Sun 8 Mar 2015
It seems that I have reverted to blogging in my head…I was sure I’d posted this past week, and the photos are on my camera, but apparently I got distracted somewhere between taking pictures and sitting down to write. (Sadly, this is not an uncommon occurrence lately…)
Last weekend (was it just last weekend?) I went to SPA – a fiber event in Freeport Maine. A bunch of knitters swoop in, take over the 3 biggest hotels in town, and knit for about 5 days straight. Many people knit for 5 days, anyway. I had to work until Friday, so I took the train up on Saturday and did an overnight…1.5 days is better than none!
There’s a vendor market at one of the hotels, and we also poked our noses into 3 or 4 yarn shops in the area. Then there was dinner at the hotel, more knitting, and then a long breakfast in the morning. It was a lot of fun, and a nice crafty break from all this winter we’ve been having lately.
The temptations were many, but I was fairly good in my shopping, all things considered. I bought several skeins of Shepherd’s Wool Yarn, which I had never seen before. It’s mill spun in Michigan, with a nice hand and a lot of twist. This should be enough to knit another mega scarf.
I also picked up 4 oz of yak-silk blend from Port Fiber, which should spin up into something wonderfully soft. This was the first thing I saw when I walked into the market. When the sun hits it just right, it shines like gold.
I also picked up a mini-loom from the same vendor: for small, portable projects. I’m not sure yet what I’ll make with this, but it seemed like a clever design and I love nice wooden tools.
As I mentioned, we stopped at several shops in the area, which poses something of a problem for someone who doesn’t need to buy any more wool. Rather than fall down again on fiber, I bought this fancy notebook to fill with ideas.
And finally, I bought another shawl pin from Leslie Wind (warning: her website has background music that plays when you click on the link). I love her designs, and how well her pins stay in my knitting – an important feature for someone who wears them on a long daily commute.
(I’ve just remembered that I also bought some discounted novelty yarn for accents in weaving, but that is put away already and probably not worth getting back out for a photo.)
It was a fun weekend of shopping and spending time with fiber friends, and I’m looking forward to going again next year.
It sounds and looks like you had a really nice weekend getaway! You found some really nice things to come home with you!
You deserved a nice fiber break. That yak/silk would spin up so nice on the supported spindle I’m messing around with these days. It looks burnished.
What a lovely bunch of goodies you found on your retreat!! We all need that once in a while. I have the tapestry loom too in the same color of wood. There’s a tiny wooden comb and tapestry needle in the same wood too.