Wisdom From Charles

My friend Charles, has lots of great quotes, many of which aren't suitable to post here on the blog, but one of them brings a lot of comfort in a very Republican/Ayn Rand sort of way.

What Me Worry?
My favorite quote from Charles is, "Never worry about anything that money can fix."

Given that you've made it past one of the biggest worries for many people, which actually IS money, this advice can be very comforting.  So, when I have anxiety over packing for a vacation, that I might have forgotten to pack something, or that my refrigerator might be on the fritz or that the gutters on the house are clogged...I can always take comfort knowing that money will fix all of these things.

Of course, there is always worrying about health or family or Thaddeus, etc. etc. but at least I can have my mind freed up from less troubling things in my life.

Now if I could just get to the point where I had unlimited money, I might find myself with unlimited ability to not worry.

Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival Purchases
For such a manageable number of vendors, the percentage of interesting, high-quality, indie vendors at the festival was higher than I expected.  As such, I spent a bit more than I expected I would!

The first booth I saw, was Ball and Skein Yarns...gorgeous hand-dyed, stunningly beautiful yarns...but I couldn't justify purchasing something at the very first booth I came to...so I went all around the entire festival before coming back to buy some.  You'll have to wait until the end of this section to see what I got there!

First up was some spectacular Icelandic wool yarn from Sweet Dreams Farm in a natural silver color.

I usually find Icelandic itchy and scratchy...this is soft and silky...plus the luster of the yarn makes it actually look silver...totally amazing.

Then I ran into a friend of Kathy Hatori (the amazing natural dyer that gave the class at MFKR on indigo when I was there and the natural dyeing class this year that I envied with my whole heart), the owner of Tidal Yarns. 

Her yarns were just fantastic, but I opted for this beautiful combination of rovings...she didn't have as much of the antique gold color, so I figured I'd ply these two together.

Next up was Moonlight and Laughter.

Thinking that I was picking up some beautiful silk roving, I was surprised to find out this was actually fiber made out of milk solids...huh?  Yes, and it has the luster and softness of silk and it takes dyes at least as well.

Realizing that I was always losing my orifice hooks when I was working on my spinning, I was shocked to find these hand-turned  hooks were selling for $10!

I bought two!  One in Osage Orange and the other in some other wood that I already forget the name of.

Finally, returning back to Ball and Skein Yarns, I realized I should have bought her yarn right at the start of my tour.  They are fantastic.

This is her "Glissade"...a fingering weight yarn made of 50% Silk and 50% Merino and the colors are...well, you describe it.

Current Knitting
Keep making evolution-speed progress on the Milano blanket.

Interesting that even though I got a chance to hang out with Selma fromWoodstock, I didn't end up knitting a stitch.  I was MUCH more interested in gabbing and getting as much Selma darma as possible.