mission accomplished!

This weekend Rich and I went to the Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster. Initially it didn’t start off too great, and I thought I would miss the deadline to enter the skein competition, but he got me there in time!

I ended up entering 5 skeins. There weren’t a lot of entries this year. In fact, in my group (A), there were only two participants – me and one other woman who entered 12 skeins. Overall I did pretty well. I got 2 first place ribbons, 2 second place, and one third. The most exciting thing though was that my bulky singles got BEST OF SHOW for my group! I was so excited, especially after the trouble I had last year with my singles. An amazing turn-around.

that’s settled…?

How is that just yesterday it was January, 20 degrees, snowing, and I had plenty of time before the Great Lakes Fiber Show? Today is Thursday, May 21, and the show is this weekend! I’m still waffling on which skeins to enter for a few reasons.

1) I’m not sure I could handle the judge telling me my singles should be in the novelty category (again). And maybe that’s just the best I can do, ok?

2) I tend to spin heavy-worsted exclusively, so is that bulky or medium? This means that since all plied yarns, regardless of number, are in the same category, I can’t put two 2-ply and a 3-ply. Although I might try to squeeze one of the 2-ply into medium.

3) How masochistic am I feeling? How many times do I want to be put down and rejected? Or, conversely, how ambitious am I feeling? The more skeins I enter the more chances of a better score (or worse).

FYI – I’m a glass-half-empty kinda gal.

Here’s the breakdown thus far…

Bulky single (1)
Medium ply (1)
Bulky ply (2)
Spinner’s choice (1)
Novelty (1)

In addition to the three 2-plies and the yellow/green novelty from my last post regarding the skein competition, I am also including these two yarns. Both will be placed in the bulky category, even though by my eye, the 3-ply is medium.

This is not a novelty yarn, right?

who’s it gonna be?

Sorting through my yarn stash, trying to choose which yarns will participate in the skein competition this year.

Categories according to the Show’s website include:

class 1	Fine singles
class 2	Medium singles
class 3	Bulky singles
class 4	Fine plied
class 5	Medium plied
class 6	Bulky plied
class 7	Spinner’s choice of fiber & ply
class 8	Novice spinner, 2 ply yarn (spinning one year or less)
class 9	Novelty yarn (ie, boucle, knot, spiral, slub, cable)

Obviously I won’t be in Class 8, but everything else is a possibility. However, anything in the fine department is highly unlikely. And I tend to spin “bulky” almost exclusively… at least by their standards. Yarns I would call medium have shown up in the bulky section at the end of judging, so I’m measuring everything ahead of time.

Previously I’ve only entered two skeins total, but this year I’d like to have a stronger showing. I have singles, 2-plies and 3-plies to pick from, along with a few novelty yarns.

I’m deciding between these three 2-ply yarns.The front two are about 10 wraps per inch, “heavy worsted” and the blue-green skein just squeaks in as a worsted weight.

I also wanted to include a novelty yarn this year and I’ve decided on the green/yellow skein on the right.

rambling… sometimes you just gotta

I think I’m in chug-along mode. As in once every few weeks I dye a few pounds of wool. Each Wednesday I make an update to the etsy shop. During the week I spin a few skeins of yarn. In between I knit along on a project of mild interest. Tuesday evenings I weave a little more on the woolly bum cushions. I suppose some would call it a “rut”, but I feel like I’ve finally got a handle on my organization!

This weekend I’m picking up a few new fleeces from a local Ohio farm. When I spent my whole day in a fiber room at Masque a few weeks ago, I played with some great Icelandic wool and decided I needed some at home. So I chose two Icelandic fleeces and another that is a cross-breed. I’m excited to have some new additions to the pile. Plus I bought some wool scour last year at Rhinebeck and still haven’t tried it!!

I think we’ve decided to attend Rhinebeck again this year, but not Maryland. I haven’t been to Maryland yet, but I like the idea of going to Great Lakes in May and New York in October. I’m not sure I could manage to giant wool festivals in one year – or two in May. I’m easily intimidated. Plus I like to participate in the skein competition, drop off fleeces and buy from certain farms at the Great Lakes show.

