Rediscovery is what happens when you know something, put it on the back burner long enough to have it be a distant memory and then one day, jerk it back to the front of the line. Case in point, I am spinning again. No, not just spinning in circles but sitting down with a little foot action and spinning yarn. There is something magical about the whole thing, taking something very organic and tactile (soft downy wool) and making something very useful. The whole experience is so quixotic but yet practical at the same time.

I have plans for the yarn, unlike my previous encounters with the wheel. I want to knit socks from my own handspun. Guess I should first learn to knit socks although Alissa tells me that she just “has” her handspun yarn. No need to plan for its use, having it is satisfaction enough. That is part of the magic I presume….. just having it. Forget justification, forget the need to explain.

I contemplated a new wheel last fall and bought 2 or 3 fleeces with the objective that once spun, I could say that I am back in the game and viable.

 At that time, the purchase of a new spinning wheel would be in the realm of good judgment and a sound investment. I held off on the purchase until last Saturday. At that time, Susan (Sassy Spinster) says “hey Sherry, that new Louet Julia is here. Want to give it a try?” Try it I did and buy it I did. I have even purchased 8 oz of dyed wool and done a fair bit of spinning. Did I rush home and dye up the 20-30 lbs of fine wool roving stashed in the storeroom? Absolutely not, says I. This woman is determined to win the contest…… you know, she who dies with the most….. dies with the most! 

So, here I am, neglecting my work by spinning yarn. I have yet to do the books on MSWF, get more than 30# of yarn dyed or knit on any of the 4 projects still on the needles, but, I have spun at least 8 oz of wool in the last 5 days. I hold my head high and offer no apologies. I am woman….. hear me defend.

Now I can go to Second Saturday and do something other than pull out my knitting needles, engage in conversation and then frog the knitting. It is such a good time that it really doesn’t matter much if I feel productive at the end of the day because I get to talk fiber, play with fiber and have a nice lunch all in the same day. Come join our little group sometime. I will be the one sporting a brand new Louet.  

PS to Clara….. Gray haired fiber woman can learn a new word now and again!

is all that I could say when we arrived in West Friendship, Maryland. The months of planning, dyeing, reskeining, and labeling had prepared us for the big push into 2008. Since there are fiber festivals and then there are “Fiber Festivals, nothing can quite prepare you for the shear number of vendors, customers, animals and opportunities as the MSWF. And, where else in the country will people stand in line for hours for Tshirts? No where that I have seen.

The 2008 festival finds us with Dena, Crystal, Randall and Mama Duck (the dyer) accompanied by a new face in the crowd. Alissa Barton, The KnittingFairy, arrived armed with her comfortable shoes and a head full of knitting knowledge. How did we get so lucky, I asked myself? If you needed to know…. how much will it take or how do I adapt this pattern, Alissa had the answer. Thank you Alissa for all your help hanging yarn, writing tickets and answering all those questions. I am sure our customers appreciated you as much as we did.

Years ago, Dena raised the question concerning the number of people we take to the show to help and how it relates to the amount of yarn that Randall hangs when getting set up. Since that time we have all noticed that when there are 2, 3, or 4 of us performing that particular task, Randall will find other ways of passing the time…. doing what Randall does best…… visiting, advising, or entertaining our neighboring booths.

 In all fairness, he does get us there….. driving a large truck and pulling an 18’ trailer 12-14 hour a day, set up the tent mostly by himself and good naturedly puts up with the whims of 2-4 women on a daily basis. Randall’s unspoken duty is being responsible for iced down beer at the end of a hard day. We can count on him for this about…hmm ……… about 75% of the time. I must admit that this chore would be easier if he didn’t have to remember who likes what kind of beer!

Aside from ”mule”  duty, Randall is also in charge of finding comfortable and interesting eating opportunities while on the road. Recently, while at home and discussing our road trips with another long time Lancaster resident, I was asked if we ever went to Maryland and did we like crab cakes. My answer was yes to both and at the same time we both jumped on the words….. G&M! G&M is to crab cakes what Campisi’s was to Dallas pizza for years; an institution,  the place to go…. the place to wait in line no matter how long (not for T shirts!), the place to eat when in town. This trip was no exception. G&M does not disappoint in crab cake department.

