And now for a little R&R

The Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival (SAFF) 2015 was great.  I was again tied to the Workshop building.  But the classes went off without more hitches that I could handle, so I remain Unflappable Annie.  In a year with LOTS of changes, there were a few bumps in the road.  So we learn and do a very few things differently next year.  Here is a shot of the Friends & Fiberworks booth.  My gradient yarns are to the left of the Uber-Blanket. Thanks Lucky Fibers!     So it's now just a few days after SAFF, and as I wind down, I'm happy to chill, tie up loose ends and get ready for the next big thing. 

Hopefully it will be a small thing, but I'm going in for foot surgery soon.  I have a condition called Morton's Neuroma (http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/mortons-neuroma-topic-overview) always annoying, often painful, and it just won't fix itself.  So now I'm going to get it fixed.  It's an un-busy time at the day job, and again, post-SAFF, so the time is right to put my post-surgical foot up   I will be the model patient.  OK, I'll try to be the model patient.

My LYS fiber customers are well-stocked, my Etsy shop is shut down(except for the digital patterns) and my desk at work is getting cleaner.  My desk at home...well, we won't talk about that.

A very nice man will be taking care of me as I knit, watch movies, knit, read, knit, pet the cats, knit...you get the picture.  I'll be knitting felt hats for one of my shops, socks for holiday giving, a sweater for me, dishcloths because the drawer is looking skimpy and ALMOST anything that the very nice man wants.  No sweater though...do not tempt fate.  Beware the curse!

Still Knitting...

Yikes!  It's been since September?  Seems impossible that the whole fall season - ok, semester - has gone by without a post.  So, here's some of what happened...in no particular order...

SAFF - A wonderful weekend of fibery goodness.  I was holding down the action in the workshop building, so I didn't get around as much as I liked, but it sure was fun. Smoky Mountain Fibers sponsored the contemporary sheep to shawl demo, dyeing the yarn and roving in my Saturn colorway. 

Sock class - I taught a couple of people to make socks.  I knit my little fingers to the bone to keep my samples up to speed with my students & ended up with a pair of cozy purple socks.


Designing woman - Since my collaboration with Friends and Fiberworks, a yarn shop in Asheville NC, I am knitting lots of  small projects to show off the yarn.  Sometimes we knit up samples in the yarn companies' patterns but whenever possible we make up a simple pattern to give away with yarn purchases.  None of these are fabulous creations, but they are all just unique enough to declare an original.  And it really helps the yarn find its way to a new home. 

Knitting along - In addition to teaching classes, I'm also hosting knit-a-longs at the shop.  This evening it will be 'Fast, Fun Fingerless Mitts', or as I call them Fast & Furious Fingerless Mitts.

Just plain knitting - Both for myself and the various shops who carry my hats and scarves.  Now, can we get some cold weather, please? 

Dyeing - Both for my Etsy shop and the local trade.  I am currently spinning some delightful Blue Faced Leicester roving that I dyed in shades of orangey red.  And it's actually for ME! I have a vest in mind...

Other than these few little dibs and dabs, working most Saturdays at the yarn shop, the day job has been keeping me busy as well as my usual activities - yoga, gardening, dancing, goofing off with friends & family.  You know, life! 

October Was So Busy I Forgot to Blog

Yes, it's been a long time since last I blogged.  I haven't given up, life has just gotten in the way.  So a few random bits...

SAFF has come and gone in the loveliest way.  With a zillion changes that all kicked in a few weeks before our regional fiber festival, the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair has been put to bed for another year.  While everything wasn't perfect, it was really quite lovely.  The animals were there in full fleece - lots of sheep and llamas, a few angora goats, the charming alpacas.  The people were there too, most friendly, a few crazies, but pretty much everybody smiling and glowing to be with like-minded people and lots of yarn and fiber.  Thanks to everyone who came by my booth - I got to know a few people who I only 'knew' online before. 

I've been spinning and knitting regularly.  Yarn and hats have becoming and I have the trashed studio to prove it.  This morning I needed to find something to wear that did not require ironing as the ironging board is covered with yarn.  I had a booth at the Madison County (NC) Heritage Festival on a very chilly Saturday.

