CT Sheep and Wool

This past Saturday was the 103 annual Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival.  It’s a small, one day festival.  I didn’t discover it until about 5 years ago, but have gone every year since.

This year it seemed a bit sparse, in vendors and in people…but still offered up some goodies..

The Happily Hooked on Crochet group got moved to the shearing barn this year.  It was cold in there..and I didn’t see the gaggle of spinners that are usually in that barn….

Uncooperative alpacas, Carly (the black) and Tallulah (about 7 months)

Bobbin lace, beautiful, but way too fiddly for me…

Broom making.  I bought one of his smaller whisk type brooms..

And the Button Lady was there again…

And the musicians…

A fun day…and yes I bought yarn…I’ll show it off tomorrow….

Day 7–3KCBWDAY7

Day 7 - Crafting Balance

Are you a knitter or a crocheter, or are you a bit of both? If you are monogamous in your yarn-based crafting, is it because you do not enjoy the other craft or have you simply never given yourself the push to learn it? Is it because the items that you best enjoy crafting are more suited to the needles or the hook? Do you plan on ever trying to take up and fully learn the other craft? If you are equally comfortable knitting as you are crocheting, how do you balance both crafts? Do you always have projects of each on the go, or do you go through periods of favouring one over the other? How did you come to learn and love your craft(s)?

I consider myself a crocheter.  I still believe I am a beginning knitter….I know some things, but am still learning.

As I posted earlier, I really never felt the need to learn to knit, since I made so many things through crochet.  But the socks got me…sure I can crochet socks, but the knit ones are so much more beautiful….

A couple weeks ago, I was only working on knit projects, but I feel guilty when I do that….

I think crochet is like the ugly step-child of the needlearts world….it’s easily forgotten…and not given a lot of respect as a beautiful and useful craft, because of it’s sometimes “ugly” past…..

I’ve gone into LYS, which have the bare minimum of crochet supplies, but are chock full of knitting supplies…and many LYS owners don’t know how to crochet…

I was reading a flyer yesterday for a needlearts day at a local historical house…the only craft left off the flyer was crochet….

And I feel many people learn to knit and leave crochet behind…I don’t want to be one of those people….I will always be loyal to my crochet hook…

And lets not get started with needlefelting and cross-stitch…yeah I have those supplies too, but have yet to venture into that realm…..

Day 6–3KCBWDAY6

Day 6 - Improving Your Skillset

How far down the road to learning your craft do you believe yourself to be? Are you comfortable with what you know or are you always striving to learn new skills and add to your knowledge base? Take a look at a few knitting or crochet books and have a look at some of the skills mentioned in the patterns. Can you start your amigurumi pieces with a magic circle, have you ever tried double knitting, how's your intarsia? If you are feeling brave, make a list of some of the skills which you have not yet tried but would like to have a go at, and perhaps even set yourself a deadline of when you'd like to have tried them by.

Knitting – I am a new knitter…so I have much to learn.  Like cast-ons, I only know the long tail method.  So there is a lot for me to  learn.

Crochet – Well there are some methods I have not tried yet.  I learned the basic Tunisian stitch this past year and would like to learn more of this, as it produces a neat fabric.

I’m also interested in learning Crocodile Stitch – How neat looking is that?

And Hairpin Lace, it produces some really pretty projects.

Today was the first topic I did not pre-prepare….and I am now off to the Connecticut Sheep and Wool.  A small one day festival…..but I will come home with yarn!

I am looking to improve my knitting skill set (and it is for a good cause) by joining the Wholehearted KAL and will be looking for yarn for that.

If you’d like to read more, please plug 3KCBWDAY6 into your search engine…Have a lovely day!

Day 5 – 3KCBWDAY5

Day 5 - Something A Bit Different

It's back, and this time it has the most amazing of prizes (look for the prize for 'most creative post'). This was a massive success last year, and for many it was the highlight of the Blog Week, so this year you are challenged, again, to find a new way of blogging.

I am no artist (and actually one of the art teachers told me that the paper I bought was hard to draw on, as it is watercolor paper..oh well…) but I decided to illustrate a “mini-book.”

