In about 20 minutes we're off to Vermont for wedding number, I don't know, 1247? In this, the summer of 5,000 weddings, but I couldn't leave without flashing some of the evidence of this weekend's Fiber Madness. Seriously, 20 minutes. Sadly, I am once again - even though I know the excuses are starting to wear thin - just going to abdicate to other's far, far better descriptions of this event. You can go here, here, here, here, here (oh man, you have GOT to scroll down and see Laurie's new sweater. Simply stunning.), here (yes, same blog, different post, because Julia's purchase deserved a post of it's own), here, here, here and also here. And that's just the start, because we would not take 'Rain out' as an answer. So THERE Mother Nature! Take THAT! You can flood our festivals and our barns and our basements (and oh man, did she ever flood mine), but you can NOT keep us away from our fellow Fiber Freaks. Nor, apparently can even the threat of biblical flooding keep me from buying fleeces. 'Cuz y'all know how close I am to running out of fiber in my house, right?
Meet Tuck:
Tuck is a beautiful Shetland Ewe. I met her at the fleece judging and we decided that she should come home with me.
And then there's this Corriedale guy:
To be perfectly honest, I never found out his name. He was just this incredibly beautiful, cheap, sexy, bad boy who was a little rough around the edges and a little dirty to boot. I found him hanging out in a corner, brooding. The only thing he was lacking was the cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve and a motorcycle. Admit it, you'd have taken him home too. No questions asked. Well, one. Believe it or not, I asked for a sanity check. From Mamacate. I know. It's hysterical now, but it seemed perfectly normal reasonable at the time.
Other than these two fleeces, it was apparently, the year of the silk. Hell, even the yarn I bought had silk in it:
Clockwise from top:
1&2 - Handpainted silk top and hand dyed silk hankies from Robin Russo, who was giving the silk reeling demos in one of the barns.
3 - Handpainted silk caps from Ellen's Half Pint Farms.
4 - Handpainted silk rovings by the folks at Chasing Rainbows via Morgaine (who else would giver their eye teeth to be able to have that name AND have it be fitting? love her.) at Carolina Homespun.
5 - Sapphire (and I'm not kidding about the color either, DEEEP sapphire blue) cormo silk blend from Foxfire Farms. Yes, of the cashmere silk fame. Note please that I did NOT break down and get the cashmere? No, I have no idea why either.
And from the category "Surely you made that just for me?!?!?!"
Rambouillet/Corrie/Finn handpaint bump from Spinner's Hill. I have no idea what she calls this colorway, but I'm going to call it Hot Rod because it has the EXACT color progression and intensity of perfectly painted flames on a black hot rod. I bought the whole 1 1/4 lb. bump. I had too. Just look at it.
OK, I'm off! Gotta go before I get in trouble. Again.
Riding in the car with me will be Klaralund, and this:
I love that pattern on the cover. So cute and flattering. Let us know how you like the yarn -- stunning color. Have fun!
Posted by: Kathy | May 17, 2006 at 05:55 PM
Looks like a beautiful knit you have coming. Good links, complete, and a summary for after the glow fades.
Posted by: Laurie | May 17, 2006 at 07:51 PM
Shucks, Kell.
Hot Rod indeed. Fire that baby up, dude, and see how fast it can go. I love me those flames!
Seriously, I've thought about it for the mini van. A Town and Country with mag wheels and hood flames. What d'ya think?
Posted by: julia fc | May 17, 2006 at 08:56 PM
Um, I was there, and I'm still wayyy impressed. :)
Posted by: elisa | May 17, 2006 at 10:23 PM
oh my. That last picture made this update worth the wait. It seriously does look like it was made for you...and I can't wait to see what it looks like spun up. (though I can and will wait, as this is the year of the wedding...)
I had you on my list of "safe" people to wander around Cummington; now I am rethinking that plan. (or, rather, my bank account is rethinking that plan...)
Posted by: Kristen | May 17, 2006 at 10:48 PM
oooohhhh I want to make that top, too. It's going to be beautiful in that color.
must. knit. faster.
Posted by: JessaLu | May 18, 2006 at 01:17 PM
That's quite the nice haul you got. The Hot Rod is the BEST! I didn't score any of the silk pods, but watched her do the demo three times. It was a great time up there!
Posted by: Dave Daniels | May 19, 2006 at 10:03 AM
Mmmm... silk. Yum yum yum. Maybe I wanna come over to your house and just roll around in the fiber for a while...
Posted by: Chris | May 19, 2006 at 07:21 PM
OMG. That Spinner's Hill roving is to DIE for. WOW!
Posted by: Beth S. | May 30, 2006 at 04:42 PM