All holidays need a fiber component.  This past weekend was great because mine had 2 different fiber events.  (It also had gardening, parades, and whiffle ball, but this part is about the fiber.)

This is certainly a case of a picture tells a thousand words. So briefly, the photos in the top left box show some of my purchases at the Massachusetts Sheep and Woolfest.  I bought a kit for needlefelting backyard birds.  I thoght if I can get one to come out nice it would be a good gift for Agent B’s Jr. Audubon leader.   I’m even thinking that Agent B might like to try making one herself.  I also bought a roving and an inexpensive drop spindle from Spunky Eclectic.  Her booth is our favorite (as you can tell from the expressions on Cheryl and Sarah’s faces in the photo box on the bottom left.)  What else did I get?  I also bought some banana fibers to try in my drum carder (bottom right of the top left photo).  Not in the photo, I bought some lavendar scented wool wash and some lavendar colored Cushing Dye. (I love that one in particular. It has cool ways of being.)

We had a very nice trip up to Cummington.  I had mapped out some shortcuts which we managed to miss, but the drive is so easy around there that it wasn’t that big of a deal. Sarah was very patient with my driving and Cheryl’s navigating. I think we could have just driven around all day and she would have happily knit away on her vest without a complaint.

The night before, Sarah and I were also in Massachussetts for a Post Cummington Loot Fest at JessaLu’s.  (For us it was pre-fest, for everyone else it was post-fest.)  It was fun to meet up with some new fiber friends who speak the same fiber/ravelry/blog language.  I have a list of names/blogs in my purse.  I’ll go get it and be right back…  Okay. So, of course there was JessaLu and you have all been to her blog and seen all her talents up close. (Everyone has one of her bags, and you could have one too!)  I’m having a little trouble remembering real names/blog names/ ravelry names, so bear with me a moment.  Ok, also there was Tina from RowsRed and Harriet from Writing and Knitting and Spinning, Oh My.  And Risa from CrazyFiberLady? (yup)  Textile Junkie from Geeky Fiber News?  (yup, and is Harriet’s husband. I didn’t know that.  Sometimes I wonder about me…)  And Michelle and I don’t know where she is from but she was very nice and I would like to find her.  Maybe someone knows and can add that in my comments?  I didn’t take any photos, but if you click on the RowsRed link above, she has some there.  She is knitting the most fantastic shawl; creamy, lacy, and beady–very fine work, indeed.

(ETA: Please see Harriet’s comment below.  Michelle is Textile Junkie (gorgeous blog!).  Now I get it.)

It has been a long time since I have really done any significant knitting other than working on my sock blankie, but the other night I cast on a sock and I’m ready to turn the heel.  Note to self:  It is very important to always have a sock project going because you never know when you are going to need the comfort that fanatical sock knitting provides.

So, can you tell that I upgraded to Picnik Premium?  Here is the clue. This is what my Woolfest collage looked like before the upgrade:

kind of boring, huh?

I do love Picnik though. It makes me happy in its cleaverness.

Have a great day, and thanks for reading!

Alternate name for this post:  Mad Knitters do the Harlot! ***(see below)

Poor Stephanie, by the time this photo was taken she had probably signed at least 8 million books and she just wanted to “go to the loo.”  We were very happy that she didn’t actually burst or anything and she made it through this photo with us Mad Knitters.  And mad we were yesterday.  During her show, we laughed like mad, then back at WEBS, we shopped like mad  Even on our way home, stopping at Ruby Tuesdays, we ate like mad. (And we always wonder why the next morning we have Mad Knitter yarnovers. Crazy, huh???)

It worked out very well for us — by the time we made it through the WEBS checkout line, the book signing line had dissipated.   This was Knitty’s and Cherylz first ever Yarn Harlot event and they were excited! Both Sarah and I have been before though we were still excited as always.  I first met her at Rhinebeck 2 years ago (when she touched my sweater!) and then at Granby when Marji’s Yarn Shop hosted a Breast Cancer fundraiser.  She is always funny and always a presence.  I can’t wait for the next time.  (LFG also came for the book talk, she just had to go back to VT so she could not come to WEBS afterward.  I should have thought to take some photos with her when we were outside as the ones that I took in the theater did not come out as it was too dark in there…)

My number one “take home” lesson from listening to the Yarn Harlot yesterday is that I need to knit more.  It is good for my brain and it is good for my patience and it is good for my family (because it is just good for me).  Really, IHA, out there reading this – it is true.  Knitting makes people happy and focused.  So when you see me unhappy or unfocused, lock me in a room with my knitting, asap.

