There and Back Again

Sorry I  missed y’all last weekend.

I was back in Illinois visiting family and attending my 20 year high school reunion.

It was fun, and exhausting, and I’m awfully glad to be taking the rest of the week off to catchup with things around here.

Would you believe, it just so happened that here was a really great fiber event going on the very same weekend of my visit? Right near where I was staying??

Indeed. The Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival, in Crystal Lake, IL.

So of course I stopped by.

There were inside vendors-

Vendors2

And outside vendors-

Vendors Outside

Fabulous humongous skeins of yarn-

SuperSkeins

Hitchhiker travel wheels (which I got to try out!)

Hitchhiker1

Wonderful hooked items-

Hooked Sheep

And I did bring home a couple of souvenirs-

Some glowing blonde mohair:
Blonde Mohair

And Milk Protein Fiber! Because it was just so unusual (and beautiful):
MIlk Top

And, I did manage to get a bit of travel knitting done!

Stashbuster Hat:
Travel KNitting 2

I really like how the Mountain Colors “Mountain Goat” yarn works with both the light and dark handspun. I forget the name of the colorway, as it’s been sitting for a while…they may not make that exact thing anymore.

Travel Knitting2 detail

And Sock:

Travel Knitting 1

Standard sock formula, with a little extra ribbing in the gusset, on tiny needles. Good for long plane rides. (and yes, it’s store-bought yarn. Didn’t plan far enough ahead on this one)

Ps. Boo Kitty came home last night. So far, so good!

3 Comments

    • sheepsclothing

      The Hitchhiker was neat, but it takes a little getting used to. The treadle motion is a little different from “regular” wheels. It’s got more of a heel-toe thing going on.
      Also, the flyer kind of “floats”on a hinged piece of wood (because of the way the friction drive works) so you get a little bit of back and forth motion, especially in the double treadle model. But it’s a really cool little machine. And I really like how everything mounts right on the base for travel. Another wheel with a similar drive concept is Doug Dodd’s Pocket Wheel. Have you ever seen one of those? http://gnoam.com/pocketwheels.html

      Reply
      • Donna

        I have seen pictures and reviews of the Pocket Wheel but he is not taking new orders. The Hitchhiker is so cute and portable but I was not sure what the foot motion would be like… If it is fatiguing. Thanks!

        Reply

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