After making that second teapot sweater and getting such a positive response, I’ve decided for sure to sell them this winter at my yearly show. I’m going to start buying teapots at flea markets and thrift stores, knit accessories for them, and sell it as a whole package. Weee! It’s like neckwarmers without having to hear from whiney customers about how wool is itchy and this or that is too small. Ha.

and it’s goodbye again

Just for a few days! I’ve been meandering around the house all day trying to get things together for the weekend.  It’s unbelievable how quickly time flies by – it’s already the middle of October. This year has gone so fast and now there are only two and a half months left.

uh.. I’m not sure where I was going with that. Anyway, I’m getting ready to go to Rhinebeck this weekend. We’re leaving early tomorrow morning, driving 7 hours across Pennsylvania, and arriving in the afternoon. It’s going to be interesting to say the least. I’m a little nervous about becoming overwhelmed immediately and not buying anything. That is an issue I often have. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this time around.

Well, I’ll be home Sunday night. Until then!

happy little surprises

1.) Apparently I’m going to “Rhinebeck” as all the cool kids call it. It’s the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. The story goes something like this: All summer I wanted to go on a vacation, but we were too busy getting ready for our vacation (Pennsic) to get away. Rich and I then decided to take a weekend in the fall to do something special but relatively close. I ordered a AAA tourbook for Maryland/DC/Delaware/Virginia and started to plot a course to Baltimore. Then I got my fall Spin-Off in the mail and found out Rhinebeck was taking place the SAME WEEKEND we were planning to be away! I informed Rich of this and he determined right then and there that we had to go. It’s only 2 additional hours drive than our original destination. I’m excited, as I’ve not been to a large scale wool festival before. Weee!

2.) I like my new fleece. A few days ago I dyed a couple ounces. Some of it went into the drumcarder on Sunday and made lovely heathered batts. I had used scarlet, turquoise, and gold with lots of black to achieve these colors. Quite pleased with the way it handled.

I also dyed some bright orange and yellow. Those I flick-carded on Tuesday with every intention of drumcarding them also. However, the color was too irresistible and I just couldn’t wait. They were spun as fluffed locks into an uneven single that will be plied once I dig out my nostepinne after the weekend. Additionally, Zeilinger Wool Co. will be accepting fleeces at the show, so I don’t have to wait until May to get the rest of this processed! Hoobah.

3.) Not necessarily happy nor a surprise – I sort of realized beforehand that I won’t be home this weekend to select the winner of the giveaway because I’ll be at Saxon Summer in the rain. So, first thing Monday morning I will post the winner! Sorry ladies. I set it as a week later than the original entry and halfway through the week mentally acknowledged the lapse in thinking. Which also means you can still get in until Monday if you missed your chance the last few days.

So, yes. I’ll be camping this weekend in the 100% chance of rain. Come back Monday to find out who has been selected as Pieces of String too Small to Save’s First Giveaway Winner!

marigold’s fleece

Last year at the Fiber Show I brought home a gorgeous brown fleece donated by Sage. He is a Blue-faced Leicester/Border Leicester X and it has to be the softest, most fantastic wool I’ve worked with. I love the little light curls at the ends… anyway I returned to the same booth again this year and she had his fleece again! But she also had Marigold’s fleece – the same cross but in white. It weighed about 6.5 pounds and cost $3.00/lb. I had to buy it! Marigold’s is just as sweet and soft as Sage’s fleece. I wish you could feel this. The photos don’t do it justice. 

A week or so back I took a wee handful out and washed it. Magical. I store my raw and washed locks in little squares of old sheets. It’s terribly fun to rip apart the fabric and make the squares, especially when I used the fancy expensive sheets from my mom’s B&B. Each packet is labeled with as much information as I can supply; like where and when I bought it and the breed. I have a huge stack of them on top of my shelf. 

I was thinking I’d dye some of the locks and spin them myself, sell or keep the yarn. And I would dye the locks and list them in my shop. I’m more hesitant  to sell locks than top because when I wash and dye locks, they always get really fuzzy and weird and I don’t know if people will be offended by that. 

P.S. This is my 100th post in this blog!

yarn and yarn in use

Why does it seem that things always happens all at once? I have nothing to write about for days and then suddenly I have a whole slew of photos to post and stories to tell! Most of these things happened yesterday. My skeins were returned from the competition and I finished knitting a tam using my handspun.