Our other interesting dining experience was to a place that shall remain “nameless” so as not to offend any locals. Don’t get me wrong, the food is fine and we always have the best of wait staff to take care of us for the evening. What is interesting is the décor/atmosphere of the place…. Sort of reminds us of a very sedate, proper, quiet………..funeral home. This time we took a few pictures…. All the way down to the very “pink” ladies room.

 If you are put off by the “funeral home” aspect of the description, it could also be called “very 70’s country club” in style. Not nearly as funny in retrospect but appropriate as well. Judge for yourself….

Nothing is more calming and tranquil than PINK, right?

The BFY table was slightly less sedate than the rest of the diners. After a little wine, we struck up a conversation with a couple seated nearby. By the time that dinner was over, we were laughing like old friends with a gentleman called “Spoon” and his wife, who admitted to renewing their wedding vows at this establishment. If they minded our comparison of the restaurant to a funeral home, they didn’t show it. This was truly an enjoyable evening after a long hard day.

With a couple of exceptions (please see previous post!), this trip was loads of fun and certainly a memorable one.  We  look forward to 2009 when we will most assuredly have some new and interesting things in the booth….. you see, Randall and Alissa are already planning!

is not my usual mode of operation. It has always been my opinion (instilled by Mom) that if there is something you don’t want to do…… do it first! Somehow, that philosophy has failed me in the last week. I left for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival full of hope for no rain, customers who had not forgotten us and no mishaps or truck failures while in route. I got it all, just as requested. We arrived unscathed, customers remembered and visited us once again and despite all the long range forecasts, no rain dampened our enthusiasm.What was not expected, hoped for or wanted was to encounter a person (one and only one person) who would cause more disappointment, sadness and utter outrage than I ever thought possible at a fiber festival. It appears that someone felt the beautiful orange shawl displayed across from the Primero yarn was destined to be their own. It did not matter that it did not belong to them. In fact, it did not belong to me. This work of art was graciously lent to me by Clara Parkes, of Knitters Review. We proudly displayed it, albeit briefly, and were excited to be able to share it with our customers. In a matter of minutes on Saturday morning, the shawl was whisked away. My urge to cry was only overcome by the urgent need “to do something”. Unfortunately, announcements over the loud speaker system and reports to security and the Howard County Sheriff’s Department were not enough. The shawl is gone and I personally will never be entirely secure in my thought that “fiber people would not do such a thing”.

Every new year brings me a new resolve in many areas of my life. Please note that I do not use the term “resolutions”.  This year was no exception. Most of the things I want to change or improve remain a silent visitor to my head and never escape my lips. This way I never have to admit to defeat or procrastination. I also don’t get bragging rights either. Here I go, getting off track early in the post.

One of my areas of resolve this year includes reconnecting with old friends and making time for myself away from the farm. You know, social kind of things. Dena would swear this will never happen but occasionally I like to surprise her. We started the year with Roc Day at Heritage Arts. I know, this was months ago but I’ve been busy! It was fun to spend the day with fiber minded folks and feed my recent inclinations to go  back to the spinning wheel. I think I may be in love with the idea of buying a new spinning wheel and am trying make it sound reasonable …..rationale  needed!  Again I digress. It was a fun day, good food, nice people and a lot of excitement for the new year. No new wheel  for me but I have scoured 3 fleeces purchased from Barbara Burrows-Renfro at Kid n Ewe.

Another step in this re-socialization of Sherry was last week at Second Saturday on the Square in Lancaster, Texas. This is the time and place for the monthly meeting of the long standing Over The Wheel Gang. What started out as a group of spinners has developed into a large group of spinners, knitters, crocheters, weavers or just lovers of all crafts, who meet once a month and share their recent purchases, new techniques or ideas, prize fleeces or finished objects.

This last Saturday was no exception. Bright sunshine helped warm us in the brisk breeze as we sat, talked, knitted and enjoyed some of the music being performed on the Square.

