Knitting and Spinning and Bears, Oh My!

Ok, so there was plenty of knitting and spinning this past weekend, but the bears failed to make an appearance! (We think we spotted a couple on the drive home, but were not allowed to go back and feed them and take pictures, so we will never know!) Anyways, there were six of us that met up at the Graves Mountain Resort in Virgina. Here we are: Me, Alice, Wendy, L-B, Julie and Sheri. It was humbling for me to be in the midst of such experienced spinners and knitters. They were all incredibly inspiring!!


I spent most of my time knitting. I did give the drop spindle a try and sat for a bit at the spinning wheel. I think I could really enjoy spinning. Hmmm, may need to look into getting a wheel at some point. Here is Sheri getting a lesson with the drop spindle. (Alice was an incredibly patient teacher with both of us!)














I decided to start a Ballband bag to work on over the weekend because it is an easy project to work on and visit at the same time. I made pretty good progress. I am using Ella Rae Classic Wool yarn double stranded on size 15 needles. It will be a large bag.. probably big enough to carry a laptop! I hope to have it ready to felt next weekend.








I also worked on my Monkey sock. I got the first one done and got the second one cast on and the rib finished. I am using Shibui Knits yarn in the Earth colorway. I love the feel of this yarn. I can't wait to have them done!










My last project was the second Fetching Fingerless mitt for Kirstin. I just have to finish the thumb and they will be ready to send her. I love this pattern.















We took a side trip on Saturday to Carodan Family Farm Yarn shop. I took the plunge and purchased the yarn and pattern for my first sweater!! I am very excited and received a lot of encouragement from the 'experts' that I could do this!! I plan on working on my swatch this weekend and hopefully casting on the sweater after that.
Edit: The book is Ella Rae Queensland Collection Book Seven. The pattern I am looking at doing is called 'Gracie', although I may change my mind and do the 'Bubbles' pattern instead. Decisions, decisions... (Oh, and the yarn is Kathmandu Aran color 145)


I also found some sock yarn that needed to be mine. I loved the colorway. It's a black/blue/gray blend that I think is going to be beautiful. And it looks beautiful just as a skein, which is good, because I'm just not sure when I'll get around to casting it on!
(I'm so glad that sock yarn doesn't count as stash. It simply enhances my 'collection'.)










Well, I have more to share, but will save that for later this week. I'm experiencing some knitting withdrawal so I think I need to go pick up my needles for a bit.

Until Next Time...