Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Show - It's the BOMB!

Hello, all! As the landscape up here is starting to turn oranges and browns - yet still with plenty of green - we are beginning to think of our wool sweaters and mittens. We've had wonderful fall-ish days with warm sunshine on breezy days as we're noticing the sun peaking much lower than it did just a couple of months ago. It's a delicious time of year.

I've been working on several projects, 2 of which are for an early Christmas celebration with my family in Tennessee. So I won't share those just yet. I've also been working on another Bandstand Sweater, but this one is being knit with wool yarn and will be for winter time. I will update more on that after it is completed.

I'm also working on a baby sweater for a long-time friends's daughter's first baby. And I still have to finish a hoodie that I started a while back - maybe last spring. I only have to set the arms in, pick up stitches to knit the hood and sew in a zipper. And that's just what I plan on doing when I finish the bandstand sweater.

BUT the big news is from this weekend, when I attend FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, the annual Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival. I've been involved in spinning in Wisconsin for about 34 years and only heard of this festival about 2 years ago. Last year I was "under the weather" so I made sure to add the dates for this years' event to my calendar. It was GREAT! My husband and I met up with an out-of-town friend of mine and her husband. We had such a good time taking in the sights and the sells! There were sheep shows, stock dog trials, food trucks, an old fashioned hooked rug display and, of course, vendors. Two huge pole barns full of vendors, with everything fiber. Here are a few photos from our day:

One of the first sights when we entered
the gate, along with the small
antique tractor display....

Here is hubby standing next to an
identical tractor he used as a boy
on his family's farm.

This was part of a quilt show and an old-fashioned
hooked rug show. (The rugs are made with thin
strips of fabric.)

More hooked rugs.

Yarn, roving, raw wool, galore!
Two big pole barns full!

This man was weaving a shawl
on a triangular loom.

And here is the loom.
I have one and I think I've
been inspired to dust it off and try
my hand at it.

I did not take pictures of the stock dog trials because the field in which they competed was quite long but it is so delightful to watch the dog respond to its handler and to the sheep and to figure out what is needed. We watched Pro-Novice so these dogs were quite new to the trials and some were not able to finish in the time allotted. Others were very good at rounding-up those sheep and the sheep seemed happy to be put inside the small pen at the end of each trial. 

I found several good buys on yarn, gadgets, soaps and a 1/2 a raw fleece. We even found a vendor who offered a canvas bag and 2 huge bins full of yarn from which we could fill one bag up for $60.00 USD. And they let us jam, shove, and scrunch up those skeins to get in as much as we could. Since my friend nor I need yarn, we filled up one bag together and each paid $30.00. WHAT A DEAL!!  :^) So here's my booty:

There's the raw fleece. 

There's home made soaps, a yarn buddy, 

bags of yarn, and the project I worked on there and back.

             

Here's the 1/2 fleece. It is from a Tunis and CVM cross. I don't know those breeds, but the wool is delightful - lots of nice crimp and a decent staple length. It's going into the wash tub promptly when I finish this post.

The Yarn Buddy -
the lady had several
of these as "seconds"
and had a good price
on them. It has
ball-bearings and
spins around quite
smoothly.

This! This is YAK yarn. It is so soft. It
was not a bad price either.
I considered buying the raw fiber
but to get enough for a nice
skein would have cost more
than this yarn did. It came from
Bijou Basin Ranch.

I bought this little beaded purse kit. 
It includes size 0000 knitting needles, all the 
beads and all the thread for knitting and 
beading this little thing. It will make a 
great necklace, I think. The artist is Nancy Alison. 

More yarn. 470 yards of it, and it's worsted
weight, superwash Merino Wool.
From Hearthside Fibers

I am refraining from showing every last ounce of yarn I bought. I may or may not be embarrassed. ~cough-cough~

And here's my friend that I went with. This photo was taken a week before as we were knitting in a local coffee shop. She is wearing her version of the Bandstand Sweater that she made in our class this summer.

A Little of This and a Little of That

I've had several things I've wanted to share with my readers but none of them are lengthy enough to warrant a post. So, here is a mish-mash of things of interest, albeit, maybe only to me. :^)

First off, the oldest order of business is the shawls I knitted for some little "girlfriends." They are the daughters of a friend of mine and I posted about the shawls here, back in May. I thought their birthdays were in June but they are in July. So on a hot day in July, hubby and I went to their birthday party in a park, carrying our gifts of knitted shawls. I didn't get great photos that HOT day because modeling them, especially for the 5 year old, was not on the agenda and I didn't have the heart to insist. I did get one of the 7 year old and Mama got a few more the next morning.

Just look at those eyes!

This little one insisted she have
her box of crayons in the photo.
I wonder if she was seeing
all the little bits of color in her shawl.
:^)

Apparently they didn't realize at first that there was an outside and an inside to the shawls, but a few days later, the oldest one asked her mom to take a picture and to make sure the design was on the outside.

I have not heard from the girls whether they like them or not but Mom says they do. So hopefully they will use them when the weather warrants a cozy wrap.

Second, I had made this hat for my youngest son, quite a while back and he wears it ALOT and it's starting to show it.