The very best thing about the whole event is that it is now held in front of Lancaster’s very own fiber shop, The Sassy Spinster, owned and operated by Susan Filgo.

 We are so lucky to have her and look forward to the exciting things to come from Susan and her shop. Stop by and say hi to Susan and Bobbin, the shop guard dog. Watch your step, he may appear to be a soft bundle of fiber at the foot of the spinning wheel just waiting to spun into something glorious.

Susan is living her dream on the north side of the Towne Square, Tuesday through Saturday at the Sassy Spinster . Follow the signs or come by on a Second Saturday and join in on the fun.

In fact, this coming Saturday, there will be an impromptu meeting of the OTWG and a benefit event for Autism on the Square.  Come and  meet “the gang”,   Bobbin and Susan.  You can browse the  art work, shop for antiques, check out the new “Sassy Spinster”  and hear Janie Fricke sing some cuts from her new CD.  The weather should be beautiful.  Hope to see you there.

is what we had over this last weekend.  Dena and I took a “short” road trip and had a great time at the DFW Fiber Festival in Addison. 

Things got off to an ominous start on Thursday afternoon.  I somehow forgot to jot down the address to the conference center and had to call for directions while Randall showed a wee bit of impatience.  Great directions and a little trailer backing magic and we were unloaded and ready to get to work. I think we did the set up in record time and had a well deserved  dinner by 9 pm.  No hitches and nary an argument between the dyer and the mule (Randall’s self proclaimed title)!  Truly a red letter day in my book.

Armed with lots of yarn and even more enthusiasm, we had a good time visiting with some old customers and making the acquaintance of new ones. It was even more fun to put faces with Ravelry name tags. It feels like one very large family reunion where everyone is touching base with long lost cousins! This enormous community of knitters and crocheters are being brought together in ways never before thought possible and we all are benefiting. How fortunate we are to live in this day and age of instant communication.

Since yarn is such an important part of any knitters life, we saw it in every color, texture, weight and  content.  This was expected at a fiber festival, right?  What came as a big surprise was seeing yarn in this form.

or, this form…… 

or even this……. 

Any ideas?  Would you ever guess this ?

I am not sure whether this guy had “way” too much yarn in his stash or just “way” too much time on his hands.  Should any of you be wondering what happens when it rains, never fear….. acrylic yarn and velcro are a perfect match.  Mud, on the other hand is a different story altogether. No quick trips to the carwash for this fellow.

Aside from all the yarn, tools, accessories, classes and the opportunity to get to know other vendors and customers, the next most memorable thing for me were the hard working and gracious board members who went out of their way to make  vendors and customers alike feel welcome.  My hat is off to this group.  You all did a great job and we hope to see you again next year.

The BFY gang!

since we last talked.  My how things change in such a short period of time. Since the snow and ice, we have had some of this…..

and wind high enough to threaten my honeysuckle tower.  Thankfully, Randall came up with a “substantial” anchor until we can find a more aesthetically pleasing solution. 

Let’s just say that we are in good shape until the 50 mph winds decide to blow from the north.  Oh my gosh, we will need two more of these lovlies.

Spring has been very busy around the farm. Lots of yarn to dye and pack while construction continues to demand attention.  We evidently won a contest of who can hire the most inattentive and incompetent of people to erect steel buildings.  Here we are pushing into April and still we do not have completed buildings.  We are most grateful that the studio is far enough along that Randall can begin the framing for the walls.  Yea! Progress at long last.

Dena and I also discovered the covered breezeway of the new shop area is great for things like laying out a booth space and doing inventory of yarns. Last weekend, we marked off our booth for the DFW Fiber Festival and went through what seemed like hundreds of containers before loading the trailer for DFW.  How nice to have a covered area and concrete under our feet.  At times, skeins of yarn  seem to jump from racks to the ground.  Can’t imagine how many times we have had to rescue yarn from the elements. 

 Here is the yarn not packed for the upcoming festival…… all of this is left for Maryland Sheep and Wool next month.

