and 2 small passion flower vines – 1 red and 1 purple.
Then our lives changed. I bought Carolina Homespun and eventually Lann went to work for San Francisco General Hospital. We both lead very busy lives and the garden began to get neglected a bit. The good news is that we had created a little micro climate that seemed to require no care or watering on our part. The bad news is that passion flower left unchecked will take over the entire neighborhood. Like jasmine i think it is an annual in some parts of the world – not San Francisco. The passion flower grew until it covered every thing – the butterfly bushes, the bee balm, the lavender, the roses, even the big mallow bush in the corner. If we did not whack it back at least once in a while it would cover the second floor porch and probably the back wall of the house!
Starting earlier this spring we have been making a concerted effort to reclaim the back yard. (the Jasmine was working its way inside the basement and the passion flower had once more reached the back deck – strong enough that the cats – even Cate at 20 pounds- could walk on it to get from fence up to the back deck railing. So every time there is a reasonably warm, dry day and we are both home – something that really does not happen very often for so many reasons we go out and spend a few hours trying to tame the passion flower beast.
We did this again on Sunday. We are now far enough in to get to the center of our little yard. Lann actually uncovered or reclaimed our little brick patio that is up close to the house and i got to wrangle the passion flower in the yard proper (remember it is still a little yard but even a little yard shoulder deep in passion flower is a rather daunting task. We now have a patch of dirt that the cats are truly enjoying – they played queen of the hole the whole time we sat out and watched the light change and admired our work at the end of the day on Monday – a ritual we refer to as porch time.
I say all this not because you really need to know the struggles we are having with our passion flower but because today i discovered that inventory is somewhat like that wild and crazy passion flower. If left unchecked it expands beyond your capacity to contain it! So here i begin the list of things we will have on SALE for Memorial Day weekend.
Soy Felt Kits
Single Point Lighted Knitting Needles- Knit Lights
2010 Spindle Calendars
Cotton mill ends for weaving
Dyed Bamboo and Ingeo
undyed Soy Silk
Harrisville Dyed Fleece for felting
Gaywool dyes
Country Classic dyes
Baby Llama, Baby Camel and Baby Alpaca Top
Taupe nylon spinning fiber
assorted natural color coned yarns – like rayon chenille, cotton chenille and some wools
Be sure to check the website – carolinahomespun.com for times and all that kind of stuff!
BOGO – Buy One Get One Free I have always just thought of it as a really cool sale. Something to pay attention to with the possibility of getting a really good deal- that is until last week. I was at the grocery store buying food for my first night at home. The store was having a BOGO sale on a carton of 18 eggs. The woman ahead of me in line was talking to the man behind her – someone from out of town on a camping trip with a big family and a tight budget. She was saying that she didn’t herself need the extra eggs but she was sure that someone would. He said he could really use the eggs for his kids and so she gave him the “free” eggs.
What a fabulous thing to do! I really wish more people could and would give away free eggs at the grocery store. Too bad it is not something you could buy and leave in the food donation box at the front of the store.
We have been cleaning and rearranging the shop and thinking about having a clearance sale over Memorial Day weekend. In honor of the eggs we are going to make it a BOGO sale. We have loads of fiber, books, videos, magazines, yarn and even some equipment that we will be marking down and clearing out! Save the dates – Friday, May 28, Saturday, May 29 and Monday , May 31 will be very good days to go shopping for fiber!
I woke up early this morning (well early for me) i usually do the first morning in a new time zone going west. This is the first day in 30 days that i have woken up in the same time zone as my family in San Francisco! Also the first day in what seems like forever that the sky is brilliant blue and the sun is that amazing high desert sunshine that tears thru everything and wakes you in a blaze of brightness. I will try to take a picture today but i know my skills as a photographer just won’t do it justice
We – Maggie, Merlin and i have been driving thru the craziest weather- windy, rain and hail in Nebraska, wind, snow and hail thru Wyoming and Utah and snow in Eastern Nevada. The Ruby Mountains (a range in Eastern Nevada that is generally rugged and very dry) was snow covered almost down to the highway in places. Quite spectacular! According to Lann who watches the weather from home – we should have clear sailing for the rest of our trip and thank goodness for that – my arms are tired from holding the YarnV on the road.
