Aug 29 2010

Who’s That Mysterious Lady?

Category: Friends & Fun,Spinning — Mistress Rows @ 8:20 pm

Not too long ago, you’ll remember that I was over the moon about a wonderful opportunity that Jessalu made possible, wherein I could take home her Emma, a Kromski Symphony, and pay it off in installments should the wheel and I prove to be a good fit. Alas, Emma’s ergonomics meant that I was a sad, painful woman while spinning on her for more than 20 minutes at a time, and she had to find a new home. Harriet was thrilled to make her welcome in her home, and she adores spinning on her. Yay! But boo for me, no production wheel.

What’s the big deal? Well, a production wheel, especially a CPW (Canadian Production Wheel), is meant for making large amounts of yarn quickly. For those of us who love to spin finely, it’s the best of both worlds. Fine yarn spun quicker than on a regular wheel, with less effort. I went back and forth between whether I wanted a CPW or a Symphony, and after Emma I knew that if I wanted a production wheel, it would have to be a CPW. I’ve spun on Becky’s and others, and I’ve always enjoyed the experience. They are beautiful, and I’ve lusted after their cast iron festooned details for well over a year. They are, truly, beautiful in both form and function. Becky, a recent convert to the CPW fold, has REALLY wanted to get me spinning on one. Though they’re affordable, running about $250 for a wheel that needs little to no refurb to be spinnable, it’s not like I have a couple hundred dollars hanging around. Cue Becky, and her trip to Montreal, and her fervent and iron-clad determination that she would, indeed, come home with a wheel that would be not only the dark beauty I’ve dreamed of, but would also be the deal of the century.

Becky brings me... pieces?

Becky+Kijiji=Epic Win.

Becky points out some of the finer features that make up a CPW.

Kijiji is Canada’s version of Craig’s List, and through it she found it. I almost had a fit when she messaged me via text, Facebook, and Ravelry, telling me that she had done it. She had found me a wheel that needed no immediate repair, was dark and lovely, had lots of cast iron, and was… get this… $100. *swoon* I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect outcome. I honestly didn’t have any real hope that she’d find it, and I was completely shocked. I don’t even have to sweat coming up with the money. I have $60 in rolled coin saved up with absolutely NO purpose, and here we are. A gorgeous, 100+ year old wheel is in my living room, and it is mine. I knew it was meant to be when I tried he hand forged orifice hook that Steve commissioned from my friend Robin after I brought Emma home, which had been sitting unused until now. I didn’t have any hope that it would fit considering how tiny the orifices are on CPW’s but holy crap, it fits perfectly, and the wheel even has an odd little screw to hang it from. It’s fate.

It's fate.

Today I spent a good hour going over her with a damp cloth and a very diluted Murphy’s Oil Soap solution. I don’t want to scrub her and lose that nice dark patina, but I did want to get the worst of the dust and grim off. I purchased a tub of the highly recommended WoodBeams online and will buff her up proper when that comes in. The CPW lovers board on Ravlry is a fabulous resource for  a new owner like me, those gals (of which Becky is a member) are seriously knowledgeable and big time enablers. They’re going to flip when they find out I’m all “official” now.

Spinning outside after a good wipe-down is a great way to spend an afternoon.

I don’t have a name for her yet, but I want it to be something just as special as any other wheel I’ve named. She spins like a dream, and I am 100% pain free while working with her. My inaugural fiber is Into the Whirled BFL in the Rambutan colorway, a WOOL purchase that I was itching to start. Beautiful fiber for a beautiful, battle scarred, antique wheel… my ancient beauty from the wilds of Canada. I cannot thank Becky enough.

Tags: ,

Aug 11 2010

Aftermath: WOOL 2010

Category: Friends & Fun,WOOL — Mistress Rows @ 5:55 pm

While it was stupid hot and overcast initially, by Thursday afternoon it was gorgeous and I got to spin!

