The vacation at home is proving to be quite pleasant. Monday, being Memorial Day, included friends, Polynesian cocktails on the deck, grilled chicken and potato salad. Tuesday there was knitting and spinning and reading. Wednesday was all about shopping and a haircut. I managed to fit in some knitting and spinning, too. Today I’m hoping to dye some yarn. No doubt there will also be knitting and spinning. There was something else, too . . . thinking . . . remembering . . .

Oh yeah. We went to a Brockton Rox game. I drank beer, ate hot dogs, watched baseball, and knit. Good times.

On Sunday Dale and I went to a the annual Spring Planting Moon American Pow Wow at the Marshfield Fairgrounds. There was food to eat and crafts to buy but the highlight of a day like this is the dancing.

Dale and I were content to watch these men and women dance for the better part of the afternoon. If you get a chance to go to something like this, I really recommend it.

Okay, back to vacation.

You may have noticed that one of my vacation goals is to practice spindle spinning. I’ve actually been practicing with the spindle since I came home from New Hampshire Sheep & Wool.

Turns out, I don’t hate spinning on a spindle, I just wasn’t using the right spindle for me. See, I bought two spindles back in October 2005. One was a Bosworth and one was pretty. I can’t remember who made the pretty one but I liked the wood so I bought it. And I tried to learn spinning on the pretty spindle and I couldn’t do it. So I gave up spinning with the spindle. I never even tried the Bosworth. You know the rest of this story – the next day I went out and bought a wheel and I didn’t touch the spindles again.

And all this time I thought I couldn’t spin on a spindle. I felt kind of pathetic about that, frankly, and I came home from New Hampshire Sheep & Wool with a fresh spindling lesson from Marcy and a determination to really get some skills with the spindle. When I picked up those silk hankies I decided to give the Bosworth spindle a shot. And guess what? My spindling problems weren’t all about me they were also about the spindle I was using. That pretty spindle? It spins like crap. The Bosworth, though? Now that’s a spindle that you can learn to spin with. Can I get a woo? And also a hoo?

Of course, this story doesn’t end here. Once I discovered that I could spin on a spindle, well, I wanted more spindles. I went to that wool thing in Rhode Island and I bought a very nice and rather light weight spindle that was made by Cathy. Cindy actually helped me pick it out. The stone is Jasper and the shaft is maple. It’s very pretty and it spins pretty well.

Then I read a Kirsten’s blog post about her search for the perfect spindle. The next thing I knew I had emailed Steve and he had emailed me and we had decided on a design and wood to be used and lo and behold, I have another spindle.

Isn’t it gorgeous? Oh yeah, babe. Steve is fabulous to work with and really wants to have happy spinners spinning with his spindles. He had a couple of these square ones and I couldn’t decide which one I liked best so he custom made this one for me. The whorl is Birds Eye Maple and the shaft is Purpleheart and it spins and spins and spins. I think I’m in love.

Too bad I didn’t discover this love of spindles before I bought all those spinning wheels. I probably could have saved a lot money.

Or not.

I am on vacation this week. I’m not going anywhere and I have no special plans, just a week at home doing stuff.

Wanna see my list of vacation goals?

~weed garden
~plant annuals
~get haircut & color
~spin every day
~practice spindle spinning
~go to YMCA 3 times
~dye some yarn and/or roving
~fix the everyday cardigan
~knit a pair of bootees

I’m calling them goals because I don’t want doing these things to feel like doing work. Goals are something to strive for but they aren’t the same as writing a “to do” list. Right? I’ll keep you posted as to how I’m doing.

In the meantime, I took this picture last Thursday when I left work. The top is down on the Jeep. Summer has officially arrived. Squeee!

Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation’s gratitude, the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.
General John Logan, General Orders No.11, May 5, 1868

It’s as true today as it was 139 years ago. Let us not forget to honor our veterans.
Happy Memorial Day weekend.

~Kristi is editing the next edition of Yarnival. She’s looking for entries, particularly ones about fiber festivals, so go on and submit something for her to consider, won’t you?

~I spun a few more silk hankies and then wound the singles into a center pull ball and then plyed them on the Lendrum. Is it cheating to ply spindle spun singles on a wheel? It’s a very tiny skein but it’s my first ever silk and I’m damned proud of it.

~Have you contributed to Claudia’s Ride yet? There are some great yarn-y and fiber-y prizes to be had, not to mention the over all good feeling you get by supporting such a worthwhile cause. Go on, you know you’ve been meaning to get to it.

~Erin has two new colorways inspired by my Eye Candy Friday photos! One is Lilacs:

And the other is Daffodils:

I think they’re gorgeous and I’m thrilled to have provided Erin with the inspiration for these yarns. Are you going to buy some? Tell her Carole sent you and you’ll get a special discount.

~Remember the Mad Weave socks from Sock Madness that you all liked so much? The pattern is now available for free at Tina’s blog. Speaking of Sock Madness, I won’t be competing in Round Two. Instead, I’ll be co-hosting with Hillary. Squee!

