Tiny Needle Tuesday

 

Some weeks you stitch and some weeks you unstitch. I had the pattern upside down. Hopefully next week you will see a big snail crawling up the side where the little houses used to be. Sigh.....

In other news, I received a major award in the mail yesterday. It seems my guess of a lion earned me this package of goodies from Kim. That's a bento bag, in case you are wondering. I am very fond of those Japanese bags and find them very handy, especially for transporting delicate fiber as there are no zippers or other closure type things that snag or pull. 

I had an ah ha moment with that skein of yarn. It's been raining non-stop here for days so I've had plenty of time to get caught up on some projects, my weaving being one of them. It's getting ridiculously long but I'm not stopping until I get the next warp wound. I hate an empty loom.

I always weave a bit and then spend some time warping the next project which has been slow going this time around. While I was working I was thinking about an easier way to make scarves and was trying to think of a soft enough multi color fingering weight to do that with. I am a bit over tying on all these different colors individually. Madelyn Tosh to the rescue! It's pretty and soft. As soon as I get this project over with I'm going to try to build another scarf around that pretty rose colored skein. 

Thanks so much Kim! 

MDSW 2024 Part 2: The Stuff

 

My MDSW shopping spree actually started the night before. I had set the dog's dinner on fire (long story) and the house was filled with smoke. We turned on all the fans, opened all the windows and went down to the beach for a few hours where our monthly block party of old cars and craft vendors was in full swing. Some lovely ladies were selling fiber so I broke into my festival cash and brought home the bottom two. $20 for both. A real bargain. 

The first thing I spied to buy on Saturday were these pretty bags of merino. 

I'm going to use them to make more of these but this time not in clown colors. 

I ventured into a big tent to bring home one of these. It's Cormo and silk and will be this year's TdF project. I am kicking myself that I didn't buy more of these Cormo braids. They had some other really pretty colorways. I checked their website but....nope. 

Hipstrings also had some pretty dyed cotton sliver. I've been spinning their cotton for several Tours now hoping one day to have enough for a weaving project. 

My big splurge was this bag. I had glanced at this vendor's booth on my first go round and couldn't stop thinking about her bags even though I have so many really nice bags already in use at home. But...I just couldn't bring myself to leave without one and when I went back and dug through the racks I found this little one. It's like it was sitting there just waiting for me. I fell in love.

Even the lining is beautiful. I'm going to admire it for a long while and one day I am going to find a sock project that's worthy of it. 

And that was it...minus the big pretzel I had for breakfast. No yarn this year. I usually pick up some sock yarn in the festival colorways but I didn't like them. It's not like I don't have enough sock yarn here. I've got several life times worth. So.... now I get to look forward to next year. Only 363 days. I can't wait.

 

MDSW 2024 Part 1

 

I was up and out the door at 7:30 hoping to beat the crowds to the fair grounds. I didn't. I sat in the same traffic I always sat in. It seems the rain didn't keep anyone away.

Since you have to pay to get in now, the line is quite long. I was in the pre-paid line and it was wrapped around the parking lot. Anyone who paid cash sailed right in. 

It was raining quite hard. The place was a muddy mess and cold. I spend all year making warm, woolly things but did I think to bring any? Nope. I was soaking wet and freezing. 

Since the inside vendor buildings were packed, literally elbow to elbow, I spent most of my time in the mostly empty barns with the critters. 

There always a couple that you want to bring home with you. These Valais don't even look real. I can't think of a cuter critter. 

There was a lot of noise coming out of the beauty parlor area.  Sheep seem to like this kind of treatment as much as I do, which is not at all. I have to say the smell of all these wet sheep made me long for a fleece to wash but I've learned that these festivals only offer over-priced fleeces that are usually in poor condition. It's better to buy direct. 

The herding dogs were doing their thing pretty much all day. They were wet and I suppose it was better to keep them moving in this weather. I found a tree to stand under and watched for a while while I mulled over what I wanted to go back and buy.

There weren't many people milling around outside. No one was wearing their nice knits. No one was sitting and knitting. It was all umbrellas and rain gear so there was nothing in the way of inspiration.

Since I was avoiding the crowds (covid, cough, cough-still haven't had it) in the out buildings and main hall, I had hoped to hit up the outside vendors but now they stuff them all in these ginormous tent things. 

If a vendor was by the door I would venture in that far. I thought this display was interesting. It seems you can buy an already knitted sock body minus the ribbing, heel and toe and buy a kit that lets you just finish those bits. Odd, right? 

I usually come home with photos of glorious displays of woolly stuff but everything was under wraps this year. I walked past this display at 9 am and when I went back to buy, it had been moved inside.

I took $200 with me and in spite of the obstacles, I did buy stuff. 

I'll show it off tomorrow in Part 2. 

Meet Me at the Fair

 

You know where I am today. For the first time in 6 years. My plan is wander and be inspired. Purchases are optional. As if. 

Hot Stuff

 

It was terribly hot again yesterday but before our early morning walk with Pup I managed to squeeze in some project time before we came home to paint. Light gray blob almost has a second sleeve. Dark gray blob is halfway through the bottom ribbing. 

I even got a round on my ginourmous Riddari. I was solo on most of the second coat of paint so The Mister could get the yard tackled before it got too brutal out there. Heat, humidity, bugs...the whole miserable summer season is already upon us. I knew we would pay for that early spring. It is supposed to rain and be cooler this weekend which is good for the MDSW. I don't mind the rain. 

After the painting was done and the floors were vacuumed and mopped I found the time to work on my paper piecing projects. I've got a regular assembly line going with both of them and it's been a pleasant way to spend a hot afternoon.

Shades of Gray

 

It's still ridiculously hot here so yesterday morning we got Pup out early for a walk on the beach before.....

....we started this. I can tell you that I was NOT having a lot of fun. I spent the morning questioning my life choices.

My sister was leaving on her cross country road trip and had sent this photo right before they set off which put me in a royal funk. Painting these four walls doesn't really make them anymore interesting I'm afraid.

And.....for those of you who asked about the paint color, it's the brighter white on this partially painted wall. It is actually a very light gray-Distant Gray to be exact. One by one I've been painting every single room in the house this color because it makes touch up very easy, especially in a house like this one that has no storage, no garage and no outside shed where you can store extra paint. I perked up a bit afterwards when I went online and spent a small fortune on things like light fixtures and window shades. I also looked at some ways to better organize all my paper craft and art stuff. I may be hating the process but this may turn out to be pretty cool once it's done.

So It Begins....

 

It didn't take me any time at all to empty out my craft room and get it ready for painting. We should be doing that today. We'll be going out to get flooring later in the week. 

This is The Mister's craft corner of his man cave. It's where all my stuff is piled up. I know it's going to drive him crazy to have to work around my mess so it's all but certain there won't be any procrastinating to get my room done unlike certain other rooms in the house that we have tackled lately that STILL don't have the finishing touches on them yet.