fashion statement?

I was going to finish the first sleeve before I wrote another blog post. I really was. But then I did things like spend 3 days in the White Mountains, and climb the longest, hardest trail up Mt. Monadnock, and didn't get as much knitting done as I thought I would. But I'm almost done with the sleeve (8 rows to go), and it's been a couple of weeks since my last post, so here ya go.

I know the sleeve looks short. It's a bit scrunched on my arm in the photo, and will also be blocked out a bit for length, as my row gauge all over is a tad bit tight. That was the compromise I had to make so my stitch gauge wasn't too loose, and it's fine by me. I'll lose a tiny bit in body and sleeve circumference when I block for length, which is not a problem for me, given the size of the sweater.

If you're really interested in seeing some of what has slowed down my knitting, take a look at my White Mountains photoset and my Monadnock photoset from our latest hikes. (The Monadnock photoset may disappear soon, though. I only created the set to make it easier to do a "slideshow" for Alex's family yesterday.) I also got some amazing photos of fiddlehead ferns on a different hike yesterday, but haven't managed to upload them to Flickr yet.

Yesterday's hike was a side trip. The real destination was the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool festival. I'm glad I got there early, as I'm not a crowd person at all. I stopped in at the fleece to shawl contest a couple of times, marveling at the spinning wheels (the first time I'd seen one in use, in person), as well as the homemade loom a group of kids was using to weave their shawl. It looked like it was made of plywood and huge novelty straws. Ingenious. The vendor buildings were actually a bit much for me. Stand after stand of stuff. I was very goal oriented in my purchases, so I zipped through the vendors fairly quickly, doing some price comparisons, and trying to find the items I wanted. (Fairly quickly all being relative. As soon as I thought I was done, there was another building full of stuff.) I found someone selling Ashford drop spindles at a very reasonable price. She got me spinning right away, and if I may pat myself on the back, seemed pleased with how quickly I caught on. I just regret that I didn't take the foot or two of yarn I spun up with me, to press between the leaves of a favorite book, or pass on to my great-great-grandchildren. But I did get these:



That's a 1 oz. bare-bones drop spindle, and an ounce of roving. I unfortunately don't remember the breed of sheep it's from. It's the same type I spun those first singles with, and is from a NZ breed. Later on I found a great deal on a 1/2 pound bag of roving from a Romney cross. I'm going to need more than an ounce of wool to play with. Also not pictured is my new niddy-noddy, which I still need to sand and assemble. I wish I'd bought a nostepinne, too, but I suppose I'll have to find one elsewhere. When I have that, I think I'll have all I need to spin and ply my first yarn.

What was really tempting were the big bags of fleece. Yeah, the dyed luxury stuff was pretty, but not nearly as inviting to me as the numerous big piles of crimpy raw wool. I think I'm going to pick up a fleece or three at next year's festival. I was really inspired by the first episode of the KnitPicks podcast, where the owner talks about learning to spin and knit, and her yearly cycle of buying fleeces in the Spring in preparation for having yarn to knit all winter. (I was pleasantly surprised by the podcast, in general. I was sceptical at first, wrongly assuming it was going to be a vehicle for advertising. It doesn't come across that way at all. Give it a listen.)

I look forward to reading about others' impressions of the festival. Next year I'm going to arrive even earlier, maybe snatch up a couple of fleeces, leave them in the car, and then spend the rest of my time communing with the animals. Even if I have to cringe at the signs that say things like "excellent carcass qualities." (For the record, I ate french fries for lunch yesterday. No lamb for me.)