High on last weekend's agenda was to kit up yarn for hats - a very messy process that apparently involves pulling every skein of yarn out of the tub or drawer or basket that it resides in and grouping it with any possible related color, texture or weight, looking at it in several different light sources and then putting 2 or 3 or 4 yarns in a bag to be knit up at a later date.  Then I can just grab a bag and knit at hat.  I take a few to work for lunch hour knitting, so I can not work about thinking too much.

I really can only blame the blog silence on my day job.  Love my day job - I am very lucky to have a job that I like, but both halves of my work-self have been running on overdrive lately.  My grant work has been very busy as I have been working with a school district who has been selected to be a pilot school implementing the new Social Studies standards (for non-educators, I know this sounds like gibberish) in addition to the regular stuff I do.  My undergrad classes have also been kicking my bum.  As everyone who does grant-based work knows, your job is only as secure as your current funding.  Although it hasn't happened yet, I took on an additional class as a bit of job security in case this grant funding is reduced.  I love the classes and my students, but it's a struggle to keep all the balls in the air.  The main balls that have dropped are this blog and the garden.  I did plant some salad greens, but I've let nature take care of the rest.

But as midterm is behind us and most of my workshops are completed, so I can put a bit more energy into the fiber-y part of my life. Back to dyeing, back to the Etsy shop, back to the blog.  And I'm happy to be back!

Sheep to Shawl

As the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF) gets closer, we are still looking for some teams to compete in the Sheep to Shawl competition on Saturday, October 22, 2011.  A friendly competition, but there is a bit of money involved - - $100 to the winning team.  Just gather 6 like minded individuals to card and spin a bit of yarn and weave a beautiful shawl.  All in a day in front of a healthy number of fans in the delightfully rustic sales arena of the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center. 

All it takes is one weaver and a pre-warped loom, 4 spinners with their trusty wheels & carders (including one drum carder if you like),  and an educational liaison.  That's a fancy word for announcer.  That lucky person gets to tell the crowd what is going on as the fleece is sorted, picked, fluffed, carded, spun, plied? and woven.  It should be plenty of fun, but we need you to join us!

Does your guild, school, yarn shop or even Ravelry group have a team of 6 individuals ready to step up to the challenge of transforming a fleece - carding, spinning and weaving it - into a beautiful shawl in just a few hours?

If so, please contact me!!  I am the demonstration coordinator at this year's SAFF.  That means I have been working with vendors to do fiber demonstrations at their booths as well as setting up craft schools to have a presence at the  Drop in & Spin or Knit or Crochet (I call it Drop In & Whatever), Drop in and Weave with one of the regional guilds and of course, Sheep to Shawl.

Please mark your calendar to join us at SAFF.  In center stage at the Sheep to Shawl or around the edges, cheering on your favorite team!

Spinning Yarns

I've been on a spinning binge lately.  It seems to happen after a carding binge - and this time I have some nice batts to spin.  It's sort of like putting food in the freezer.  eventually you have to take it out and eat it.  The difference is that carded batts don't get freezer burn (though the white that you see here bit have sort of a basement-y smell before I washed it.  With plied skeins still on the bobbins and recent knitting aside, here it a bit of yarn that I made recently.

On the left is a big honkin' skein of a wool-mohair blend  from Bitsy Knits.  It's one of her custom carded rovings in a lovely blue-green color.  I don't have the label with me so I can't tell you the official name.  I got it in a gift exchange and finally got around to spinning it.  I didn't measure it, but it's big!  Just past that is a merino-alpaca blend that I carded myself a long while back and kind of forgot about.  When I was tidying up I found the box and though it was a bit musty smelling, it spun up fine and after a wee bath, it smells good too.

On the far right is one of 3 skeins of a Corriedale-like fiber from   Cherry Tree hill via Discontinued Brand Name Yarns.  The colorway is 'Irish Mist' but I am a bit tired of it, so I overdyed the last 6 ounces of the pound in blue, so the resulting roving is a lovely peacock blue-green.  Easy to spin, btw in case you have wondered about that roving.  I spin rather thick and it came out nicely squishy.

