This and that

Once again, we attended the Johnny Appleseed Festival this past weekend. Ordinarily, we go on Sunday morning, before the multitudes awaken. This year we went on Saturday morning, and we were not the only ones to think this was a perfect day for being out and about. As we wandered about in a crowd-induced daze, we watched for yarn. We found it in the last area we visited, which ironically was right next to the entrance. Some wildly colored pottery had distracted me and we walked right past the alpacas. Even though I have yet to use what I purchased last year, I bought a package of fingering weight alpaca (a suri alpaca yarn from Zathura and a suri/huacahya alpaca blend from Raval and Tess, who all live at Turkey Creek Farm), 1500 yards, enough for something.

Revisiting Tencel: The cotton-Tencel blend I used for the Clapotis sheds, but it should be noted that the wool-Tencel blend I purchased from Green Mountain Spinnery does not. I knit some socks with this a while back, and there is no shedding or pilling. This particular yarn, Sock Art Forest, apparently has been discontinued, but GMS now offers a DK weight blend called Sylvan Spirit (reviewed here by Clara Parkes - more colors are now available). I guess what I am trying to say is, if you want to try a Tencel-based yarn, buy a skein and knit it up and see how it behaves for you. Tencel gives yarn a sheen that turns color into eye candy, which makes hunting for a suitable Tencel-based yarn worth the effort.

While looking for the information on my blog about the above yarn and socks, I came across some empty promises I made myself about a year ago. There was a list of UFOs that begged to be finished, and some were, but many were not. There was also a sincere intention to spindle on a regular basis, but that did not happen, either. Unlike some people we know, I am not very good at enforcing self-imposed goals or rules AND I have a full time job. Besides, there is an impending grandbaby to knit for!