Each year when I arrive at Wiawaka for the start of the annual WOOL Retreat, I have the strangest feeling like it’s already ended. In a lot of ways the first day really is an ending for me. It’s the end of a year of on and off anxiety, worrying, planning, promotion, and administrative duties. Even though the event is tiny compared to SOAR or SPA, there a small truth to the idea that all events require a certain level of work, everything past that is just scale. Of course, when you’re talking about something like Sock Summit, all bets are off. But those of you who have organized events in the past may know what I’m talking about. Whether you’re running it for 25 people or 50, a certain portion of the to do list is always the same.

It was a bit windy while we were there. Still, how beautiful!

This year I was really struck by how much more relaxed I was. Maybe the hat mojo paid off, but I had not a single incident that was in any way unreasonable. A few things needed rearranging, but everything and everyone was reasonable and very considerate in their needs. For that I can’t thank my guests enough! By far this was the year I had the most fun, and I actually got to relax more fully than in years past. Believe it or not, I was pain free the entire time I was there, aside from early morning stiffness. Steve will tell you it’s because I was riding (literally) high on the endorphins of a good crowd vibe, and I won’t say that wasn’t it.

These are my people!

Going up a day early with a few friends was wonderful, and a great way to start things off. Still, I was more than ready for the large influx of fiber peeps come Thursday, and they didn’t disappoint. The laughing! The hugging! The GIFTS! Holy cow people, with the chocolate tributes! And the soap, and the fiber. ZOMG. I was overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness and beauty/tastiness of your gifts. They’ll get their own post along with the loot.

I was pleased with my offerings.

Speaking of LOOT… holy JEEBUS! The vending! It was an orgy of vending all weekend long, and most of us did very well for ourselves considering a good third were vendors and not strictly customers. I did a couple of trades but had to restrict my actual shopping to just two braids of deliciously soft top. But then again, given how generous guests were with “hostess” gifts, I didn’t really *need* anything else.  Oh, and we raised $300 for Wiawaka in the raffle, thank you to everyone for being so generous!

Bidding in the silent auction.

People, especially thew first timers, seemed to have a lot of fun, and for that I am very grateful. It’s wonderful to see the way these ladies faces light up when they realize that they are now Away… With Nothing To Do But Play With Yarn. It’s like magic. I had guest after guest tell me how good it felt to be in such beautiful surroundings, with good people, and good fiber. And given that the food this year was also good (new cook! more meat!), we were – in general – contented fiberistas.

Sushi Yoshi never disappoints, with a car like that, how could they?

And speaking of the people… can I just say how much fun it was to meet you new crazy ladies? Heidi, Tierney, Dorre, Elizabeth, Tamarre, Tamara, Cheeky, Anne and all the rest of you, you ladies rocked. Funny, considerate, kind people. You were a pleasure to be around, and a blast to hang out with. To returning friends from years past I say unto you – WOOT! You make it all worth while.

See? We do things other than spin at WOOL!

Lastly, I couldn’t be more pleased to note that I think we have the space situation figured out. Since it’s not about growing as large as possible, and instead about having fun at Wiawaka, I have decided to cap attendance at 25 (our count this year). With permission graciously granted by Wiawaka, they’ll move two of the godawful couches out of the living room in Lake House and that will allow for 5 people to set up with wheels. It’ll be far more comfortable. Tight, but not insane. And we don’t have to leave. Woohoo!

Happy face for a happy Tina.

What that will mean is that spaces may go even faster next year, so keep tuned in to the blog come late winter, so you’ll know when signups start! I don’t have a date yet, but you can count on August. See you next Summer!


WOOL 2010!

(Click for the photo album and LOTS more pictures.)

Tags: ,

Jul 25 2010

Victory, Yes, But Also a Hat

Category: Friends & Fun,events — Mistress Rows @ 8:59 am

It’s been an incredibly busy (but feeling well) weekend, so I only have a moment to chime in before I’m out the door. Yes, I was victorious, and finished my second skein for the Tour de Fleece on Thursday night. Ahead of schedule! Plied and done and washed. Done! It’s beautiful. But what I really want to show you is this, the special hat I designed for myself to wear while I’m at WOOL:

Because being in charge of a group of women in a low-amenity situation can be... challenging, sometimes.

