Fiber In The Park

This past weekend, Charlene and I went to Fiber In The Park in Earlsville, Il. We didn't know what to expect, thinking it was going to be row after row of yarn. It wasn't. Instead it was row after row of hand dyed wool roving. It was so cool!

This little guy made a donation, I'm sure.

We saw many demonstrations on spinning the roving into yarn. This woman is using a traditional wheel. Others were using a hand held spinner.

The roving came in every color of the rainbow.

All the farmers were local and belonged to the co-op.

These gentlemen provided a little Blue Grass.

After we left the park we went toEsther's Place in Big Rock to look at more roving and hand spun yarn. I bought enough yarn to make the shawl featured in MaryJanesFarm Magazine this month. I hope to start it later this week. I also bought a skein of hand dyed sock yarn. I don't have a pattern picked out yet, it needs to be simple to show off the yarn.

Fall Crafts

I have a bin of unfinished fall crafts, it includes some cross stitch, embroidery, punch needle, quilting, you name it, I have an unfinished project. I've decided to get to work on that bin. The wool cat is a kit I bought a few years ago and the owl is from a Needl'Love book that is several years old. It's my goal to get at least four more projects finished this season. Of course, I have seen a lot of new things I want but I'm trying not to think about them until I get a few more things in the bin done.

Stacy Nash finish

I finished this needle keep a few weeks ago and forgot to post the picture. I used a piece of wool instead of fabric to hold the needles and added a few brass vintage buttons form my stash. I used 36ct. WDW Tin Roof and the fibers listed in the pattern.

Sock It To Me

I finished knitting my first sock Friday night. I actually started this one in a class I took last year. I have wanted to knit socks for a long time, but when I didn't finish mine in class I was afraid to complete it on my own. I've been looking at the finished socks on other blogs and was encouraged to finish mine. I have a lot of sock yarn so I can make several pairs using this simple pattern before I try something more complicated. I hope to have the matching sock done along with a second pair by the end of this month. Wish me luck.

Vintage Friday

I have been wanting to crochet glass jackets for a long time. This spring I found this crochet cotton in my grandma's stuff and recently Jen gave me these crocheted coasters that match the thread and the glasses I bought at the thrift store. It seems things are coming together for me to make my jackets. I have been looking through old patterns that I've collected and also on the web but haven't found one I like. I want to do something very simple and showcase the thread. I am going to keep looking until I find exactly what I want. I know it's out there waiting for me.

Productive Week

I had a very productive week. It was the last week I was able to keep my sewing machine up in Bryce's bedroom.(He came home from camp yesterday). I was able to finish two quilt tops, one that I've been working on for a few years and this new one. I bought the fabric for this one last weekend and did a very simple four patch.I wanted to keep it simple and showcase the cute fabric. I haven't made too many boy quilts and it was a nice change to work with these colors. Next month I will make a girl quilt using duck fabric from my stash. Yes, we are expecting grandchild no. 3 in March. I will post pictures of the other quilt later this week.

Puppies and ducks, what could be cuter?

I finished Miss Mary Mack earlier this month. I used hand dyed fabric from my stash and black silk thread also from my stash. I am going to put it in a simple black frame.

New Finish

I finally finished this Blackbird Design journal. I added JAB Co. buttons in place of the chain stitch flowers. I tried to make the flowers but I was not happy with how they turned out. I used a Blackbird Designs fabric on the back and the same fabric for the lining. I hand-stitched the lining on instead of glueing. I am not sure what I am going to put on the inside, I have a lot of papers to choose from.