Dose of fiber!

I can't believe how quickly August has went by!  I've been keeping busy with my Cast-on-apalooza projects and making some gifts for friends and family.  I wish I could say that I am starting my Christmas crafting early but it's not the case.  I made 15 little wash cloths for Michael's aunt and uncle as a thank you gift for letting us stay at their house with the kidlets when we road tripped it down to Florida.  I used Lily Sugar n' Creme in the colorways of ecru, rose pink and indigo.  The pattern was free off of Ravelry and can be found under the name Diagonal Dishcloth.  It was a fun and quick crochet!

 

 Then I had to start doing some top secret knitting for a friend.  That's about all I can say, I'm not sure if she visits my blog or not but better to be safe than sorry.  All projects will be revealed in a few weeks!

Oh, one day you will be mine Kromski...

Rolags and my spin stuff

Rolag or batt :-D?

Lastly, I went to spin night at my lys and was lucky enough to hear a little about blending boards, rolags, and punis.  Punis seem to be the craze for fiber freaks lately.  I got to take home two rolags and I'm looking forward to how they spin up.  I also did a little of my own spinning as well.  That has since been plyed and now it's chilling on the kniddy knoddy - pictures to follow. 

The Results!

After a week of waiting, I got my cards in the mail to see what New York State Fair judges deemed worthy of being displayed.  Four out of five of the items I submitted were accepted! 

Here's the rundown of how it went down:

3rd place:

Simply a Gnome!

 Honorable Mention:

Diagonal Eyelet Hand Warmers

 Honorable Mention:

Deanna Jumper

Honorable Mention:

The hand spun in progress shot

Not too shabby for my first time entering things to the NYS Fair!  Also, one of Michael's photos were accepted! :-)

Excitement

Here's a little peek at what I'm submitting for the New York State Fair Arts & Crafts competitions:

COs - new and old

Pattern: Belle by Megan Grewal

Pattern: Pebble by Nikol Lohr

Pattern: Dragon Hands by Caitlin Ffrench

This is what's been keeping me occupied lately.  That and getting all my handmade entries ready for the New York State Fair.  I have 5 handmade items that I'm submitting for consideration.  I'll be dropping them off this weekend!  Wish me luck :-)!

A Tale Of Two Scarves

 Here are the last couple of projects I have been working on this summer.  The scarf above was just a basic chevron pattern repeat from Fatima Lasay's blog.  I opted not to put on any florets mostly because I wanted to keep it looking simple.  I used Lion Brand Angora Merino and oh my goodness, so soft!  I cannot wait to wrap this around my neck come winter time!  I used one ball of each color (Blossom and Smoked Pearl) and started with a longer foundation chain than noted.  I'm thinking I'll wear this wrapped in a euro knot (fitting for the French teacher, eh?)

This scarf I made with two balls of Moda Dea Caché yarn in the Smartie colorway that I got a very long time ago.  It was so old it was one of the first yarns I stashed into Ravelry!  It's pretty much all gone now and I think this will be a future Christmas gift or something for Hazey to wear in the fall.  I haven't decided yet.  The yarn is a wool/acrylic blend with a little sparkle thrown in!

SPUN

Colorway: Sunrise, Sunset

  I'm in love with spinning singles lately.  It's been nice not having to ply anything together because you know that the singles are really good to stand alone and not have extra support.  I finished two hanks of yarn recently.  The one above was my first ever batt that I received from Denise.  It is from Wonder Why Alpaca Farm and the prep of the fiber was just flawless.  It was so pretty, so soft, so sparkly.  I spun up about 158 yards of fingering weight.  It will most likely become an accent in some sort of shawl.  You know, when I finally get the courage to start using more of my hand spun in projects.

Colorway: We Can Work It Out

Then I finished this beauty and I fell in love all over again with spinning.  This is what 323 yards of fingering weight fibery goodness looks like!  I know, I know, stop drooling!  This is one hank of yarn that will probably be bronzed at some point because it's just never going to have a project that is good enough for it!  The fiber came from my favorite spot this side of Central New York prepared by Spinner's Hill.