the busy season

'Tis the busy season, and I have every last minute dedicated to preparing for winter, both in the warmth and the food sense. Between spinning wool, shearing bunnies, knitting, canning garden vegetables, and working my "real" job, I have truly been a busy bee. My chores are my favorite kind of work though, and I take pride in accomplishing them.  They're all very satisfying tasks.  They're what we should all do for work.

cayenne

dried tarragon, my favorite culinary herb

marinara sauce

brandywines and green zebras

romas, yellow pears, and cherries

green zebras

moonglows

moonglow

single-ply angora

the angora wool from which I've been spinning --  available here.

Keep up your preparations for winter, folks! It will soon be upon upon us!

fiber festival

I wait all year for the day that I can go to the Michigan Fiber Festival.  It's so fun -- there are tons of vendors both local and non-local, lots of amazing fiber animals, and tons of like-minded craft folk. Whether you're a spinner, weaver, knitter, crocheter, or just a fiber arts enthusiast, there is definitely something for you at MFF!

Since my craft closet is still overflowing with last years' fiber festival purchases, I went a little lighter this year, since I've begun to realize that there is just no way that I can spin and knit through all of the fiber I get in one years' time. It's sort of like going to a restaurant when you're hungry -- your eyes are bigger than your stomach.

With that in mind, I snagged some awesome wool! Last year I was really into very soft fiber like alpaca, merino, cormo, etc.  This year, however, I thought I'd try some coarser wools.

From L to R:  Jacobs sheep, Coopworth, Mohair skein, Cormo (from my friend Anne's sheep), CVM/Alpaca, unmarked wool, unmarked wool, raw Romney fleece

Between all of this fleece, plus last years' fleece, plus the wool that our angora bunnies give, I will be very busy! 

Happy spinning and knitting, craftfolk! 

Yarn Loot

Aside from being able to attend a wicked awesome Radiohead show in Auburn Hills, I was also fortunate enough to find some time to check out a LYS in Ann Arbor called "Busy Hands".  There was Malabrigo everywhere and I thought that I was going to go crazy (aka spend all of my money) but I was good and only bought two skeins. One Malabrigo Rios in colorway "Teal Feather" and one Malabrigo Worsted in colorway "Molly".  They are both sooo lovely and I can barely wait to knit with them! I've only knitted with the worsted weight before, so I'm looking forward to seeing how Rios is on my needles.