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September 10, 2006
Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival 2006
Once again I was able to talk Jim and the boys into accompanying me on a fiber fest. The 2006 Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival to be specific. As usual I was on a mission. I wanted to find Baby Doll Southdown Sheep. We still live in town and we're still a long ways away from acquiring a farm but knitters think ahead. After narrowing down the list of possibilities to miniature varieties, I went to see Baby Dolls for myself. I found these angora goats instead. Aren't they the cutest thing!
The cream is beautiful but I just love the chocolate fiber.
We also spent quite a bit of time with the shetlands. The babies are ridiculously cute. Their faces and legs are bare. Shetlands are small but the babies especially look like puffs of wool on four match sticks. There were several up for auction. And I thought about it. I mean honestly they're smaller than my dog! Who would know?
Of course this is why I bring Jim to these things. I did buy some shetland roving and spun some up yesterday. It's so soft. Surprisingly soft. I don't think I've ever bought more than two skeins of shetland wool. I've always found it too coarse. This stuff is lovely though. Must be commercial processing. I had a long conversation with a shetland sheppardess. She used to have baby dolls as well but found shetlands so superior that she sold her flocks of baby dolls. So I'm going to continue working with the fiber. The white is a bombyx silk shetland blend and it's so airy.
I checked my calendar when I got home only to discover I had missed a state exam. I've been running so ragged lately I've been missing deadlines left and right. But I'm letting myself off the hook. A month without knitting and spinning is like a month without sleeping. I don't know why I still pretend I can function without it.
Posted by Jacqueline at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (238)September 03, 2006
A Present in the Mail
I almost lost my mother-in-law this past Sunday. Add to that the pressure of a new job and grad school and I was almost numb by the time this arrived.
Over twenty pairs of knitting needles, one circular, five sets of double points and an assortment of cable needles and point protectors. It's particularly poignant since I haven't been able to knit in what feels like forever. And I miss it terribly. I miss the comfort. And the needles are a promise of comfort. My friend Lynda got them at an auction. Of course the best present Lynda has ever given this family is Deva, our Australian Sheppard.
Arguably the most beautiful animal on the planet. And as beautiful inside as she is outside.
My mother-in-law is doing better now but Sunday hit the family really hard. She's asked me to do her hair tomorrow. She wants a braid. So that's what I'm doing. And it's probably the most important thing I've done since visiting Baby Sophie.
Posted by Jacqueline at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)