Tomorrow is shearing day for the goats and Thursday we are off to Addison for the DFW Festival.  It will be good to see some old friends and make the aquaintance of new ones during the 3 day event.  I hope some of you out there will be close enough to come by and say “Hi”.  If you are reading this before the show and post a comment by 10pm on Thursday, I will hold one of our discount coupons for you. Let us know who you are! 

a day makes.  Two days ago I was contemplating removing the ferns from the house and letting them enjoy the sunshine and 70 degree temps.  The thought of turning the hose on them and washing away the winter dust was almost overpowering.  Boy am I glad that I didn’t.  We got a really good dusting of this……

BTW, I haven’t fallen off the edge of the earth (maybe over the edge of sanity)  but have just been in a state of mind that says I must organize, clean, plan, and enjoy getting back to work.  Since I don’t consider writing work, it has taken a back seat in the recent days.

Make no mistake, Stitches West was the all important start to our new show year and it deserves more attention than my CRS memory can provide.  How can I go back 2 weeks….. easy, take a look at these. 

This coral beauty is an adaptation of a Filatura di Crosa pattern done in approximately 2 1/2 skeins of Primero. The design is exquisite and the knitting was awesome.

Barbara completed this stunning, Victorian inspired cardigan,  Colette by White Lies, done in a variegated Riata.  Well done, Barbara!

Betsy used approximately 3 skeins of Primero for this beautiful cardigan, a Knitty.com pattern called Cinxia.  She was gracious enough to let us display it while she shopped the Market Place.  You are a class act Betsy!

We were also visited by an old friend, Sandra, who stopped by to share many of her latest creations.  Take a look at this magnificent wedding shawl with matching bag that incorporated some of our Acero. 

Beyond the yarn, the colors, the awesome FO’s provided by our customers, I hate to admit that next on my list of memorable events during our trip has to be, what else, FOOD!  We did a couple of nights of splendid eating and drinking.  Sorry, the photo of a first in my lifetime and Dena’s is on her cellphone.  We had our very first Martinis.  Being  virgin martini drinkers, I asked the bartender to recommend something.  He decided that we were the “fruity” type of Vodka Martini drinkers.  He obviously didn’t know us well and that was the absolute last time I will leave my drinking choices up to a barely 30 yr old bartender.  Uck!  Can’t handle sweet!  The bad thing is that I did determine that I like mine “dirty”……. so much better with the olive brine added sans the “fruit” flavor.  It is only bad because I had two martinis instead of one!  Regardless, dinner at Vito’s in San Jose is a regular stop for us.  Such fun going back to some of the same places year after year. This is especially true when they remember where you sat the year before.  Now if he can just remember “no fruity martini” for me.  And did I mention….. the food was great.

Another good find was The Fish Market Restuarant.  The fact that it is a small CA chain was unkown to us at the time but the seafood was delicious and the flourless chocolate cake was the most delicious thing EVER….. kick your shoes off and sit back and just feel the chocolate haze envelop you….delicious.  Wow…I want some now.

Next on the agenda is a local show.   We will be off to the DFW Fiber Festival, April 4-6, to play in our own backyard.  For those of you in the area on those dates, please stop by and say “HI”.  Until then, here’s wishing us all a speedy spring.

Your friends at BFY…. 

This short little non-word speaks volumes. Feeling like a seasoned, cold weather traveler, we arrived in Pittsburgh and did the back breaking set up with a minimum of difficulties. Somehow, Randall and I even managed to avoid our usual squabbles about where to put the yarn racks. This task tends to make me want a very large margarita! 

The cold weather was just a nuisance until time to pack up and go home. It was 6 degrees with high winds at 530 pm on Sunday evening. When we did get it all packed up and moved to a back door, Randall headed out to hook up and bring the trailer to the door. Within a very few minutes I meet him coming back into the hotel with coffee cup in hand. I know he has a tendency to stop and chat but really….. this is no time for a coffee break. As I see him heading to the men’s room, I casually ask the obvious question. No, he isn’t warming up with a cup of coffee in the bathroom. He needs a large cup of warm water to “un-freeze” the trailer lock. First time for everything! Two and a half hours of packing and loading in the extreme weather left us exhausted and wondering if we are getting just too old to do this.