It’s the back that really puts the icing on the cake:

The pink part reads: "Because Mistress Rows said so."

It’s a joke that anyone who’s been to the last two WOOL retreats has heard me talk about, and I keep threatening to make myself a t-shirt so I can just point to it the next time someone decides to tell me the equivelant of “she’s looking at me!”. Even better, now I’ll have a hat! It’s a jest, to be sure, but it’ll make people laugh, including myself. 11 days and counting to WOOL baby, 11 days!   And now I’m off being picked up by Wendy and Jody so we can join Jess for her town fair day, demonstrating spinning to the masses. You can see pictures from last year here.

Tags: ,

Jun 02 2010

Birthday Bonanza, Day 2: Cummington

Category: Festivals,Friends & Fun — Mistress Rows @ 5:08 pm

For the first time, since I don’t count the disembodied voice of my beloved Garmin as sentient, I made the roughly 2 hour drive to Cummington alone. Note to self: next time I make this sort of drive to the back of beyond, plug the info into the Garmin ahead of time so I don’t spend 25 minutes on the side of the road trying to figure out why it doesn’t recognize the address. Anyway, I got there without too much fuss and by 10:30 too, woo!

This little Romney seemed to sense my love of the breed, she snuggled and nuzzled me. So cute.

As with last year, it seemed like attendance was down. There was no need to jostle, booths were rarely crowded, and I said “excuse me” far less than I expected. I hope that as the economy starts to recover, sales and attendance will as well. Also notable were absences like Buckwheat Bridge Angoras, JOY (Just Our Yarn), and Foxfire Fibers. On the plus side, the absence of one vendor meant that Rachel of Serendipity was able to get a booth at the very last minute. I felt for her, she had no idea she would be vending and didn’t have as much stock as she wanted, but at least she got the exposure, and that’s worth a lot!

I am strangely drawn to rug hooking.

Squee! Baby goats are just too adorable.

 Walking around the grounds, I was inspired everywhere I turned. Dyers I admired had beautiful work on display. Crafts I have no time or space to attempt called to me. Despite the heat, shoppers sported their very best creations and more than once I was struck by how impressive the work of our hands really is.

Risa & Lisa, two very cool ladies. That yarn in her hand is 8-ply sport weight handspun. Think about that for a moment.

The people parts of the day were the best of all. I saw almost all of the usual faces, including blog reader Donna and her daughter. Hi Donna!  It was nice to meet her, I only wish we’d had time to talk more. Strangely, I missed Jenny, Harriet and Tim, and a couple other friendly faces. I did, however, finally commit the lovely Lori’s name to memory. I met Lori at SOAR ’08. and she understands completely what it’s like to be shit for brains when it comes to names, totally not holding it against me. Lori is a talented dyer, as you can see from the stole she’s holding. She gets that whole “hand dyed lace yarn should work WITH you, not AGAINST you” thing I get all ranty about.

Lori, Lori, Lori! See... I'm going to remember for next year!

Afterwards I retreated to Jess’s house for the after party and had a really good time. Hanging out with fiber folk is always a good time, especially when I get to see people that I don’t have the opportunity to on a regular basis. Folks like Maeghan & Ian, Anne, and Risa. Good peeps!

Maeghan's glorious handspun "Just Figs" being knit into a lace scarf. Hands down one of the most naturally talented fiber gals I know.

Kimberly (Somebunnyslove), who now works for XRX, gave me a copy of the nifty and newly released “Think Outside the Sox” book.  All had to do was “bribe” her with chocolate cake. Woot! She gave Jess a skein of Wollmeise as a hostess gift and I think she just about had a meltdown. Not only is Kimberly interesting to talk to, but with prizes like that in her trunk, you know she’s welcome anywhere she goes.

Overcome by the legendary Wollmeise!

Cummington 2010 was good, if a little more subdued than in years past. As always, glad I went, and happy to have spent the day surrounded the friends and interests I love so much.

Loot will get it’s own post later in the week.

