103rd Annual Connecticut Sheep, Wool & Fiber Festival!

Be there or be square!  The 103rd Annual Connecticut Sheep, Wool & Fiber Festival!


http://www.ctsheep.org/sheep_and_wool_festival

I’ve gone for the past few years, and it’s a lot of fun!

It’s next Saturday, April 28, in Tolland, CT. They have booths, classes, sheep, llamas, alpacas, rabbits, dog trials, food, etc.  If you bring someone who's not into wool or other fiber (odd, I know), they can have fun checking out the animals.  My Sweetums especially loves the sheep dog trials--especially the less-than-successful dogs, where the sheep run amok all over the field...not as entertaining for the dog owner, I'm sure.

It's, of course, death on any stash-busting resolutions you may have made this year.  There are tons of booths for wool, alpaca, etc.  I always manage to pick up a skein or two (or three, or four, or...okay, probably at least ten).  For those of you who spin, they have wheels and drop spindles for sale, as well as workshops.  They are also going to have workshops called "Sheep 101" and "Alpaca 101" for those of you interested in raising and nurturing your own fiber-stock.

It’s a great time!  Can't wait!

Pullover Done...Just In Time for Spring...

It’s been ages since I posted. Life, as it has a way of doing, threw me for a loop last month, and I’m still trying to process the situation, and to do the next right thing.

But, getting back to more cheerful knitting matters…In time-honored tradition, I’ve managed to get a big, bulky, ludicrously warm pullover completed—just in time for the warm weather! I’m going to have to put it away for the season, as we are having a freakishly early spring.

The details are out on my Ravelry page:

http://ravel.me/PBELKNAP/9bndpfw

I used a Pure and Simple pattern, which was just that—Pure and Simple! It was a lot of fun to knit, and so easy that I was able to bring it anywhere as a KIP project. I used Misti Alpaca Chunky yarn. Normally, if I’m making a garment for just myself, I tend to go cheap. In fact, with the amount of scraps and stray balls in my stash, it’s almost time for another “Stash Sweater.” Come to think of it, if I modified the Pure and Simple pattern I just used for worsted weight yarn, I could probably use it for the next Stash Sweater. But, I digress. As you saw in a previous post, the day our LYS was having a major sale, friends talked me into taking the rubber band off the money and splurging on Misti Alpaca instead of my usual mainstays Plymouth Encore or Cascade 220 (or if I’m feeling really cheap, Patons Classic Wool, but only if it’s on sale at Michaels that week).

Misti Alpaca was great to work with! I found I got a firmer knit with a 10½ needle, so I slightly modified the pattern, adding on a few more extra stitches to make it roomy enough. The wonderful thing about a top-down sweater pattern is that you can continuously try on the sweater as you go, adjusting for size/length.

Note to self: It DOES freak out members of the household when you try on a sweater with the double-pointed needles still attached to the sleeves…