The deep blue is another overdye.  I spun it a while back - a natural grey carded with a medium blue wool and some angelina, but I didn't love it.  It was too grey with not enough blue to really pop, so into the dyepot it went.  I love it now - deep and heathery.  I rolled it into a ball this morning and brought it with me to knit at the SAFF board meeting tonight.  It is destined to become a Trailside hat.  I'll post pictures when I'm done.

I heard about a big destash yard sale over the weekend.  The flyer said there were 2 spinning wheels, 6 sowing [sic] machines and lots of yarn and fabric.  There was, indeed!  I was the first person there when she opened at 8 and bought a Lendrum double treadle (and a bunch of yarn!).  It's quite beautiful and it spins nicely, but by the size of the skeins above, you can see that I like fat yarn and BIG skeins.  So my trusty Louet S10 isn't going anywhere.  So far I've only spun 2 bobbins on the Lendrum & plied them on the Louet.  A nice combination, I think, particularly for smaller quantities.

Winter Fiber Retreat Recap

I had great fun participating in the winter Fiber Retreat held last weekend here in Asheville & hosted by Friends and Fiberworks, a local yarn shop and fiber community center.  Lisa and a corps of dedicated fiber enthusiasts have taken a lease on a large store in a mall that has been 'asleep' for the past few years.  I'm not sure why, but this shopping mall has never done well.  It has a good location, the space is attractive, but it's sort of ...well...quiet.

But last weekend it was the site of the Winter Fiber Retreat, a gathering of knitters, spinners, felt makers, dyers, animal enthusiasts of all stripes.  There were great vendors, amazing classes, and cool people all around.  From Chad Alice Hagen to Jazz Turtle Esther Rogers, Kimberly Nicdao Reynolds from Knittters Magazine, we had wonderful instructors.  Wild Hare Fibers, Earth Guild, Creatively Dyed, Hooked on Felt - those were just a few of the very tempting vendors.  

My classes went very well.  Crockpot dyeing (all 3  sessions) was a hit and all my talented students made beautiful multicolored roving.  The 2 knitting classes were a pleasure.  Although small, each student got started knitting a lovely hat and has the confidence to knit on.  I really enjoyed teaching and am preparing a proposal for SAFF as well as the Summer Retreat.

I didn't take a lot of pictures.  I just forgot.  But if you go to Friends& Fiberwork Facebook page, you'll see plenty more, including the vendors, the fashion show, the Saturday night band (Buncombe Turnpike) and lots of fun and sillyness.

There were a few hiccups.  The weather the preceding week was awful - cold and about a foot of snow and that hurt attendance.  The fleece to shawl event didn't happen.  A late start and a warping error meant that already busy and stressed people just couldn't pull it off.  Oh well, lesson learned.  The live animals in the mall were quite a shock for the mall management, particularly when the llamas ...um...fell in love.  I missed it, but I heard it drew quite a crowd.

But it was a lot of fun and the whole event had a very positive vibe.  So much so that a Summer Retreat is already in the planning stages.  And I can't wait!

Wag More. Bark Less. Card Fiber.

Yesterday I talked about about the making of New Years Resolutions and the reflective process that is entailed.  What did I intend, did I accomplish it, now what?  So when I looked back to the beginning of 2010, I realized that I didn't really publicly state my resolutions.  I made some, but they weren't that exciting.

For example, I started using PayPal for shipping orders for my Etsy shop.  It's worked out very well.  Instead of taking the time during the day to carry an armload of packages (or even one!), I printed postage and left the packages on the porch for my local USPS carrier to pick up.  No loss of packages in my urban neighborhood, one less errand during my already busy work day & I even saved a little money.  I do kind of miss my tiny Post Office near the college, but I still use them for international orders.  A fine & successful 2011 start up, but not really earth shattering.

I also resolved to be a more active board member for SAFF, and that was good and this year I intend to be even more active.  Of course, that is what I signed on for.  The current composition of the board makes that a pleasure - even though it is a good bit of work.  I had work-related resolutions too, but you don't really want to know about that now, do you.  Love my job, want to do it well, but that is rarely of interest on this blog.

So this year:  be happy & be healthy (much like Crazy Aunt Purl in 2010), but also be nicer, as in Wag More; Bark Less.  Think about what you say and how you say it.  Ummm... before you say it.  A few years ago I gave myself a stern talking to about much the same topic, and I really put a stop to some of the negative thoughts and words.  Becoming more mindful of my feelings is not a bad thing to do.  Getting exercise almost everyday is a start, so I brought turtlenecks and a fleece for lunch time walks.

