Fiber Raven Soiree

My extra special knitting friends
Came to my house today
To laugh and talk and eat and drink
And have a great soiree.

The Holler was definitely happy yesterday what with so many good knitterly friends "doing the Soiree"! To paraphrase Karen, every day should be a soiree.

Sherlock is blue now that everyone has gone home. "Where have they all gone" he asks silently and sadly.

Of course, he was mostly interested in procuring small bits of the pot luck. Ryan is always so much fun, doesn't she just look like a fun person? Well, she is.

You all might think that the only thing we do at soirees is talk, laugh, eat and drink. But actually much learning occurs. Rebecca was knitting her first sock, and with Ryan and others there to help her through her heel she had fun and maybe will continue to knit socks! A lovely person she is, too, fun and vibrant and full of energy. A little crazy though-- she had spent the morning swimming in Lake Washington. Do you know how cold that is? Crazy people seem to be drawn to me... or is it the other way around?

Beth and Linda from the Feral Knitters arrived together and we had more of a chance to talk than at Feral Knitters Group meetings. Beth reminds me of my stepmother and I felt right at home with her. Linda, despite the fact that she had trouble getting Sherlock to cuddle with her (he was a bit aloof this time), is a dear person. She was just finishing two socks that she had knit on two circular needles. This I have got to learn how to do. Here are Beth (left) and Linda enjoying the Wall O'Spindrift.

Andrea, another Feral, was able to spend part of the afternoon with us. This lady does it all, and is a knowledgeable source of information on spinning, knitting, you name it! A couple of years ago she bought my kit for Laleli, and she is almost up to the shoulders on it now. She has knit a number of fair isle designs that I have seen, each more exquisitely wrought than the last.

Margarite plyed her homespun for the first time, with tips and help from the rest of us. The yarn is beautiful and will look gorgeous with her coloring.

Marti worked on a couple of items this time, but here she is concentrating on her to-be-felted modular bag.

Most importantly, Janine the Feral Queen was here. She brought notebooks, one full of articles and techniques from Elizabeth Zimmermann and Meg Swanson, the other an example of how she documents her designs. She wanted to show me and others that how it was possible to keep design ideas flowing and intact but not necessarily need to have a whole notebook per design. Either way is good, it just depends on what kind of a person you are-- can you keep a notebook? Great! Did you hate school and can't bear the sight of a notebook? Felina says "throw it all into a plastic bag with notes stapled to swatches". And Queen Janine's method is in the middle. She gets the Sherlock Seal of Approval.

As for Madame, she was working on the Crepe Shawl center, which was completed last night. The stitches around the square have been picked up to prepare for knitting the feather and fan borders and what we have now is a very pretty but totally non-functional shower cap.

The EASY (Essay for Acquisition of Sock Yarn) has garnered six entries so far!! They are witty and wonderful and judging will be difficult. Remember that you have until June 20 to submit your essay of 250 words or more to win the grand prize of one sock and the rest of the sock yarn (enough to complete a pair) of Mountain Colors' beautiful Bearfoot.