Home again, home again, jiggidy jig

Aaaahhhh, back home after a fabulous weekend at Canby OR's Flock and Fiber Festival. The camper is FINALLY unloaded and I have almost caught my breath from the whirlwind of preperations for the show.

I had a great time! The weather could not have been more perfect! These are some quick shots of my booth. The location was great! They had a spinning triathalon right near my booth which was such a kick to watch. And if you are wondering what in the world that would be, it was a contest to see which team could spin the piece of yarn long enough to cross the finish line first (one person was spinning while the other drafted the fiber and walked backwards with their ply of yarn). That was fun to watch!!! I also got to meet some of the nicest knitters EVER! One couple came to my booth and as I was asking them if they were familiar with Duet Socks Yarns, she said "OH YES" and at that moment he pulled up his pant leg to show off a gorgeous pair of lizard rock duet socks! He even when on to say how much he loved them! He was even kind enough to show them off to some interested passerbys!

Mr Ken was a festival husband for the weekend. He kept and eye on the dogs, made all the meals and brought hot cooked lunches to our booths. What a guy! More than once or twice those lunches almost got snagged by other knitters as he carried them to the booth :)

As for shopping at OFFF, I was a very very very good girl (maybe too good). I tried and tried to justify the purchase of the Louet Victoria spinning wheel...but knowing I have a very portable drop spindle, I could not. I tried and tried to justify the purchase of a pygora fleece, but knowing I had 7 fleeces (NO, NONE of the are pygora!!!) I told myself I had to finish spinning those before I added to my stash.

So, I left with this beautiful merino/tencel roving and teeny bit of fake cashmere! That's IT! This is an absolute record for me!!!! I started spinning the roving and it has a very different feel than my usual merino or BFL rovings! I love the luster in the roving, but I am a bit indifferent about how shiny the yarn is looking. I will save my final opinion for after I ply it...I have never knit with shiny yarn, it's never really been my thing, so we will see.

All in all a great time!!! And since knit night was last night, it was fun to hear what everyone else found while they were down there. One of our 'knotty knitters' went completely off the wagon and bought a Lendrum wheel, combs, fleece and yarn! The amazing part is this person wasn't me or Joanne...WOW!

For those of you who were there, I hope you had as great of time as I did! For those of you much too far away to join in the fun, I hope you have a fiber festival just as fabulous near you!!!

Knitted Samples

The gals at the Renton Stitchers were kind enough to all pitch in for my booth at Oregon Flock and Fiber this weekend and knit samples for all to see....and let me tell you what!!! They are fantastic! Each of them uses only one skein for the pattern...yes, even the sweaters! The chevron scarves use 2 skeins, but the pattern calls for two different skeins so whatcha gonna do?!

Check 'em out

Aren't these adorable....the first is the suprise baby jacket, the vest is out of XXL Duet, and the final one is a lovely pattern by Liberty

Next up is socks galore!!! Big ones, little ones, fancy ones and shorty ones.

There's gonna be lots of warm feet out there this winter!

Here we have Sally and Teddy Skipper sporting adorable knit sets! Sally is wearing a newborn set of booties, mittens and beany. Teddy Skipper has on a frilly crocheted number-perfect for everyday wear! :P

And finally we have the Chevron Scarf from last minute knitted gifts! I know some of you had hear these had been made using Duet Sock Yarns and were eager to see them so let me tell you a little bit about each. The one on the left, knitted by Liz , is done using the main colors throughout the body of the scarf and the coordinating colors for the trim...the colors she used are Chocolate Fantasy and Hearthrob. The one on the right is knitted by Joanne and she alternated the trim with the main color then when the trim ran out, alternated the main colors...the colors she used were Hot Flash and Lemonade Stand. I don't know about you, but know I am inspired to knit my own Chevron Scarf!!!

Now, I am off to load up the camper with loads and loads and loads of yarn for the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. If you can make it there, it is definitely worth the drive!!! Fingers crossed I have enough yarn to make it through at least Saturday. Based on all the wonderful e-mails from everyone who is going to be there and will be stopping by to say hi (can't wait to meet you!!!), I am a little nervous that I don't have enough yarn for everyone....But, if I sell out, I have had an invitation to knit with some lurkers and I think that would be a blast too!!!