Tags: ,

May 16 2010

Happy Looks Like Chicken

Category: Friends & Fun,Life & Stuff — Mistress Rows @ 7:05 pm

Despite the fact that Nature is once again trying to kill me (thank god for modern medicine), I have had a very good weekend. The kind of weekend that feels like a weekend, even though you Got Stuff Done. I know, it sounds like a contradiction, but here’s what such a rare beast of a weekend looks like:

We're both nearsighted, and we both look exactly the same when concentrating on details.

Mom and I have been working on our respective chickens for two sessions now at the new ceramics studio in Catskill, and it’s been fun. We don’t talk much while we’re working on our chickens, mom and I are both prone to quiet concentration. Her hen and chick are being painted in acrylics, and won’t be fired. She worries that it’s not “right” because her eyesight isn’t good (glaucoma) and she’s not a great painter. I tell her it doesn’t matter, it’s my money, and she should just have fun. We call her hen the “goth hen”, and we laugh.

Her smile makes ME smile!

My rooster, which she’ll take home when I’m done, is a small water pitcher, and is being painted with traditional glazes. His plumage is very colorful, and his main body feathers will be grey. I’ve never done ceramics before, but I have painted plaster figures (years ago). I can’t wait to see what he looks like all fired and shiny. I’m sure it’ll be terribly amateurish, but we’re having fun and that’s what counts.

My rooster of many colors.

I ran around quite a bit on Saturday, bridesmaid dress shopping and lunch with Jess and bridesmaid Becky was far more fun than she originally suspected. Finding fabulous dresses may have had something to do with that. And since we were RIGHT THERE we of course stopped in JoAnn’s, where I’m pleased to say I scored the last Patons FX in the Copper Colors colorway. My collection of this most fabulous yarn is now complete. That doesn’t mean you should go and discontinue it, Patons, you have yet to come out with a nice crimson colorway, and I’d love to see one in blues/reds/browns. You heard me, now chop chop!

Copper Colors in my much-cheaper-Trekking substitute.

Sunday was blissfully quiet. We slept in, and maybe it was because I didn’t have to (or plan to), but I took a few minutes to restart my seedlings. We shall not speak of the travesty that was the original batch. With that done, Steve helped me set up in the yard with music, drink, and wheel, and I spun for a while in the sun. There is little bliss like that of a beautiful day and a crafty pursuit that you love.

STILL spinning Sugar Plum Fairy.

Tags: ,

May 03 2010

Lady Emma

Category: Friends & Fun,Spinning — Mistress Rows @ 4:30 pm

“There once was a girl named Emma who was both fair and elegant. She lived in a very old little house full of wool, and had a wonderful mistress, but for some reason they just didn’t connect. As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, both Emma and her mistress felt a growing sense of drift. All the other ladies of the house were put to work, but Emma… not so much. This continued until one day her mistress came to realize that while she loved Emma very much, Emma needed to go to a home where she could have that sense of fulfillment she’d been lacking. It was one of those, “if you love them, you let them go” moments for both Emma and the mistress. And so, one Friday, in the dark of night, she found herself wedged into the back seat of a strange car, and behind the steering wheel she saw her new mistress, Mistress Rows.”

Due to Jess’s extraordinary generosity, the lovely Emma has come to live at Tiny House, at least for now. As it often happens between friends, one person says they’re looking to make a change and the other says maybe they could help with that. As we talked details I was very honest. Our finances are tight, and my personal money has tightened accordingly. Even cutting out my one regular luxury, Tuesday night sushi before Knit Night, it’ll be a long while before I can pay this off. Jess is of the mind that she’d rather Emma go to a home where she knows for sure she’ll be well cared for, and where she can come visit her from time to time. Tiny House can provide that!

Emma, spinning Sugar Plum Fairy BFL from Into the Whirled.

Everyone who knows me as a fiber person knows, I’m not a wheel collector. We don’t have that kind of money, and I’m really cautious about big purchases. I buy the best tool I can afford, one that will allow me the most options, and that I’m least likely to grow out of in the near future. Still, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. It was always my plan, if possible, to have two wheels once we bought the house, and I wanted the new one to be a production wheel. In the apartment I wouldn’t have dreamed of adding a new wheel, we had nowhere practical to put it. Here in Tiny House I have the wool room should I need to put the wheel away. Circe could stay in the bag and come to knitting with me on Tuesdays, which is all the action she sees half the time anyway. If I don’t remember to set her back up the next day I often forget and knit instead. With a wheel that’s always ready, I expect that I’ll spin more. Considering the size of my fiber stash, this is a very good thing!

