the Akamai Knitter

It’s about time I got to this post, isn’t it? My excuses? Well, I’ve been busy helping a friend move her yarn store to a different location. I’ve been laid low with a 24 hour flu bug. (This post was planned for Friday, but I was completely incapacitated that day.) Not to mention, that Fibromyalgia flare just won’t seem to go away. Enough with that though!

I give you the booty.

That’s the sum total of my yarn purchases. Were you expecting more? I certainly was! I think I’ve become such a mad spinner that my focus was on all the fiber I could spin and on all the goodies I could spin with.

First up is some superwash merino sock yarn from Wullenstudio Designer Yarns in Green Tambourine. Such a lovely yarn. I’m not sure what it will become, but it’s certainly very soft and squishy.

Next up, is some Sea Sock yarn from Dragonfly Fiber Designs. This one has some sea cell in it and it feels very silky. I think I’m going to use this yarn for the Rivendell design. The color isn’t really accurate as I’d like in the photograph as I’d like. Just think ocean.

The next yarn is more sock yarn. (Do ya think I have a thing for sock yarn? Do ya think?) This gem is from Brooklyn Handspun and I’ve had a really hard time finding this stuff online. There weren’t many colors left, but I’m happy with what I found, which is Wheat Field. I think it will be a good match to my wardrobe.

Oh look! Something that isn’t sock yarn! Yes, I actually found some laceweight that called my name in a lovely semi-solid purple from Sweet Sheep. The color is called Muddle Through, which I find totally appropriate for the way I approach knitting.

Finally, the last item wasn’t exactly a straight up yarn purchase. It’s a kit from Just Our Yarn for the shawl Jack In The Pulpit. I fell in love with the model. At first I resisted the siren call, but in the end resistance was futile and I caved. I think it was the beads that did me in.

I think I did pretty good in the yarn department at MDSW, but I did mention something about a yarn store right? Well, my willpower only stretches so far and there might have been a bit of damage done there. I think I’ll save that for another day though. Too much in one day will have me in a state of shock over the mass quantities of stuff I’m going to have to transport home.

For those who don’t know, I’m flying home on June 3rd, so I wouldn’t expect regular posts until then. I do have a lot to post about though. It’s been a whirlwind of activity here. There just hasn’t been enough downtime for me to write about it!

I shall leave you with a gorgeous shot of some snow on trees in Sinking Valley that I took last week Monday. I couldn’t get over the fact that there was snow! Actual snow! In May! Whee! :-D

I hope you’re weekend is going well! Have a great week!

This is where it gets really crazy. I didn’t realize how much I bought until I set everything out on the deck this morning to take pictures. Those fiber fumes must have put me in an altered state of mind where all thoughts of reason and all efforts of restraint fled from my being.

You see? Crazy.

It started with some wool roving from Brush Creek Wool Works that I bought to practice spindling. It’s dyed with cochineal with chrome as a mordant. I thought that was just really nifty. And for only $5.50 I thought it was a steal.

Then we have some pencil roving that was on my list of things to watch out for. I’ve always been intrigued by pencil roving so this was my chance to see what it was like in person. I’m not sure which vendor I got this from or what kind of wool it is as there really isn’t a label on it and the receipt got jumbled with the others I accumulated.

Although I’m not a fan of the softer colors, I was attracted to this next one because it was so pretty. Plus it’s Targhee and I’ve never spun that particular fiber up before. This one is a Mountain Colors roving from Carolina Homespun.

Now this next one is much more up my alley. I love the deep, rich, saturated colors of this braid. It’s a superwash merino that I’ll most likely knit up into socks by Spirit Trail Fiberworks.

Then I decided to jump off the wagon of my normal color repertoire again. This braid is by Gale’s Art and the colorway is called Cherry Blossom.

Yes. It’s pink. Yes. I’m supposed to have an aversion to pink. As Cookie would say, shut up!

