Michigan and Other Things . . .

I'm really really tired, so this is going to be rather short and I'll fill in the blanks tomorrow.

My Basic Black cardigan is done. Clearly, it's not black :-D I really liked this pattern, and it knit up very quickly. It also fits. Perfectly. I mean it. I wasn't sure if I would like the Noro not matching up anywhere, but I like it very much and have been assured by my SnB crew that the stripes do not make me look fat. (God, I hope they are right ;-D). I made the body a little longer (I have a long body), and also the sleeves (I have really long arms) - and I picked up ALL the stitches around for the button band instead of going half and half. If you make this, do the button holes exactly as they say. If you cast on stitches instead of doing the two yarnovers, the buttonholes will be way too tight. You can ask me how I know, but you probably already guessed. ;-)

These are my cousin, ME's, happy birthday socks :-) She wanted jewel tones. I think these fit the bill. They are plain stockinette (so that the colorway is the focus). Blackberry Ridge, Mer-Made Fingering Weight. This yarn is quite hefty for fingering weight and I was tempted to move up a needle size, but I did some reading about the yarn and decided to stick with my normal 1 1/2's. Glad I did!!

Here's what I came home with from the Michigan Fiber Festival! A Melissa Leapman book (I was really sleepy last night - it's a Norah Gaughan book) (on sale! Whee!!), a really cute embroidered T-shirt ("So much fleece, So little time"). The green cone is a mill end of wool that I want to play with to make some more of what Judith McKenzie McCuin calls "Wolf Yarn." There's a cute little basket for my new wheel, some pin drafted roving from Fiber Optics Yarn - a new dyer that Toni (The Fold) is carrying. Another bump of Gale's Art in the same Deep Blue Sea colorway that I already have - I think I have enough for a hat/scarf/mittens set now. Some more amazing Bombyx silk (Chasing Rainbows - which I got in Boulder). The colorway is called Embers. It's stunning, and that big blob on the right is one skein of my custom dyed yarn from Briar Rose. Love it, love it, love it!!

And here are my new fleeces, all clean, and processed and pin drafted, just waiting for me to spin them up. They are Corriedale/CVM. There are two fleeces in each bag - I think it's going to be a spinning winter . . .

Yes, I've been spinning on the Big Wheel and it's amazing and wonderful and there is a learning curve. But my hands are getting faster, so it's all good. It's such a different feel than my regular Lendrum, but I'm getting it by playing with some roving from JWrayco, colorway "Harbor." It's seriously over-twisted, but that might not be a bad thing - I'll post photos once it's plyed and finished

And now, to bed! Sleep tight - more about the fair later, and sorry there are no links in this post.