ROADTRIP!!!!!

We went everywhere - and here you have it mostly in pictures:


This is bullshit on the Interstate in Cleveland. A 90 degree turn? REALLY?

We stayed with the wonderful melseyknits and her husband. It was fantastic, they were wonderful host/esses and lovely, fabulous people. Until we had to leave......


...After defeating Melinda, I revisited my Robot Army:

I am SO fascinated by the windfarms that are cropping up in Iowa, and - having not grown up there - it is wonderful to see them on the horizon and integrated in the landscape. I think they're beautiful.

We visited Inga on her farm to see these Baby Burgers:

...and all the pigs and sheeps and goats and chickens too. In fact, there was some chicken farming involved.

I can't even talk about Milwaukee - we did too much! It's such an awesome city! That will have to be a later post.

BUT! Then we went to Ann Arbor, and went to Zingerman's:


Ohmigod I can't even. It's all too much.

But then we saw Stacey in her latest handknit:


And all was awesome again! Really, this lady is spot-on. If you are in Ann Arbor, I highly recommend getting coffee or scotch with her!

We had our portraits done in Canadia:

I knit these socks on the road:

And we picked up this awesome toolbox:


And so much more! Milwaukee will have to be it's own post - it was all too much.

A lot of people have expressed interest/concern for our tolerance of one another through these road trips. Honestly, we travel REALLY well together. Dale does most of the driving because I can knit and talk (if he is a passenger, he is usually reading, which precluded conversation). We rock out a lot. We listen to a LOT of NPR, when we can get it (we have the NPR map, but there are a bunch of dead zones/shared channels/&c...) We get a little bit crazy, but it is usually mutual. We pack a lot of healthy-ish snacks, we take frequent breaks. We've done this a few times, but every time, I manage to find more awesome roadside attractions - I'm already planning where we can (potentially) stop next year.

Here We Go Again

Yes, I have been an absentee blogger. It's not for lack of DOING things, though:



























....and now, here we are, approaching July, which means I need to consider some things for the Tour de Fleece:



Tour de Fleece runs July 3 - July 25! I'll be participating as a member of Team HelloYarn/Sassenacho/TimeBenders and also Team Monkey Farts! And somehow I will manage to blog more, as well :)

*** ETA some information: From top to bottom:
- Holly Jean Hat & Mitten, test-knit in Cascade 220. Super-duper pattern, soon to be available from zigzagstitch!
- Bova Book, handbound by me as a teaching model in my Cloth Case Bookbinding Workshop.
- Magical Scissors, paper cutout, about 5" x 7". Cut with a #16 X-Acto® blade out of Canson Ingres scrap papers. I want to make 100 of these, all with different 70s & 80s lyrics accompanying tools :)
- Bookbinding Models for my Non-Adhesive Bookbinding Workshop.
- Color Progression Insanity - handspun by me using Club Fibers from Hello Yarn, Southern Cross Fibres, and Spunky Eclectic.
- Cobb Salad, my all-time favorite salad.
- Handwoven continuous hand-towel for next tot he sink. FINALLY completed, after 2 years or so.
- Hello Yarn Knee-High Socks! Knit while the passenger on MidWest road-trip!
- The Spam Museum. Visited on our way from Iowa to Minneapolis.
- My haul during the 2010 Potholder Swap - lovely lovely hand-crocheted potholders by Lynda, Kathy, Susanne, Beth, and Cathy (click through for Flickr details).
- Quilt I made for D's mom before we headed out to Iowa.
- Delicious "Orchard" Romney singles - me-spun, Spunky Eclectic-dyed. Purchased at SPA.
- Wonderful, wonderful pork.
- Some things I am considering spinning during the TdF. :)

Minnesota, Meet-Up, More!

So much to talk about!



I dashed off to Minnesota for a long weekend, where I met up with the most lovely and awesome nuttnbunny! It was great to finally meet her face to face, and our Buckland Cowls met up as well. Luckily, it was 53 degrees in Minnesota in June so we were able to UTITLIZE our cowls as we meandered about the stellar Franconia Sculpture Park:



This was all followed up with some CUH-razy Bloody Marys, ice cream with nuttnbuddy, and a delicious dinner by mr. nuttnhubby. And of course, there were treats:





That's some fabulous Falkland Top dyed by nutt and some of her wonderful handspun. Yum! AND a shibori dyed scarf! AND! There's also some alpaca from a friend's farm - destined to be the linings for my handspun Fiddleheads (Rav link, kiddos) :)

My return to the east was heralded with more craziness: I've been teaching for the past 2 weeks and they've been installing baseboard heating in my apartment (which means I've had to move.....well, everything. Twice.) The brisk Minnesota followed me home! It's been rainy and cold since I've returned with no end in sight. My windmill army will protect me:

Catching Up With Fiber Clubs

"Norway" colorway. Hello Yarn Fiber Club, January 2009. BFL, about 275 yards, 3-ply.


Yes, still spinning. Trying to get through some of the piles of wool around here. And again with the 3-ply! The colors in this were so vibrant and so separate from one another - I wanted to maintain a *bit* of that, but I didn't want to have extreme striping. And.....I've been loving the 3-ply lately. I split this up into 6 different bundles, and flip-flopped them in order to avoid intense striping. The colors still remain fairly vibrant and wonderful - I have another 4 ounces of this wool which I may spin as a 2-ply instead (you know, to keep things interesting).

I've got the January 2009 Spunky Eclectic club offering on the wheel right now - it's called "Twilight" and is a plump, wonderful organic merino. It's been wonderful to spin, and I'm excited to see how much it blooms in washing and setting the twist. The dye has come off of it onto my hands a bit; I'm hoping the bleed will stop in setting.

I'm planning a trip - heading down to south-eastern Florida in April. By car! If there are any suggestions regarding fiber and/or Roadside Americana, please do let me know.