Weekend update
9:04 PMWell. I had a busy weekend. The weather cooperated and life, in general was good.
On Saturday, I went up to Contoocook for the NH Sheep & Wool Festival. This was my first time attending an event such as this. It will not be my last. I spent a good deal of time behaving badly with Laura. She is one of my favorite enablers ever. Naturally, Laura did not disappoint and I ended up spending more money than I intended--but not by too much.
Naturally, I bought yarn.
You can't go wrong with hand painted sock yarn. Besides, it's to make socks for The Beloved (you can see the humble beginnings perched atop the ball of yarn), so it doesn't really count as a purchase, right?
This is a ginormous cone of laceweight merino. It's posing with my IPod for scale. It had to be purchased. It was only $12! A bargain! I can make shawls--like, until I die. And I can take the opportunity to learn new skills. Like dyeing. The Beloved should thoroughly enjoy that little adventure...
These two purchases were totally rational and completely understandable. In fact, I planned for them. I knew I would buy some yarn, and since I'm knitting socks right now, the sock yarn made sense. The laceweight was practical (in fact, I'm going to have to start using it right away as a friend's baby will be baptized in about six weeks and some sort of gift is in order...). But we knew that wouldn't last. Particularly when we saw this:
These are drop spindles from Golding Fiber Tools. They are absolutely gorgeous. Words fail me. Now, spinning is not my forte. But it was like I became a woman possessed. I simply couldn't say no. These things belong in Rivendell. I needed one. How had I lived 30 years without one? How could I continue to live without one? Laura agreed. And so now I proudly own this:
You'll be pleased to know that my spinning still sucks, but if you look closely at the single there, you'll notice it's getting closer to something approaching consistency. Look--I can almost spin something that looks like Lopi!
Of course, there were other interesting and exotic things to check out.
Sheep and woolly-type creatures:
Alpacas:
And strange knitted creations:
Check out the bikini bottom. Doesn't it look like a deer?
I also did some knitting this weekend (see sock beginning at top of post), but was not very productive in that realm as I was too busy spending money. No, seriously--I've been working on Haiku, but have just had a beastly time with the back. I've had to rip it out three or so times. OK--a normal person probably would have ripped it out once and then lived with the other imperfections I've discovered, but I am not that sort of a girl. I'd look at the problems (the shoulders aren't quite the same width; the box stitch doesn't match up the way I wanted) and think, I just can't live with this. Rip, rip, rip.
But here it is, just the same, for your viewing enjoyment. I will finish this goddamned baby sweater if it kills me.
Perhaps if it behaves itself I'll take it outside tomorrow for some glamor shots. In the meantime, my weekend has vanished before my eyes and it's just about time to call it a night...
Check out the bikini bottom. Doesn't it look like a deer?
I also did some knitting this weekend (see sock beginning at top of post), but was not very productive in that realm as I was too busy spending money. No, seriously--I've been working on Haiku, but have just had a beastly time with the back. I've had to rip it out three or so times. OK--a normal person probably would have ripped it out once and then lived with the other imperfections I've discovered, but I am not that sort of a girl. I'd look at the problems (the shoulders aren't quite the same width; the box stitch doesn't match up the way I wanted) and think, I just can't live with this. Rip, rip, rip.
But here it is, just the same, for your viewing enjoyment. I will finish this goddamned baby sweater if it kills me.
Perhaps if it behaves itself I'll take it outside tomorrow for some glamor shots. In the meantime, my weekend has vanished before my eyes and it's just about time to call it a night...
1 observations