I Fell Off the Sheep, and It Was Totally Worth It

Yesterday, I boarded a bus and headed out with about two dozen other fiber enthusiasts and crafters to the Hallockville Farm and Museum, where the fourth annual Long Island Fleece and Fiber Fair was held.

This was the first year that the fair organized a bus, and I was very proud to be a part of that and help out with being the bus hostess on the NYC end of things. Traffic was light, the ride smooth and before I knew it, myself, Dana and the rest of us arrived at the fair.

We were greeted by the staff and directors of Hallockville and were treated to our goodie bags with magazines and discount coupons inside. The bag was really useful because today was the day that I told myself, "If I find something I love, I will fall off the (cold) sheep." This was going to be my only fiber festival for the year (unless I go to the one in New Jersey in September) so I was going to make the most of it.

Believe it or not, I thought that I did make the most of it, but in fact I still missed out on certain tours and events! While the fair is small, it makes up for its size by the variety of vendors and the availability of activities. The one activity I regret missing out on is the "Fiber Tour" of the farm where you go behind the scenes and see how textiles were made on the farm.

First was the shopping. I was really ready to go all out, but in fact I didn't get too much. Granted, "not too much" is a relative phrase  - what is "not too much" for me may be minuscule for someone else (which has happened before). Dana and I walked into the barn and I immediately fell in love with roving and yarn from Hampton Artistic Yarns. Not only did I walk out with some roving, but later when Dana showed me the yarn she got from them, I immediately backtracked and got the same skein (see the goodies later on in the post).

Roving artfully displayed at the Hampton Artistic Yarns booth.
I purchased that neutral/pink braid in the middle, but the turquoise/purple on the
right also caught my eye the minute I walked in the barn. 

Inside the barn. 

Long Island Livestock fingering weight yarn - love, love love. 

Vending area. Tiny, but mighty. 

At the Bay Haven Short Tails booth.
This needs to be recreated in a yarn shop. I love this concept. 

In between shopping and events, I got a chance to meet Trisha Malcolm, the editor of Vogue Knitting, who was a premier sponsor for the event and provided the sweet goodie bags. She is such a nice person to speak with and I had a great time hanging out with her and her team at the Vogue Knitting booth to catch a bit of a break. There was alot of walking back and forth between the vendors and the activity areas!

One of the activities that we wanted to see was sheep shearing. This was demonstrated by Tabbethia of Long Island Livestock Co.

"I don't care if it's hot, I do NOT want a haircut!"

"Fine, I'll just lay here and make life difficult for you. NOT MOVING."

"DISAGREE (1)."

"This is so undignified."

"I get that I'm done, but I'm still not making life any easier."

That's alot of fleece. Still, not tempted to get my own (yet). 

In addition to the llama obstacle course, there were blacksmith demonstrations, where we saw how a horseshoe was made.

This was a very stubborn llama. 

Pounding away, tapping the anvil in between hits to keep the rhythm going. 

Half-finished horseshoe. 

One of the highlights of the festival were the animals. Especially the bunnies!

This little guy was three weeks old. 

Three month old charmer. 

"It's so fluffy I could die!"

Big guy. Very sweet. 

So soft. 

This mini Rex was the star of the rabbits - so velvety smooth and soft!

Adorable "teddy bear" sheep.

Mom and her twins. 

Everyone loves getting scritches. 

Cuties.

"Yeah, I know I look good."

This guy was for sale. Too bad my parents' backyard isn't big enough. 

I loved coming out for the LIF&FF; many of the bus riders and I commented on how this was a low-key event, but allowed us to take our time and really enjoy what a fiber festival has to offer besides the shopping. At Rhinebeck and MS&W, there is always a sense of the mad dash and urgency to get that skein of yarn before its gone; add the crowds and the sheer size of the events, and you are not able to get to see things like sheep shearing and herding demonstrations  unless one makes a real concerted effort to do so. Granted, this is based on my own experience; even though I know what I would like to get at these events, there is still that sense of "Go Go Go".

Here, it was a different kind of fiber festival experience, and I felt that it was very well rounded - do a bit of shopping, tour a bit and see some demonstrations and have fun without all of the stress. The bus left at 4:30, but we had more than enough time to shop, explore, do things and hang out in between.

