Michigan Mystery Fiber ~

My mum and sister were at a fiber festival in Michigan in October, and they picked out a lovely bump of what I am calling Michigan Mystery Fiber for me!  They thought it was alpaca, since there were alpacas at the festival, but the fiber is more coarse and long than alpaca. The color is a lovely buff and a bit of peach tones added.  A bonus was a bar of handmade soap from the fiber festival was also in the bag, so it is the best smelling fiber bump I have ever had!

According to the experts at my favorite knitting shop, it seems to be a blend Romney and BFL, with some other wools perhaps.  I am excited to start spinning it, as soon as I finish what is on my bobbins, or when Santa brings me new bobbins!

Major Birthday Surprise ~

We were planning a Yarn Yoga with many birthday surprises and secrets.  There was one secret that only I knew about, and I was not sure that I could pull off such a major birthday surprise...Could I possibly find the time and patience to spin and ply all 7 ounces of the ever-so-lovely-and-soft 55/35/10 Alpaca/Merino/Silk for Jitteryknitter's birthday, a month early? Plus, could I figure out a clever way to make a yarn label?

 I did!  I was so pleased with how the spin and ply turned out, and the yarn label was a blast to create!

Jitteryknitter liked it too! Plus a big birthday surprise as her birthday is in December!!!

Boise XC Stars ~

The Wolfpack ran in the Nike Cross Northwest Challenge, and my daughters qualified to make the team!

Both had awesome races, and after they ran a great race, they took some time for some spelling fun!

Great friends, great runners, and super great spellers!!!!

Fort Worden Weekend Truths ~

We learned so much on our Fort Worden weekend, and one of the resounding truths of life was confirmed at this coffee shop.

Love the name of the shop, loved their coffee, loved the view of the Ocean and LOVED the chocolate pie....Since we actually bought our own coffee maker especially for this weekend, these words are oh-so-true for us!!!!

Bazaar Girls ~

We were sad to leave knitting camp at Fort Worden, yet looked forward to hitting the local knitting shop on our way out of town. Great little shop called Bazaar Girls, and they had lovely fiber and yarn. I found a sample swatch from my new favorite fiber providers, Taylored Fibers, and we could not find the fiber it came from.  So I emailed Barry and Linda that I had seen a swatch of, "Mostly dark brown, but hints of purple sprinkled through it" and Linda emailed right back and said they had some to send me... and if I liked it, I could just send them a check for the total.

Here it is.... 50/40/10 Alpaca/Corriedale/Mohair, and, yes, I liked it...(how could one not like this??)

and sent them a check, and ordered a bit more of their lovely fiber....some really super soft and yummy alpaca blends......

Here is some spun, more coarse and pokey than the alpaca blend with merino and silk, but the colors of the mohair are such fun!

Fort Worden Treasures ~

By Sunday at Fort Worden, the "sale room" was starting to see some real action. Those great sales that we were pondering, "Hmmmm, do I want to spend $7 on two skeins of Koigu" turned into, "YES, I am buying the alpaca, and Koigu AND getting a deal on neon green mohair!"

Plus a deal on lovely merino fleece (top left corner).....all for such a deal.... I can hardly wait to cast on all these projects!

Fort Worden Camp~

When one asks, "What did you do at Fort Worden? Classes? Demonstrations? Presentations?" Well, not exactly.... Once we arrived and found our sweet little dorm room with the very dim light, and unpacked a LOT of great knitting, spinning and weaving projects. Plus unpacked BOXES of yarn that we were going to sell in the "sale room" mostly acrylic and fun fir, but some treasures as well.... then we went to find the rest of the knitters and spinners.... and set up our camp chairs in the circle with the "cool kids" and started to knit....

Oh, and we cruised the "sale room" with all the treasures it held.....like Koigu for 1/2 price (yes, really) in many colors, and I had to buy some right then...not waiting to see if they would be "reduced sale" on Sunday..... somethings one cannot resist a Koigu sale! (picture here of Koigu linen stitch scarf cast on Saturday night!)

Fort Worden Adventure~

I was lucky enough to get invited to the Fort Worden knitting camp this year. Jitteryknitter was lucky enough to get invited last year, and she had a blast... so she invited me this year...

...and we had a blast...I can hardly begin to tell you about all of the fun we had... knitting, spinning, weaving, laughing, drinking coffee and getting great deals on amazing yarn....here we are on the ferry ride over, and then there was that submarine we waited for...but no worries, as we were knitting while we waited!