My card for today is the Princess of Swords. In the Wheel of Change deck the princess is a brown skinned woman kneeling in her camp. Her horse and her tent are behind her and before her is a knife she is using to tan a hide. There is small garden filled with flowers and a brilliant sun in the sky above her. Alexandra Genetti (the author of the deck) says the princes of swords represents “the ability to learn from nature, the past and the future and to weave these threads into a new and unique life.” mmmm interesting ……….
I have been reading the 100 most influential people of 2010 issue of Time magazine and thinking about the directions we are going and how that is reflected in the fiber community and whether or not to open a Facebook account at long last. (One’s mind wanders while driving the long miles between West Friendship and San Francisco.) I am not sure how Time magazine decided who are the 100 most influential people of the year. I would be curious to know. They did figure out a matrix of connectedness based on social networking connections online – Twitter and Facebook scores. Did you know that from their list the most connected people are Barack Obama, Lady Gaga, and Ashton Kutcher?
just a quick note to let you all know that i have reconnected the blog – had to move it to our new website. So check the link at Carolina Homespun for the new address.
Seems like i have been on the road forever. This trip started with CNCH in Santa Clara way back in mid April. At the end – we packed up the YarnV or the Yarnabago as Abby calls it and i headed south on my way to Stitches South in Atlanta. Made a couple of stops along the way – want to write more about exploring old Route 66… but will have to wait a bit for that. Visited my Mom in Arizona and stopped at Cecil Miskin’s Buffalo Ranch in Texas.
Stitches South was wonderful and has really grown. I loved getting to see the people we taught to spin last year coming in and showing off their handspun projects – but i have to say i really need your help – i am terrible at remembering to take photos for the blog. So it would help if you remind me or just send me pictures! Got to catch up with our friend Nada while she helped us in the booth and had Rachael Herron signing her fab new book “How to Knit a Love Song” all weekend.
Next up was Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival – more people than ever before and HOT – over 90. After Maryland Lann headed for home and so did Maggie, Merlin and i – although our trip has certainly been much longer than Lann’s. We headed east and a bit south to stop and visit Abby Franquemont and talk about her upcoming spindle class at GGFI. It sounds really exciting – makes me wish i could take it as well.
We left Abby’s and drove like crazy to get ahead of the incoming storms- so we just had wind and rain – but not really any thunderstorms or tornados! Stopped near Kansas City to see Jacey Boggs and check in about her GGFI class and just visit – we mostly only she each other at festivals or events and there is never much time to actually visit. It was fabulous to sit and have a real conversation!
Now i am seriously homeward bound- i am ready to be home and still have about 1200 miles to go. The driving would be pleasant with all the spring greenery and flowers and wildlife – except for the wind which blows you sideways off the road if you are not careful!
Since the beginning of the year i have been gathering unfinished projects to see what i actually have on needles or bobbins or spindles or looms ~ in other words ~ in progress scattered about or hiding in boxes or bags. So far i know i have the 2 main projects i am actively working on. One is Harmonia’s Rings by Sivia Harding in Spirit Trail Frija (a yarn i am absolutely infatuated with because it is so wonderful to work with). I started it (or rather Jeane deCoster started it for me) at Madrona last year. Cat Bordhi was wearing one and raving about how comfortable it was so i thought i should make one. I was busy in the booth so Jeane did the cast on and knit the first few rows. I worked on it for a while and then set it aside to be rediscovered this winter once i began my archeological dig thru my unfinished projects. My version is double stranded in 2 different color ways and other than the fact that i am knitting to the end of the yarn rather than the end of the pattern – it is almost finished.
