Fiber, fiber, and more fiber

What a great day I had on Dickson, TN on Friday…  It was the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival!  There was not only yarn for sale, but also roving, fleeces, and sheep, goats, and bunnies.  There was literally fiber and tools for working with fiber everywhere!

With my little guy in a baby carrier, I browsed through the three indoor buildings and one outdoor area.  This is what one of the three buildings looked like:

Middle TN Fiber Festival showroom

In addition to the three indoor buildings, they had animals outside, such as these shetland sheep…

Middle TN Fiber Festival sheep

…and these angora bunnies.  They were so cute and fluffy!

Middle TN Fiber Festival bunnies

This festival definitely had something for everyone – knitters, crocheters, spinners, dyers, and felters.  It was so fun to talk to all of the vendors about what they do.  I was most inspired by all of the beautiful hand spun yarn and roving, so I finally decided to get a spindle (from The Dancing Goats) and small bundle of roving (from Wild Hair Studio) with which to practice.  The spindle is a supported bottom-whorl spindle, which I was informed had by used by many countries throughout ancient and modern history.  My spindle has a cedar shaft and apple whorl, and I can’t wait to take it for a spin 🙂

Middle TN Fiber Festival spindle and fiber

Organization continues – updated Ravelry projects

As a follow-up to my previous post “Getting organized – the Ravelry stash and projects“, I have been photographing and updating the projects portion of my Ravelry page.  Although there are still a few holes, my Ravelry project page is looking much better!

Updated Ravelry Projects

Now I have one place where I can not only see what I have made, but also catalog all sort of information about each project.  For me, the most interesting information is noting which yarn and pattern I used to make each project.

I have found two other perks of adding your projects on Ravelry.com.  The first is that you may get your photo featured on the pattern page, as I did for the Comfy Knit Snuggle.  This brings visibility to your presence on Ravelry and enhances the original pattern page.

Featured Snuggles Photo

Secondly, you can help others see what a pattern may look like with different yarns or colorways.  This is very useful if you are trying to get a feel for whether or not to use a particular pattern.

Snuggles Pattern Photos

So have fun updating your projects on Ravelry!  Add a link to your Ravelry projects below so I can see what you’re up to.

The fun of the the knitting journey

I don’t know about you, but I usually work a project for a long time.  Sometimes a very long time.  That’s because I don’t have large blocks of time to knit, so I’ll work a few rows whenever I have the chance.

Last night, I finished a scarf I’ve been working on for a while now, but I found that finishing was anti-climatic.  I had looked forward to finishing the scarf so I could start wearing it and start a new project, but in the end, I found that I more greatly enjoyed the journey of following the pattern and watching the scarf grow.

Trillian Scarf Close-Up

Trillian Scarf

I still need to weave in the ends, and the pattern recommends blocking so the edging will look even more pronounced, so I have a few loose ends to wrap up.  The good thing is that now I have a new scarf — and I can begin a new journey with different yarn and a different pattern.  More fun is to come!

Getting organized – the Ravelry stash and projects

So if you’re a knitter, you’ve probably heard of Ravelry.com before.  It’s like the Facebook for knitters – except it’s a little different.  In addition to being a social community, it is a treasure trove of patterns, both paid and free.  But I’ve just recently started organizing my “stash” – all the yarn I have – and “projects” – anything on which I am or have worked.  So far it’s pretty boring:

Ravelry stash

But, I am excited to add photos to liven things up.  As I was making my list, I realized I had yarns that I had forgotten about, which made the exercise worthwhile to me.  Also, you can list yarns that you have already used, and those that you wish to sell or trade.  I am interested in figuring out how to sell or trade some skeins I no longer plan to use.

The second benefit that I found in making my online stash was that I can document my projects, and I can link the projects to the yarn in the stash.  This is a great way to see where the yarn is going!  You can also link directly to the Ravelry or other online pattern you used, if applicable.  Also, I’ve made some fun things over the years, but I don’t have any photographs of any of it.  So I plan to take photos of my projects so that I can remember the interesting, the beautiful, and perhaps even the ugly things that my needles have produced.