Another resolution is to really use my MP3 player for more that the FM radio (which is the reason that I picked that particular one), but really.  So yesterday I downloaded and the subscribed to a bunch of podcasts.  They are mostly NPR (Fresh Air, Planet Money, Car Talk, etc.) but also the Onion and Slate.com.  Should tie in nicely to the exercise resolution, eh?

Back to fiber...I really love my drum carder, but I never offered drum carded batts before, so today I added the batt set that you see here to my shop.  If they don't sell, that's okay.  Happy to spin it myself.  But you never know until you try!

That said, the New Year has now officially begun for me.  I even started my diet - Back to the South Beach! 

Something to Look Forward to in January: Winter Fiber Retreat in Asheville

Registration is now open for classes at the Winter Fiber Retreat in Asheville, NC.

Hosted by local yarn shop Friends and Fiberworks, this weekend of activities will take place on January 14-16, 2011.  A large variety of classes in knitting, spinning, weaving, felting, dyeing and lots more.  Great teachers - many of them teach at SAFF.  We spin each Wednesday evening at F&FW and the ideas were flowing freely the other evening.  Still being hatched: a sheep-to-shawl contests - my job is to make the rules!  Yikes!

Lisa has negotiated special hotel packages for people looking for a mid-winter get-away. Vendor space is still available too.  Here is the link:  http://friendsandfiberworks.com/winter-retreat

I’m teaching a couple of knitting and dyeing classes and there are plenty more that I’d love to take!  I just don't know how they will fit in, though I hope I can. 

SAFF Report

The Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (aka SAFF) took place last weekend.  Ever throw a party for about 6,000 of your closest friends?  I have to say that I had a great time - in a number of ways.  The event was very well attended with only a few bumps in the road.  The weather was perfect; the animals were cute; the shows went off without a hitch.  Even with a smaller board of directors, our synergy worked very well. 

I shared a vendor booth with 2 other people.  I sold dyed and natural roving and washed fiber, my own hat patterns, sock yarn and felting needles.  I sold lots of other things too, but that was my bread and butter.  I also got good feedback on the dyed fiber and patterns.  I did okay - and my expectations were not terribly high.  I have never been a vendor at this large an event before.  My prices were in line with other vendors of my ilk.  I am not trying to compete with the fellow down the way who imports large quantities of fiber and close-out yarns.  I cannot compete with full service fiber shops - that's okay!  I had a small investment and for the most part I had a mix of product that people wanted at reasonable price points. I'm happy to report that even though I came home with some beautiful local alpaca-cormo roving, some killer mohair locks (both from my booth-mate) and a part for my spinning wheel, I did not go crazy with the other vendors.  While there I spun the yarn I really need to make - plain vanilla and well as a pretty dyed BFL!  I took home a lot of dyed roving, all of which will be used to stock my Etsy shop and the local yarn shops.

Next year I will do a couple of things differently. I need to write a couple of new patterns.  I think that my hats are so simple, but people kept asking for patterns for 'Skater Boy' and the 'Yet-to be-Named' hat that I have been knitting of late.  I also need to arrange my booth in a better way so that people can really see and touch the dyed fiber.  I used a very sweet pumpkin of my own design (is it possible?) to demonstrate needle felting and sell felting needles.  People wanted to buy the pumpkin and kits.  Next year - make kits.  Also I need to dye more heather roving. That sold first!  Who knew?  I was so focused on merino, that I really missed a good opportunity for needle felters and rug braiders.

SAFF has been a big deal - both in the planning and the booth prep during a very busy time at work.  As a board member, I have had a good bit of stress, though I just love the event.   I have some new things to share n the blog soon - People have made some very nice things from my fiber.  I'm happy to get back to real life

I'm tired, but it all looks good!

Yesterday was set up day at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF).  No pictures yet, but my shared booth looks good.  My dyed fiber looks as good as anyone's (IMHO!).  I'm also sharing the front desk with the same person and our booth is adjacent to the front desk.  Once we got the booth set up, we put up the souveniers - lots of t shirts, a few dozen tote bags and coffee mugs.Because of my responsibilities, I didn't get all the way around the event, but everything is looking good.

