Saturday, September 24, 2011
Change in direction....
Larry and I have decided to forego the local festivals (see previous post!) at West Branch and Romeo in favor of a long, lovely drive to North Carolina in late October to the fabulous Southeast Fiber Festival near Ashville. We will rent a car and take our time driving, from Thursday mid-day (if I can find a person to guide my Thursday class through a discussion) until late-day Monday. He loves Asheville; I love the antique shops along the way (think BUTTONS!), and both of us are eager to see what has become of the Asheville show, which is held at a huge agricultural center across the street from the Asheville Regional Airport. Since I was last there three years ago, it has GROWN. And I finally get to meet Stacy Budge, the maker of our wonderful UrbanGypZ fingering yarns. So that's the decision. I will have much more to say about this in a month. Meanwhile, fiber aficionados should check out their website (which can also be accessed through the events tab on knittersreview.com). svb
Friday, September 23, 2011
West Branch Ho....
If it ever stops raining -- and only if it does -- I may head out on Saturday morning for the three little fiber events at Flint (International Alpaca Festival), Romeo (Mt Bruce Station Autumn Festival), and West Branch (Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival). I'll make report if and when I do! svb
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tea Party as Old Soviets???
I was hugely amused today, while re-reading Bloomsbury giant Leonard Woolf's little essay Principia Politica, written in the heyday of the anti-Communist witchhunt, to find sentences about the diabolical communists that sound, for all the world, like a critique of the Tea Party. The 'enemies' list, of course has changed. But I'm taken with Woolf's clear sense of the ideological importance of enemies' lists and the whipping of communities into a froth of hatred. It's pretty ironic actually that Obama is being tarred with the broad brush of Socialism!!!!! Makes me smile, though darkly. Here's a sample.
"The persistent appeal to communal hatred is one of the most remarkable features in Russian communism. We have already noticed it in the use of ideology by Soviet rulers. The theme is always an attack upon guilty men or guilty classes -- capitalists, kulaks, imperialists, war-mongers, Trotskyists, or some other species of deviationist. The Russian people are subjected to an uninterrupted stream of what is now called propaganda. It is an unending stream of incitement to the hatred of wicked people who are represented as the unscrupulous enemies of Russia and of the masses. It is these capitalists or kulaks, imperialists or Americans, and their dupes and hirelings, who deliberately prevent the workers of Russia and of the world from attaining the Marxist or communist millenium. Therefore the first duty of the good communist is to hate them and the second to liquidate them."
svb
"The persistent appeal to communal hatred is one of the most remarkable features in Russian communism. We have already noticed it in the use of ideology by Soviet rulers. The theme is always an attack upon guilty men or guilty classes -- capitalists, kulaks, imperialists, war-mongers, Trotskyists, or some other species of deviationist. The Russian people are subjected to an uninterrupted stream of what is now called propaganda. It is an unending stream of incitement to the hatred of wicked people who are represented as the unscrupulous enemies of Russia and of the masses. It is these capitalists or kulaks, imperialists or Americans, and their dupes and hirelings, who deliberately prevent the workers of Russia and of the world from attaining the Marxist or communist millenium. Therefore the first duty of the good communist is to hate them and the second to liquidate them."
svb
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Young's Jersey Dairy and YARN? A Travelogue....Part Two
....and, as promised below, here are the woodworkers' pictures, surrounded by the beautiful things they have crafted.
....and here is a spinner named Michelle who was simply SPINNING, smiling as if she had never been happier in her life, just to make everyone else smile.
I loaded up on some gorgeous felted bags (ready-made in my view for those who use circular knitting needles and other rounded tools) and smaller tool kits from an Ohio woman who also makes darling necklaces with pictures -- with slogans like "I love to hook" (!!!). I bought at least a dozen.
And then I left. This was a day trip. Someday, it will come over me that women in their late 60s aren't supposed to drive 7 hours in one day. But, until then, I'll continue to do it. And of course, on the way out, I took another final, long glance at the huge tents -- and captured another scene that will never be found on the streets of Detroit. Here I am, taking the picture of some parents taking pictures of children on a wondrous tractor:
Happy Knit and Crochet!!! And thanks to Ohio for having such lovely weather today. svb
....and here is a spinner named Michelle who was simply SPINNING, smiling as if she had never been happier in her life, just to make everyone else smile.
I loaded up on some gorgeous felted bags (ready-made in my view for those who use circular knitting needles and other rounded tools) and smaller tool kits from an Ohio woman who also makes darling necklaces with pictures -- with slogans like "I love to hook" (!!!). I bought at least a dozen.