So I wanted to make him another one. I wanted to use colors that he likes and had some yarn in mind. When I got the 2 x 2 ribbing finished, I loved how smoothly and consistently I had done it. I was already suspecting that there wouldn't be enough contrast in my 2 yarns selected, but hated to rip out that lovely rib. So I didn't. And there wasn't. (enough contrast, that is) But here is the completed hat and he likes it. And it will serve the purpose of keeping his head warm outdoors under a hood and indoors - which he does a lot in the winter up here in the north woods.

My last few hats have ended with a point on the very tippy-top. I think I have to stop with the decreases a bit sooner and end with a few more stitches left on the needles. Do you think that will work? Let me know if you have another idea. 

Third, hubby & I recently went to a HUGE Flea Market. (For those from other lands and cultures, we don't actually buy fleas. We go in search of vintage and antique treasures - which at this Flea Market were in abundance.)

The Flea Market starts early in the morning and ends early in the afternoon so we got a room the night before and arrived at the market bright and early. And by closing time, we were finished - our feet and brains had had enough.

We didn't buy too many things, because there is always the problem of where to put them once we get them home. But I found this little gem that I just couldn't pass by.

When I picked it up, it was soiled from play and storage but I immediately pictured a mother or grandmother lovingly knitting this on needle size 0's or 1's for the little girl she loved, who played with a Barbie doll. I was amazed at the tiny increases at the shoulders and at the knitting of the tiny cuffs, hemline and button edging. So precious. I took the fur off when I washed the coat and it is a tiny slip of real fur. I obviously won't be playing with it, won't be wearing it, and have no little daughters to give it to. But it is a treasure and I'm glad I payed the $4.00 USD to own it.

Here are the other things I picked up:

Fourth, a few of my knitting friends and I got together earlier this summer at Karla's home to learn from her the craft of making Candle Mats or Penny Rugs. I've always admired penny rugs when I see them in gift shops and antique/craft shops but they are always a pretty penny (pun intended) so I had only purchased a small autumn one. Therefore, I was happy to learn how to make them but have yet to finish my first one. I plan to do just that and also to make a Christmas one. But knitting keeps getting in the way of my progress. Soon. Very soon.

Here's what I've done so far.

I guess I'm putting off getting the shape of the background drawn up. But I've left it out so I'll keep seeing it and then one of these days I'll just stop by it and figure it out.

And lastly, on another day more recently the same knitting friends met at Kate's home and we decorated bottles for lighting. First off, I must say, when we meet in homes, we all bring something to eat - so we have lots of visiting, laughing and EATING. 

Here's the only one I've finished - a Christmas one. 

This is actually red and
looks very Christmas-y.
Looks orange in the photo.

And here are the others that I will finish soon, along with the supplies and embellishments to use on them.

The tricky part is getting the hole drilled into the bottles. Kate has a drill bit just for such a task, and so does her neighbor, who joined in to help. And Kate had ordered strings of lights for us, with just 10 bulbs. Plus, they arrived the very day we were at Kate's! What are the odds of that?

What have you been doing this summer? I hope you have had time for fun with your family and friends. Good memories!  

Hiking with my stepdaughter (right) and step-daughter-in-law
and her daughter. We were at a local state park.

My free birthday sundae from
Culver's

I Love Shawls! Traveling Woman Shawl

We've been resting up after a 3 week visit from our daughter (my step daughter) and her 4 young boys! And I mean rest. Well, besides rearranging the living room with the decorative pieces I'd hidden and besides doing laundry and cleaning. But it was nice to have them around and I'm not complaining - much. :^)

While they were here, after the kid-dos' bedtime, I had time to sit and work on my Traveling Woman Shawl, which I finished and even got blocked while they were here. (I did take my step-daughter to a couple of our morning group knitting sessions, while Grandpa entertained the boys.)

I don't really have much to add about the process, just photos of my lovely step-daughter modeling. She complained that I was taking pictures of her first thing one morning, before breakfast or even before hair brushing. She knew they would end up on the world-wide web and was wishing I'd waited a bit later in the day. But it was dry from blocking and I was excited.

I will add that I was having a lot of trouble with the free Ravelry pattern on Row 5 of the first lace pattern. So I decided to purchase the "buy-able" version and it worked out fine. But if you buy it, be prepared to make a lot of decisions - the pattern is 15 pages long with options for yarn weight, numbers of repeats you might want to do, etc.

For the yarn, I used a beautiful fingering weight from Ogle Design, called Coloration, 420 yards. She sells on Etsy and also in some yarn shops. She's from my state and I know some LYS's in our state carry her yarn, but I can't speak for LYS's in other states. But, this yarn is well worth the money - it is so soft, 100% wool, and I'm guessing merino, with a lot of spring. So nice.

I had bought a ball at Susan's Fiber Shop but could see that I was going to be a bit short. So I contacted Ogle Design Shop on Etsy and she happened to have one more like it. So I bought it and have quite a bit left! (Hmmmm, socks, I'm thinking.) As you will see the yarn goes from cream (natural) to black. So when I started the new ball, close to the end of the shawl, I started at the black end. It worked out well.

Before Blocking

I think you will have to
click on the picture for a
larger version - to appreciate
the lacy Yarn Overs.

After blocking

Isn't lace work just grand
after blocking? So exciting!