Despite the weather, there were so many wonderful customers who seems truly appreciative of our yarns and our many miles of travel in order to attend the show. Attendance was so high in fact that next years show will have a new location, Four Points by Sheraton. More room will be a welcome sight. The vendors were comfortable enough when gathered about for set up, but, add several hundred people in the aisles and it was a bit close!

I also want to take this opportunity to share a few things. We had Chris (please pardon me if I have misspelled your name) come by to show us her Acero socks. My photographic skills don’t do justice to the intricate pattern in these socks. I am embarrassed to say that my own, plain, basic Acero socks are still waiting on me to get better and finish the heel turning.

Susan Wilson also stopped by to show us her shawl from an issue of Interweave  Knits. She had only one skein of Duet and shortened the pattern to make this lovely piece. I quit writing too soon when she gave me the name of the pattern…..thinking my memory would fill in the blank. If you are interested in the pattern and a challenge, the name of the pattern was “Logan” and something I am sure should have been remembered.

While Jeanie was not at the show, she recently sent us a picture of her project, an outstanding Duet version of Cheryl Oberle’s Wool Peddlers Shawl .This is so beautiful in the photo and I am sure it is even more so in person.  I asked Jeanie to bring it when she comes to Kid n`Ewe this next year but I think we will have to wait and see if Jeanie’s mom lets it out of her sight.

That’s about it for now. I am gathering some pictures of the construction progress and trying to think of a “kind” way to describe how the steel structures could have possibly taken nearly 8 wks and still not be finished. While these two buildings seem huge to us, they are certainly not warehouse sized and one of them doesn’t even require they do the walls. Geez……..go figure!

if there are circumstances that occur that seem to be saying…..”don’t do that” and I just refuse to listen. This is our 3^rd year to have the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet show on our list. The first year it came immediately after Stitches West. Yes, we had to travel from CA to PA in 4 days and be set up and ready to go in Pittsburgh by Friday morning. We gave it our best shot. This trek across the upper west and Midwest of the US was the first time that I questioned my sanity. Unknown to this duo of the highways, Interstate 80 can be treacherous during blowing snowstorms. We crept along and left behind a bevy of 18 wheelers blown off the highway and sitting on the sides of the road and in the medians. This sight, combined with temps in the single digits had us wondering about our time schedule.Not to be dissuaded by a little cold and snow, we manage to get to the nation’s midsection only to have problems with the truck and have to head home by the time we reached Illinois. Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Show …1.….. Sherry and Randall …0.

while work continues. We have had such a wide range of weather in the last few weeks that scheduling work and progress on the construction has taken a bit of a hit. We went from 24 degree nights to 65 degree nights in just 3 days. The winds have howled at 40+ mph and some surprise rainstorms have hampered the construction. Can’t say that I would want to be manuervering large pieces of metal in high winds or slogging through mud and then having to climb ladders and walk on slick metal roofing. As anxious as we are, we will be patient. Randall doesn’t usually comprehend “patience” but he is trying. His idea of waiting is limited to red lights and stop signs.

The shop has made some good progress. I have visions of new dye pot stands, lighter weight racking and most of all…. my much requested iron gate  and a firepit for the patio.

Despite high winds ( imagine hot blue water blowing on the front of your overalls) creating some difficulties and having to thaw the hoses and sprayers before work, we have almost finished the yarn for February shows and Dena and I will start on the Maryland Sheep and Wool inventory this Friday.

 I particularly enjoy the view from the dye deck when I am visited by the goats across the fence (I always hope it is from the other side of the fence).

When they do manage to escape the confines of their pastures, it is generally the rose bushes that suffer the most.

In all the excitement of the construction projects, I have completely forgotten to mention that some “less than patient” does have already started the parade of kids for 2008. What fun it is to watch their antics.

Just in case you should get the idea that it is all work around the farm, I will share this picture.  We have two very young guardian dogs who have not been allowed by the granddaddy of guard dogs to assume their rightful place with the herd.

In their quest for something to guard, they will take almost anything.  Should Randall be fearful that someone will try and take his much used tractor, never fear….. Blanca has it all under control.