All Sorts of Fun!
What a great day! Not only was the weather stunning, I had the honor of judging a local African violet show, there are fewer than 5,000 ahead of me in the Ravelry line, AND I got to go to The Fold!
I left early this morning, got gas for the bullet car (it's shaped like a bullet - really :-D) and got on the Tollway and headed North. The Chicago Botanic Garden is really one of a kind. So very beautiful, at all times of the year. Lake Shore African Violet Society has their annual show there, and this is the third year they have invited me to judge. Although small, the show really was very nice and well put together. This club just has a way with staging, and they had a nice variety of plants. Plus, they are lovely people and I'm always just so happy to see them! :-)
I currently have around 40 varieties of African violet, this is down from about twice that number. I made a concerted effort earlier this year to downsize the collection. I have learned that when there are more than 50 plants to take care of, nothing and no one is happy. Lake Shore often has show plants that are varieties that you don't see everywhere - and one of their members was kind enough to give me a leaf of a very interesting cultivar, called Hearts Aglow. I think it has the potential to be pretty spectacular - it has to for me to bring home a leaf!
From there, my Mapquest directions took me the "scenic route" out to Marengo for my visit to Toni at The Fold. As usual, I opened my wallet. I'm reasonably certain that Toni could go to Bermuda for a couple of weeks on what I have spent there just since June . . . I'm not complaining, however - today I got a beautiful Bag Lady carry bag for my Lendrum spinning wheel, some bits and spare pieces for the wheel in case something breaks, some Aran/worsted weight wool for my practice Celtic Dreams sweater (the practice before the Iona wool :-) ), and some fiber.
My spinning teacher, PatsyZ, gave me license to buy a small amount (2 oz. was recommended) of some fiber that intrigued me . . . OK, that's pretty much like telling me that I can buy sock yarn willy nilly . . . You'll be happy to know that I actually managed to restrain myself from buying ANY more sock yarn - this was difficult. However, I did get 4 oz. of fiber. In my defense, I got 2 oz. of two colors of Colonial that I thought would look pretty awesome plied together . . . and if I can spin it thin enough, I think 4 oz. should prolly be enough for a pair of socks . . . don't you? ;-)
I left early this morning, got gas for the bullet car (it's shaped like a bullet - really :-D) and got on the Tollway and headed North. The Chicago Botanic Garden is really one of a kind. So very beautiful, at all times of the year. Lake Shore African Violet Society has their annual show there, and this is the third year they have invited me to judge. Although small, the show really was very nice and well put together. This club just has a way with staging, and they had a nice variety of plants. Plus, they are lovely people and I'm always just so happy to see them! :-)
I currently have around 40 varieties of African violet, this is down from about twice that number. I made a concerted effort earlier this year to downsize the collection. I have learned that when there are more than 50 plants to take care of, nothing and no one is happy. Lake Shore often has show plants that are varieties that you don't see everywhere - and one of their members was kind enough to give me a leaf of a very interesting cultivar, called Hearts Aglow. I think it has the potential to be pretty spectacular - it has to for me to bring home a leaf!
From there, my Mapquest directions took me the "scenic route" out to Marengo for my visit to Toni at The Fold. As usual, I opened my wallet. I'm reasonably certain that Toni could go to Bermuda for a couple of weeks on what I have spent there just since June . . . I'm not complaining, however - today I got a beautiful Bag Lady carry bag for my Lendrum spinning wheel, some bits and spare pieces for the wheel in case something breaks, some Aran/worsted weight wool for my practice Celtic Dreams sweater (the practice before the Iona wool :-) ), and some fiber.
My spinning teacher, PatsyZ, gave me license to buy a small amount (2 oz. was recommended) of some fiber that intrigued me . . . OK, that's pretty much like telling me that I can buy sock yarn willy nilly . . . You'll be happy to know that I actually managed to restrain myself from buying ANY more sock yarn - this was difficult. However, I did get 4 oz. of fiber. In my defense, I got 2 oz. of two colors of Colonial that I thought would look pretty awesome plied together . . . and if I can spin it thin enough, I think 4 oz. should prolly be enough for a pair of socks . . . don't you? ;-)
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