This is now a must-go to event in my knitting calendar, and I want to thank Beth and everyone at Hallockville Farm and Tabbethia of Long Island Livestock for organizing the event and the bus, and asking me to be a part of it! Without them, I definitely would not have been able to make it out for the day. Also, special thanks to Vogue Knitting for the goodie bags.

If you didn't make it to LIF&FF this year, I do have some good news: there will be a NYC bus again for next year! It's definitely worth it to come out for the day. Tomorrow, I'll be posting the goodies that I purchased, since I am now back on the sheep again.

Memories on a Fridge

My knitting group on Ravelry is running a summer swap, and one of the survey questions was: "Is there anything that you collect?"

I refuse acknowledge that I collect yarn and fiber. To me, collecting means to gather things to display and is there for visual consumption only. I use my yarn, and I use my fiber. I just haven't had the chance to do it yet.

That being said, there are a few things that I do collect. One is Christmas ornaments (or something along those lines) from the places that The Aussie and I have traveled to.

The other, which is easily accesible, definitely portable, great for swap purposed and seen all year round are magnets. More specifically, magnets from places either The Aussie and I have been to, or family and friends have been to (and we will get to, one day).

This is the current state of the freezer door:

 From left to right: Boston, South of the Border, Ireland, Philadelphia, Kastoria (Greece), Rome,  Philippines, Acropolis, Harry Potter World, Sheep/Llama/Angora Bunny, Portland. Next row: Disney, Florence, Australia, Savannah, Japan, American Museum of Natural History, British Museum, Fordham University, Tampa MoSci, Canada. Starting with the Pelican: Tarpon Springs, Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Opera House, Florence, Unicorn for my Rav Knitting Group, Augusta, Eastern State Penitentiary, Canada, Chicago, Israel. Below: South Carolina, Mykonos, Venice, Acropolis (again, that was a gift), Crete, Monemvasia (monastery in Greece), Villa Roma (end of year school Field Day), Biltmore Estate, Vermont. Finally: Ninety-Six Historial Site with Atlanta represented by Gone with the Wind magnet, Naples, Paros (island in Greece), Turks and Caicos, Las Vegas, Word (where No Sheep till Brooklyn meets) and "i knit so i don't kill people." 

What I really like about collecting these magnets is that most of them tell a story: the Puerto Rico magnet is from Little Sister, who went there and got a custom made one that says "Casa Last Name." It was actually broken in half, but we fixed it. Eastern State Penitentiary was a trip I made with my knitting group - we went to the haunted house and I got so scared I screamed in Sarah's ear.

Las Vegas was The Aussie and mine's first major trip together, and except for the two Florence magnets (which are of The David and The Birth of Venus close up in ceramic), the Italy ones my sister got as well even though we went to Italy on our honeymoon.

Bit of a close-up. I actually get very sad when they break because they really are irreplaceable, unless we go there again. I just noticed this morning that the Philippines one (brown at the top above the Fordham magnet) was broken. We have to wait until we go back again to see The Aussie's family to get a new one. 

Some of them hold little surprises.

If you look closely, the guy sleeping in the South of the Border magnet actually sticks out a bit. He is on a spring and it's always fun to flick it. That magnet reminds me of many drives down with my family to Florida. The little black sheep, which is from Dublin Airport en route to Italy for our honeymoon, has a little shamrock. He is one of my favorites. 

 Some of the favorites are invariably grouped together.

I love them all, but I have a special place for The Olde Pink House (Savannah),  19th century Painting of Tokyo and Mount Fuji (Japan), American Museum of Natural History/Metropolitan Opera House (NYC), and The Birth of Venus (Florence) for the design and events associated with those places. 

Sometimes, its alot of work to go through all the pictures, sort and edit them, and print them out to put in photo albums (and alot of money - I am only able to do them now because I have a coupon code), so the magnets serve as a permanent placeholder for those memories.

Busy Bee

There are I think a few kinds of busy - the busy that you create doing the things that you love, and the busy that is obligatory due to commitments that you must make, or because of school and work. Lately, it has been the latter category, and I cannot wait till June 26, which means the end of work for the school year and the start of the former.

Things are picking up in my little corner of the world - over the next two weeks I have 5 projects due for my last two graduate classes. I recorded an episode last Sunday, but I have not been able to edit it the way I really wanted, so there it sits on my hard drive waiting to be finished because it's been very busy here.

I hope to get it up this weekend; in the meantime, I think I have to take a mini hiatus from the podcast for a wee bit. Graduation is May 29, but after that I have two certification exams I need to study for that I am taking on June 8.