~Speaking of worthwhile causes, I knit four squares for the Rebuilding Greensburg project. Lois knit a square, too, and the five of them are winging their way to Laura as we speak. Err, write. Err, read. Whatever, I’ve mailed them. There’s plenty of time for you to knit and mail a square, too. Just saying.

If you’ve been around the blog long enough you’ll remember that I went to Vermont in September 2005. While I was there I spent some time shopping with Norma and she helped me pick out yarn to make Kaleidoscope Yarn’s “Project Bag,” a rather large felted bag. The yarn had been marinating in the stash ever since but last month I pulled it out and wound it up and cast on. I finished knitting it last Friday and was anxious to felt it. But I also really wanted to take a photo that would show you just how ginormous this bag was pre-felting. Alas I was home alone and not really coming up with creative photography ideas.

I tried draping it on the back of our computer chair. But that doesn’t really convey the feeling I was hoping for. I tried a couple of other things like attempting to get the cat to get inside or bribing the dog sit on it but none of that worked. I finally settled on this:

Yup. I put the bag over my head and took a photo. The things I do for the blog, eh?

Once I pulled that sucker off my head, I threw it into the washing machine and set about the felting process. After a lot of hot water (sorry, Al Gore) and a bit of agitation and twenty minutes time, I had this:

Quite a drastic difference! It shrunk up nicely and the fibers felted together and made for a very strong bag. It took from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening to dry. Technically, it was done at that point but I decided I really wanted to line this bag so I went trolling through my fabric stash to see if I had anything that matched.

Look at that – I couldn’t have done better if I had purchased the fabric specifically for the project! And I’ve had that fabric even longer than I had the yarn – I’m pretty sure I bought it at Keepsake Quilting about 4 or 5 years ago.

Monday night I met up with Lois and she helped me make a lining.

We started by measuring the bag and then calculating how to cut the fabric for the lining. We cut a rectangle the size of the bottom of the bag plus 1/2 inch all the way around for the seams. Then we cut a long rectangle for the sides. We seamed the rectangle into a tube and then pinned the bottom onto that. We also made a pocket for my camera and put in a D-ring for my keys. We pinned the lining in place and then turned the bag inside out to sew the lining in place – by machine, thankyouverymuch. The felted fabric on this bag is so thick that the machine stitches don’t even show. Once the lining was sewn into place, we threaded the handles through the slots and tied them in a knot. It only took about an hour to make a really beautiful lining for this felted bag.

It’s quite large and can hold both current knitting projects along with a spindle.

And I absolutely love it! Thanks to Norma – for the inspiration. And thanks to Lois – for the finishing details. I now have a great new knitting bag

I have two new projects on the needles:

Garter Rib Socks. The yarn is Claudia’s Handpaint in the color “boot camp.” These are a gift and I can say no more than that.

La Dentelle Belle Scarf from Knituition. I’m using the Brooks Farm 2 Ply Kid Mohair that I bought at Rhinebeck. I haven’t gotten very far but I’m loving it.

Since neither of those things are very entertaining, I’ll leave you with something that I find highly entertaining.

Ambrynn, Grandpa aka Dale, and Daddy aka Brant. When Ambrynn says “dance” . . . you’d better dance!

On Saturday, Blogless Sharon and Martha and I headed to Coggeshall Farm in Bristol, RI for their first ever Wool Fair. It was a gray and drizzly day but our moods were bright and sunny — we were off in search of fiber and we were together – that’s what really makes days like this worth while.

The event was quite small but I think it has marvelous potential. We saw Lisa and Cindy and Donna was there as a vendor. My purchases were meager but I did manage to find a spindle, some cheery lime green roving, and a “rambo” bump. Good stuff, truly.

After the festival we headed into Bristol center for lunch. We found a nice pub and had burgers and beer and then wandered around Bristol for a bit. It was relaxing and fun to explore some place new to all of us. But then we went somewhere that wasn’t new to me, only new to Sharon and Martha. Those of you familiar with the area will be able to guess where we went – Sakonnet Purls.

Sakonnet Purls is a wonderful yarn shop in charming Tiverton, RI. And it’s huge, as yarn shops go. It’s not huge like WEBS but it’s pretty darn big. They’ve got lots and lots of Rowan, including a whole wall of kidsilk crack – and there’s Noro and Malabrigo and Claudia’s Handpaint and and and. It’s a bit overwhelming, just ask Martha. There’s also a “sale shed” full of yarn, all for $4/ball. I actually pulled out the camera while we were in there.

Only a sale on Debbie Bliss can cause smiles like those.

We had spied a coffee shop on our way to the yarn store so after we left we headed there for lattes and a bit of knitting. It was the perfect way to end our day, I’ll tell you. Chatting, sipping coffee and knitting with friends, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

I’ll have you know, I’m terribly allergic to lilacs. And yet I still stuck my face in the lilac bush the other day and took a whole bunch of photos. This is my favorite. In fact, I love it so much it has replaced Margene’s mountains as my new desktop background.