The Lusciousness

So, you all wanted to see my haul from Rhinebeck. Ask, and you shall receive, because here it is. I apologize in advance for the low resolution, and more importantly, for the less-than-accurate color in most of these pictures. What can I say? Now that we're into late October, even skipping out of work a little early doesn't get me home in time to take pictures using natural daylight. And no, my camera phone, though it has been very good to me, does not have a flash. Anyway, the show must go on...

The first thing I bought was actually for myself. Some beautifully dyed wool mohair to knit myself a hat and scarf set (pattern still to be decided):


Wool Mohair from Kid Hollow Farm in Colorway "Fiesta."

Next, I stopped by the Morehouse booth and got a treat for my Secret Pal. I don't think she's ever done lace knitting or used yarn this fine, so I wanted to make sure I got her something simple:


The Bijou Scarf. Not sure which colorway.

After those two purchases, I spent a really long time fondling different yarns, trying to decide what was the best thing to get for the x-mas surprise I'm going to make for Taz. Since it will be worn next to the skin, it had to be something soft, but of course all the softest yarns were also very expensive. Then I remembered the leftover charcoal gray alpaca I have from Jessie's wristwarmers, and I decided to look for another shade of gray to match that. I finally chose two skeins of this gorgeous angora (the bunnies were right there at the booth for me to pet, too!):


From Cozy Rabbit Farm. The color here is totally off.
But trust me, it's a very pale gray color.

I also bought him some venison jerky, but I didn't bother to take a picture of that. I know better than to think anyone visits a books-and-knitting blog hoping for pictures of dried out mystery meat.

After all that spending and decision-making, it was time for me to get my spinning lesson with the Queen of all Enablers. Under her sage eye, I picked out the following:


Roving in "Merlot" and " Heather" (just picture
these colors with a little more red and purple in them)
and a bottom whorl spindle.

If you want to see pictures of the actual lesson, check out yesterday's post. I have managed OK on my own since the lesson, but I still have a great deal of trouble getting the spindle to actually spin in the right direction for more than two seconds. So I've been doing a lot more of the pre-winding and then drafting thing with the spindle held between my knees. Oh well, with any luck, I'll get another lesson from Eklectika soon, since she seems to know her bottom whorls so well.

And last but not least, after a long day of fiber fondling and yarn ogling, I arrived home late at night, to find that a package had arrived for me:


Hand dyed by Judy. For a better idea of the color,
go here (though it's actually a little more muted
than her pic shows).

Yes, it's the yarn for my Hanging Vines Stole. It is every bit as luscious and beautiful as I had hoped, and I can't wait to use it. But I am going to be good and finish my holiday knitting first. And I'm thinking it will probably be a good idea to knit up this shawl, the kit for which I bought back in February, to get a feel for lace before I attempt the stole.

By the end of the day on Saturday, I was feeling quite fibered-out. But after a full day yesterday away from my pretty new purchases, I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms. Now I am feeling jumpy and my fingers are itching to cast on for all these new projects. But I must have some self-control. I'll just have to learn to knit like a speed demon so I can get done with all this pending stuff first.