The Sheep & Wool Festival

Awesome!

Oh my goodness the weather was perfect and the vendors were plenty, a good time was had by all even my husband had fun. Here are a few of the photos I took of the sites that I have seen. Look at the beautiful Llama isn't she gorgeous?

Here is a wonderful selection of felted items from RJ Club Lambs, the vendor was very helpful and in the middle of applying needle felting to a sweater she knitted, it was awesome.




These lovely items are from a friend of RJ Club Lambs, Shadyside Studio Wools, Ms. Arbuckle's small mill really produces some wonderful quality yarn, as soon as I read up on how to attach her site I will; look how colorful everything is. Way Cool!

Here are some more of the items from RJ Club Lambs, look at all the lovely, rich earthy colors... Look at the variety of colors in these hanks below which I didn't check to see if they were for sale but probably were. I just refuse to purchase yarn in any quantity for that matter that I can dye on my own unless it is extra special and speaks to me to be something...

Look at the young Alpacas, aren't they cute? I noticed that they are always in pairs...

Pinned baby Alpaca's they are just so adorable aren't they almost like overgrown dogs but I am sure they are much more sensitive to their surroundings and like I said before they are always in pairs, I will have to find out why that is and when I do I will let you know.

Below is a live auction for the sheep to the bottom left of this photo, wow it was so cool; my first auction, boy did he speak fast, I could barely hear what he was saying once the bidding began. Sorry for the darkness of the photo, I will have to go back into Adobe and fix it and reinsert it into this b-log be patient.

Here are some sheep that were auctioned off and waiting for their trip to their new homes, I met one of the sellers and she had to contain her emotions having raised them from babies, I will have to look up the actual term for baby sheep which I am sure there is one; I will let you know what that is.


Now for the bidding on the goats that provide us with the extra,extra fine fibers Cashmere, and the first goat to be auctioned has entered the bidding circle below... Isn't he gorgeous?




Now here are the other goats that were being auctioned off. I heard that they do not like to walk much and had to physically be dragged out to the center of the floor for showing, it was too funny seeing them put up a fuss while being dragged across the floor. What do you call a bunch of goats, a flock or is that just for sheep, does anyone know?

Look at the bunny rabbits, I didn't get a shot of the note above the cages they were housed in but I think it said that they get silk and something else from them, I can't remember what it said; I will have to do some research on it and get back to you on it.

Here is another photo of the rest of the rabbits on display, they are so fluffy and cute..

I am going to have to check into this because I would like to see what the actual fibers look like when they are gathered and then worked into roving if that is what its worked into. I will post photos later. I found out what it was, Angora. 11/14



Look at Marvelous Marva at the Little Barn where she cleaned up on some great yarn, they had a fairly large selection of yarn and roving on sale in quantity and the line was long, I didn't want to wait but Marva shared. Way cool!

Here are some lovely, colorful items from some of the multitude of vendors on display in one of the lofts of a barn, I didn't get a chance to get any of the names it was so crowded and we were being shuffled along like cattle so I just shuffled along.

Here is another one...

Look at all the colorful yarn in the background of this picture, check out this ladies felted hat, it is really beautiful as all the items were.


The structure below was very interesting and gave me some ideas for my backyard especially since I have a whole lot of trees not to mention all the surrounding trees in the area that have fallen. I will let you know what I decide to do with this photo of a natural enclosure, lots of possiblities.


Now what you have been waiting for, I bet you thought I went out of control...(lol) I didn't. Here are the items I purchased, I must admit I was very good, no exceptionally good check it out...


My very first needle felting kit to the left and below some roving for needle felting...take a look at the colors.


Now for some fancy type roving for needle felting, look at the colors...



Here is another view of this cool curly roving...



Now for some of the yarn I got at the best price in town and yes, it is wool..



The piece in front is a huge swatch I knitted to see how it felts and its felting but I have to send it through the cycle one or two more times before it gets to where I want it to be. You won't believe how much I paid for each hank, give up.....$2.00 a hank; I know, unbelievable. I will be prepared for next years festival that's for sure (LOL)

Now here is some wool I purchased in Roving as well as some already spun and it is beautiful, can't wait to work with it; I am thinking about a hat, gloves and a scarf and maybe some socks...hey.

