Wait for it...

I just desinged the coolest baby booties!! I think they are fantastic. Sometime tomorrow or the next day I am going to post the pattern on my blog. They are Peter Pan/Pixie/Robin Hood Booties. They knit SUPER fast-maybe an hour a bootie (at most). This will be my first foray into pattern writing for others, so I would love it if people could take a couple hours out of their day and knit them, and then give me some constructive feedback on my pattern writing.
Of course, if you want to just tell me how absolutely freaking awesome I am...that's OK too...
Feeling the suspense yet??

This is what I learned today...

Today I learned how to do this...
I learned how to use a quill spindle. I also learned how to do long draw so that I could use the quill spindle properly. Seriously, I feel like some kind of spinning super hero right now. I've read about long draw but the idea of drafting fibre with only one hand seemed crazy to me. Every time I tried I would end up with a horrible mat of fibre that was useless so I gave up. Friday I got the quil spindle so I had to learn. It's totally possible to use the quill spindle without using long draw but what would be the point? Aside from it making a nifty sound it's not really efficient to use a worsted method of spinning with a quill spindle.
The instructions that came with the spindle were not great so I looked up a video on youtube and watch about 20 seconds of footage and then gave the spindle a whirl (hehe) I surpirsed myself by being able to almost immediately do long draw, there were some snags at the start (pun intended) but after a total of 20 minutes of effort I consider myself introduced to the mysteries of long draw. I am not saying I am consistent or that the yarn is saleworthy, but I can do it and damn it looks cool when I do! I am going to be demonstrating spinning at the Courthouse sometime this summer and I think I will do the quill spindle, since it's not nearly as common.
Seriously...I feel like a spinning genius...

Billions of Blistering Blue Barnacles

Dudes...I have so much to post it's not even funny...I have been putting it off and now it's kicking me in the ass and I have to take a large chunk of time away from spinning and knitting...I hope you have a few minutes, I think this is my longest post yet!

First things first...today in the mail I got my first ever etsy order. If you don't know what etsy is your life is horribly empty and superficial. Etsy is ebay for crafters. It is heaven. Check it out here. But be warned, it can seriously suck away hours and dollars.

The awesome part of my etsy order is that while it was my first, it was the 100th sale for the person I bought from. So she sent me goodies in addition to my order. I was super impressed with this since my order was not a high priced order. The fibre she sent me is beautiful.
I bought this in the colourway called Sunrise
Which I plan on blending with this 50/50 wool/silk (got it at Fibres West, more on that later...)
I also bought this beautiful Natural French Angora that was seriously discounted because of moulting/shearing issues, but it is still very beautiful and eminently suited for blending.
And because I was her 100th customer (which was SO cool because it was my 1st ever Etsy purchase) she gave me some wonderful bath salts and THIS
Good GOD look at the staple on this AMAZING Angora!! She doesn't share it with anyone, but because I was her 100th customer (or perhaps because of my incredible psychic persuasive abilities) she felt compelled to share it with me. Jordan you ROCK! Seriously, her stuff is lovely, check her out on Etsy under the seller name punkjordane and if you love angora you will love her stuff! She sells seeds too, but I can't buy those because she is in the States and terrorists grow out of seeds so they don't allow them to cross the border...

OK Next on the docket...FIBRES WEST!! I went there and I didn't want to come home. A whole weekend of fibrey knitty people hanging out together in perfect, blissful, crafting, harmony. I was there with my friends store Twist of Fate. We had TONNES of product, and we sold a lot. But most importantly I got to meet a whoel bunch of truly wonderufl people (or maybe I just assumed they were wonderful because of their spinny knitterliness) I saw so many amazing fibres and I wanted to buy them ALL. I did get a few nifty things, such as the aforementioned. Handmaiden 50/50 wool/silk. I also got this:
It is is hemp fibre that is fairly fine-a whole 227 grams of it! Half a pound of hippy goodness. I am going to use it for blending. Some is slated for sock yarn and the rest is going to sit in my stash being all potential and stuff.

Also bought 117 grams of merino/tencel from Knitopia, it is so beautiful and is this fantastic black/purple with white tencel. I am spinning it to a laceweight or slightly heavier and plan to knit a shawl with it. The weird thing is I HATE wearing shawls. I like the way they look on other people but you would have to hogtie me and then drape it over my struggling body to get me to wear one...and then I saw the merino/tencel...and I started imagining myself wearing really gothic lacey shawl looking all mysterious and stuff...so ashawlknitting I will go!

I bought this China Grass Ramie...I don't really know what it is...which I think may have been the deciding factor in my choice to purchase it...
I also knit this during the slow times at the festival-it's that sweater in ridiculously chunky wool for my stepdaughter-I think it may have taken all of 5 hours to knit.I started knitting thisIt's the Assymetrical Cardi. The yarn is lovely and from Custom Woolen Mills, I got the yarn from Twist of Fate.

My Aunt came to Fibres West and that was so cool!! She brought muffins, and I have to admit I was a little leery of them at first because she told me they had tofu in them...but I will eat anything so I gave them a whirl and they were SO good!! Yummy banana tofu muffins, which is perfect for me with my insanely high protein requirement (I think it's because I am an ogre). I MUST remember to ask for the recipe! I like it when healthy food tastes good. It makes me think "Thank God I can't eat well and not want to sand off my tastebuds."
I also saw 2 other people I that I know there which was neat because I thought I would not know anyone. Sharon from Armstong taught me Bobbin Lace and she is such a cool lady so it was nice to see her again. I also saw Cheryl from Saltspring. Every year I volunteer at the Fall Fair on Saltspring and Cheryl does the fleece judging. 2 years ago I was her Judging assistant and I learned at TONNE from her. It was really neat to see her there, she was there with Jane Stafford Textiles.

One last thing about Fibres West that I thought was SO cool: I was wandering around looking at booths and I got a compliment on my sweater from one lady in a spinning circle and one of the other ladies said "Is that the Wrenna?" I just about died. It was so cool that someone recognized it and asked about it by name!
I know the pic is terrible, but don't you think my shower curtain is cool?