Thursday, June 23, 2016

Inspiration at the Estes Park Wool Market

I made it to my first ever West Coast wool market, the Estes Park Wool Market, held in Estes, Colorado June 9-12. When I walked in the door, I knew I'd be happy. I plunked down my money and bought a fiber festival hoodie, and then I nearly walked right into the most beautiful quilted jacket. Check this out:


Look at the colors and the stitching. This was created by Amy Fox and is called My Secret Garden.

Then I saw these lovely knitting bowls made by wet felting. What a great idea... I could artfully arrange my yarn treasures all over the house in color coordinated bowlness. This is by Kay Dudek. I love the little button accent. Notice that she used both felt and silk, for nuno felting. The silk is the lighter green part of the bowl that is all ruchey (puckered). And do you see the button? What a lovely touch.


This was also offered by Kay. What a clever way to use up those glass nick knacks that you've inherited from Aunt Mabel:


One of my favorite booths was Bijou Basin Ranch. Why yes, I did want to buy some $100/ounce qiviut, but I couldn't think of anything that I could make that would do it justice:


My sister and I lusted over these woven yak scarves. They were oh-so-soft.


In the end, I settled for a t-shirt, as a remind of what might have been...


I have to admit, I wore my t-shirt to the airport, waited through a hideously long line, and can't believe that not one person chuckled. Have the people fleeing Colorado no sense of humor? Honestly, I thought this was the funniest t-shirt ev-er.

Monday, June 20, 2016

I Stand Prepared for the Harsh Winter Ahead

Check this out. I bought some hand-dyed Polwarth fiber from Honeoye Craft Lab. I love the colors, they are so bold. Isn't this lovely? I bought 8 ounces, so two of these:


This is what it looks like unraveled:


And this is what it looks like all spun up on my Hanson eSpinner:


Liz, from the store, taught me to Navajo ply. There are many nice things to say about Navajo plying:

1. You work with one ball of yarn, but triple ply, so you get a nice, thick yarn.
2. By using just the one ball of yarn, it is easier to preserve the stripes that you can see in the roving and yarn.
3. I found it less prone to knotting up while I was dealing with it, since there's just that one skein.

Here's what I knit with it, a lovely cowl and hat. That hat is super thick, perfect for a very cold walk in the neighborhood with my sweetie pie. There's a little bit of yarn leftover, though I don't think enough to make mitts.