And then I left. This was a day trip. Someday, it will come over me that women in their late 60s aren't supposed to drive 7 hours in one day. But, until then, I'll continue to do it. And of course, on the way out, I took another final, long glance at the huge tents -- and captured another scene that will never be found on the streets of Detroit. Here I am, taking the picture of some parents taking pictures of children on a wondrous tractor:
Happy Knit and Crochet!!! And thanks to Ohio for having such lovely weather today. svb
Young's Jersey Dairy and YARN? A Travelogue....Part One
Some years ago, I went to Yellow Springs, Ohio, to see what on earth could be going on at a dairy -- a fiber fair was alleged to be going on there, and I couldn't quite believe it. But -- I went. Yellow Springs is near Dayton, Ohio, in the middle of dairy and corn country, lovely rolling fields, healthy stands of deciduous trees and conifers, stunning wildflowers (at this time of year, mostly golden hues). Then, it was a small affair, enclosed in a single good-sized building, with maybe 20 vendors. They had great ice cream at Young's Dairy -- I remember that part vividly.
Well. I saw the notice again on Knitters' Review.com, where I go for information about fairs and festivals, and was astonished to see how many vendors had signed on. So this morning I quickly got a cute little red Focus from Enterprise Car Rental and headed to Yellow Springs. I learned two things along the way -- maybe three things. First: Ohio is just as rollingly beautiful along Highwyay 68 as I remember, and there are more Amish than I recall. Marvelous black buggies, beautiful horses. Second: The corn is MUCH less ripe than it should be -- heavy rains? Late planting? Warm weather in late September? Look at how green it is! (Click on shots to enlarge):
Third, and perhaps most important: Gasoline in central Ohio is 3.39 a gallon, not the 3.70 we are paying. WHY?
So I arrived at the Dairy and encountered a huge surprise: Once, this was a small-scale dairy store on beautiful grounds. Now, it's a full-scale amusement park, complete with miniature golf (called Udder and Putter, for god's sake). Here's the ice cream building and a small part of the blocks-long parking lot. And here is also a small slice of the amusement parkl, complete with children:
But let's get to the point. "A Wool Gathering" begins with a big, bright blue banner:
As you walk through the gate, you find HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of people, all having the most magnificent time -- including dozens of members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, two of whom can be seen in this shot (to the right):
Notice the SIZE of those big tents -- my photograph doesn't begin to capture the scale of things. This fair has exploded over the years. I found some friends inside, but also some new people -- like Michelle the spinner and two gifted woodworkers whose buttons and spindles I bought in profusion. He of the spindles works under the name "Sunset Turnings," and I must say he knows a thing or two about wood finishing. She of the buttons has THE cutest calling card I've ever seen (it's a piece of wood in the shape of a button!!!) -- Brenda K, of "A Remark You Made." Both of them have etsy.com shops, and I hope you'll all go have a look. I bought more wooden buttons than is decent.
I can't download more pictures (at my limit), so I'll undertake another entry: svb
Well. I saw the notice again on Knitters' Review.com, where I go for information about fairs and festivals, and was astonished to see how many vendors had signed on. So this morning I quickly got a cute little red Focus from Enterprise Car Rental and headed to Yellow Springs. I learned two things along the way -- maybe three things. First: Ohio is just as rollingly beautiful along Highwyay 68 as I remember, and there are more Amish than I recall. Marvelous black buggies, beautiful horses. Second: The corn is MUCH less ripe than it should be -- heavy rains? Late planting? Warm weather in late September? Look at how green it is! (Click on shots to enlarge):
Third, and perhaps most important: Gasoline in central Ohio is 3.39 a gallon, not the 3.70 we are paying. WHY?
So I arrived at the Dairy and encountered a huge surprise: Once, this was a small-scale dairy store on beautiful grounds. Now, it's a full-scale amusement park, complete with miniature golf (called Udder and Putter, for god's sake). Here's the ice cream building and a small part of the blocks-long parking lot. And here is also a small slice of the amusement parkl, complete with children:
But let's get to the point. "A Wool Gathering" begins with a big, bright blue banner:
Notice the SIZE of those big tents -- my photograph doesn't begin to capture the scale of things. This fair has exploded over the years. I found some friends inside, but also some new people -- like Michelle the spinner and two gifted woodworkers whose buttons and spindles I bought in profusion. He of the spindles works under the name "Sunset Turnings," and I must say he knows a thing or two about wood finishing. She of the buttons has THE cutest calling card I've ever seen (it's a piece of wood in the shape of a button!!!) -- Brenda K, of "A Remark You Made." Both of them have etsy.com shops, and I hope you'll all go have a look. I bought more wooden buttons than is decent.