So that means I will be back with a new episode on June 9, and I know it will already be chock full of great things to talk about. In the meantime, I will be spending my weekends at my local Starbucks, drinking copious amounts of coffee and sneaking onto Pinterest for blog post inspiration in between writing lesson plans and papers.

Today's view. If only there was yarn in the vicinity. 

A Little Bit of Maneuvering

After switching from the desk to the floor, and doing a little bit of twister with my rotary cutter...

 I think I got the hang of cutting even half triangle squares. Almost done!

Sew Frustrating, But Sew Pretty

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I bit the bullet and bought a sewing machine. 

Since then, I have been updating my Feedly with sewing/craft blogs and added a Sewing board to my Pinterest profile. 

Apparently, quilting is quite a adventurous start for a beginner sewist, according to some friends of mine. However, I have made a zippered pouch before, back when I took a Beginner's Basics class over at The Sewing Studio. I have a decent sense of what I am doing, although at some times, I am flying sewing by the seat of my pants.

I am currently looking into The Sewing Studio's Introductory Sewing Class Bootcamp, since I am not going to Rhinebeck. My yarn budget has now become my sewing budget/craft budget, since I have enough yarn stash to get me through the next two years, unless it's for sweaters. I am still doing the cold sheep thing, and now I need (read: "need") to buy sewing supplies. 

There are so many options, especially since I discovered Pins and Needles, and I know Purl SoHo has classes. I need to do the math to figure out what is best for me, budget wise. 

In the meantime, I am plowing along on my own with a "I have NO idea what I am doing, but I am going to do it anyway" kind of attitude. I mean, the quilted star piece I picked out seemed pretty simple - cut straight lines, sew straight lines, iron in between. Right? 

It isn't perfectly centered and Pinterest-worthy, but it's a start. 

Let's just say so far, I have sliced open my finger with the rotary cutter, learned that the rotary cutter is not lefty friendly (and thus, need to figure out to to fudge it), it is really hard to sew and cut straight lines, and that the seam ripper is your bosom buddy. 

You really don't want to know how many times I had to really rip back because I got my triangles upside down. Taking a photo of what you piece together before you take it apart to actually sew the pieces together was a really good move. 

Swear words were involved. Much like in knitting, but it's easier to tink back in knitting. Sewing is so much more permanent; this  is why I am half "AHHHH!!! WHAT AM I DOING!!!" and half "I think I can do this.

I like it. And that's all that matters. 

But I still plow along, because I want to get better at this. And it's just really pretty.

Hello, April

I really like doing these monthly posts; they give me a chance to prepare and set goals for the next month, while looking back and reflecting on the previous month.

Last month was good and bad in terms of one of my 29 Before 29 goals; good because I lost 7 pounds, but bad because I quickly gained it back. I really want to try and maintain the good habits I started this month with the Biggest a loser challenge, and give myself incentives.

For example, I learned this tip from a coworker: give yourself one "cheat" day and if there is anything during the week that you really wanted, save it for then. I'll see if that works. If I go back to my previous weight before Spring Break, I will get the Japanese cotton fabric to make the Lap Duvet from Pearl SoHo.

I need to get back to the gym, and this is the time when things are really starting to amp up in terms of grad school. I have about 1.5 months left and 2 certification exams to take. One of them is very difficult, and I need to set up a schedule for studying. I'm taking both in one day. I must be crazy.

There are lots of personal and professional challenges this month, and I really hope to accomplish them by taking it day by day and planning for a little at a time. I like making lists, so once I sit down and do it, it will be nice to see something on paper.

How do you set and accomplish goals?

Getting in Vogue with the Long Island Fleece and Fiber Fair

In previous episodes, I made the announcement that I am co-sponsoring a bus to get local knitters out to the Long Island Fleece and Fiber Festival.

I am very excited given that I am not going to MS&W since its the final few weeks of grad school and I need those weekends to do projects.

I also found out that I will not be going Rhinebeck this year. One of The Aussie's cousins is getting married and according to the Save the Date, the wedding is October 19. That is Rhinebeck. In a fit of silliness, I used my "i knit so i do not kill people" to hang the Save the Date on the fridge.

I felt it was appropriate.

This means that I am going to relish my time at LIF&FF even more and definitely going to buy a sweater's worth of yarn there In addition, I would have been cold sheeping for about 4.5 months by then too.

