That Other Festival

Oh yeah? Oh yeah??? Well, I'm going to SAFF this weekend, Rhinebeckers, so NYAHHH!

(What? You've never even heard of SAFF? Well, that's just because you're not knitty enough! Okay?! It's a hundred times cooler than Rhinebeck, that's what it is! Yeah!! They have 47 square miles of fiber vendors, okay?? And they guarantee 800 HERDS of alpaca. That's right. 800 herds. Don't question it.)

Okay, so I lied - SAFF is comparatively small. But it's growing leaps and bounds every year. And there are classes there on spinning and dyeing, and I'll be taking a few of those. There are even some "entertain your husband" classes - Travis is taking a wood carving class (say goodbye to my banisters). And there will be fiber - although I think it's still primarily an animal-fiber festival and judging, so there's probably going to be a pretty heavy not-yet-yarn slant to it. Heaven for a newbie spinner with no boundaries. (Yes, I have every intention of picking up a wheel.)

Given the amount of cash I dropped on my last NC trip...well, I'm concerned. There wasn't even a fiber festival that time. We usually fly up there, but we're driving this time so that "how do we get all this crap home?" won't be a problem. I've no doubt Travis would barely blink if I came home Saturday afternoon with two sheep, a goat, an alpaca, and six Angora rabbits stuffed in the backseat.

The festival also has the distinction of being 15 minutes from my parents' house near Asheville, NC. I cannot WAIT to spend some time with them - I love them, I love their property, and I love the area they live in.

I did a bit of spindling this weekend, *finally* plying up some singles Vicki gave me during SP8. (Psst: I'm making the ugliest damned two-ply out of the prettiest damned roving...I would assume I'll get better at this. But it's sort of lovably ugly - even Travis said, "I kinda like the way it turned out." Or he just loves me a lot. Either way.) I also wrapped up half of a laceweight-ish single from Spritely Goods batt. (Which I had planned to spin two singles of and ply, but with only 100 yards off my first half of the fiber, I think I'll go with the singles...seems like I always end up with 100 yards or less, and I want a bigger project!)

I also knitted up a gauge swatch out of that yarn I dyed for my dad....I can't stop staring at it. Damn, it looks good. I know you want to see it, but don't worry - you'll be forced to endure many pictures. I'm playing with an idea for a pattern designed just for him, and I'm going to try making it work. If I fail, I'll just make the Boyfriend Socks or something equally manly.

(Um...I also might have hit Chez Cas and picked up a few things, like some Ozark Handspun yarn and silk top, some soy silk laceweight, etc....)

Alright, I gotta go sell a kidney so I'll have enough money for all the stuff I'll want to buy this weekend.