I can't download more pictures (at my limit), so I'll undertake another entry: svb
Monday, September 12, 2011
Autumn in Michigan
Autumn typically comes late in Grosse Pointe -- the result of our location very near the warmth of Lake St Clair (in my case, it's only a half-block away). It's SO pretty at this time of year -- and I must say, I greatly appreciate weather in the 70s instead of the 80s and 90s. I am NOT a tropical plant. Here is what's happening in my gardens!!! Purpley bushy stuff! The last of the hostas! Enjoy the season!
Home from the Wisconsin festival!
On Thursday night just past, Lois and I took off in our rented Dodge Avenger (what a name! and what an uncomfortable car -- the windshield wipers sound like little grenades every time they move back and forth, and the seats aren't made for real bodies) and aimed for a super-inexpensive Super 8 in the southern part of Chicago, just off of Interstate 294. Do NOT EVER stay in a Super 8 that's less than 50 dollars. I honestly think that's the dividing line. This one was so awful that we considered trying to find another place. But we were exhausted. Let's just say that, in the morning, Lois saw a pair of men's underpants in the hallway. We also chose to find breakfast elsewhere. Enough said.
But then, of course, we found our way to Wisconsin -- and Matilda (the trusty GPS) took us to small Wisconsin towns, where we found some wonderful vintage buttons. Here's the sort of thing we saw in one particularly nifty 'mall' in one of those small towns:
The Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, held annually in Jefferson, Wisconsin, at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, is a truly wonderful show. We have been hearing some sad stories about Michigan's festival -- one vendor told me, e.g., that the buildings have developed leaks so that displays and goods are ruined with water. The Wisconsin fairgrounds are in amazingly good shape -- and, most important, the vendors are numerous and of uniformlygood quality.
A sad note: Diane Edwards (Annie's Handspun) told me that, at the Ann Arbor Fiber Expo, she had TWO handknitted sweaters stolen. Now, this has nothing to do with Ann Arbor's show -- rather, it has to do with a shift in our world. Fiber people are notoriously and STILL honest, almost to a fault. More and more, though, thieves and scam artists are zooming in on festivals. One of them, I was told, scammed a large number of exhibitors on the last day of the Southeast festival at Asheville, NC, on the very last day, virtually the final hour, with a fake checking account and a bogus story about how she was buying for retail. Sad but true: Crime is increasing, and if we have to start being suspicious at our fiber-related events, it will be shocking and sad. In our shop, we have experienced only ONE bounced check -- and it was done (you guessed it) by a scam artist claiming to be a cancer victim in need of warm hats and scarves (I fell for it and gave her a hefty discount -- she paid us with a bogus check, accompanied by a bogus driving license).
But let's talk about pleasant things: Such a variety appeared at this show! I sometimes choose not to buy otherwise nice yarns from small producers because (to give one example) I don't much like tiny color runs -- they knit up looking speckly and sometimes muddy, as with this really beautiful display of yarn, done with very tiny dashes and dots of dark color on lighter grounds -- mind you, some people LOVE that effect -- it's just not my cup of tea. I like my color runs longer, and I REALLY like yarn with surprising colorations:
....but who could pass up the gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous SOFT-SERVE just outside one of the main buildings? We couldn't -- two really nice fellows trying to support FFA (Future Farmers of America, for all of you city-lubbers).
I didn't take too many pictures -- too busy looking at all of the possibilities -- two huge buildings, crammed to the proverbial gills with potential studio offerings. If money were no object (it's a recession in Michigan!), I would have had to rent a truck to come back home. Look at this wonderful scene -- a woman working fair isle from a double spooled feeder.
I bought some single-spool yarn feeders from an amazing man, the father of the young owner of Sun Valley yarns, that are MUCH better than the ubiquitous ceramic yarn bowls. They don't break, and the yarn doesn't collapse when it gets to the outer edges. The man who makes them (the ones I bought) is a talented woodworker who had the good sense NOT to use stain or other noxious substances -- just beautiful varieties of wood and hard-finish oil.
Here is the MOTHER of the very young, gifted owner of Ewe-Nique Yarns, with her brand-new grandchild. In the center of the photograph, behind her, is a basket full of wonderful little scarf kits -- dyed by the brilliant young owner -- called Skeleton Scarves. They contain ultra-soft kid mohair and an amount of hand-dyed silk. Made on big needles in garter stitch, with occasional shots of the silk, they end up looking like froth with fossils mysteriously embedded in the body of a scarf. SOME (not all) of my shopping bags full of wool can be seen in the left of the photograph. I didn't get a photograph of the young genius herself. Next time!