Emma is a Kromski Symphony, a replica production style wheel in the Saxony (storybook) wheel. This means she’s very different from my Lendrum castle (upright) wheel, and spinning on her is another animal entirely. The double drive setup and relatively large (24″) wheel make for powerful, lightning fast spinning. This is not a wheel that I’d recommend for a first time spinner, at least not set up for lace weight and double drive as she is right now. Without a deft hand the thread-fine yarn would be easily pulled from your fingers. Her technical features take a little getting used to… I haven’t spun on a Saxony since 2004 when I owned Phaedre, my creaky antique Ashford Traditional, and never on a double drive.

Graceful curves everywhere you look.

Visually, Emma is a stunner. She has all the finials and turnings you could want in a wheel, the word that comes first to mind is elegant. Every time I look at Emma I see some detail or feature to admire. Photographing her was a lot of fun, even if it was 80F in the house. Taking photos at non-traditional angles just illustrates how lovely her design is. Those folks at Kromski know exactly what they’re doing. Each piece fits perfectly, and is perfectly gorgeous. If I had bought a Symphony new for myself, which I have dreamed of for a while, the only thing I’d do different is buy one in the cherry color. Still, blonde is beautiful too, and what I’m used to with Circe.

Double drive is new to me.

The technical differences between Circe and Emma are obviously like night and day, but even compared to Phaedre there are some glaring standouts. Emma is bobbin led and has interchangeable whorls that screw on for different ratios (speeds). Phaedre had one whorl. If you wanted to spin fine yarn you had to treadle like your life depended on it. Emma spins like a veritable powerhouse, you can feel the power behind her action, and all that for very little effort on the treadles. Circe and I have never had trouble spinning super fine, but the “feel” is different, and hard to explain. Circe is like a very serviceable car that’s comfy and gets you anywhere you want to go. Emma is like a Saab, EVERYTHING is different under the hood. I have no trouble with adjusting and fine-tuning her, right now my only concern is ergonomics. I’m a much bigger woman than Jess, and I’m fighting the feeling like I don’t have enough room between where my feet need to be on the treadles, and where my left knee keeps knocking into the mother-of-all.

No tilt tension here, we have instead the turning of the screw.

I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to try Emma out, no strings attached and with generous terms. ‘Cause lord knows, I’m not exactly rolling in the dough right now. Every time I look at her I smile! I think we’ll get along just fine, and I look forward to trying the slower whorl for some thicker fingering and sport weight spinning. If she and I can agree on all my favorite types of spinning, I do believe she’ll have a home for many years to come here at Tiny House. Thank you, Jess, you can come visit any time you want.

Tags: , ,

Mar 25 2010

Outta Here

Category: Festivals,Friends & Fun,Uncategorized — Mistress Rows @ 6:30 am

I have a Human Resources convention today so I’ll be leaving early and gone all day. When I get home it’s last minute chores and then we’re OFF! Where? Why to the geekiest place on earth, at least for one weekend.

Geeks Unite!

PAX is coming to Boston for the first time, and Steve and I will be there… along with 60,000 other gaming nerds. Well, me, I’m not so much a gaming nerd, but I do like games and I am happy to join my husband for a weekend of fun. We’re sharing costs by room with gaming buddies, and that really helps.

Me, I plan to hang out and knit or spin the entire time. What? I’ve done it before. I packed for fiber-geddon, just in case I suddenly become super woman and plow through my current spinning and fiber projects. You never know.

We’ll be back Sunday night, have a great weekend!