To get to the point, I have some more information about the bus and the fair itself: Vogue Knitting is a premier sponsor of the bus, and will be there at the fair!

In addition, Vogue Knitting is providing 5 free passes to lectures at the 2014 Vogue Knitting LIVE! in NYC as part of a raffle for passengers on the bus. Readers of the blog have read my post about VKL, and the lectures are a great alternative to a class depending on your budget.

Hope to see you on the bus!

A Journey Through A Sweater

If there was ever a sweater than I can say I put, blood, sweat and tears into, it was definitely the Larch Cardigan. 

There were literally tears in this sweater. I started it last year when I was at my lowest point during my first year of teaching and I was crying almost every day. Knitting was definitely my therapy. I needed an escape and the Larch provided that escape.

However, the Larch also proved to be a mountain to climb. First it was the crazy amounts of stockinette. Then, it was the fear of setting in sleeves, plus the worry that it wouldn't fit me after all those hours of work. I didn't touch it for months.

And then let's not forget the twisted rib. I love the effect but I never want to work twisted rib for a very long time.

But I did pick it up again, and I wanted to finish it. So when I finally sewed on the glass buttons from Moving Mud I purchased over a year ago (which will probably never get loops at this point because I do like the open look of it), I realized that I also gained confidence.

Confidence in myself as a knitter (I can knit a sweater in pieces and put in those set in sleeves, what what) and as a teacher. I showed my knitting club students the sweater back when it was the VKL sweater (before it was the Rhinebeck sweater) and they  have been asking me if I have finished the sweater yet. On Monday, I can proudly show it to them.

This was once my Rhibeneck sweater, then the VKL sweater, then the Spring Break sweater. But at the end of the day, it is my Journey Sweater.

Getting Over My Misgivings

While The Aussie and I were in South Carolina over Spring Break, his mom informed us that we would be getting family portraits done.

I have to be honest here - I inwardly cringed. And outwardly expressed my misgivings to The Aussie.

Barring school photos, senior pictures and my wedding photos (which sadly, were a disaster) I have never sat for family portraits. You know, the type done in a studio with a backdrop that is in a mall.

I am not that big on having my photo taken because I feel really awkward. I mean I don't mind when its at birthdays, major get togethers and the holidays but while I desperately wanted something a la engagement photos that you see all the time on Pinterest (The Aussie and I never had a chance to get them done), I was afraid they would end up ridiculous.

The photo shoot was fun, if a bit awkward. I talked with the photographer and when she mentioned that she was on Pinterest all the time, I felt a bit better - you try pretending to be lovey dovey in front of your inlaws. We were on the grounds of a historic house in Abbeville and while I still felt a bit silly trying to be all candid, there were some that turned out nice.

I have to admit, I feel really bad for Adele. She had to get shaved because she had so many knots, and isn't her usual fluffy self. Maybe that's why she looked all growly in the last photo.

I think these will be the three that we print out and frame. I told The Aussie we will print out one whole family one (which for privacy purposes, I didn't put here) to replace the only family portrait which was done in the early 1990s, way before we met. Time for an update.

Summer of Craft

Due to several unforseen circumstances that come with being a pet parent, The Aussie and I will not be making any overseas trip this summer, unless its a last minute deal.

That means, barring a possible trip to Florida to see my Yiayia (and her 1947 Singer), and possibly the in-laws again, that means I am going to be NYC Bound.

For the first time since high school, I have a whole two months off to do ANYTHING. Last summer didn't count because I was in grad school full time.

Think of the possibilities! I don't just want to stay home, so this is also a chance to be a tourist in my own city. This is what I am already thinking of:

1) Create my online Japanese-knitting class and go through at least 2 rounds of it
2) Sew. Don't know what exactly, but I am definitely thinking one full sized quilt and a garment. Get together with 2 of my friends who sew as well and do mini sewing bees/parties.
3) Knit. Host a few knitting parties.
4) Explore the city more and get out.
5) Spin at least 1 pound of fiber.
6) Gym.
7) Yoga.
8) Reorganize my Pinterest boards.
9) Cook.

Essentially, I am making up my own DIY Summer Craft Camp, with a bit of sightseeing on the side.

This is where you come in: do you have any suggestions for what someone could do during a summer of craft? I am creating a hashtag on twitter to join the discussion: #summerofcraft.

What are your crafty plans for the summer? If you were to visit NYC, what would you want to do? Share your ideas in the comments below!