My other active project (by active i mean i carry them around with me and work on them at least a little bit every day) is the ABSJ or Adult Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I started this one at Lambtown last year. Friends of mine – Nina and Jane, are knitting them for summer camp and it intrigued me so they helped me pick out yarn and i happily started while i was on the road to Rhinebeck. We checked in regularly and i knew from pretty early that something was wrong. I kept writing about the size of the jacket and both reassured me if i had my decreases and increases correct every thing would work out fine. Alas they were wrong! They would have been totally accurate if i had started with the correct number of stitches but apparently no matter how many times i read the pattern i kept missing one crucial piece – multiply the width of your favorite sweater by your gauge. So my gauge was one (no multiplication happened) and i have a finished baby bear surprise jacket. When i got home and showed them my tiny jacket we all got a good laugh and i started again – the first mini jacket is in Malabrigo and the second, more accurately sized restart of the jacket is in the original Terra from the Fibre Company. I had some left from the original milling and the colors and content have changed so i thought i would use what i have left to make a very colorful jacket. I am not very far in but it makes a good easy no brainer project (except for when you pick it up and knit the wrong direction) …… seems like there are possibilities for error in almost any project.
Pictures coming in the morning
This is only the beginning of my list……. So what’s on your needles/bobbins/spindles/looms?
sorry to have been so long between posts – somehow the winter just vanished! In the Bay Area it is going back and forth between winter and spring – with some of those wonderful sunny warm days to tease me into thinking that spring is just around the corner.
Last week Maggie and i went to the Madrona Winter Retreat in Tacoma, WA – and what an amazing event that is. This year there were over 700 registered students and i don’t know how many fabulous classes! I love going to fiber events and catching up with all my friends and having the opportunity to make new friends as well. Linda Cortright of Wild Fibers Magazine was the Saturday evening speaker and it was so wonderful to get to spend even a little time over dinner and get to catch up. I will see her again at Stitches West but we won’t have even as much time as we did at Madrona – probably not even enough for a real conversation.
Today is Friday – i am about half way in between Madrona and Stitches. I have been repacking and trying like crazy to catch up – there is email and paper work and ads and the Golden Gate Fiber Institute and…. more i am sure but that is what is top of my thoughts. The Institute registration is doing really well and i am drafting a welcome letter to all the students. I am soooooo excited about our teachers and classes this year. So it is actually hard to focus on Stitches West and i really really need to! There are boxes to pack and yarn and needles to order and signs to make and AAAAHHHH! I would so rather knit
But focused or not – i will see you at Stitches West in a few days!
Good morning world. I keep meaning to sit down and write a long post about the power of weather and this trip has just been so long and hard (with all the WEATHER) that by the end of the day all i want to do is play with a couple of road weary cats, eat something and sleep!!! There has been no energy for writing or spinning or of anything.
I have a long list of things i have not gotten to: my lovely entrelac shawl that i wanted to have finished for the SOAR gallery, the scrumptious Abby Batt that i held out to spin (a gorgeous blue with pygora from Peppermint Pastures) sits in its little bag unspun, my horoscope shawl is off the loom and needs a net of knots for the fringe and its picture taken, i started some arm warmers and have knitted about 6 rows, and the list goes on. This list of course does not count the phone calls, emails and assorted businessy things i should have gotten done from the road. These days i try to plan in a “work” dcay – a day where i can sleep in a bit, get my laundry done, really walk the cats, and catch up on the business of Carolina Homespun and the Golden Gate Fiber Institute. This tip has been hard and fast and there was no time for a work day.
Last night i did find an RV place with a hot tub and that 20 minutes of soaking bliss felt wonderful and much needed. Today we will get into Sunriver andjoin in the wonderful communtiy that is SOAR. I hope to have a moment to catch up with Judith about GGFI, have dinner with Jacey Boggs to talk about her class at the 2010 institute, check in with Tina about the class in Washington and…. plus there is set up the booth and try to figure out which things to fit into a very small 8X10 booth. This year it will be hard because i really have some wonderful new things. Maybe i can display them here since there will not be room in the booth for all of them!
Right now it is time to pack up and hit the road – groceries and a post office have to happen before we get to Sunriver!
we go out and spend a few hours trying to tame the passion flower beast.