Chatter

I spent part of the day at my spinning wheel and am all blissed out from it.  Tomorrow:  back to work, pay bills, see what's grown on my desk since I left town.  Life is good.

When I left last week, I needed to start a new project (a favorite word:  need), so I opted for something fun and mindless.  Another shawl, a la the Malabrigo shawl pattern, is about to be born, this one knitted from Aracaunia's Pagatonia, the multicolored, thick and thin cotton yarn I love so much.  It's flying along on size 10 needles, and I should be starting the ruffle by tomorrow evening.  This is being knit with the optimism that spring and summer are on their way.  Not that I can't already tell...our driveway is already about 3-4" of mud and it hasn't even begun to be mud season yet.  (I am thinking leaving town this spring sounds better and better all the time.)

Speaking of leaving town, I'm hoping to get to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this May...finally.  This has been a long time dream, and now that our sweet Bennie is living back there, I have double the reason for getting on the road again.  I'm going fleece hunting!  Yay!  Be sure and pass on your favorite things to do there, so I'll have some recommendations in my pocket when I get there. 

The Babette Blanket pieces are all finished and waiting for me to spend an evening or two assembling the last section and sewing all the sections together.  This feels good.  I have started to crochet another blanket; this one is the Hexagon blanket from the Babette and Hexagon blanket group on Ravelry (photo is from Ravelry).  The blocks are from a book published in Japan, which I ordered on line, with the help of a blogger who lives in Japan (Moonstitches).  The book is called "Crochet Motif Item" and is ISBN978-4-415-10365-5.  It was around $10.00 US and if you order three of them, shipping is free.  Can't beat that!  Her blog site has a cool tutorial on how to assemble the blocks as you make each one...once again sparing me the possibility of dying someday and my kids finding bags of crocheted blocks and wondering what the heck I was up to (not that they don't wonder that now). 

The fund raiser for my friend HollyEQQ is picking up steam on a daily basis.  The yarn challenge presented by Lexi Boeger through the Yarn Museum was a success and the winning yarn is now featured for auction on the Circlin the Wagons for Holly page of Sandy Ryan's web store, Homestead Wool and Gift Farm.  There are actually three pages of yarns, fibers, and finished garments for sale or auction...all for a great cause...and at super prices.  If you're a fan of art yarns, or are looking for a present for someone who is, check them all out sooner than later...this is a rare opportunity to get yarns and fibers from these fiber artists at such reduced cost...not to mention that you're helping someone who truly does need us right now.

Donations are arriving daily at Homestead, so keep checking in if you don't see something that grabs you on the first peek...or bid against me on the 1 lb. bag of fiber, just for the fun of it!  ---Martie