July in a nutshell (or yarnbasket)

Well, well, well. Here I am again. I've been quite busy since my last post. A little travel to Colorado, where I did manage to find a fiber festival even though I wasn't looking for one. Some things are just meant to be. I was passing through Alamosa when I glimpsed a sign with the word "Fiber" (and they weren't talking about bran) and a few tents. A quick U turn brought us back to the Alamosa Fiber Festival. There were several Etsy sellers there with fleece, roving, batts and handspun. Let me tell you, I was hard pressed to avoid spending the next week's grocery money. I finally settled on some beautiful hand spun yarn from Lotus Designs SLV. I am happy to see that there is more in her Etsy shop than when I last looked. Check it out, the yarns she spins are gorgeous.


I also bought some alpaca fleece from another vendor there, well worth checking out at Paca Peace Ranch for Youth. Their prices are very reasonable, the women there were extremely helpful, and the funds generated by sales help them in their work with young people. Please check the website.

In between this and that, I finished spinning and plying some BFL roving - I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Very soft, soft enough to wear close to the skin. This is the finished product. The blues and greens are more intense in person - you'll just have to take my word for it.









And, last but not least, today I finished my first of the helmet liners for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. The pattern is quite simple and here's what mine turned out like:
Before I tried it on the mannequin (thanks, Linda, he makes a great model!) I tried it on myself and I tell ya, I could wear one of these myself on a cold winter's day - though maybe in a diffferent color.

I think it's kind of cute - or at least has potential. Still, it's not for me right now, maybe later. I hope you all will try doing one of your own. Please refer to the post below for the link to the pattern and very important color requirements. Obviously, pink is OUT.

Meanwhile July marches on. Outside the window the hummingbirds are dive bombing the feeders and each other, tomatoes and peaches, grapes, apples, and pears are ripening, the squash is throwing out blooms and spreading tendrils through the garden, and there's an amazing 8 or 9 foot sunflower towering over it all. I love summer!