CNY Wool and Fiber Festival

Well, I'm back.  I had a lovely time.  There were so many really nice people!  There were about 20 vendors, all with cool product.

There were also 6 spinning wheels in use that I saw.  A charming woman named Ann patiently tried to remind me how to spin.  Treadle, pinch, draft, and again.  After most of an hour, I had achieved about 12 feet of yarn, and several yards of completely ruined roving.  Ann didn't laugh at me once, which is remarkable.  She was calm and supportive the whole time.  The skill of spinning is more complex and delicate than it looks.  I saw crafters making gossamer-thin threads, and multi-ply yarns. Beautiful.  I am definitely in awe of their skill.

Amy Klee, from Stone Edge Fibers, Phelps, NY, explained quite a bit about her herd, and which types of sheep yield which types of fiber. She was pleasant and informative, and I really enjoyed getting to know her.  Her yarns were varied and remarkable, in particular due to her jewel-toned color palette.  It's stunning stuff, and though I'm allergic to wool, I'm hoping to find a way to work with it.  It's just seductive!

Chris Gilman, from A+ Alpaca Fiber Mill, showed me her wares as well.  Whe runs a small mill and dying operation in Jordan, NY.  The fibers were soft and beautiful, and for handmade product the price was surprisingly affordable.  She also possesses a unique color palette, with a variety of solids and marled colors. 

I wandered the fair for about 2 hours, and then took a spinning lesson.  I knew I was tempting fate, but I had doubled up on the antihistamines in the morning, and thought I could get away with it.  WRONG!  My hands developed hives, and I had a full-blown allergy attack.  I went in the restroom and washed my face and hands, took off my sweater to get stray wool fibers farther from my face, and sucked down some cool water.  Not enough.

I went to my car with itchy eyes, coughing and sneezing, and took a look in the rear view mirror.  Swollen red eyes.  Rats.  My fiber day was over - no getting around it.  On the long drive home it occurred to me that I probably will never take another spinning lesson with wool.  That was a mistake.  And I'll need to wash my hands often as I go through the fair, and try not to touch my face.  Because I'll be back next year. 

Knitting vs. Designing

Slowly but surely I am awakening from my knitting hiatus.  Coffee has been involved. Design is still fighting for supremacy, but some knitting is finally getting done.  I've added an inch to the No H8 Mittens, and a few inches to the Guinan Hat.  The mittens are in Cascade Ultra Pima (white) and Cascade Pure Alpaca (burgundy), and so soft!  The hat is in Cascade 220 (turquoise) and Aslan Trends Bariloche (grey) and really warm.  I've decided to finish the hat in spite of occasional hives because it's easy, cute, and has been adopted by one of the children.  I started to frog it, and was asked to stop when a teen daughter realized she could never "borrow" it if it didn't exist!  And still lurking in the workbasket are the two-color brioche scarf, yummy socks, and the promised Girlfriend Gloves.  At least I don't have to start anything for an upcoming class right now!   I love that there are no deadlines.  Unless you want the mittens, hat, scarf, and gloves available this winter.

The rival of my knitting queue, my design process, often involves me knitting up a swatch of a small part of a design to check the look of a motif.  These side projects are a major impediment to getting UFOs into the FOs column.  I still can't choose one over the other as the priority, though, as I only want to design in spurts.  Trying to design when I'm not inspired is as futile as gift wrapping Jello. I need to get it down on paper while it's fresh, or it's gone forever.

I fuss over each design project a little every day like a doting mother.  There are some William Morris inspired mittens, Nursery Rhymes blanket squares, and a whole set of Arts and Crafts/Mission Style pillows, blankets, and towels.  The hand bone mittens are coming along, though ridiculously slowly.  I'll get there.  I think I have design ADHD.  Is there a cure for that?  Does it come in coffee flavor?

Wool Dispute

The Mr. Mittens are finished, and within moments of finishing them, the Mr. put them on and walked out to work.  He then left them in his car, and so I have no pic to show you.   I will nab them back for photos, I promise.  They came out nicely, and very warm. 

Then I cast on the Guinan Hat (see Ravelry pattern of the same name) to make for a class I'm teaching soon about basic knitting in the round.  It's an easy pattern for a cute and very un-fussy hat.  Unfortunately, it's in wool, like the last several projects in a row, and with my allergy to wool my hands are really beginning to rebel.  Hives and redness abound.  They're threatening strike action, and I'm doing my best to negotiate with the union.

Why make things in wool at all? you may ask.  Well, the purposes of having classes are to sell yarn, and increase the skills of the students.  The bread and butter of Karma Knitting (my LYS) is definitely wool, as it is for most of the students.  As such, I feel obligated to show the students how the pattern will behave in the fiber they will likely use for the project.  If it's a project I'll keep for myself, I'll make it in a non-wool fiber.  If it's a summer pattern, ditto.  But for most of my classes, I teach in the fiber called for in the pattern. 

Update:  Whatever the next couple of classes are, I'll be knitting them in non-wool.  Strike arbitration has made me promise to take a one month leave from wool.  I've caved to the hands' demands, not for higher pay or more vacation days, but for a hive-free workplace.  It's the least I can do.