My  “take home” action item is going to be to cast-on like crazy-mad this week.  I am going to cast on for a bunch of projects so that I always have the appropriate type of knitting for the appropriate brain activity that I need.  If I need to be smarter, I’ll knit something complicated and lacy and if I need to have more patience, I’ll knit something repetitive and soothing. I also need to start a completely take along project so I can always have something with me everywhere I go…

What? Do you I hear you asking for additional photos? Well, I aim to please.  I wish I had taken a picture of all the *millions* of knitters flooding the streets of Northampton.  I think crossing the street was one of Cherylz’s favorite parts.  She was like “You mean, you can do this? Cross on a diagonal?  I’ve never heard of such a thing!”  I will never look at the streets of Northampton without thinking of her.  They are apparently very pedestrian friendly there.  Ok, the photos… here we go…

The line at WEBS

More of the line at WEBS

Cheryl having her booked signed.  Do you see that she is wearing her gorgeous Tangled Yoke Cardigan?  This is a sign of a true knitter — wearing a Rowan Felted Tweed wool sweater in a crowded store that must have been at least 80 degrees…

Our loot getting ready to ride back to Connecticut!  (More on that to come in future posts…)

 *** This is a clip from an e-mail from one Mad Knitter last week.  Names have been changed to protect the innocent:

lol Spincerely, I saw your Mom yesterday.  Chatty and nice as always, she says to me “And LFG, my other daughter is coming down for a wedding shower and then she and Spincerely are going to see the *stagewhisper* Yarn Harlot”

I said, “I know, I’m actually going too! I’m wicked excited!”

And she says “Well, I guess most people are excited when they see a harlot. Just not usually women.”

Today is basically recovery day. There is so much I want to do (now that I don’t have to clean like a maniac), but have I done anything all day today? Sadly? No. Took a little nap. Attempted to keep Jr. Agents from bickering. Printed some photos, too, I guess. I appear to be having birthday withdrawal. Yesterday was so fantastically wonderful (except for the snow), that withdrawal is inevitable.

This is what I woke up to yesterday morning — can you think of anything better to look at while you sip your morning coffee?

The sun was coming straight in through our windows casting this lovely shadow on our wall.

Other hightlights? Friends, shopping, sushi, pedicure, surprises, chatting, sister, seafood, candles, parents, old friends, wonderful husband, catering, Nigel, chocolate, music, yarn, new friends, phone calls, more chocolate, funny cards, presents, and more friends.

And some people get to do this every year, can you imagine????

Thank you to everyone for all the wonderful Happy Birthday wishes — whether by card, phone, blog, e-mail, or in person — I enjoyed and appreciated them all. 40 may not be so bad after all…

Do you remember when there really weren’t so many queues and really the only queue around was the print queue and the only time you ever thought about the print queue was when there was a problem with the print queue? Everyone at work would get upset because their stuff wasn’t printing and they didn’t know why and you would say “Well, did you check the print queue?” (because for some reason the print queue had a mind of its own and would just randomly decide to not preform the printing task you had requested?) and then they would look at you like you had 2 heads because they didn’t know what the heck the freaking print queue was? (OK, and well, there was also Q from Star Trek, but he is just Q and that is all.)

Now there are so many queues. My favorites are my movie queue at Netflix and my project queue at Ravelry. Ok, really I like my Rav Queue way more lately as my Netflix queue of which I have been quite neglectful lately. And I really don’t just like my Rav Queue, I LOVE my Rav Queue! It is the best thing since personal photo printers!

I spend quite a bit of time rearranging my queue. Today, I think I have it perfect (though who knows what pattern Cherylz a Knitting Enabler will e-mail the link for next and I will have to throughly reorganize again). I wonder if I can link to my queue. If you’d like to see it, you can try clicking here. I think you probably need a Ravelry account to see it, but if you don’t have one, I highly recommend signing up to wait in their queue so you can get your own project queue!

