Catching up.......

Tuesday May 8, 2007

Now where was I?

Oh yes, madly sewing curtain panels for the trade show! I lost a week plus some on that one, and added 5 throw pillows in for good measure! Still, it was all worth it. The tradeshow black and white themed display was awesome, and when I dropped in for a look-see myself, foot traffic was light but steady and money was being exchanged, and the proprietress herself was very happy with the results.

The sewing gave me a badly needed sense of completion and satisfaction, as my knitting world is very off kilter lately. I’ve somehow managed to have 8 projects on the needles at this very moment – eight! My limit is supposed to be four! How did this happen? The problem is that I am working at a slightly new level for me, working on actual garments, mostly vests and sleeveless tunics (I know, easy breezy for you all, but we all have to start somewhere!). As a result, nearing the completion of each garment, I have hit the finicky parts, necklines, armholes, decreases with the dreaded instructions “and at the same time”! AHHHHHH!!! I am a ‘one instruction at a time’ person, and not having much luck moving up to the “and at the same time” knitters level. It a tough transition since it is all about tracking the counting. Tedious stuff, and it requires me to focus in total peace and quiet. So the next few weeks I’ll be attempting to create some pockets of ‘me and only me’ time, so I can get back on track and get my project count under control!

To further add to my sense of Get. It. Done. urgency, despite my best intentions, I lost all self-control (but not quite my self respect!) at the Alpaca Llama farm shop this past weekend, and added two new projects to my ever expanding list! The day was bright and sunny, perfect for hanging out at the farm, the OKG members represented, and Sheryl and Richard gave us a great tour their wonderful farm www.hiddenpastureranch.com . With Llamas and Alpacas with names like J-Lo and Phat Lily, how could we not have a great time?

They have even started milling their own fibre, and the machinery was as fascinating to me as the animals themselves! The milling machinery is quite old, something they choose on purpose, as Richard is very mechanical, and they wanted to avoid the dreaded “ the computer broke down - call the technician” scenario! The big machines were very cool, but the one I liked best is something I have seen before, and coveted just because it is efficient, small and truly representative of home based textile industry in its infancy, but a major influence in the industrializing the sock industry: a hand crank sock machine! Richard and I had a long talk about these dear little machines, he enjoys them even more than I do! I so dearly want one, why is hard to say, and at nearly $1000.00 for refurbished one (they are no longer made), purchasing one is completely out of the question. Especially since yesterday I came home to find the G-man distraught over a wooden window that had un-expectedly rotted away, and he’s going to have to spend money! Still, a girl can dream can’t she? And you better believe I’ll be watching the estate sales for one, working or not, now that I know where I can have it refurbished!

At the end of the tour, Sheryl opened her decadent yarn shop to us, despite her Winter Hours Only policy, and we proceeded to all but clean her out! She’ll have some serious milling to do this summer to fill those shelves again! Girl 2, who came with me, reminded me of a long forgotten promise to make her a winter set in ever so soft Alpaca, and so 4 skeins of premium Canadian Alpaca were duly purchased. And how could I not bring home the Mostly Mohair spun from Sheryl’s Angora goats (now in new homes to make way for the milling operations). The mohair called me to the back corner of the shop, its stormy soft grey, with whispers of charcoal, blue and green, like the sky just before a real beauty of a storm. I think it will be enough for a winter set for myself. And how could I leave behind the charming round pewter shawl pin I spotted high up on the display that I have been hunting for more than a year! So with lightened wallets, but totally sated by yarn, we finally left for a late long leisurely lunch at the Red Dot Café.

It was a perfectly farm fresh yarny day!