get them!

Today was the Sheep and Wool Festival!

Odin had a good time, even though we left well before storytelling. We were gone by Noon:30. I didn't make it to the Ravelry Meetup :(

Odin had a lot of fun with the sheep. He was shy of them at first, but then he got to like them, and even to pet them! Odin really liked the black sheep, even though it seems in the picture that he's a little scared. He liked the alpacas even more, especially the long-haired kind. Jill and I liked how the hair feels just like baby hair... I think I see a knitted alpaca

something in Jill's future.

A shawl? Maybe it's time for GirlFace

to knit some lace. Anyway, after that it was about eleven and we got some chips and sat in the shady grassy place where Odin flirted with girls and made some new friends.

//disclaimer//

I just want everyone to know that I took these pictures in dying sunlight. My North-facing apartment does not have a nice 6pm sunniness. The colors in the pictures are lovely, but imagine if they were more... Vibrant. Like on blu-ray instead of VHS.

But I did buy a whole assload of yarn. A WHOLE ASSLOAD. I took pictures of it all. I bought a drop spindle and some roving. And some more roving. And some more, and some more. Little bits, you know, and one that is simply gorgeous.

Those balls on the right were only $3 apiece and I figured they'd be good to learn on so I can tackle that gorgeous one on the left. The pic does no justice. It's lemon-sunshine and deep teal, wool/bamboo. FUCKING AMAZING. Only eight bucks! I would have bought more, but I started buying gifts!!!

Size 0 sock needles (for Doug's socks)

and five gorgeous stitch markers.

I bought moth-repellant potpourri, but that didn't seem to warrant a picture. Smells nice though. I can't use lavender because my MIL is allergic and I abhor cedar over time... Mothballs too! Yuck.

A wooden truck for Odin -------->

A giant mug that is really more like a bowl for Jon and a honey sampler basket for my sister in law, whose birthday is coming up soon (and who I will see in a few days, yay!)

My Mother in Law has her gifts already so there are no images, but I bought her an adorable ceramic egg separator (it's a little clay pot with a face on, and you pour the white through the face! So clever) and a gorgeous felt bowl. I bought two kinds of basil (lemon and cinnamon), catnip, and a fairytale eggplant. Over there you see the basils have been planted together, the eggplant in the large pot, and the catnip in the smaller one. Jon said "Why'd you buy catnip!?!!"...So I explained to him that you can use it in tea and it's a natural, completely safe sedative for children (and adults) and suddenly he thought it was a wonderful idea! :)

I bought some lovely 50/50 wool/silk in two colorways. It was marked down even!

I also got a mohair blend...

Ok. an 80/20 acrylic/mohair.

Which normally I wouldn't do.

But I got over 1000 yards for

$20 and I need it for some of the

lingerie Jon wants me to make...

I also bought, on accident, some really gorgeous yarn that shows off all my favorite colors! How lucky can a girl get? I picked up two skeins for my next-winter mittens. Now I just have to convince Jon I need a yellow wool coat to match... I really want to post the yarn I got my Doom-Swapner. But after bragging about it on the board, I'm worried people might stalk at my blog to try to get a glimpse of it! It's gorgeous!!! The color combination is amazing and enticing, it's soft and lovely and I know she'll like it. I KNOW IT. It was also a really good deal, so even though I bought so much yardage (660!) I still spent less than half the "swap budget". Which I don't pay much attention to anyway. I usually spend more than the standard $30 on swaps. I can't help it! I love to give gifts.

After the festival we went... To a yarn store!

I got some lovely sock yarn created by the proprieter (Pocket Meadow Farm. Very lovely handspun in her shop in Berkeley Springs WV, and very daring colorways!). It had no label, which intrigued me, but is definitely sock yarn, definitely beautiful, and definitely enough to make socks for MY giant feet.).  Four small skeins of wool that were half off, and a lovely multicolor skein that I had to have because I saw baby booties in it.

Can't you just see some booties?! And a matching hat. I mean, for reals!

Tomorrow I'm working only four hours, in the middle of the afternoon (the hottest part, yay!), just to cover some breaks and be a team player. After I get Odin I plan on spending the whole rest of the day sitting on my lovely front porch in my new porch chair spinning some new yarn. What am I going to make with this new yarn? With my FIRST spun yarn ever?

Why. I just don't know. Flowers. Coffee sleeves. Cuffs for the sleeves of my coats, which are always too fucking short. And out of that yellow and teal? Urchin. I've already decided. I'm so excited!

PowerPuff Girls is almost over, and after that it's time for Odin to get in the tub. After story time I'm going to... Oh. I don't know. Let him stay up and watch movies in the living room? Turn the A/C on for a special treat? Yeah. Probably that. Mom's gonna scour YouTube for videos on how to use my new spindle and play with some of that FUCKING GORGEOUS yarn.