Abandonitis bestows freedom for startitis.
I started Pamuya. Adirondack Sireno (merino 50%/silk 50%) colorway Nantucket Blue concluded with color runs too short. The pattern looked confused rather than swooping, and I had not even passed the stockinette phase. Frogpond.
I went to the stash. Who has over 600 yards of fingering weight yarn? Not me, apparently. Lots of laceweight. Lots of 350-450 yard skeins of 'sock' yarn. Then I remembered recent yarn I had not yet entered into the stash database. (There is lots of THAT hanging around in my wool house.) My second trial (Plucky Knitter Primo fingering, an MCN variant, Nordic colorway) is perfect. I am trusting that it will soften on washing. The tight twist makes for a less sybaritic knitting experience.
Mr. Etherknitter's family plans a Grand Tour for us. They needed to see that he was intact and chipper after surgical insult.
La de da de da, says the Etherknitter. How about if we go to this thing called the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair? Do you think the niece and the nephew might like seeing knitting and spinning stuff? Maybe there will be animals....
We pile into two cars, and head to Grayslake, IL on a Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful. Everyone got something different from it. The usual suspects were in attendance. The MIL found a new venue, and she didn't have to plan it or make reservations. The FIL loved seeing everyone have fun. Mr. Etherknitter bought me a new swift. (Handmade, the wood was something you just don't leave behind, he argued.) KnittingNotions sells them in cherry, walnut, and oak.
I found a new-to-me vendor who has batts in colorways that leave one fanning oneself in a swoon. Opulent Fibers will have the website up soon.
The niece was mesmerized by weaving. A demonstration at the front of the building had a Kessenich table loom on a stand, and a Schacht floor loom. Niecelet tried the floor loom, then could not be pried away. She counted the pattern, stayed true, could barely reach the pedals, and brought home a small weavet-style contraption. The girl was nothing short of amazing. She is eight years old.
Lynn is teaching me to warp next weekend. She keeps making muttering noises about aweaverating. We'll see.
Ravinia, 6/25/11, Prairie Home Companion set, Garrison Keillor