The first 4 patterns on my project queue arrived there due to my enabling knitting friends. I am going to make socks out of my Fiesta Boomerang because Sarah is a Boomerang pusher. I know she looks like a quiet and friendly librarian, but don’t let her fool you. Two words: YARN. PUSHER. Because, also, number 2 on my queue is due to her. I just clicked the Etsy Purchase button this morning to get some Rainbow Black Merino Sock Yarn from Perchance to Knit. And why? Because she carries these skeins of yarn around with her like they are candy and makes us touch them and squeeze them and covet them so much that we spend hours waiting for them to show up with a “purchase now” button on the internet! Number 3 on my queue is a hat that Cherylz a Knitting Enabler e-mailed about this morning. She linked to this blog post at Brooklyn Tweed. Gorgeous. I. Must. Make. This. Hat. And. Now. I have singles. I must ply! Oh wait, I just saw Koolhaas. Back to the Queue! OK, Koolhass is now number 4, which means that Tangled Yoke is pushed to number 5… and why is Tangled Yoke in my queue? You guessed it! Sarah and Cheryl are making it too!

Well, yesterday was the national holiday called Rhinebeck.  It came and went so fast, I think we need to do it again.  (”Again! again!” like the agents used to say when they were little enough to be spun in dizzying circles.)

It was a gorgeous day.  There was no wind, no mud,  just lots and lots of sunshine…

We did the usual stuff. We shopped…

That is Sarah making the first purchase of the day.  She bought some silk rovings in beautiful colors.

We pet some sheep…

That is Agent K. She spent most of her day making her case for taking home a sheep or angora bunny.  I resisted though.  It was a bit difficult as everyone else seemed to be on K’s side, but I stuck my ground and no living creatures made the trip home with us.

We watched the Leaping Llamas…

The llamas and alpacas are very funny.  They either leap or they don’t leap.  They can be very stubborn.  If they don’t want to do it, you just can’t make them.

We had a Brighid’s Dyers meet-up…

That is Jenna, Leslie, and LFG.  The beautiful pink yarn was solar dyed by Leslie in cochineal and the lovely pink silk scarf underneath was also solar dyed in cochineal, but by LFG.

Then we did some more shopping and posed with some yarn.

This is Agent K again.  She is a fiber enthusiast in training.  I think we have finally found her fiber field.  She really likes needle felting.  One of our more fun fiber purchases was a ladybug felting kit for her.  She said it is more fun than knitting because you can do what you want as you create and you don’t have to worry about each stitch.

We bought any last minutes items we had missed, said our feet hurt and went home.

I don’t have any good “loot” shots.  My purchases were not too photogenic.  I bought a large blue felting mat for making felted scarves, a bit of undyed roving, and some double point needles for making Foliage.

All in all yesterday was a very fun day – lots of friends and lots of fiber!

Today is National Recover from Rhinebeck Day.

Going tomorrow!

Can’t wait!

Those are the three things that make a perfect Sunday.

Yesterday morning the girls participated in a Kid’s Triathlon sponsored by The Friends of Brodie Park.  They were a relay team.  Agent B was the swimmer, K was the biker, and J was the runner.  It was a wee bit early in the morning for them, but they did a great job and they finished very nicely in the middle of the race.  In the above photo they are showing off their racing numbers.

In this photo, you can see them with their finishing medals.   They are already starting to talk about next year and how they will switch around the events.  Agent J really wants to swim.  Well, it seems they all want to swim or bike with running being the least favorite.  It was pretty cool though that they were able to do it as a team and whether they do it again or not, they will always have that as a childhood memory.

Yesterday was also a great day for eating, knitting, and spinning too.

Knitcole got her first taste of spinning with a wheel and she made most excellent yarn!

Then look at all this fun stuff:

Starting at top left:  Dara and Knitcole set up Chocolate Butler (this photo is from July), Knitcole opens a  most amazing present from Sarah (any guesses what kind of yarn that could be?), Sarah knits on a baby sweater, and Cheryl chocolate coats a Nilla Wafer.

(Note to Dara:  The girls are eating your carrot cake for breakfast this morning and now Agent K is begging me for one for her birthday!!!  “Mommy, can you please get the recipe????”)