The overnight task was to get all the ribbon sorted out for the various and sundry animal, fleece and skien & garment competitions and to finish tagging yarn and small items for my booth.

Now, time to get dressed and reload the car.  See you there!

My Trip to Washington

Twice a year, I go to Washington to meet with members of the consortium with whom I work.  I usually go up a day early - why not?  It's not like I can fly in on an early Monday morning plane and get in on time.   This time I visited a couple of cool museums - and not just the National Gallery of Art.  I did go the NGA - my favorite exhibition was a group of small German drawings.  Some were sketches for larger works, but many were just sweet and lovely works that stand on their own merit.  Portraits, landscapes, nature drawings - some simple others with a considerable narrative like this 1765 Canaletto.  Really nice.

Before I went, I heard about the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef - now on display in the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.  It was wild and fanciful - exciting to look at and explore.  One young woman was pointing out pieces that she had made.  Really nice!  Read more about how this project brings together science, math, craft and community at crochetcoralreef.org.  No pictures, as I want to respect their copyright statement. It's on tour - maybe it will be coming to your town.

My last visit was to Julia Child's Kitchen at the Museum of American History.  It was delightful - and now I know what color to paint my kitchen - a mellow blue-green.  It won't make me able to cook quite as well, but it was quite a lovely space and will fit nicely in the era of my home.

One of the best parts of travel is the time for knitting - in this case about 6 hats.  Getting ready for SAFF - Set up is TOMORROW!  Yikes!

Dyeing Red

The color for today is red - dyeing all shades of red - fiery red to mellow read to oranges and gold.

 Later, it was purple - pinky red and blue to make lavender.  Some with firestar; others with silk.  Some more pink; others heavier on blue.  All pretty!  Getting ready for SAFF.  Dye pots every day.

Take Time for Color

The day job is keeping me busy, but I am finding time to dye a good bit; spin a little and knit a wee bit.  Fall has really kicked in with an increased workload.  My day job is developing and implementing professional development for teachers and all of a sudden my calendar is filling up.  The Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF) is coming up,so that is keeping me busy too,  I'm not complaining,but it just seems that everything is happening at once. 

But one must take time to play, so for me that's spinning and knitting, contra dance and English Country dance and hiking.  These pictures are the Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) roving that I have been dyeing lately.  I've been dyeing lots of merino for the bast year or so, so it's fun to work with a new fiber.  It's not as fine as merino, but very springy and the roving has a lovey luster.  So far I've only spun up a sample, but I really like it's 'squishyness.'  I'm planning on spinning a bronze green hank of roving this weekend. 

I'll be attending Moon Dance, a contradance weekend in upstate South Carolina.  The music will be great, the company fine, but I am no longer the dance-aholic that I once was.  Last year my knee was in a brace (the 'too much fun' alarm had gone off earlier!) so I brought my wheel and spun to the music.  This year I hope to dance more, but need the fallback of my spinning and knitting to keep me busy and not feeling too out of it! 

By the way, I love my clothesline!  It was part of this year's home improvement plan.  The drying roving looks beautiful and dries fast, the towels are a wee bit scratchy, but the sheets smell great!

School's In!

I seldom mention my day job on this blog, but I can't help commenting on the students back for the fall.  I am happy to see our good students - fun people, hard workers - dedicated to what they love.  The class of student teachers are a fine group, ready to make their way in the classroom.  The student athletes look refreshed (except the football players who have been here a couple of weeks already) and ready to see their pals.  I have promised my students that I'd make it to at least one football game this year.  Last year it seemed that all the home games conflicted with dance or fiber.  I'll try harder this year.

The Anything Fiber Yard Sale was lots of fun on Saturday.  I sold lots of yarn (at bargain prices), a few books and a little bit of fiber and fabric.  Nobody got rich, but it was a good relocation of stash!  I bought a few dyes and a mohair fleece and I traded a couple of books. I also made contacts with local spinners and weavers, never a bad thing.  It poured rain most of the day and even though it was inside, that probably kept people away.  I will probably do it again next year and will be smarter about what I bring.