(Scanner was not working, so I had to make do)

Day 4–3KCBWDAY4

Day 4 - A Knitter or Crocheter For All Seasons?

As spring is in the air in the northern hemisphere and those in the southern hemisphere start setting their sights for the arrival of winter, a lot of crocheters and knitters find that their crafting changes along with their wardrobe. Have a look through your finished projects and explain the seasonality of your craft to your readers. Do you make warm woollens the whole year through in preparation for the colder months, or do you live somewhere that never feels the chill and so invest your time in beautiful homewares and delicate lace items. How does your local seasonal weather affect your craft?

Well first off, I don’t really make things for the home.  Sure I see the garlands and the pillows and think they are adorable, just doesn’t work for me.  I’ve made a couple dishcloths and a couple afghans, that’s about it.

So what do I make?  I make a lot of accessories.  Scarves, fingerless gloves, hats….hats are my favorite thing to make and wear and I wear hats all the time…check out some of these:

San Diego in July

Last summer (and first hat I ever crocheted)

My bestest friend, she’s in the top picture too and took the second picture…

Last Fall at Rhinebeck with a new friend.

At one of the many sheep and wool festivals I’ve been to…

Last week…

Current favorite (see there’s that green thing again)

Newest hat…

So I will make a hat and wear a hat any time of the year.

Now the other thing that I make in warm weather are amiguramis….oh I love making these!

Husky bear made for Dad in Corpus Christi.

Owl made for a swap with SuddenExpression (she may now need the baby owl to go along with it)

For a friend’s baby

For the fun of it

Dora the doorstop, for my classroom door

Moss, for a friend

And Wil-key with a stylin’ hat!

You get the idea?

Do you want to see more, type in 3NCBWDAY4…..

DAY 3 – 3KCBWDAY3

 

Day 3 - Your Knitting Or Crochet Hero
Blog about someone in the fiber crafts who truly inspires you. There are not too many guidelines for this, it's really about introducing your readers to someone who they might not know who is an inspiration to you. It might be a family member or friend, a specific designer or writer, indie dyer or another blogger. If you are writing about a knitting designer and you have knitted some of their designs, don't forget to show them off. Remember to get permission from the owner if you wish to use another person's pictures.
Last year I blogged about Kathy Merrick.  I love her designs and her use of color.  Her Chain Lace Big Fat Scarf is probably the favorite thing I’ve made this past year. I’ve very excited she has the cover of the upcoming Vogue Crochet
 
Last year, at this time, I was not knitting.  I figured I could make whatever I wanted with crochet and I was happy with it.

Then I started noticing knitted socks and I fell in love and so I embarked on the knitting adventure, specifically for socks.

The one name I heard over and over was Cookie A.  Then I bought her book (no I could not yet knit) Sock Innovation and that was it.

I have now three complete pairs of socks, none are Cookie A patterns.  I am working on my first Cookie A pattern right now – Kai-Mei.  It will also be my first bit of lace and my first foray into knit chart reading, but it is a small chart.

And referring back to Monday’s topic of color, it was the color that attracted me first to these socks and I actually went and bought the same yarn – Dreams in Color in Happy Forest.
I also joined her sock club this year.  So I guess you could say that Cookie A was a major inspiration in my choosing to learn to knit.

And I’ve bought a lot more books and patterns





Please type in 3KCBWDAY3 for more inspiration…..

Day 2–3KCBWDAY2

Day 2 - Photography Challenge Day!
Today challenges you to be creative with your photography, and get yourself in with the chance to win the photography prize. Taking interesting photographs in this instance isn't about flashy cameras or a great deal of technical know-how, it's about setting up a story or scene in a photograph and capturing something imaginative. Your photograph(s) should feature something related to your craft, so that might be either a knitted or crocheted item, yarn, or one of your craft tools. One example of setting a scene would be to photograph a girl in a knitted red cape walking through the woodlands with a basket of goodies, as in the Red Riding Hood tale, or you might photograph a knitted gnome hiding among the flowers in your garden. Photo editing is permitted for competition photos.




“Hey lady! Where’s my cookies?!”
If you’d like to see more picture challenges, just type in 3KCBWDAY2 in a search engine. If you'd like to nominate my pictures, please go here