Here is one of my most favorite purchases, yarn made from a Samoan dogs hair, the lady said that one skein would make a hat that she had on display and she even gave me the pattern, I will test it and post the results and the pattern if anyone requests it. Here is another view... Yes it is as soft as it looks.









Now you know I could not resist this when I saw it, I will be placing it on top of my plates real soon; baby its cold outside. Brrrrr...
It is so cool don't you think?

I picked this up at one of the vendors booths that was selling shearling slippers and inserts, its my little snake; very soft.





Finally, a farewell to all the furry animals that made it possible for us to be creative in a multitude of ways.
Bye little sheep, give me a big hug and I will see you next year...


So this is the great time I had at the 34th Annual NYS Sheep & Wool Festival and Family Fun Day, can't wait until next year; I most definitely will be prepared to visit all the other vendors I missed this year. We all managed to enjoy ourselves tremendously and the weather held out nicely. To my fellow knitting sisters and brothers (chuckle) (it's all good) (Smile) that I didn't get a chance to see, enjoy my experience at the festival through my photos and I hope to catch up to you next year, until then...



Chow for now

Sow and Sew

Well hello again,



It is time to begin preparing for the Winter garden and I am very excited about it this year because this will be my biggest garden ever; looking forward I see a Green house being built in my back yard, there is definitely enough space to do it and I can get creative as I usually do.
I started cleaning up outdoors so tomorrow I will hit the backyard where next years garden will be placed; lots of work to be done but I am looking forward to it, definitely worthwhile. I got into cleaning up the backyard and forgot to take the before photos so here are the after photos along with the 22 bags of leaves and yard matter I bagged, boy do my feet hurt; 4 plus straight hours of raking and bagging, raking and bagging.






Now, here is what you all have been waiting for; how to start your Winter sowing: Gather your bottles, throw away all the caps and make sure your bottles are all clean; do not use harsh liquid detergents to clean them and make sure there is no cleansing residue, so rinse well.




You will need these things:


As you can see I have an assortment of bottles in different shapes and sizes with designs on what will go in each bottle. The smaller bottles will have herbs and the soda bottles will have flowers and so forth and so on.

Now open all the bottles this way, use scissors and don't cut too low, like this:





Make draining holes in the bottom of each bottle like this:




Now to prepare my soil; I always use Miracle Grow for plants and vegetables its the best. I add a bit of manure and some sphagnum moss to lighten it up a bit so that the soil isn't real heavy for my seeds, good for aeration see:

If you don't have the manure or the sphagnum moss, its okay you are using the best soil for what you are doing.






Now here is where the fun begins, mud pies; place some of your mixed soil in a very large bucket or a small one depending on the amount of veggies, flowers or herbs you are going to grow, mix with water until moist and manageable but not so wet that it falls apart in your hand like this:

Now place a sizeable mud clump into the bottom of the bottles, about a third to half of the way depending on what you are planting now place aside until you have them all done. This is where a legend comes in handy, you know what you are planting and have an idea of the size of the bottle you want to use. Remember that you won't need a whole lot of seeds, it depends on the size of the bottle you will be using, read the seed packet labels and get a feel for what you need to check for. Crucial, know how much of the flower/vegetable or herb you want to plant; we don't want to crowd them but we do want them to be snug like this.



Place them in the bottle like this above right and then give it a number with a sharpie as thick as you can write it, remember it will be outdoors in the elements until the first signs of Spring and you want to know what you have planted so when it comes time to actually place them you know what the plant is and how much room it will require and don't forget to keep a legend so you'll know which number correlates to which plant or where each numbered bottle is positioned just in case the number wears off;do it like this :


Place another clump of loose soil on top of the seeds and seal the bottle like this, you don't want it to be mushy on the top and bottom:




Place the bottles outdoors in a secure area where they won't be disturbed and forget them for the Winter like this:






Now for the clean up of my mess, broom and dustpan, it was so much fun...