I’m particularly tickled with the next batch of fiber. It’s handpainted silk by A Touch Of Twist and it’s so soft and luxurious. I want to spin these up with my spindles into a laceweight yarn.

Finally, finally (!!) we have about a pound of a wool and mohair blend from the Barefoot Spinner. I blame this purchase on Patrick as he raves about this stuff. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with all of the fiber as I just want to make a pair of socks, but I really like the colors. I’ll most likely try to share the wealth with the other spinners back home.

There is one more thing, but it isn’t a purchase. I won a prize at the spin in for being the spinner who traveled the farthest to attend the festival. There were others there that came from the Netherlands, England, and Belgium, but apparently Hawaii beat them all. The organizers of the event were really excellent though as they all got a prize as well. :)

I hope you’ve enjoyed delving into just how crazy I got, because I’m a little dizzy from how much I spent. Just think, I also bought yarn as well. I think I’ll save that for another post.

I look at it this way. I don’t come to the mainland very often and this was my first fiber festival of any kind. The last time I was here was about 10 years ago, so this is a rare opportunity as I don’t know when I’ll be back again. I might as well get crazy while there’s crazy to be had.

Hopefully, I’ll get to post the rest of my purchases soon. I’m going to be helping my friend Carla move her yarn store next week so things might get a little hectic. Hanging out at her shop has been really hard. She’s got some really gorgeous stuff. Temptation is everywhere people. I’m trying to be good. Wish me luck, mmkay?

Happy Friday everyone! The weekend is here. Enjoy it!

I went hog wild at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. I’m a little ashamed of all the shopping I did. Seeing it piled up all at one time might just bring on an anxiety attack of severe proportions. So I thought that if I cut it up into tiny little pieces it might be more manageable and that maybe I could deceive myself into thinking it’s not that bad. We’ll see how that works out for me, shall we?

First off, I haven’t touched a spindle in quite awhile. Veronica will attest to the fact that I prefer my beloved Suzie over the beautiful spindles I have at home any day. She will also attest to the fact that I already have a nice collection of spindles going as it is. So I went to MDSW saying I would not be buying spindles. I said, “I am not a spindler. I will not buy a single spindle.”

Famous. Last. Words.

Yes. Those are five spindles you see before you. Five!

It all started when BFF Shelly had to pick up a special order from the Golding booth. Since she and Other BFF Carole know Tom Golding she just had to socialize with him and linger over her purchase.

This left me with time to browse his booth and gaze at the candy pr0n spindles. I fell in love with this one.

Before I headed to the mainland, I had been having a grand ol’ time watching Season One of The Tudors. I don’t think I could ever get tired of seeing Jonathon Rhys Meyers half naked. So what attracted me to this spindle was how much it looked like it came right out off the set.

Check out the side shot.

It’s one of his smaller spindles, so that allowed me to rationalize the purchase a little better. It still had me dumbfounded and I kept muttering, “I bought a Golding. A Golding!” all the way back to the van.

My next purchase came about while I was waiting to meet up with Alison, so it’s all her fault really. ;-) She was running a little late so I had to find something to do with myself until I could meet up with her. I ended up wandering the Main Exhibition Hall and I stumbled upon this beauty. A dragonfly spindle from Bergschultz.

Can you see the dragonflies? A *cough*male*cough* non-spinner, non-knitter friend of mine just squinted at it and said all he could were wings and not dragonflies. Le sigh. I can see the dragonflies. That’s what counts. And I love the colors of the whorl. So there.

Moving along with the spindle saga, we find ourselves hearing that even though Hatchtown Spindles weren’t on the vendor list, they were able to bring some spindles to sell in kits with another vendor. A little background story is needed here.

Back when I first learned how to spin from Carole, I learned on a drop spindle. Carole is a spindle collector. We won’t even mention how many spindles in her collection we managed to count. My little spindle collection is a drop in the bucket compared to hers.

