Purling Oaks

Fiber Fair recount

The Midwest Fiber and Folk Fair was great.  Vendors were both inside and outside of the McHenry County College facility.  Charlynn and I were able to catch up with each other as well as engage in some quality fiber shopping.  Charlynn purchased her first spinning wheel.  *evil laughter*  (Yes, Stacey, she blames me.)  She also started knitting her first pair of socks.  Here's a summary photo of Charlynn's purchases (minus her Kromski Minstral wheel)  My work here is complete.......

Oh, well, you want me to tell you what I bought at the Fair?  I did spend quite a bit of time with Elf and Sandy at Red Fish Dye Works.  Two fun, yet incredibly calm women.....as well as talented in the dye department.  Here's the bed-full of my loot. 
My camera doesn't do justice to the Red Fish yarn and roving (oh, and hankies).  I love the llama cookie cutter.  The Rust Tex tube and CD are a kit for dyeing with metals.  The booth had some lovely results; I hope I can come close to reproducing them.  Stitch-markers, silk roving, alpaca black and white fiber, cotton fiber for towels, weaving tool, and a few other items. 

The new Crocs performed well and my feet were happy despite walking all day on Saturday.  We had some fun fair food including a funnel cake.  YUM.  Charlynn's neck and shoulders seized up so we also enjoyed the chair massages offered.  It was a fun visit that was far too short.

DH had some fun in a local trout stream on Saturday so tonight we enjoyed brook trout for dinner.  Delicious!  I'm living right, I suppose.

Soaked Saturday

I think Mother Nature likes balance but I wonder if she is working on balance somewhere else besides North America.  We've had probably over 4 inches of rain this week in Wisconsin, while my friends on the left coast are suffering with none.  Perhaps the balance is that we are all less than happy with the situation.

My brother and his sons are in Wisconsin for a quick visit so DH and I will be in the Fox Valley for a day then back home to host a small family gathering on Sunday.  I don't have much in the way of knitting content so I'll share a few other fun things.

I won Kim's contest and my loot winnings arrived this week.  I'm looking forward to knitting two socks on one needle.  Perhaps that will be the key to me having more socks.  :D  I'm really enjoying the sandwich cookbook.  I love old cookbooks and this one has a copyright of 1941, so it is older than I am.  I'm going to try a few of these recipes, especially the ones for fancy bread in the beginning.  Maybe not the prune bread though........

Here are the purchases I made a short while ago in Mayville at Loose Ends Yarn Shop.   All of my goodies were locally made.  Michele made the bag from upholstery book samples and adorned it with buttons  The yarn is handspun and is really a coral pink.  It changes in different lighting.  I don't know the yardage but I fell in love with it and had to have it.  The pin was also crafted in Wisconsin. 

Contest call and vacation time sinks

How did it get to be Sunday all ready?! 

Have you entered the contest yet?  Or two more times?  If you haven't, all you have to do is comment on this post (or other recent post) as an easy way or go back to the contest announcement post if you have tips for making your studio or knitting or crafting area more comfortable and/or organized.  I'm giving away three prizes and you have to enter by midnight tonight to win!  Hurry!

On Thursday, I joined up with my DSIL and DMIL (surprise!) to visit Loose Ends Yarn Shop in Mayville.  It was a lovely drive from Oconomowoc.  We had a lovely visit at the shop.  It is very charming, has lots of great yarn, and is full of creative ideas.  Besides, Michele was very fun to talk with!   I know Anne and I will be back there!  I purchased a charming bag, a cool pin, and some handspun that I'll have to share with you later due to lazy blogger syndrome.

After the funeral in Omro, we spent the night at the cottage in Oshkosh and finished cleaning the basement on Friday morning.  Saturday was a bit lazy as I read a book and plurked.  There was a bit of laundry cleaned and dried, too.  Plurking is fun but I'm am going to have to be careful that it doesn't become a gargantuan timesink!  Gah!

Today will be spent trying to catch up with a few things before I start work again tomorrow.  I'm heading to northwestern Wisconsin tomorrow.  The drive is very nice and I'm looking forward to it as a nice way to start a Monday.  Especially after a vacation.  Have a great day everyone and remember to enter the contest today!

Tourist thread finds

I had less time for tourist-type activities Thursday than I originally planned (darn work!) but I managed to support the local economy anyway. The bag on the right is self explanatory. The bag on the left, oh, my land, holds the results of shopping in a FOUR-story fabric store! I was definitely the wide-eyed fiber-holic in there! I shopped on the remnants floor and found some lovely black silk for tops and a nice length of a solid black wool for, hopefully, two skirts. I was smiling the entire time, I'm sure. Josephine was a marvelous help in my search for fabric and shared grest fabric care tips.

I am flying home today and expect to be knitting for a good portion of the day. Have a great Friday!