See you there!!!!

Does that mean................?

Does this photo mean that the Lucky Lurker packages have gone out?! YES, it does!!! I am not going to tell you what day this was because true to lurker nature...you lurkers know how to keep your eyes out for yarn!!!

The Lucky Lurker Packages have left the building!

I had to snap this photo while loading up....this is about half full and I couldn't help but giggle at the sight. I started to worry that if I hit the brakes to quick I would have lurker packages flying forward :)

Took them to the post office and got a few comments from people. After about the 6th trip in with a basket full of boxes, one of the post office people offered to take what I had postmarked and then asked, 'will that do it for you then'...with a big cheesey grin, I said "NOPE!, I have a few more loads in the car" :) She quickly scurried off into the back room! I think I scared her!

Happy mailbox lurking!!!!

Tagged

Well, I have been tagged by Liberty's Yarn to write something about myself for each letter of my middle name (thank goodness for little middle names) :)
D=Dyer...yarn dyer-does that one count since it is a completely obvious thing about me? If not, how about Dog Lover...hmmm, that one may be a bit obvious too with all the pictures of Guppy I have all over this blog. Let's just figure two obvious things count as one good thing for the letter D
E=Excitable. This can be happiness over anything wonderful, full body enthusiasm for a great idea coming to mind, or a passionate discussion over a controversial topic. I would say I am excitable in all cases.
E=Empathetic. I am overly empathetic of those around me-when they are happy, I feel their happy just as if it is happening to me. When they are sad, I am just as sad with them. When I watch Animal Planet rescue shows or read petfinder animal descriptions, I cry and want to send them all my money or adopt every animal (I am not allowed to watch that show anymore!).

So there ya go...all three letters of my middle name.
Now, my three tags for my three letters....
Blither
Craft Pirate
Words and Wool

Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival

In just a couple short weeks the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival will be here!!!

I am extremely excited! This show is not only the best fiber show I have ever been to, but it is where my Duets first started.

Last year was my first year there as a customer and a vendor. As a customer, I don't remember having much will power...I came home with 7 (yes, 7!) raw fleeces...to this day I am occasionaly reminded of this by a few folks in my knitting group, that also attended OFFF, in oh so subtle ways ("hey Ange, how are those 7 fleeces coming along" or should a conversation come up about over indulgence "hey Ange, didn't you buy 7 fleeces last year").

Anyways, in addition to the 7 fleeces, I had an absolute blast as a vendor. The customers wandering around looked just as amazed and excited as I was to be there. Often times they would be pumped with excited after just getting out of a class or just heading to a class. I met some of the nicest knitters and spinners ever at this show!!! The vendors around me were also fantastic! I was right next to the editor of Spindilicity and what a pleasure it was to meet her! And her magazine is great too!

Like I said, last year was when the Duet line was introduced. I had Duet spinning fiber and Duet Sock Yarn in addition to some other commercial yarns-it was a small booth but knitters and spinners managed to find me because I sold out of everything Duet in the first few hours! I was shocked and excited all at the same time!

I have been working my buns off making sure any knitter that comes to my booth will have a chance to grab some Duet Sock Yarns. 'Exactly how much yarn would be enough?!"....this thought keeps me up at night. I am filling bins full of yarn like the one above to bring with me,

but I don't know how many people even know about OFFF or live close enough to attend and since this is really the only time Duet Sock Yarns are available in person and I sold out the first time, I don't even know how to guestimate how much I will need.

Well, that said, I better get back to work and create a few more colorways today!

Can't wait to go to Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival!!!! Hope to see you there!

Ravelry

OK, so I have heard about it...I have been told how great it is...and I have heard about it some more. About half of my knitting group is already a part of it and they speak very highly of the wonder that is 'Ravelry'.

Am I part of the half that is part of it?! NO!!! I am NOT!!! (pouting a little!) I have 6206 people in front of me....WHATEVER!

Then, to make it worse, Joanne was kind enough to log in and let me play with it a little! OOOOOOoooohhhhh, I can see how it would be so much fun to just click click click around!

Now I want my invitation to hurry up and get here so I can really check it out!