I did get a wee bit of dyeing done. This is African Sun, the full size version of my August Phat Fiber Sampler box contribution.   Since I will be a vendor at SAFF, I need to get yarn and fiber dyed up and ready to sell.  And as October looks slammed a month before it starts, I'll be dyeing almost daily until then.  Watch for the woman with the purple fingers - - Oh, that's all of us!

Plain Vanilla in Orange

As the Mossy Cardi is again at a place where I have to think, I started a pair of socks to knit this evening at the SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair) board meeting.  No brain strain here, just a simple pair of socks in self striping Sock Colori almost sport weight yarn.  I bought several balls of this when a local yarn shop went out of business a few years ago.  As I am still 'knitting down the stash' (though I have seriously fallen off the wagon of late), this yarn volunteered for duty.

When I knit the psuedo-Fair Isle yarns, I find that I don't like any patterning - not even ribs.  A bit of a cuff, then straight-on stockinette, flap heel and more stockinette to the toe.  With randomly dyed and semi-solid yarns, it's a different story.  But for these yarns, I work on the KISS principle.  I guess I'll put them on Ravelry, but mostly to keep records of sock #1, when I knit sock #2. 

SAFF is shaping up nicely.  Even with a smaller and less-experienced board, we are a dedicated group.  We are willing to try new things, while keeping the things that worked in the past. I have simple but satisfying knitting to keep my hands busy, but not require much pesky thinking.  The creativity flows, but we keep the meeting knitting easy!

Great Things are About to Happen

If I saw this message in a fortune cookie, I would be feeling about like I am right now.

My house is in flux right now. Let's think about pretty dyed wool.

• The Roofing dude is about to fix the creaking rafters.
• The Plumber has my leak on his schedule (as soon as he gets back from Europe!).
• The Solar guys are about mid-way through their installation.

Then I get to finish up the remaining stuff - like those giant cracks and then painting everything!

In the world headquarters of Smoky Mountain Fibers...

• SAFF is over and was delightfully successful and fun in so many ways.
  
• My booth-sitting was financially positive
• I'll be working at the Locally Grown Gallery this weekend at the WNC Farmers Market.
  
• My Etsy shop has been quite busy, thank you!
• I hit the blogoshere, thanks to Ms. Ashlee of My Cellar Door!

The day job has been requiring excessive reporting to finish the federal fiscal year, but they are nearly complete.  This makes me happy as I don't enjoy the reporting part of the job.
I will lead my first full program on English Country dancing on Sunday.  Last night I sent the tune list to the musicians.  Wish me luck.

So with this fortune, I am felling happy, lucky and expecting Great Things!

Phat Fiber Meetup at SAFF

It was a fun day a SAFF, particularly as six of the Phat Fiber contributors got together on Saturday morning.  We met at Moonwood Farm & Covy Cove Farm's Shared booth, just across the aisle from Knitty and Color. CptSnoopy [Rav Link] was there with her hubby as well as KTLV with her family.  We chatted and laughed and talked like we have known each other for a long time.  I brought a bit of  'Show and Tell' - a lovely pink yarn that I made by carding everything in the August box that was pink and sparkly with some pink roving  and spun up a sweet and sparkly yarn! I also brought the genuine original PhatStripes Hat and SMF samples for eveyone. 

While all the fiberistas and their support people were terrific, Roo has great energy! All of the vendors were doing well, even after a rainy Friday.  But Saturday was bright and clear and busy, without being frantic.  Here we are, photo courtesy of CptSnoopy's husband, nice guy Major Snoopy(?)
Back Row:  Capt Snoopy, Roo (Moonwood Farm), Kathering (KTLV),  Cozette of Cozy Cove Farm
Front Row:  AnneMarie (SmokyMountainFibers), Sarah (Knitty and Color)

I've had a great time at SAFF, with my volunteer duties going well, my short booth-sitting vending acceptable.  I met a number of folks I have only known online in addition to seeing old and new friends from many of my different lives.  I bought a lovely mohair fleece, but did not pick it up yet - it was still being judged.  Back tomorrow for more fun and games!  

The Deadlines Are Upon Me!

