Fiber Festivals

Why, hello there! Long time no see! I actually finally recorded an episode last week, but something was up with camera, and my mouth and the sound just would not line up! I'll try again this week, at some point. In the meantime, so the show isn't just a huge line of stuff I've bought recently, I thought I'd blog about the various fiber festivals that have been going on the past month. Columbus Day weekend was the NH Wool Arts Tour. I thought this looked fun, so I piled the kids into the car and off we went! I had thought that there would be some interesting demonstrations and that the kids would be able to spend some time with animals. This was not necessarily the case. They did get to pet some sheep and goats, but they didn't really get up close and personal with the animals. The weather was chilly and wet, so most of the demonstrations were cancelled. It was okay though - the kids chatted so amicably in the car on the way up to NH and seemed to enjoy running around the farms. When I asked if they would go next year, they pretty much answered with "maybe." I decided it wasn't really worth the trip for me.

I did a tiny bit of shopping that day. I bought 2 oz. of Cotswold roving to sample at one of the farms. Friends in Fiber was vending and I bought my first rolags from her! I also picked 2 mini batts - one of llama and one of mohair, also new fibers to me. There was a vendor with large bags of white roving. I wish I had asked about price - I wouldn't mind having a sweater's worth of fiber to spin!

The next weekend was the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival. I didn't go this year, but I sent in an entry to the handmade competition. The featured item this year was cowls. I knitted the Scalloped Ruff by Pam Powers out of a merino/alpaca/cashmere blend. A week after the festival, I received it back in the mail, along with a third place ribbon!! I'm pretty excited to have won a ribbon for the second year in a row!

(I'm sorry that I don't have a decent picture of it. I'll try to get on that today!)

Finally, this past weekend was the New England Fiber Festival. This is my first time attending this event, and I went with a local knitting friend. We left early and arrived just before the doors opened. We had a lot of fun and bought a lot!!! I totally stuck to my list, except for one skein of sock yarn (and we all know that sock yarn doesn't count as stash!)

Here's the stash: A sweater's worth of yarn, Shetland fiber and sock yarn, all from Tucker Woods. A sock spinning kit from Bitsy Knits (who is AWESOME with the customer service!), 2 oz. of merino/silk/camel to spin, and a braid of Rambouillet from Gnomespun.

All the Tucker Woods Goodness!

 I wanted to take a moment to compare/contrast Rhinebeck and the New England Festival, because there's been a lot of that going on on some of the Rav boards. New England was great for shopping. The Festival takes place in a HUGE building and booths are set up in a grid system with plenty of aisle room. It actually feels like shopping in a giant yarn mall. I think there were almost 200 vendors there, so plenty of shopping options! There was plenty of yarn and fiber, a number of rug hooking vendors, and, I think, a decent number of weaving vendors. There were opportunities to learn to spin and a few demonstrations throughout the day. Food choices were limited, but tasty and reasonably priced. The vendors, although they seemed to be tired at the end of festival season, had the time to really talk to customers, and we had several really nice conversations! This is an easy day trip for me, so I could definitely see it becoming a regular event for me.

Where the New England festival fails is the atmosphere. First of all, its inside. There's just something about shopping for yarn in the fresh air that makes me happy! Because its indoors, there's a lot less wooly fashion to admire. No one is wearing hats, scarves, or fingerless mitts inside. And although there were a few animals present, there were no animal shows - no sheep dog trials, or llama limbo, or sheep shows. Sure, there are no crazy crowds, but there's also was very little stopping strangers to admire their knitwear, or bonding while standing in line.

Rhinebeck has all the things that New England lacks. Plus, it has some of the bigger vendors that I would love to see in person again - Loop!, Fiber Optic, and Into the Whirled to name a few. It also has way better food vendors - lamb burgers are totally the appropriate fiber festival food! And, as another podcaster put it, Rhinebeck is yarn prom! The big kicker for me and Rhinebeck though, is the surrounding area. I LOVED the weekend I spent in the Hudson Valley last year. I loved dining at the CIA and touring the historical houses. I hope to go next year with my husband and hike the Walkway over the Hudson.

