Ryan Seacrest is entirely too tan

FIRST! THE FIBER FEST!

So, as you may know, I purchased a Fall fiber share from the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm, and this past weekend was their Spring sheep shearing festival. Here's what I have to say about that.

Susan Gibbs is my hero. She decided she wanted to be a shepherd, so she just... became a shepherd (it was THAT EASY, too!) She's the kind of down to earth that you don't realize is missing from so many people until you see it again, and she's funny and was so welcoming and sweet to us, and thankful that we bought shares into her business without really even knowing what we'd be getting. For some reason, I simply didn't have any doubt at all that it would be quality. But really, it wasn't just a fiber fest, it was a full on love fest as well. Starting, of course, with the star of the day, Basil, 2 months old (and HUGE):

Basil and I have a little snuggle:



Jess is in her element:



The handsome Roquefort:



Roquefort and I totally making out:



Ken and our charge for the week, Sandy (with whom I have fallen in love and almost cried when we had to give her back to Ken's mom Sunday). Yes, that's a mohawk. Because I can, and because she let me.



Look how fluffy she is! I LOVE this dawg.



Nothing like a man and his (mom's) dog



So, you may be wondering what the yarn looks like- the stuff that comes from those wacky animals on Martha's Vineyard. Well, I happened to get a skein! This is a GORGEOUSLY soft worsted weight in an incredible variegated green called Parsley. I insist you all go immediately to Susan's Etsy store and buy some for yourself.

The current combination of this yarn and size 7 circulars is producing the Sofia Cowl from One Skein Wonders with it, designed by Jessie Dotson.



Also on the needles is a plain vanilla pair of socks, knit in one of my favorites, Austermann Step, with a Trekking XXL heel and toe just for the hell of it.



And finally, the finished Eyelet Swirl socks (that rock.)

Okay now this is just crazy talk. It's been a long time since I've updated, and I even have a couple things to FO off. I don't feel I have anything particularly interesting to say, so I'll just break the block by putting up some pics. It's been pretty busy, though, I gotta say. The weather gets a bit warmer (FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST THANK GOD), little sprouts start springing up (see figs. A and B), my back gets a little worse, then a little better, and people in my department start using their vacation time, selfishly leaving me with more work to do. Don't they think of ME when they are making their plans? Inconsiderate...

fig. A


fig. B


But look at that sprouting! And these pictures were taken about 2 weeks ago. There are actual FLOWERS now! Or, at least, little flashes of purple, if not full flowers.


In knitterly news, I've completed my Embossed Leaves socks, which I knit with the Trekking XXL I got from Ariel last Christmas, and which have become my favorite socks. Heh... I just got that...






In addition, I've started on my second pair of Socks That Rock, mediumweight, in the Socktopus colorway (you remember good old Socktopus... she used to be so innocent...) This isn't an established pattern of any kind, I just took a stitch I liked from the Vogue Stitchionary Vol 1 called Eyelet Swirls, I converted it to knitting in the round, figured out the gauge and started knitting. This was a bit tougher than usual, given that the mediumweight is really too thick to use on usual sock patterns, and not quite thick enough to alter them by removing a full repeat of normal patterns. This pattern makes the socks a bit on the large size, but I'm okay with that. They're slouchy. :)






And finally, the most recent papercutting I've done. I've been holding back on the papercuttings, mainly because I'm having trouble finding the kind of paper I want to use, and also, trouble finding suitable frames. I got this image somewhere on the web. Couldn't find an owner for it, so I just printed it and cut it.

No real spinning news, mainly because I've too many projects and not enough bobbins. I desperately need more bobbins to spin my way out of the rut I'm in. I simply have nowhere to spin anything TO. Must resolve that issue... And fast!