I hate waking up at 4:00 a.m. in a bit of a panic about all the things I need to do.  But that's what I did on Sunday morning.  I began realizing just how many things were due at the end of October.  Some are on the good side of the work/fun continuum.  SAFF for example.  Even though I have to keep up with a web page or 2.  Dyeing yarn and fiber for my Etsy shop and delivering yarn, fiber and hats to my LYS accounts. Knitting and spinning.  Again, a good kind of work.

But my actual day job is definitely slanted in the other direction.  And even though I love what I do, occassionally all the deadlines kick in at the same time.  So instead of lying in bed worrying, I did what sensible people all over the universe do.  I made a List.

So on this very Monday morning, I have taken said List and begun completing items on it.  This blog post, however is not on the List, so it will be quite short and only mention that...

I have been featured on another blog,

http://jennytheartist.blogspot.com/2009/10/farmville.html.  Thank you Jenny!

My house is newly re-roofed, but now has several giant cracks in the ceilings and walls.  Kind of scary, huh?
This was not in the contract.

In the interest of getting back to the List, I'll be signing off! 

Buying Less Fiber - with a Minor Exception or 2!

This morning I was looking at a Yahoo group digest email (Spin-Sales; yarnandfiber; FleeceforSale - one of those) and a seller was offering a delightful fleece for sale. The picture looked delightful - lovely gray color, good breed, right price - but I was not seriously tempted. In my earlier spining days, I would have jumped all over that fleece. But this morning I lingered briefly thinking, that would be very nice. I have some shows coming up, so I'll need real live fleece to demo carding and spinning. A lovely fleece to process and spin. Then I clicked off.

Like most spinners I have too much fiber - washed fleece, roving in white, natural colors & hand dyed. And because I am in the fiber business, buying unnecessary fiber cuts into the bottom line. But somehow, for the most part, it's enough. The Mountain State Fair (near Asheville, NC) is just around the corner with SAFF just a few weeks after that. I can wait untill I can see, touch, smell the fleece. Online pictures are tempting, but not enough. The real sheepy deal is just around the corner. I'l leave that beautiful fleece for somebody else. My fleece is waiting for me at the fair or SAFF.

Then I saw a note about the PhatFiber giveaway. Today the featured seller is Rachel, of My8KidsMom and Counting Sheep Farm fame. When looking at her shop, I didn't just decide what I liked, I bought it! Mulberry silk undyed roving. I don't have that - at least not undyed. I can dye that. I can blend that. She had 2. I bought then both! I paid retail! Yikes. I can't wait to get it!

Spring Break

Spring break has been great and I accomplished quite a bit; though not all that I intended. We'll start with the positives.

1. Dyed fiber - lots and lots of fiber! Roving for my Etsy shop, Bronze Green roving for the PhatFiber April box, fiber for my own spinning, sock yarn in blue and rose.

2. Delivered work to the B&M accounts, particularly Asheville Home Crafts, who have been selling handspun natural yarn, sock yarn and roving.

3. Knitted 7 hats - off season, I know, but it's time to build stock for next year. Two are new designs with my color change yarns.

4. Updated the SAFF website - or at least tried to. Since most of my work requires input from others, at least I think I know what I need to do.

5. Worked in the garden, cutting back perrennials, pruning and weeding the roses (mostly pulled the evil Bermuda grass), cutting the grass. I also monitored the progress of the sugar snap peas, onions, and kale as wellas the rhubarb, coming back strong.

6. Went to the Sun Assembly's English Dance Weekend, with was lovely. Robin Hayden was the leader while Atossa Kramer played piano and clarinet with the house band, Gollard Greene (is that a great name or what?!).

7. Called the Advanced Dance at River Falls with Curious George - excellent music, workable program, fine dancing. I called some tricky dances and lots of no-walk-thru contras with a very nice medley.

8. Graded projects & tests; posted grades for the ACCESS class.

9. Exercised - Walking daily including a lovely walk in the Botanical Gardens.

What I didn't get done...
1. My Taxes - not due yet, though I did sort the paperwork, so I'm ready.
2. Blog every day - oh well, too busy doing that writing about it.
3. Post hat pattern to Ravelry.
3. Clean the studio - though it's hard to clean when you are using it.

Coming up - Back to work - ready to finish out the semester; gotta get started on my summer vacation.

Next weekend - Playford Ball in Nasheville, TN!