This year I did not do as well as last year. Apparently my spinning abilities are declining, which frankly does not surprise me. I entered both single and 2-ply into the “medium” category because this time they had it split into fine/medium/bulky singles; fine/medium/bulky ply; novelty; etc.. The problem with this? My definition of medium is VERY different than the judge’s. Not to mention her idea of a novelty yarn! So, my singles received a second place ribbon which is disappointing but acceptable. My 2-ply got fifth place and no ribbon. I won $4 which covers the cost of entry.

On comments sheet, she wrote that the singles were unevenly spun. I cannot deny that. I am not a machine. However, she said it was more of a NOVELTY yarn! Please, look at the yarn pictured above and tell me if you would ever label it as a novelty. When I do thick ‘n thin – it is THICK and THIN. It’s fine though, for next year I want to really concentrate on making something wildly even and something just plain wild.

Wednesday afternoon at work I began knitting a tam with some handspun yarn. I received the roving in a swap in 2006 and had not been able to find a purpose for the yarn yet. My initial start on the hat failed, so when I started over I used a smaller gauge and it worked out. Hats are such a pleasure to knit because they go so fast! I finished this Thursday afternoon, about the same time I started it. I knew I’d run out of the green, so I dug out the orange to use also. I was inspired by the splat on Cosy’s hat here and did a little sunburst on the top. I did colorwork to the top and duplicate stitch to extend the rays.

Handspun BFL yarn
Handspun/dyed BFL & mohair yarn
US 8 circular needles
Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns

Sunshine Over Sweetpeas

great lakes fiber show

The weather was beautiful here on Saturday. Get in the car, drive, drive, drive… arrive at the fairgrounds at 9:30. I went first to the skein competition table to enter my skeins. The more I looked at my 2-ply the less confident I became. I got stuck behind a woman who was entering 16 skeins! I swear she was the same woman I got stuck behind last year!! She turned around and said some nonsense to me about not standing there waiting. I can’t help it if you are hogging the entire table! More on this later when my skeins come back.

• I managed to obtain everything on my list in some form or another. Almost immediately I bought a huge box of Rambouillet roving. It’s not a fiber I’m terribly familiar with, but at $20 for the box, I couldn’t resist. However, after getting it home and trying it out, I’m not sure it was a wise decision. The spongiest, weirdest fiber I’ve ever experienced.
• Also bought a GORGEOUS white fleece, Bluefaced Leicester/Border Leicester cross. It’s from the same farm I bought Sage’s fleece from last year. She had his again; this one is from Marigold. So curly and soft soft soft. $3/pound.
• I wanted another bobbin for my Sonata, but there was only one Kromski vendor present! And she only had the dark brown bobbins, not the light ones. I bought one anyway to save on shipping. I’m not overly concerned with the inconsistency in color.
• Also got a needle felting tool that holds six needles – much quicker than one needle at a time.
• Found some blank cards with sheepies on them to send as thank-you notes for graduation gifts. 
• It was hard to think ahead far enough to know what I will need in the future, but I’m fairly happy with my acquisitions. There’s also the interweb for emergencies.

As for the sending off of the fleece… 

It went much better! Thank you Zeilinger’s Wool Mill. You are professional when others are not! I got a 20% discount for paying with check and I saved on shipping. He actually gave me a receipt and an expected time of arrival (August!) and I have faith in their ability to deliver my clean and processed fleece in a timely manner. Well done.

pre-fiber show

Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster, OH this weekend! I’m planning to enter the skein competition with these two skeins which are both my handdyed Corriedale. Why do I continue to dye these same/similar colors?

Cloud in the Sky. 124 yards.

Verdant Sunrise. 196 yards.

I’ve been thinking about what I want to buy at the show. No alpaca, unless it’s from a specific farm, otherwise I don’t really like to spin it. They have a fleece competition in addition to vendors who sell fleeces and I was thinking about getting a fleece and having it processed rather than buying commercial pounds to dye and sell. I’m going to buy at least one extra bobbin for my Sonata, since it came with just three. There aren’t any other tools I can think of that I need. The large Romney fleece that has been wallowing in the basement is going to be dropped off with a mill for processing. It’s too much for me to do on my own, not to mention that I don’t really want to. We’ll try a different mill this time and see how it goes. Everything else is a possibility!