Anyway, she’s the one who turned me on to the Hatchtown Spindles and I have been in complete and utter love since. I had at least 3 of them before she moved back to the mainland. Unfortunately they got damaged in a move. I have been without a Hatchtown since then and I haven’t had any luck getting my hands on another. These spindles are really popular.

I came away with one this weekend. Isn’t she pretty?

Next up is the Bosworth. Without the Hatchtown spindles to use for so many years, the Bosworths quickly became my favorites. It was an extra treat to be actually meet Jonathon Bosworth, the maker of the spindles.

I just knew that any spindle I chose from him would be special. This one really is as it’s also a sister spindle to the one BFF Shelly got as she bought one in the same wood. It’s a featherweight in Zebrawood.

My final spindle was also my final extravagance. I had fallen in love with this one on Friday and I kept returning to the booth to see if anyone had bought it. On Sunday it was still there, so after not much urging from Shelly, I crumbled like stale bread and bought it.

All that prettiness is sterling silver, so she was a little pricey. I think it will be worth it though because I’m really in love with it and Alison has the brass version of it. So I have another sister spindle! Not to mention she’s really well made and she spins like a dream. Shelly calls Golding spindles the Lamborghinis of the spindle world.

When she’s right, she’s right.

How could I resist?

Now I usually have pictures of felines to share, but since I’m vacationing I thought I’d share a picture of another type.

Pixie girl Rochelle and the German Shepherd Cheyenne. Gotta love the hellhound look on that dog. Doggie love sure does ease the absence of my darling cats.

Happy Wednesday you all! Thanks for reading. There’s more to come! :)

Finally, a chance to sit down and blog. What a whirlwind weekend it’s been! We got to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival on Friday and we volunteered at the fleece sales. I don’t think I was of much use as I was completely bewildered and confused. But it did give me a chance to get the lay of the land and see what the festival was all about as I was able to see the grounds on the way there.

I was also able to stop by the Golding Spindles booth after we were through, since Shelly had to pick up a spindle she had specially ordered. Oh, the beauty.

And Tom Golding has to be one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I had a great time chatting with him, while soaking up the beauty of his art work. I managed to get a picture of him with Carole and Shelly, but I neglected to get one of myself with him. It must have been the spindle fumes.

Moving on!

On Saturday morning I actually got to meet Alison of Alianne Knits. We’ve been commenting on each others blogs for about 2 years now. I had a wonderful time shopping with her and her friend Melissa. You wouldn’t believe how much the three of us enabled each other.

In the afternoon, I got to meet even more blogging friends, Patrick and Roseann. They took me to a booth where I got to spin on four different spinning wheels. Four! I could have camped out in that booth for the rest of the day. Talk about spinning heaven! The two of them are pushing me to purchase the Lendrum as my second wheel, but I’ve also got my eye on the Schacht Ladybug.

After that, Roseann went off to help with a festival event and Patrick and I went on to shop. Patrick and I did quite a bit of damage together on our own. I wish the three of us would have had more time to spend with each other, because I had such a fabulous time.

What really kills me is that I didn’t get a picture of the fabulously handsome Patrick and myself. Although I did manage to get a picture of myself and Roseann, as you see here. :-)

At the end of the day we ended up at the spin-in. I’ve never seen so many spinners in one place! Finally, I was amongst my people!

There was a really fun competition where whoever wanted to participate could race to see who could spin the longest thread/yarn blindfolded. I’m not sure who won, but Alison had a great time trying!

I went back the next day, but I didn’t take as many people pictures. If you want to see all my pictures, you can see them on my Flickr page.

As for what I bought? I think I need to recuperate a little before I get to photographing them and blogging about them. You wouldn’t believe how sore my legs are! I really got in some good exercise.

Another thing, I’m having such a good time here in Altoona, that I’ve pushed my return flight to a later date. I’m not sure how much later, but I’ll be here for at least another two weeks. Whee!