‚ ~sigh~ Another rainy day.

Let’s take a little trip back in time to another rainy day, shall we?

~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

This year’s New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival is but a soggy memory. Many posts about it have already been posted, shoes have finally dried out and I’ve moved on to a whole new set of crappy-weather sniffles. For all intents and purposes, it’s done. Over. A silk/cashmere blend that has slipped through the nimble fingers of time. But what time cannot hold onto, a giant plastic bin can. Check it.

My goal this year was to avoid buying green and purple everything. It was a success of sorts. See if if you can spot this year’s color scheme.

First up – wool sock yarn from Dorchester Farms. I can’t seem to find a website for them, but I love that there’s a farm in Dorchester. It’s not exactly . . . farmland. I‚ also love that that it’s referred to as “Dot”, Dorchester Ave is “Dot Ave”, even. And they do have a pretty good zoo. We had our company party there once, it was great fun. One time, a young gorilla named “Little Joe” escaped from there and attacked someone at a nearby bus stop.‚  Craziness. Great yarn!

‚ 

And here is some soft wool/silk spun by the “Unlikely Shepherd”, Tim Benjamin. That’s a drawing of him on the card. Seriously, he’s a biker dude with a long beard. My mom told him she liked it and he said “So do the goats! They nibble on it sometimes.” He works at Kelly Corner Farm, which looks like a wonderful place. A dream come true, even. Here, click this. You’ll be happy you did.

‚ 

And here was the deal of the day. It’s about 1600 yards of New Zealand wool from Pollywogs for 17 bucks! W00t! It’s a little scratchier than I normally go for, bit I think these colors will make a good jackety sweater thing that won’t touch my skin ever.‚ 

‚ 

And here is one of my splurges. It’s a wool/mohair blend from Still River Mill. They’re known more for processing fiber, but I couldn’t pass this stuff up. It’s one of those things that’s hard to photograph. It has that cool, smooth texture of mohair that I can’t resist. And the color is amazing. Indoors, it looks black, but when you hold it in sunlight, the rich blue glistens through. Gorgeous stuff. It’s going to be a wrap sort of thing.

‚ 

And of course, I had to stop off at Maple Creek Farms. They were in a building near the entrance and I almost missed them. They don’t seem to have a website, but that’s ok. I can wait for festival season to stock up. The thicker one is a superwash wool that’s going to become something for my impending niece! I’m thinking a little hooded blanket, but who knows. Maybe a kickin’ dress would be good, too.

The other one is a Merino/silk blend. It’s the same yarn I used for my first Clapotis and I just can’t say enough good things about it. The drape is amazing, it’s a tactile delight, and I think no matter what it turns into, it will be fantastic. Seriously, get some of this stuff. It even smells really good.

‚ 

And the swag was not limited to yarn. Nope. I actually made an amazing score towards the end of the day Saturday. I spied with my vintage-seeking eye a basket of old pattern books. It was like eBay right there in front of me! They were priced individually, and of course I asked how much for the whole kit and caboodle. The lovely woman at the booth said “I dunno. How much do you want to pay?”‚ I made an offer, she lowered it‚ and we thanked each other profusely. She wanted to get them out of her house and I wanted to get them into mine.

‚ 

While I was there, I bought some raffle tickets and a couple of days later, found that I won not one, but two of the items they were raffling off! There were two skein of natural yarn from Kitefield Farm and some wool/angora batting. Not sure where that’s from, but I love the hot pink.

‚ 

So not a bad haul, eh? We had a great time, despite the biblical weather. It was Mother’s Day, so I went with my mom and dad. My dad got a huge kick out of learning how silk is rendered from the cocoons and he chatted up a few of the guys who made spinning wheels. When he was young, he worked with the big industrial loom at a textile mill, so when he saw a big wooden loom, he sat right down behind it and explained what all the pieces were and how it all worked. I think my mom was afraid that he was going to break it and they’d have to take it home with them. He probably would have like that, actually. He and my mom worked together in a sweater mill called Pandora when they first met. I was born to knit.

My mom didn’t end up buying any yarn, despite the beautiful things she’s been making lately. Like this Sophie bag.

‚ 

How beautiful is this? She added the embroidery and a little loop on the side to hold your glasses. Lately, she’s fallen for the seductive lure of the quilt and spends more time with her sewing machine than with her knitting needles. And, well, I have an admission to make.

So have I.

Y’see, my mom got a new sewing machine and gave me her old one. It’s just like knitting a sweater, only the fabric is already made and you don’t have to seam it by hand! Neat! And because I didn’t feel like farting around all small time, I started by making a cute little tank top with darts and pleats and interfacing, oh my. I know how clothes are put together. Well, mostly I do. Jon had to help me at one point, if you can believe that. Yes, Jon, my husband. He noticed a glaring error and helped me work it out. He’s much better at visualizing how things are constructed. My mom also helped me alter the shirt when I was done with it and realized that the inexplicable pleats in the back made me look like an Elizabethan fat-ass. It’s much better now. See?

‚ 

Whew! Look at that. An entire week’s worth of posting in one convenient, easy to use post. I’ll make my way to Mother’s Day, you’ll see.

‚