Friday's fiber fun

Friday found me in the Jeep with my DSIL Anne, Anne's SIL Meg, and Meg's Aunt Kathy venturing North seeking yarn.  Our first stop was at Yarns by Design, in Neenah, and my mom met us there to join the fun.  This shop is one of my favorite fiber merchants and the customer service is wonderful.  A few cones of Maysville cotton rug warp jumped in my basket along with Deborah Chandler's Learning to Weave.  Then I saw this sample by/from Sivia Harding.....

It is the scarf size of the Norwegian Woods pattern, knit with Sea Silk.  (I posted this photo with permission of the designer.)  The flash of the camera accented the pattern but it washed the green/gray of the yarn.  I fell in love with it.  The designer describes the design as depicting a forest progressing from winter into spring.  The pattern and some more Sea Silk came home with me.  How ever did I come to this position of having Forest Canopy and Catharina Faroese shawls on the needles, Icarus and this pattern in waiting, plus the Stacey Lace Along yarn in waiting?  I think I have a few people of influence in mind.  Thanks, really. 

See how happy I am?   That's happy not hysterical, by the way.  Here is our happy group just before leaving for lunch at the great Mexican restaurant down the block.  (clockwise, from upper left:  Meg, Kathy, Mom, Anne, Moi)







We explored a local soy soap and candle shop, then hugged Mom goodbye so she could go home and let the dog out.  The four of us then hopped in the Jeep and impulsively headed North again, this time to Iris Fine Yarns in Appleton.  This is another great yarn store, also with great customer service.  IFY carries different yarns than YBD, so visit both when you are in the area.  I came home with a little HABU silk & stainless steel yarn to experiment with as well as a complementary bamboo crochet hook!  How cool is that? 

It was a fun day filled with great conversations about knitting, blogging, Ravelry, books, and even natural dyeing.  We were able to wish Anne a happy birthday, too!  Of the five of us, I'm the only (admitted) blogger and raveler, although I think Kathy may soon join the blogging community.  I'm looking forward to our next outing.

DH has been working in Fort Lauderdale recently and has been influenced by the foods he tried during his travels.  Last night, he made picadillo and it was very tasty.   It was a nice finish to a full and fun day.

Mojo migration

Santa Clarita is still standing, for those of you wondering.  Stacey and I had a great time Thursday.  She picked me up at my DB's after her PT and we set out for the yarn and fiber stores.  First, we stopped at a great needlework shop.  Stacey made me buy a lovely painted canvas.  (photos at a later date.)  Between me and the other customers in the shop, Stacey also purchased a canvas that *ahem* fits her personality perfectly....but I'll let her share that with you. 

We had lunch at a great Philly Cheese Steak restaurant (my *first* authentic sandwich, ever).  There just happened to be a knitting shop next door, imagine that!  (I can't remember the name of the store, it is just a blur.  Stacey?)  I discovered where Cookie's pink mojo went........

Stacey has it!!!!  For a woman that has professed a hatred of pink, she was picking up pink yarn left and right.  My theory is that her cute new shirt was influencing her decisions.  We purchased some lovely Australian yarn there for a little side project in the Knitting w/Nora KAL.

Then we set out for the Weavers Cottage.  It is such a lovely place and full of yarn, fiber, hand-dyed silk, and fiber tools.  (The next time you contact Stacey, say/type "loom."  She needs a little help making a decision.)  We both left that location with big bags and big smiles.  I'll share my booty with you later.

Stacey joined me and my family for dinner.  We had venison haunch on the grill, vegies, and birthday cake.  Stacey's birthday is Saturday and my DB's is next week, so we had an early celebration for them both.    This wasn't her birthday gift but she really liked it! 

I hugged Stacey goodbye this morning since we did engage in a few beverages last night.  *grin*  It was a fun night.  She's just as fun in person as she is when she blogs...maybe even more so.  I'm *so* glad we were able to get-together during my visit.   I'm sure this won't be the last time we see each other.  *Happy Birthday* to you, Stacey.  Have fun with your presents, girlfriend.

Road trip finds

Saturday was indeed a great day for a road trip.  Mom and I traveled to Yarns by Design in Neenah, Wisconsin, to find the yarn we want to use for our upcoming faroese shawl class in April.   I decided on Cascade 220 superwash in a muted green.  Mom chose a very pretty creamy Lambs Pride. 

There is a marvelous selection of yarns in this shop and very nice people to help you with whatever you need.  We decided to stick with thicker yarn to produce results faster with, hopefully, less frustration since this is our first venture into lace knitting.  As I mentioned, we were helped with whatever we needed (or perhaps I should say desired), so I happened to look at a nice rigid heddle loom.  *ahem*  I'll pick it up in April when I attend my class.

Also at Yarns by Design on Saturday were Diane Sanvidge Seckar and her mother, Helen Sanvidge.  Diane and her sisters authored Apple Betty and Sloppy Joe about growing up in Oshkosh with classic recipes and incredible funny narration from each sister about growing up with their parents. 

