Fiber Raven Soiree

The Triple Crown

I think I've got it figured out, where I went wrong. One must think of the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival as an Event. To believe that you can simply pack up one day and go to this place far away and participate in activities, walk around endlessly, and take in all manner of fibercandy without proper preparation and then hope to have no lingering ill effects is nonsense.

I'm sorry I can't blame consumption of massive quantities of martinis or The Earl (of Lagavulin) or even my personal concoction, the fabulous "Irish Painkiller" at MS&W, or any ensuing antics produced by the influence thereof. Caroline and I shared a wonderful bottle of wine over two nights, but I needed all my energy for the actual walking about and loot-lugging-- and I really do try to act more mature than my children most of the time! Which brings me to my point:

One must train for the Wool Festival Triple Crown:

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival - near Baltimore, Maryland, in May
Black Sheep Gathering - Eugene, Oregon, in June
The Wool Festival at Taos - Taos, New Mexico, in October

As Vanessa says, "only 362 more days until MS&W!" But only 44 days until the Black Sheep Gathering! My sister lives in Oregon, so Black Sheep will be a piece of cake (but I wish we could get Caroline over to this coast!)

It seems that spinning is becoming the new fiber fad, which is just fine with me-- I'll do the best I can to perpetuate it! And where better to stock up on spinning info and supplies than the Domains of the Triple Crown?!?

Okay, I'm getting off-track. And who wouldn't, if they had just finished frogging three inches of a reindeer sweater? They were getting uglier by the minute, and needed a complete amputation and regeneration.

I've also been swatching my wonderful silk and wool, and have come up with the stitch I will use for my jacket. Using a yarn that knits stockinette at 5 stitches to an inch, this stitch requires 9 stitches to achieve one inch in width, but it shows off the handpaint yarn exquisitely and will require no blocking.

And now it's late at night, my sweetheart has hurried off to the hospital to attend to his parents, the full story not quite available, but everything seems to be all right, something about a rather funny freak accident. So I'll quit picking at my nail polish, take some more Nyquil and try to cope with tomorrow when it arrives.