Tada, I will update again when the time is right for you to actually place your little seedling babies in their permanent beds for them to continue growing, until then....


Chow for now

KNIT OUT 2006, WOW!

Oh my goodness, what a turn out familiars as well as newbies. This years event was extra special for me I actually got an autograph from the author of several books, Yarn Harlot, Knitting Rules and Stephanie Mcfee and a photo shot of me and Lily Chin
Check us out! Way Cool!

I met up with harlempurl my Sensei and we had a ball, I stayed longer than I did the last year that I volunteered to stuff bags, Sensei taught knitting this year, way cool! What a beautiful day it was, I was baking in that sweat shirt the next time I will
knit me something to wear for Knit Out 2007, definitely a shawl and matching cap.

Quite a few of the well known vendors came out for the even and they had lots of goodies to hand out which is always a good thing, nothing like adding to ones supplies; check out the photos.......
Look who showed up!
Check out Sahara in her lovely dress representing knittycity, look at all the lovely items in the background, I will have to talk to her about some patterns and some yarn, definitely go visit her and check out her digs. Oh Yeah!



Sahara getting ready for a photo opportunity.




Look who showed up, Marvelous Marva, My Girl! She is such a wonderful person, so crafty and knowledgeable, she is a true asset to the knitting group. Marva is new at blogging so we have to give her a chance to get it together the way she wants it and then we can comment on all her past and present projects and WIP's. We will check her later.

Here is a great picture of the crew, new to me is Tawana in green top and Rosi G's hand and camera, dang I can't believe I didn't get a photo of her, she is so cool and what a knitter. In purple with glasses is Necia, I am sorry to say that I can't remember her b-log name, I will be updating it later; this sister is multi-talented like Marva, unbelievable the various crafts she has mastered, I am still waiting to sample some of her homemade soap, I guess I should put in an order otherwise she'll never know I want some, my bad! lol I have more photos to post of Knit Out 2006, check them out....

I know, this should have been the first photo I commented on but I was so excited that I actually got the chance to see Lilychin the second time I attended the Knit Out let alone having my photo taken with her that it absolutely had to be first, you know how it is; it was so cool! These are the first arrivals before the huge crowd appeared, what a turn out so many people turned out young and old and there were some men knitting and crocheting, it was really great.


Here is one of my favorite publishing companies Interweave press, they have some of the most exquisite patterns available and now they have a crochet magazine out, it is excellent; a friend purchased a copy and let me parouse through it and you know I had to subscribe to it, it definitely was that good, can't wait to get started; I wish I had two more pairs of hands, boy I would be a knitting/crocheting maniac.

Now here is a sister, Danielle that has it going on, she made these sneakers, not the actual sneaker but she designed them and did the actual knitting, can you imagine the time it took to make all those holes so she could knit, we definitely have to hook up with her so we can broaden our skills, the sister is dynamite, check this out....
This is Danielle, look at the boots she made using fun fur; I think that it's actually a high heel shoe that she made into a boot, like I said the sister has it going on, she is awesome; come to think of it I don't even think she uses a pattern, I am not surprised. We will definite see her again, that I am sure of.



Bernat and Patons were in the house right next to each other and I was told that they are sister companies which is alright with me, as you can see they both were giving away bags with patterns for knitting and crocheting and a skein of fun fur, how cool was that. Next year I will be staying until the actual end because I heard that they were practically throwing away the yarn at the attendees so they wouldn't have to repack it, like I need more yarn; its addictive and I can't help myself. LOL

Now here is a publisher of some really wonderful items both knitting and crocheting not to mention other crafts, I won't mention the amount of their booklets that I have only because I don't know but there are a few of them that I scan through to get some ideas on what I want to create next.


Waiting for the kiddies to arrive, lots of crafts to be created by the newbies to the various creative wonders to be made with yarn. I was so involved with my immediate surroundings that I didn't get a chance to take a photo of the outcome, all chairs were taken and they were having a good time; next year I will be more on point. I will probably add a few more pictures to this b-log later, I just wanted you to get a taste of what a wonderful experience it was for me the second time around and to see how the day progressed. I'll be back!

Chow for now