So I Went to Lambtown

I went up to Dixon this morning to go to Lambtown (quick, you can too – it’s open for three more hours!) to wander around and look at yarn and sheeps.

Lambtown is a small fiber festival and there was definitely more fleece around – not something that interests me as I’m not a spinner. They had a couple of booths that had spindles that looked fun but dudes: I do not need another hobby when I still haven’t utilized weaving, you know?? I might try it sometime but I don’t want to buy a bunch of supplies.

Anyway, it was good, and I even ran into a twitter friend there (Hi Manda!) and stopped and chatted with her and her knitting group for awhile (go me, being social-ish!).

That last one is my favorite; he seemed young and his fur (?) was shaved funny. I like how they look kind of like poodles.

I actually didn’t take any pictures of sheep this year because there weren’t as many! Last year I took a bunch but there definitely weren’t as many animals there this year, which I think may have something to do with our ever worsening economy. Also it rained last night a little. (No excuses!) I kind of wish I did because the sheep were all sheared and wearing canvas ponchos to protect them. They kind of cracked me up. But the sheep weren’t doing anything interesting and I couldn’t really get any good shots.

Okay I have to go to my uncle’s party now. I actually have a finished project to show you all next time.

Oh Hello Again

So I haven’t been updating much lately – and haven’t posted anything in a month, but I have actually been busy! It is very peculiar. I also spend all day in front of a computer and generally come home and don’t want to continue doing that.

Anyway, I have been making things in the background.

What is this? you may be wondering. Why, these are several non-sock related projects that I have been enjoying working on at my leisure. The orange one is the Multnomah shawlette in Sanguine Griffon’s Eidos, the weird yellowy one is the Brandywine shawl in Sanguine Griffin Skinny Bugga, and the turquoise/brown thing is actually a scarf (!) from Knitty, Wisp in Collinette Jitterbug (the new 400 yd skein).

Here are some thoughts on the yarns used:

Sanguine Griffin Eidos: Has a peculiar crunchy texture that I do not entirely dislike. It is a sturdy yarn that I think will stand up to abuse. I also sprayed it with water a little, and it did soften right up, so a Soak bath will definitely help the finished project. While I like it, and the color is amazing (my camera did not give the fiery colorway justice), I don’t think I’ll be getting it again because:

Sanguine Griffin Skinny Bugga: HOLY CRAP I LOVE THIS YARN. The merino/nylon blend gives it strength, while the 20% cashmere lends a softness. If I ever have any money ever again, I will probably try to get enough of this yarn (or the fatter yarn Bugga) to make myself a cuddly delicious sweater. I guess it’s true: once you’ve gone cashmere, you can never go back. Le sigh.

Collinette Jitterbug: This is a nice basic sock weight yarn. It has a high twist and therefore tends to twist up on itself which I find annoying. But it does seem to be pretty sturdy and is knitting up nicely in this pattern.

In other, exciting news, my sister is currently in Munich on a business trip, where she did me a huge, fabulous favor:

That, my friends, is a wall of Wollmeise at the brick & mortar store in Pfaffenhofen.

Where Abby bought me Wollmeise.

I have always wondered about Wollmeise, and been weirded out by the way people stalk the website, and its unavailability to us normal folks who don’t stay up till 3 a.m. to catch an update. I mean, I love yarn, and I want to try out as many different yarns as possible, but I do have some standards.

So, I’m pretty excited about that.

Other things that I have been doing but not blogging about:

  1. I went to the Star Trek exhibit at the Air & Space Museum in Sacramento, and that was pretty fun.
  2. I went to last week’s A’s vs. Red Sox game, where my dear Sox sucked, but the A’s did well – and viewed the game from a deliciously catered luxury box.
  3. Had my six month dental checkup, and am in the clear for another six months. I’m glad I seem to be past the really amazing bad part of this whole dental experience. I’m still really mad about it, because I miss my money spent on the whole ordeal. 🙁
  4. I was poisoned by the egg-related salmonella outbreak for a rather tiring Saturday as my innards rebelled in a revolution worthy of the French.
  5. Got sent to collections by Capital One over a bill that I hadn’t even gotten the bill yet (and was intending to pay in full). After causing much wrath to flow over the poor Indian who answered the phone, I got things cleared up. The following week, I received the notice that I’d been sent to collections… dated the day after I called customer service. I would like to take this opportunity to say, Screw You, Capital One, Screw You All The Way To The Top!
  6. Enjoying the heck out of the wackadoodles on the current season of Project Runway.
  7. Went to a library book sale where I for once found exactly what I was looking for! It’s always sort of luck-of-the-draw for these things.
  8. Randomly ran into my mother at JoAnn’s, who then spontaneously took me out to lunch at the Chinese buffet.

I’ve also been working on some jewelry pieces. Here’s the one I made for my sister that is a knock-off of one she wanted from Modcloth.

It turned out really well, and she liked it a lot. It was also a ginormous pain in the you-know-what, so I’m glad that it went over well.

So, I’ve been pretty busy lately, but I hope to be a little better about updating in the coming weeks.

Conversations with the Patriarch

My family has a standing dinner each Wednesday at my grandfather’s house. We have been doing this for probably 25 years. Over the years the nights have changed, but it’s been a constant. Jason night. It’s the place to be.

With the amount of smarts on that side of the family, you would think we would have amazing conversations… You would be wrong.

Jason: You weren’t unemployed very long.
Me: No, I was only a hobo for two months.
Jason: A hobo? Is that what you were? Better than a ho.
Me: …
Jason: *smirk*
Me: OR IS IT? Because —
My Mother: — Ho’s get paid!
Me: That’s what I was going to say!

In conclusion, Jason is 83 and we all discussed ho’s.  And a good time was had by all! hahaha