A clean sweep at the Big Butler Fair this year

The Big Butler Fair is over for another year. On a whim, I entered 5 items in the show and took First Place in all five, with one Best In Show! Yikes!

Autumn Wrap--handwoven mix of wool, mohair and various ribbons and stash findings

Grey Mohair Wrap--handknit original design in mohair and washable wool/nylon yarn

Green Tricolor Hat--handspun and handknit original design in wool, silk and sparkly stuff

Green Gradient Hat/Scarf Set--handspun handknit wool

Rainbow Wrap--Handspun self-striping wool with a bit of sparkle fiber and black irridescent beads

Harmony Fiber Art Festival--Shameless self-promotion

Looking for something interesting to do on Saturday, June 13? The town of Harmony is holding a series of events that day for their Spring Fest. There's a plant sale, roving musicians, food trucks, kids' activities, and more. And there will be a first-ever fiber festival!

I'm sharing a spot with my friend Sue and we've been working hard and fast to make scrumptious accessories for you. Sue specializes in handwovens while I'm the spinner/knitter, so there will be plenty of scarves, shawlettes, hats and even some handspun yarn for those who want to make it themselves. Handspun, handwoven pieces are generally one-of-a-kind or one of only a few produced by the artist, so investing in one of these pieces is a special opportunity. And handmade accessories generally are warmer and last longer than items from those big box stores. Treat yourself to a special piece of art!

You can find our booth in the Center of Harmony building, upstairs and in the middle of the room. And if you're interested in supplies for your own crafting endeavors, I'm sure you'll find something among the other booths--there's weaving, spinning, knitting, crochet supplies. There will also be demonstrations of many of these crafts to whet your appetite for getting involved. We all need something to do during those dreary winter months, right?

A sampling of what I'm bringing to the festival:



Handspun, handwoven scarves

Handspun handknit cowl



The back of the gradient shawlette

A shawlette in gradient-colored handspun

 

Pillbox hat knit with my handspun

A slouchy beanie that can also be worn as a regular tossle cap

A lacy tam/slouch beanie in handspun yarn

Getting ready for Sweden and Hats! Hats! Hats!

I'll be teaching two workshops in Sweden this spring--one on different drafting techniques and one breeds tasting. I've been researching and writing the handouts off-and-on for a month! For the breeds tasting, I'm taking six different breeds, 2 oz. samples of each, for the students to play with. I have spent a good part of today packaging up the six breeds, labeling them, printing out the handouts, tucking in some labels and ribbon for identifying each spun sample--and stuffing all that in big plastic Ziploc bags so each student has a nice packet. For the drafting class I need to prepare rolags, batts and clouds and grab some combed top for each student. But that will happen another day. Then there's the cards, combs and flick carders to pack. Oh! and the chocolate chip cookies I'm taking for fika (coffee break). Hopefully, my host and hostess won't get into the cookies before class (you know you want to!). There has been a lot of other prep work on the part of my hostess and myself, little things like deciding which day and time is best for classes and arranging lunch and registration details. It's been a while since I've done workshops and it has slipped my mind how much prep work they require, but it reminds me to appreciate all those teachers who took the time to prepare materials and themselves for a class, ship equipment for students to use, provide the best of supplies for us to use, and take care of the myriad little things. Thank you!

In my spare time--HaHa!--I've been raiding my handspun stash and knitting hats while I binge-watch British TV series. As an aside, watching these shows is awful if you're a knitter because I want All. The. Sweaters!

These are the wool/silk/alpaca/whatever beanies:

Wool pillbox hats:

And three hats that can be worn as slouchy hats or turn up the brim and wear as a tossle cap:

There's still a TON of handspun yarn in the studio, so I'm sure more hats are in my future as long as the British costume dramas continue. Season 5 of Downton Abbey just arrived in my mailbox  <squee>.