Getting them the Goats...

by Kathleen

This is a request I am making, for a good friend of mine.
Heidi owned a yarn shop here in town that was a homey, friendly, lovely place. It was there, and from her, that I really learned to expand my knitting knowledge and got into the fun and challenge of knitting and spinning. And is where about 90% of my stash has come from.
A few couple of years ago she made a difficult decision and closed the store... her little daughter was needing more time than she could give and still effectively run the business. But she never gave up her love of the fiber arts and her dream of owning and producing fiber of her own someday.

Fast forward to two weeks ago...
I saw a note on Ravelry that the CSA on Martha's Vineyard was looking to give away a small flock of angora goats to a worthy farmer wanna-be.
And it occurred to me... I knew one of those!
So the essays are up and the voting has started. It's a VERY short voting time span (by this Friday night)... please read her essay and consider voting for the Lantz-Trissel family.

The CSA blog is here

Voting page for Heidi specifically is here

Photos that didn't make it into the essay are here (including Lena petting a baby goat and Jonathon on his bicycle recycling vehicle)

Please note that the blog is loading rather slow. You can skip it and go straight to Heidi's essay, but if you want to read the others (about 50 of them) you'll need to go to the link on the blog. Also note that you can vote for as many as you feel deserving... but only vote for each one time only.

Thank you for considering helping Heidi, jonathon, Lena and Jesse get the goats.

Travelling Stitch markers, pt. The End

by Kathleen

I know I've said earlier that Caroline and I decided when setting up the blog that we wouldn't get all grovelly in apologizing for lapses in posts. After all, we all have lives that sometimes call us away. But I have to face up to this...

Hoo boy, have we been quiet for a long time!

So I'd better start the catching up process because we have some fun stuff to finish and fun stuff coming up. Someone on this blog (who is not me) went to Sock Summit, and I had a last couple busy weeks with the markers. And soon we're doing our third annual VA fiber fest soon, and I'm doing two KALs, and getting yarn shelves, and all sorts of craziness!


So... I present the final voyage of the Travelling Stitch Markers in The Shenandoah Valley...

First they were in a parade! Yes, once again my fiber guild rode in the local Fourth of July Parade through downtown. We had a couple knitters, two weavers, a rug hooker and a spinner ...

and to my side rode the markers high atop a basket of red, white and blue yarn and rovings.

... my patriotic wheel .

And once again my guild won the top prize (all around best float). I think it was because of the markers...

After the parade the markers and I and some friends went out for yummy Mexican food and Margaritas and then watched the fireworks from a friend's porch.
Unfortunately the photos of the fireworks didn't turn out so well (too dark and too far away) so I present to you instead a photo of the food...

The other big event in the markers was our final show at the Summer children's theatre for which I designed costumes. The markers got to travel far and wide (well an hour away to Charlottesville and half hour south to Staunton) as I searched for the right kind of fake fur.

The big watering can in Staunton...

The walking mall in Charlottesville...

Local fabric store, Ragtime fabrics...

I finally found exactly what I needed... in our own fabric storage in the shop.
A little trimming and shaping, some ears and wigs, and tadaaa!
The Berenstain Bears!

Mama and Sis are pretty recognizable, brother in his red shirt and Papa in his yellow plaid shirt and overalls are in the back (I wish Papa had had his hat on in this photo). The others are the side characters from the books... Teacher, Farmer Ben, friends, and a character added for the play Cowboy Jo.

Now that the stress of dress rehearsals and deadline were over it was time to relax, finish up the marker's project (you can see how long the scarf was getting in that photo) and spend some down time at home with the cats and a fire (yes, in July) and the DH...


















...not necessarily in that order

And here we are with the Finished Object!...

Shifting Hues Scarf... pattern free with the yarn, Bluefaced Bliss from Knitting on Impulse

This was fun, and I enjoyed showing the markers around (and by association myself) but it was time. So the Markers bid a fond adieu to the valley (who knew they could speak French?) and went on to their next set of good times with good people...

Au revoir pretty stitch markers, au revoir!

ps I apologize for the wonky registering... Blogger is refusing, utterly refusing to save my edits. I think it's mad I was gone so long. I recognize this behavior... I have cats. Next it's going to pee in my bed and leave me a dead mouse.