Tags: ,

Mar 22 2010

Awesome Explosion

Category: Friends & Fun,Knitting — Mistress Rows @ 2:00 pm

After a pretty craptacular week, it was fantastic to end it with an explosion of awesome. How awesome was it? Let me count the ways:

  1. When I went for my checkup the “hard stick” nurse was able to draw my blood first try, no digging. I’m a very hard stick, but she got me no problem. Extra nice: my results are all good, as always.
  2. I dropped in on Mom & Dad for a surprise visit and had a nice visit with them.
  3. I knit the last bit of my socks on the way to Jess’s party, finishing the bind off while there. They look great!
  4. The party was awesome, but I forgot BOTH my cameras. Damnit.
  5. Visiting with friends and meeting new ones was a blast.
  6. I brought home a Dia de los Muertes Jessalu bag, one I knew would be mine from the moment I laid eyes on the fabric. Sugar skulls!
  7. Dinner and having Kim sleep over was awesome! We watched a scary movie and knit, good times. She’s a great houseguest, by the way, you should have her over some time.
  8. Kim gave me a geranium that has mint scented leaves! Who knew?
  9. I started the Echo Flower Shawl I blogged about on the Confessional, and learned a new technique.
  10. Sunday we started buying supplies for the garden and yard work.

And the awesome to beat all awesome? Jess asked me to be a bridesmaid! You can always tell when I’m honest to chocolate, really and truly excited about something because it’s like a happy bomb went off in the room. Seriously, not joking. There was bouncing and squealing, and flapping of appendages. You’d have thought I won the lottery! Like I told Jess, guess you can tell I like you, eh? I’m thrilled and honored to be “serving” alongside Risa (Maid of Honor). Almost as exciting? Our dresses are the same red (Candy Apple) I chose for my wedding in ’06, I get to wear my favorite color! *giddy*

Whew. Breathe.

Speaking of my favorite color… Because I’d seen the scary movie Kim and I watched on Saturday night, I decided that right very then was a great time to cast on for the Echo Flowers Shawl in a yarn I’ve held aside since my early dyeing days, Scarlet Witch. Oh Scarlet, how I love thee. The pattern is fantastic, very simple once you get the gist of the main body stitch. My only suggestion to you, should you choose to knit it? Essentially setting up the stitch is just like setting up a nupp, only you purl all the loops on the backside instead of purling them together as a bobble. Once I figured out what the pattern wanted me to do in Tina-speak, I was golden.

Echo Flowers in Scarlet Witch.

The yarn is slightly busy for the pattern, but I don’t care. I’m in love. It’s the Bittersweet Woolery Guilty Pleasures base, so it’s silky and has a subtle sheen. I have two skeins so I’m totally making the full shawl version. The shawlette calls for 4 repeats of the main body and right now I’m already starting my 5th, with only 1/3 of the yarn used. I have a feeling I’ll have enough left over for a shawlette version too (gift?), but I know too well how deceptive the usage is for an ever-growing shawl.

Sugar Skulls! Better pictures later, promise.

Tomorrow: post about further fun news. Later in the week: FO post for the socks.

Tags: ,

Mar 18 2010

Looking For Signs of Life

Category: Friends & Fun,Knitting,Tiny House — Mistress Rows @ 7:00 am
Late winter in New York is a weird time of the year. You’ll get a few days of idyllic warmth, the daffodils start coming up like there’s no tomorrow, and then you read the weather report and it’s not long before low 40’s and 30’s are back on deck. Still, we’re supposed to have a beautiful weekend with weather in the mid to high 60’s. I’ll take it!

I plan to walk the yard today when I get home from work, just to see if there are any naturalized bulbs or other flowers poking their heads up. I’m pretty sure that I won’t find any, we first viewed Tiny House in August and the yard was completely bare. How people can live on a property that’s devoid of beauty is beyond me. You can be sure that bulbs will be going into the ground as soon as the frost threshold is crossed. What I don’t know about gardening could fill a library, but I’m eager to learn and willing to dig. I have reference books, experienced friends, and my own home… finally. This fall I’ll plant crocuses so that I can get a bit of beauty earlier in the season. Lord knows we could all use a little bit of spring by the time March rolls around.