Diane and Helen are delightful and the book is great.  I spoke with my mother this afternoon and she said she was almost finished reading her copy of the book.  She said she was really enjoying the book.  Helen and Diane also offered us lemon bars and Helen's own recipe granola bars (pictured on the table near the book).  Delicious!  I am so happy they agreed to be fodder photographed for the blog.   Buy their book*...the recipes are Midwestern classics in the tradition of those wonderful church recipe collections but with much more humor and polish!

After our purchases, it was time for lunch!  We decided to sample the deli across the street from our favorite yarn shop.   I had a delicious chicken wrap and mom enjoyed an egg salad sandwich with potato soup.   

We had a nice day out and about and we are almost ready for our class.  Needles, we need needles......but we are working on that.

*I received no compensation for this well-deserved plug. Well, nothing besides a yummy granola bar.....

Engaging Plan B

The first item on my to-do list today was driving south to Madison to start my holiday shopping. The snow wasn't going to start until noon and if I left the house about 9:15 AM, I would have time to buy a few items and drive home in light snow. However, I started out about 45 minutes later than planned and the snow began falling about an hour and a half early.

The Jeep and I had traveled about a quarter of the distance to our first stop when it appeared prudent to engage four-wheel drive. After another quarter of the way, I turned around when the thought occurred to me that driving home in two hours' time on even snowier roads would really be unpleasant. The turning around included some slipping and sliding, which confirmed I made the correct decision. Thus, I am back home, engaging in Plan B.....on-line shopping. I've made good progress on my the list with the snow and sleet tapping on the window accompanying my keyboard tapping. We are expecting (according to the forecast) about 3 to 5 inches of snow and not more than a quarter-inch of ice for Columbia County.

Blue has been engaging in his normal routine of bird-watching and napping. Right now, he is snoring on the chair cushion next to me. This weather means nothing to him as long as crunchies continue to appear in his dish.

He is such a handsome fellow!

Fuschia Friday

Yesterday, my SIL, Anne, deposited her son, Jack, with "Grandma Susans" (aka my DMIL) and drove across the countryside to my house so we could make a trip to Lakeside Fibers. Anne had never visited the store and I never turn down a trip to a LYS, so we made a day of it. There is no photo evidence of our journey but I think Fuschia was the theme of the day. Anne showed me her pink Elizabeth Zimmerman seamless sweater which she turned into a cardigan by steeking and adding button bands. She didn't want a photo taken of the unblocked sweater but it looked great even with the few little underarm stitches yet to be seamed/grafted. Quite a bit of fuschia was also caressed and inspected at Lakeside with two groups of fuschia making it into Anne's basket. I was caught up in the fuschia frenzy as well. (See below) I also found two sensible balls of Rowan Kid Classic so I can knit the Do It Yourself Peasant Cap by Melody Parker Narvaez. I love Jen's version of it. Jen's Central Park Hoodie is also gorgeous if you follow the link for her hat.

Anne treated me to lunch at the the Washington Island Coffee House. The spinach and feta quiche was yummy as was my sample of Anne's whitefish spread sandwich. We then went to Off the Beaten Path. They have a lot of lovely yarn but we must have been shopped out so we left without any goodie bags. We traveled north again so Anne could head over and re-acquire Jack and go home. I heard that Jack had a very fun time with Grandma Susans and his cousins, Andy and Kaylee, who were also visiting. I had a fun time with Anne. DH and I hope Anne will visit again with her DH and Jack.

My contribution to fuschia frenzy was my purchase of Paintbox yarn in the Windsor Violet colorway. I love this combination of colors and I think the swatch sample at the LYS was my downfall inspiration. However, I really didn't have a firm idea of what to make with this yarn. Inspired by Anne's sweater, I pulled out EZ and my measuring tape to look into a seamless raglan sweater. I swatched and measured and ripped and cast-on and dithered. I was not in nirvana. I really liked the reverse stockinette side of the sample but now I'm wondering. Obviously, this will be in time-out for a bit. Any suggestions are welcome. I think my biorhythms must have been off.

Gathering of materials

On Saturday, I made my trip into Madison and hit the pet store to replace the broken cat litter shovel (don't ask). Then I continuted on to Lakeside Fibers. I found a nice US 11 circular and *ahem* brought home a few other items, since I'm certainly not one to waste a trip out of the house, Cookie. I found two books by Lily Chin. A few more hanks of Cascade 220 made there way into my stash for mittens and weaving materials.

Finishing has been occuring more often at my house in the past year or two. Since it is Autumn, I thought it high time to finish this little needlepunch project. It is my first (almost) finished needlepunch and I love the texture of the project. I found a frame at Michael's yesterday that will contribute to the finishing of this project. The background came from my stash of quilting fabrics. *g*