Impromptu Dye Day, Smith Castle Harvest Fair, Tunis Fleece Washing

Last Sunday, Oct. 12th, was a beautiful, sunny day without a rain cloud anywhere in sight. I spent the day with a couple of friends, our wheels, and knitting. Of course, fiber and yarns were brought along just in case the dye pot came out. It did. I made a beautiful tri-shaded purple yarn I'm naming "Purple Passion" and then 4 ounces of Rambouillet fiber in a bright happy yellow, purple, and raspberry. Where the colors met, greens and oranges were created. This is called "Pansies in the Sun". After we finished setting up the second round on the steamers, we took a ride and after meeting up with another friend, decided to stop at a New York Pizza restaurant. Delicious pizza and garlic bumps were served fresh from the oven, piping hot, along with cold sodas. After that we headed back and packed up for the day.

Wednesday was Craft Night as usual at Panera. Again, it was a small group. I think some of the missing friends will be back this week. One was in Italy on vacation and I know she will have stories to tell.

This past Saturday was another impromptu adventure. Marva and I were going to head to the Fiber Hop event in Hopkinton/Hope Valley. Instead, since we had a late start, we decided to check out Smith Castle's Harvest Fair. Several familiar faces were demonstrating and selling things. We ran into the lady, Janet Austin, who gave our Tapestry Workshop last spring. Jonne was there with one of his wheels demonstrating. One of the nurses I used to work with was doing a candle dipping demo. Also, there was natural dyeing, a blacksmith demo, soap, jewelry, alpacas and fiber/yarn, fresh cheese, bread, johnny cakes, apple cider, and of course, the Museum. Many people were in period dress. I think it made the event more festive.We were there until 4 p.m. and had a great time. An invitation was issued for the RI Spinners Guild to come to the Strawberry Festival in May and the next Harvest Festival in 2009 to do demonstrations.

Today, I washed another fleece. This one was the Tunis and is a pretty creamy color. It's not really white, but, more of a soft buttery color. It's drying downstairs since it's too cold to process anything outside now or leave in the shed to dry. We used a pump to empty the bins after the washings and the rinses were done in the washer.

That's it for now. I am going to head down to the drug store to get my meds and then call it a night. Have an enjoyable evening. :)