It is still a work in progress, but here’s an example of a project I documented in Ravelry:

Ravelry project

I hope you have fun with your stash and projects in Ravelry.  Give it a try, if you haven’t already.  If you’re already a pro, what do you see as the benefit of these Ravelry features?

A beautiful new state

Our visit to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens was one of our first outings in our new state of Tennessee. It is so great to see so many trees, especially when they were changing color in the fall! There is a Japanese garden with a meandering trail…

… and a literary garden with a small amphitheater.

As winter is upon us, there is much knitting to be done in a city that gets cold! I have been away from this blog for a while but hope to add a few new things this year. Until then, keep warm!

Two skeins of fun

Visiting yarn stores other than your local yarn store can be a fun part of any vacation or road trip.  Such was the case for me last weekend.  A small town yarn shop had a wonderful selection of yarn, including this fun yarn from Italy.

It is called Orchidea and is produced by Trendsetter Yarns.  It is 42% cotton, 42% acrylic, and 16% nylon.  While I usually tend to avoid acrylic because I don’t care for its texture, the cotton blend feels very soft to the touch, and I could not pass up the beautiful blue colorway.  To me, it evokes the refreshing feeling of breezes across a lake or ocean.  The yarn seems flat now but may open up as it is knit.  It is itself an open weave of smaller threads.

I purchased two skeins with a summer wrap in mind.  I will let you know how it knits up!

Cat mats

When we first met our now-adopted second cat at a local charity, she was laying on a wonderfully colored, knitted little rug. I remembered that my yarn store had sponsored a project for animal shelters called the , so after we took our new cat home, I decided to make her a Snuggle so she would feel right at home in her new surroundings.

I chose 100% cotton so the rug would be washable. Other than that, I went for colors that I liked and yarn that was soft. My first attempt was the comfy knit snuggle. Our newly adopted cat wasn’t interested, but our other cat was a fan.

A new fan of my knitting

For my second attempt, I thought the new cat might prefer something with a tighter weave and an overall fluffier texture. So I went for the Little Devil pattern. Definitely fluffier, but I still had to convince our adopted cat that she wanted to enjoy my knitting. Cat mat, cat quilt, either one works for me.

Our adopted cat tries out the new cat mat… or cat quilt!

Now each cat has his / her own cat mat. And they even have an extra one to share — my three skeins of yarn yielded three mats. Hopefully the mats make for happy cats!

Local Eats

There’s nothing better than enjoying a delicious meal out than when it’s served by a locally owned restaurant. Such was the nature of our brunch outing this past weekend. Say hello to Liberty Market, located on Chandler, Arizona, USA. Maybe you have a similar place: a circa 1930 grocery store that has been renovated and turned into a restaurant by some local entrepreneurs. What first caught my attention was the preservation of the past in the old sign out front and some plaques telling about the history of the building.

What next caught my attention was the incredibly delicious breakfast.  Soft, fluffy pancakes with butter from a local dairy, nicely cooked eggs, and to top it all of, a smashed meatball.  I’ve never had one of those for breakfast or brunch before, but it was great!

Have you been to a yummy local restaurant lately?

Knitted napkin rings

I bet all of you have been wondering what I did with the jute string.  After knitting and un-knitting the swatch, I decided I had enough string for two napkin rings.  Because i didn’t want to deal with any seams, I opted to knit them in the round.  My first attempt resulted in “narrow”: a skinny stockinette stitch ring with a wide opening.

I was feeling braver for the second ring, so I cast on fewer stitches and knit in garter stitch, which in the round causes you to alternate between knit and purl on every round.  It was worth it to end up with “wide”.

Another fun, functional project completed.  I will have to do a little more knitting in case we have guests for dinner!

Blogging buddies

I just found out a good friend of mine also has a blog… about sewing!  We are long time schoolmates who are both in computer-related professions, so it is fun that not only do we share similar jobs but we also share similar hobbies, and now we are blogging about them.  We must have some intrinsic need to exercise both sides of the brain.

If you’re interested in a little sewing and textile fun, check out Fay’s Daughter.  Enjoy!