Fiber Festivals...or, how to spend a lot of money on animal hair

I went to the Michigan Fiber Festival this past sunday with fellow knitter and foul temptress Bad Amy. We left at the ridiculous hour of 6 am so that we would not miss anything, and we were rewarded with a really fun time. It is the first fiber fest I had been to on that scale, and I must say I was a bit overwhelmed. I have taken a spinning class, and am saving for a wheel, so my main goal was to get samples of different types of fibers as a sort of beginner spinning kit.

First, lets just talk about the animals. Domestic breeding does some funny things to critters, and I spent much time laughing at these guys:

Angora bunnies. So soft, so silly looking. They were just giggle worthy. And...I think they know how silly they look. Which makes them a bit odd behaviorally. Overly hoppy. And also, I am convinced that these two were conspiring against us. Much like a bunny version of Pinky & the Brain.

Next were the llamas. Also funny looking, but more in a Shaggy meets rastafarian way. I really liked these guys, but they were pretty skiddish, and had no interest in pets from strange humans.

Now, I did fall a little in love. Most of the sheep were a bit skiddish, too, and weren't too interested in getting close to people unless there was food involved. Which is pretty smart and normal sheepy-type behavior. But there was one.....he came up to the fence to check me out and when I started scratching his chin, he was mine. I wanted to bring him home so bad. I was trying to think of reasons why smuggling a sheep in the back of my tiny Saturn compact back to the city would be rational (he could reduce my yard duties by keeping my lawn mowed.....), but then I remembered the preemptive threats of divorce that were issued to me if I returned with anything alive in my car. Now, my husband is an extremely loving, generous, and kind man who puts up with a large yarn stash and a ridiculous amount of yarn talk. However, he was raised on a farm with livestock and so has no delusions as to the amount of work that it takes and the amount of poo that they produce. But, I will always have memories and this picture of my sheepy romeo:

So sweet.....

I'll post pix of my purchases tomorrow, and you will be amazed at my restraint.....ish.

Baby blanket???

I thought that I would never have an occasion to knit a baby blanket for a handful of reasons. First, I have no kids, only cats. Second, my family tends to have a pretty low reproductive rate, so no kids there. Third--I have a physiological issue with pastels. But, my husband's cousin recently had his second baby, a gorgeous little boy, and I just felt the need. I wanted to make it out of cotton, and to be more colorful rather than just baby blue. Here it is:


I used Bernat CottonTots in five colors. I double stranded on size 13 needles. I cast on 50 stitches of pink, knit stockinette until the ball was out, and switched to yellow then knit until the (almost) end and cast off. I did the same with the blue and green. I then had 2 panels which I seamed together. I then used the purple, and picked up stitches and did a seed stitch border. Very easy. It took me almost as long to suck it up and weave in the ends as it did to knit the whole blanket. I am finally going to send it off tomorrow. The baby is now 4 months old......but.....better late then never, right?

5...4...3...2...1...

Hello!

This is my first post, and I am definitely a rookie here. I am just feeling my way through, so expect mistakes. I am starting this blog because I love knitting, I knit a lot, and I wanted to share and commune with fellow knitters!

SO...here goes....