At the fair

Saturday was the first ever Fiber Fling at the Allen County Fair. When I organize these knit-weave-spin-tat-whatever events in public, I worry that those who sign up won't show up (half of them did) and/or that no one will come see what we are doing (it was hot, the building we were in was air conditioned, so a good number of families came through). We all had a good time, the home ec club was happy to have us, and they want us back next year.

I learned a few things. We were there from 10am to 2pm, but not very many fair-goers show up until the midway opens at noon. So next year, we will shift to a 12 to 4pm slot. Also, we need signs saying who we are. Hopefully, next time we will have tee shirts advertizing the guilds.

I also want to mix up the fiber arts a bit more. There were four spinners and a spindler, two weavers, a basket weaver, and a tatter. We could use a crocheter, a knitter, and rigid heddle and inkle weavers as well.

A (very) few guild members entered the Open Class competition, and we were basically competing against each other. My sweater won Best in Show! The buttons were purchased and sewed on just in time.

The judges include written comments about each item they rate. In past years, it was obvious that they did not know much about fiber arts. So several of us cobbled together some guidelines, which I delivered just before judging. I included my email and phone number for questions and feedback, but heard nothing. However, I can tell by this year's comments that they used the guidelines.

To get more guild members to enter the Open Class competition, we plan to have a program covering the guidelines and the registration forms. Hopefully, that will prod more fiber artists to enter.

Knitting: The non-matching socks are finished; separate post to follow. The L-Bag is about an inch from the decrease rounds for the bottom.
Sewing: The shorts I used for yardwork lack usable pockets. Using a tutorial from One Hundred Acts of Sewing, I added a patch pocket to each pair so I can at least have my cell phone with me. A learning experience.

Spinning: I got a LOT of spinning done at the fair - hope it is not too kinky, as I tend to spin too fast at spin-ins. I'm almost done with the dark brown roving.

Besides the fair, several of us spun at a local farmers market this past week, in part to raise the profile of the guilds, in part because of a deal the spinning guild has with parks and rec. We were inside a big barn with the vendors, and it was HOT with nary a breeze. On Friday, I tried to purchase some cooling neck gaiters at Dick's Sporting Goods, but they had sold out the day before. You snooze, you lose!

This is not a how-to

A while back I purchased a tie-dye kit with the intention of tie-dyeing some old tee-shirts, not for wearing, but for weaving rag rugs. Time passed (we won't try to guess how much time) until I decided today was the day.

First off, one needs a soda ash solution to soak the tee shirts in. This helps fix the dyes to the cloth (which needs to be 100% cotton). The kit included the correct amount for two gallons of solution.

While the tee shirts soaked, I set up the dyeing station. Outside. On an absolutely lovely summer day. The cooperation of the weather helped motivate me to get this done.

I actually tried to do some tye-dyeing, as the kit included lots of rubber bands.

But I lost interest after a while and just sprayed color on the tees.

The kit says there is enough dye for 15 tees, but it doesn't say what size shirts. Mine are all large, so had I tried to cover all the white, I would have run out of dye after about eight shirts. I did use up all the dye, and all the shirts have at least some color on them. Tomorrow I will rinse and wash them, so tune in next week to see how they turn out.

Knitting: All that remains to knit on the non-matching socks is the cuffs. The L-Bag is within inches of where the tapering starts for the bottom.
Spinning: Still sticking with my morning spinning.

While spinning, I listen to about 20 minutes of this podcast, "Wiser than Me" which is hosted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Julia interviews women who are older than her, which is very interesting and entertaining. The show is in its second season, which I think is better than the first. But it's all good. Give it a listen!

But so cheap!

At our last weaving guild meeting of the year (our meetings run September to June), we have a carry-in meal, share our "challenge" weaving, and sell stuff to each other. One weaver who also spins brought some fiber she wanted to get rid of. So of course, it ALL followed me home. For only $25!

Coopworth wool

Alpaca/merino

Gray pink wool

Camel down

Wenslydale longwool top

Merino/angelina

Merino

Wool roving

Mohair/Border Leicester

I know - I'm hopeless.

Knitting: I've pretty much decided to abandon the basketweave socks and am in the process of picking a cowl pattern to use with that yarn instead. Meanwhile, the L-Bag marches on! And, to a lesser degree, the nonmatching socks.
Spinning: Instead of starting my day with coffee and all the (bad) news that is fit to print, I've been spinning, specifically some dark brown fiber that I think is Polish merino.

Lately, I've been contemplating the difference between habit, ritual, and routine. Maybe we can say habit is what we do, ritual is how we do it, and routine is when we do it. Hence, my new habit of spinning routinely first thing in the morning while watching the birds in the backyard.

Going in circles

At tonight's weaving guild meeting, we are supposed to bring something we have made using a technique that is new to each of us. I posted about twining last time. I decided to finish the circular sample we started at the meeting on circular weaving as well.

My initial reaction was that this is too slow - this coaster took several hours. But after sharing with a fiber friend, I'm wondering if I would like circular weaving better with a heavier yarn. I won't give up on it... yet.

Knitting: I am on the verge of ripping back the basketweave socks. The yarn feels wrong for socks - not durable enough - and I hate knitting the pattern. The unmatched socks, however, are going well... if I didn't keep getting distracted by the latest L-Bag.
Weaving: See above.

The Fort Wayne Museum of Art is featuring an exhibit by Rowland Ricketts, textile artist and indigo dyer (with more than a little help from his wife, Chinami). We visited it last week. WOW! If you have the chance to see work by these artists, GO!

Besides getting tee shirts for guild members, another task I have taken on is creating a guideline for the judges at the county fair. From reading their comments on projects entered, they do not know much about fiber arts. I sent out feelers to see if they would be interested in some guidelines, and they said YES PLEASE. So now I am trying to pull that together, with input from various fiber friends.

The days are just packed.