Some of the Festival Atmosphere at Rhinebeck

So, final analysis - for pure shopping, go to the New England Fiber Festival. It's much easier to browse, it's no problem to think about your purchases and go back to vendors, and there's plenty of room to breathe and move. For Festival atmosphere and a whole weekend of Autumnal beauty, site-seeing opportunities and the chance to make new friends, head to Rhinebeck. (Plus, Tucker Woods will only be vending at Rhinebeck from now on!) Wow, this turned into a really long post!!!! I'm glad to share my purchases with you here though! I hope the next time I record I'll be able to share the knitting and the spinning!

Not Even a Picture

Hi everyone! I did, in fact, record last week. But I was in such a rush that I'm kind of spastic and ridiculous, so I'm not going to post it! Last week was the last week of school and I spent the time frantically knitting washcloths, weaving in ends of cowls, wrapping presents, writing thank you notes and attending various end of school year activities. You can see pictures of all the things on my Ravelry page. Plus, on Thursday, we had one of my oldest friends and her family over for dinner. ALL of the kids behaved wonderfully and we were able to have a great visit. They stayed until 10, which meant the kids were pretty tired the next day! Thankfully, it was a half day of school and they were spending most of the time outside for a popsicle party. They all napped after lunch though, because we hosted a neighborhood ice cream party that night. As you can see, the week was pretty exhausting! I also received some awesome birthday presents! My dear husband gave me an Ashford Competition lazy kate and a super cute wpi/diz/twist angle tool! My MIL paid for some fiber braids that I ordered from Camelot Dyeworks. One is 100% Merino in blues, whites and greys called "Cinderella" and the other is red, white and blue superwash merino/bamboo/nylon appropriately called "July". July will be my wheel spinning for Tour de Fleece, and I hope to wind up with a sock weight yarn. Today is the first official day of summer vacation (because the weekend doesn't count). Our old town has school this week, so we're headed there this afternoon to visit teachers and play with old friends after school. We'll finish up the day by having dinner with my in-laws. Tomorrow we'll be busy packing because we leave Wednesday (sans DH and oldest child) for a 10 day visit with my parents. BUSY!!!!! So, short story long, don't know when I'll record next. It might not be until fall! I'll try to keep you updated one way or another on the knitting and spinning, but I promise nothing. To those of you whom I owe an email (you know who you are!), I'm sorry! I hope to get to it soon! Happy knitting!

Episode 10: Good Morning!

Episode 10: Good Morning! from Dorothy Minear on Vimeo.

Episode 9: Where I Talk Too Fast

Episode 9: Where I Talk Too Fast from Dorothy Minear on Vimeo.

Episode 8: Long Time, No See

Episode 8: Long Time, No See from Dorothy Minear on Vimeo.

Radio Silence

Hello there!

As you've probably noticed, there hasn't been a new episode in a couple of weeks. I was hoping to get to it this week, but it's probably not going to happen.

Real life is taking up a lot of my time lately - house stuff, spring cleaning, gardening, and kids' activities have me pretty busy, and I just haven't wanted to take the time away from all of that to record.

I hope no one takes it personally. I know there are about 50 of you out there who watch the show, and I really appreciate it! I appreciate the emails and PMs too. But right now, I need to focus on the rest of my life. 

In other things, I wanted to comment on the events of the Boston Marathon this year. I was out of town last week, but feel no less effected by the tragic bombings at the finish line. I LOVE the Boston Marathon. If my kids were slightly older, I would totally take them into town to cheer on the runners. Because that's what Marathon Monday is about. The crowd at the Marathon is 100% positive. Everyone is super polite and happy to be there. EVERYONE cheers on the runners. Strangers will walk along exhausted runners, encouraging them to finish the race. It's a great crowd, and it really sucks that people tried to ruin that.

Jerks.

Okay, that's my rant of the day.

I hope I'll find time to record soon, but if I don't, I hope you'll understand.

Thanks, and happy knitting!

Episode 7: Constant Interruptions

Episode 7 from Dorothy Minear on Vimeo.


Show Notes:

On the Needles:

• Feather and Fan Dishcloth knit with Sugar and Creme Cotton
• Cedar Leaf Shawlette by Alana Dakos, knit with Ball and Skein yarn on size 7 needles
• Swatch for Dark and Stormy by Thea Coleman

Finished Object:

• Scalloped Ruff by Pam Powers knit with Bristol Yarns King George Yarn

Spinning:

• Still working on the Loop! Batt
• Dyed my own wool with Wilton Food Coloring
• The Easter Bunny brought Merino Top in the Jelly Beans colorway from Knitty in Color