Why Can't Everything Be This Fun?

Surrounded by fiber and sipping frozen hot chocolate at Late Night Knitting. Are there better ways to spend a Friday night? Not so many, in my book. Look what my friend gave me.



While I was at the there, a couple of skeins unaccountably fell into my knitting bag. Whoops! My only excuse is that a person has to give into temptation on one's birthday in order to counterbalance the depressing effects of realizing one's age.



I can't believe you people didn't tell me Misty Alpaca now has sock yarn! This stuff is scrumptious.



Friday night was just the prelude.

Saturday I headed to Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair. Such lovely stuff.






MMmmmm, yarn.



I was surprisingly restrained, considering all the fine fiber that was on display.

First, we've got Ocean (70% wool, 30% seacell) from Creatively Dyed Yarn located in South Carolina.


I don't know what it is about Tennessee, but there are some wonderful yarns dyed in that state.

From Knitting Notions we have 100% merino. The color is Stormy Seas.


And then there's Miss Babs. This is "Yen" laceweight merino and silk


and "Yummy" monochrome superwash 4 ply


and "Bamboo Baby"


Finally, we have yarn from a favorite vendor - Briar Rose Fibers.

This is Celebration - 600 yards of 60% merino and 40% bamboo


and Wistful - 500 yards of 50% alpaca, 30% merino and 20% silk.


Next time I go to this fair, I'll be bringing my knitting and spending the whole day. There was art, fiber on the hoof...




and musicians scheduled throughout the day.


This is the Barehand Jugband. I didn't realize anyone played a washboard nowadays.

Camp is this weekend. I'm determined to be ruthlessly restrained when it comes to yarn purchases. (Ha! Famous last words!)

This is what I'll be doing this weekend.



Hope you have some fondling in your weekend, too.

On The Market

The Stash Haus is finally on the market and we've got an open house this Sunday afternoon.

It's looking so good, we don't want to leave!








Needless to say, I've had no knitting time in recent weeks.

All that is about to change. Your intrepid blogger will have much more fiber content in the next few posts (finally!). I'm meeting friends tomorrow night for late night knitting at the Sow's Ear. On Saturday, I'm giving myself a belated birthday present and heading to the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair.

THEN, later next week The Stash Haus will be blogging from Knitting Camp! I signed up for this last spring before we knew we were relocating. The thought of heading to that knitting oasis is a treat that has kept me going during the past couple of months.

So, anyone want to buy a house...yarn not included?

Civics 101

Happy 232nd Birthday, America!

We celebrate with parades, fairs, barbeques and cookouts (ah, the corn on the cob, the bratwurst cooked on the grill, the watermelon, the strawberries!), and fireworks. I love all the trappings of the holiday, but the trappings can distract us from the underlying reason for the holiday. We're celebrating the birth of our nation - a nation that is not very old compared to others in the world. Our history contains great events we are proud of and events we'd rather gloss over and forget, but we shouldn't - otherwise how will we avoid repeating them?

In honor of our country's birthday, I'd like to share some words of wisdom with you all. I chose these quotes because I believe they are as relevant today as they were 40, 60, or 200 years ago.

[T]o preserve the republican form and principles of our Constitution and cleave to the salutary distribution of powers which that [the Constitution] has established... are the two sheet anchors of our Union. If driven from either, we shall be in danger of foundering.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to Judge William Johnson, June 12, 1823

Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.
George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796

And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863

Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, radio address, October 26, 1939

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

For in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal.
John F. Kennedy, Speech at The American University, Washington, D.C., June 10, 1963

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.
Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963

Suggested readings for rekindling hope:

JFK's Inaugural Address
Senator Obama's Speech - The America We Love

Want to know even more? Read Jacob Weisberg's Slate article about the best books and web sites about the birth of America and David Greenberg's article about patriotism.

Happy 4th, y'all.