Shouting from the Rooftops

I feel like the running joke throughout my blog for the past several months has been how I need to finish the darling husband's sweater. You know, the one I promised him as a wedding gift, knit once, hated and frogged, and has since been languishing in the corner pleading to be worked on. Yeah, that one.

Well, I am proud to say that it is finished. And it is awesome!

I still need to weave all of the ends in, as well as block it, so full pictures and description are forthcoming. In the meantime, I just had to share my success!

A New Toy

As if knitting, spinning, and crocheting aren't enough, I have taken up a new hobby; weaving. My mother is the weaver in the family, with enough looms, yarn, and other equipment to fill up an entire room. But I'm getting started on a little smaller of a scale:


This is the little Arbor loom my Mom got me for my birthday this year. Due to its size and simplicity, it only does one thing well: it makes 4x4" squares. So far I've made a small handtowel and bag, but with a little imagination, you can do a lot with 4" squares.


And another reason I like this little loom, is that I can create fabric quickly. It takes just under 30 minutes to make a square, and in the 2 weeks since receiving this loom, I've made about 20 squares.



I don't think that it will replace knitting, but it's fun to have a new toy in the meantime!

Wisconsin Sheep & Wool

I went to my very first sheep & wool festival this weekend, over in Jefferson, WI. My mother put me on to this festival last year, but I did not have anyone to go with. This year, however, I teamed up with my friend Mary Beth, who works in my department. This is her below, deciding what her roommate would say if she brought home a sheep.


It was a fun day for the both of us. We walked around the 2 vendor barns, pet an angora rabbit, helped corral some sheep (seriously), drank root beer floats, and watched a trainer teach a dog/owner to herd sheep. Besides the ice cream, I purchased some gorgeous white alpaca roving to spin and some lovely Olive green sock yarn from Knitting Notions. Mary Beth successfully kept me from purchasing a darning egg and a set of Signature needles. Yet another reason to go with a friend to the sheep & wool festival.


After the festival had ended for the day, we met up with some fellow knitters from Ravelry. It was nice to put some faces with user names and even the knitters I have never met felt like old friends. And I won a skein of hand-dyed yarn as a door prize!


So, it was a very successful day and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year. In the meantime, I have plenty of yarn to play with at home (or so my husband keeps reminding me).