Last night I got half of the new yarn wound up, and much to my surprise I learned that what I thought was sportweight sock yarn? It’s now DK weight. Huh. I thought it looked awful thick! That’s what happens when you send the husband into the basement to grab base yarn and he gets confused. That’s all right, and no harm done. I’ll just be coming up with a new line name and adding new labels. Note to self: use some of the newly emptied storage totes for different weight yarn bases, clearly labeled.

Lazy style left leaning decreases on sock one.

Also last night I turned the heel on my second Spiral Eyelets Sock and today I’m working my way up the leg. It’s gratifying to know that I’ll be done with it by Friday night if all goes well. It might take a little longer, it depends on how long it takes me to clean house tonight. WOOL guest and yarn friend Kim is going to spend the night on Saturday, she’ll be our second overnight guest since we bought Tiny House! We’re both attending a gathering at Jess’s house on Saturday and it’s much more convenient for Kim, who lives in Jersey, to stay over than drive home from Massachusetts the same day. I’m happy to have the chance to see more of Kim, she gives cool a run for its money.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars, WOOL registration is coming up in one month!

Tags: , ,

Mar 08 2010

Recap: 2nd Annual Stir Crazy Stitch & Spin

Category: Friends & Fun,events — Mistress Rows @ 1:23 pm

Wow. Can I just say wow? I guess I could, but it would be doing the event a gross injustice. I guess putting the extra effort into promoting the event really worked… by the time the event was in full swing there were over 30 people attending, not counting children and visits from little dogs! I was completely blown away by how many wonderful people showed up, but what really knocked my socks off was how many new faces there were. THANK YOU to all who drove from near and (some very) far to join me at the Athens Cultural Center on Saturday, you guys and gals are awesome!

The Ambassador soaking up the sun, and who had plenty of water out of frame.

I got there an hour early to set up, mom and Nuala joined me very soon thereafter. Nuala sat in the window at first, greeting the early guests. What started out as a big, empty room soon started to fill and before long the place was hopping! So many beautiful projects, so many new faces, so much food. Our table was practically groaning from the all the good eats people brought to share. Best of all? Seeing far-flung friends, especially those I don’t get to see very often. I wonder if they feel like rock stars when I yell their names like a rabid fan girl?

Newcomers and lace divas, Ginnie & Kim.

Geri! Geri is probably the world's nicest person.

Things go by so quickly when you’re running an event like this. I feel like I barely sat down, but that was by choice. Greeting people as they came through the door, checking in on everyone individually (or at least trying to), it’s all something I really enjoy. The time flew by and it seemed like barely an hour had passed before it was time to do the raffle. Everyone who came got one chance in the pot, if you made a donation (no matter how small) you got a second chance. By the time I was done, Risa’s beautiful children and I had collected $88 for the Athens Cultural Center. People went home with some sweet prizes too, the donor list had grown to include Daisy Lamont Soap Co. (chocolate soap), Into the Whirled (Falklands hand dyed top), and one of our guests donated a 1oz ball of luscious brown, locally grown Alpaca top from their farm.

Some of the great prizes I gave away.

One of the best parts about the Stitch & Spins is seeing all the beautiful projects that people are working on. I was in awe of how gorgeous (newcomer) Kim’s Feather & Fan Shawl in Kauni lace yarn was. Oohs and ahhs were all over the place, be it from projects, wheels, or the stock some of our Indie vendor friends brought for us to paw through.

Kim's Feather & Fan Shawl from A Gathering of Lace, made in Kauni.

Marjan's (sp?) shawl, adapted from a blanket, if I remember right.

Katherine worked all night to have her quilt ready to work on for Saturday!

There’s so much more I could prattle on about, squeeing the whole way, but really… it’s probably time for me to stop. Suffice to say that I am touched and truly grateful to all. Thank you to the volunteers at the Cultural Center who let me use the space, thank you to mom for running to the store for me, thank you to all the vendors who donated prizes for the raffle, thank you to all the guests who came out on such a warm, sunny day to play. See you in June!

Jennifer(?) crocheting a pair of fingerless mitts.

Nora (Cultural Center volunteer) working on her rug hooking.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Tags: ,

Next Page »