Finally: Here is Larry struggling to deal with the STUFF I brought back -- Ann Reisler's big, fluffy skeins of pencil roving spun with yarn or angelina; Ewe-Nique's amazing kid mohair (hand dyed -- see the photo of her mother above); some first-shear natural gray lambswool yarn; the wooden spinners; on and on. The scarf kits that I mentioned are in the middle of the drafting table, tumbling to the front. Also got some really gorgeous glass buttons from Michigan's Diane Edwards (Annie's).
Now I'm going to start another page and show you some photographs of fall in my garden!
svb
But then, of course, we found our way to Wisconsin -- and Matilda (the trusty GPS) took us to small Wisconsin towns, where we found some wonderful vintage buttons. Here's the sort of thing we saw in one particularly nifty 'mall' in one of those small towns:
The Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, held annually in Jefferson, Wisconsin, at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, is a truly wonderful show. We have been hearing some sad stories about Michigan's festival -- one vendor told me, e.g., that the buildings have developed leaks so that displays and goods are ruined with water. The Wisconsin fairgrounds are in amazingly good shape -- and, most important, the vendors are numerous and of uniformlygood quality.
A sad note: Diane Edwards (Annie's Handspun) told me that, at the Ann Arbor Fiber Expo, she had TWO handknitted sweaters stolen. Now, this has nothing to do with Ann Arbor's show -- rather, it has to do with a shift in our world. Fiber people are notoriously and STILL honest, almost to a fault. More and more, though, thieves and scam artists are zooming in on festivals. One of them, I was told, scammed a large number of exhibitors on the last day of the Southeast festival at Asheville, NC, on the very last day, virtually the final hour, with a fake checking account and a bogus story about how she was buying for retail. Sad but true: Crime is increasing, and if we have to start being suspicious at our fiber-related events, it will be shocking and sad. In our shop, we have experienced only ONE bounced check -- and it was done (you guessed it) by a scam artist claiming to be a cancer victim in need of warm hats and scarves (I fell for it and gave her a hefty discount -- she paid us with a bogus check, accompanied by a bogus driving license).
But let's talk about pleasant things: Such a variety appeared at this show! I sometimes choose not to buy otherwise nice yarns from small producers because (to give one example) I don't much like tiny color runs -- they knit up looking speckly and sometimes muddy, as with this really beautiful display of yarn, done with very tiny dashes and dots of dark color on lighter grounds -- mind you, some people LOVE that effect -- it's just not my cup of tea. I like my color runs longer, and I REALLY like yarn with surprising colorations:
....but who could pass up the gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous SOFT-SERVE just outside one of the main buildings? We couldn't -- two really nice fellows trying to support FFA (Future Farmers of America, for all of you city-lubbers).
I didn't take too many pictures -- too busy looking at all of the possibilities -- two huge buildings, crammed to the proverbial gills with potential studio offerings. If money were no object (it's a recession in Michigan!), I would have had to rent a truck to come back home. Look at this wonderful scene -- a woman working fair isle from a double spooled feeder.
I bought some single-spool yarn feeders from an amazing man, the father of the young owner of Sun Valley yarns, that are MUCH better than the ubiquitous ceramic yarn bowls. They don't break, and the yarn doesn't collapse when it gets to the outer edges. The man who makes them (the ones I bought) is a talented woodworker who had the good sense NOT to use stain or other noxious substances -- just beautiful varieties of wood and hard-finish oil.
Here is the MOTHER of the very young, gifted owner of Ewe-Nique Yarns, with her brand-new grandchild. In the center of the photograph, behind her, is a basket full of wonderful little scarf kits -- dyed by the brilliant young owner -- called Skeleton Scarves. They contain ultra-soft kid mohair and an amount of hand-dyed silk. Made on big needles in garter stitch, with occasional shots of the silk, they end up looking like froth with fossils mysteriously embedded in the body of a scarf. SOME (not all) of my shopping bags full of wool can be seen in the left of the photograph. I didn't get a photograph of the young genius herself. Next time!
Finally: Here is Larry struggling to deal with the STUFF I brought back -- Ann Reisler's big, fluffy skeins of pencil roving spun with yarn or angelina; Ewe-Nique's amazing kid mohair (hand dyed -- see the photo of her mother above); some first-shear natural gray lambswool yarn; the wooden spinners; on and on. The scarf kits that I mentioned are in the middle of the drafting table, tumbling to the front. Also got some really gorgeous glass buttons from Michigan's Diane Edwards (Annie's).
Now I'm going to start another page and show you some photographs of fall in my garden!
svb
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