Petunia rambles on and on….

Once again, the combination of my GPS and my VISA gets me into minor trouble! But what fun!!

The Verdant Gryphon dyes yarns and sells them online, has beautiful yarn bases and an uncanny instinct for color. The business has grown from when I saw dye pots at her home to a much larger location in an Industrial Park in Easton, Maryland. It’s grown this large because she also has terrific marketing skills, imagination, talent. What the online customers don’t know is that she, personally, is a very special lady.

It takes an hour or so to get to Easton, but with a satellite radio signal, I can drive for hours (and have!!) so the distance to get yarn, or see friends, isn’t a problem. It was well worth the trip down there, to see all the yarn colors, watch the dying process and get to speak to busy hostess Gryphon for a few minutes.

So many colors, so many skeins to feel!

So much yarn to be bought!

And we all know my ability to resist is, well, non-existent limited at times.

Would ANYBODY have been able to come out of there without yarn?  Really?

Thank you, Gryphon, for hosting a great event, pleasing a great many visitors, producing such high-quality products year after year.

I had read about the upcoming Open House on Gryphon’s blog, and was reminded of it again when I saw her at the Outstanding Dreams Open House 2 weeks ago. She was there with a “great wheel” demonstrating her talents spinning, as well as her ability to stand for hours! Phil of Outstanding Dreams returned the favor by bringing alpacas out today, two mamas and their cria (babies).

And my lack of resistance applies to alpacas, too. (I want to move back to my old house in Hazletville and fill that south field with them. Phil said the recommended amount is 7-10 alpacas per acre of grazing area, and I already had the barns, storage for feed/hay. Damn!) And of course, I took pictures of the ones Phil brought out.

No one is surprised at me taking pictures. But with such a subject, who could not?

Staying real close to Mom here.

I did, of course, buy a shit-ton of yarn enhance my stash and I’m so pleased with what I selected, and the colors I got. Saw a gorgeous colorway, tones of oranges that I fell in love with. I don’t do orange. I don’t buy orange. I don’t wear orange. The only thing I do is drink the juice, but that color almost sucked me in. So vibrant! I’m proud to say that I was able to resist on only that one skein.

So in summary, I had a wonderful day, an uneventful drive in sunny weather, good music, saw friends, bought yarn, petted alpacas. The only casualty, if you can call it that, was to my Visa card, whose raised numbering is now a little flatter. (I thought I was done, checked out, then saw MORE YARN!!)

 

Spent Saturday and Sunday at the Open House held at Outstanding Dreams Farm in Preston, MD, demonstrating how to spin fiber. Took my Ashford Traditional wheel, as it has the appearance that most people are familiar with, rather than my more modern-looking Ladybug. Although the Ladybug is smaller, I actually find the “Traddy” easier for me to carry. I can just grab it under my arm and go. Fortunately, I can pull the car up pretty close, unload, and then take it out to the parking area.

I was working with merino/silk, an 80/20 blend in purples, hot pink and white. Fairly well blended in the braid, so I’m not getting shots of the individual colors, but the tonal quality is working nicely. Spinning rather fine, and it will be plied with the second bobbin.

The event went well, and I’m so happy for Phil and Vickie who put out a great deal of effort to make everything so nice for all the visitors. Terrific people to be around, and their love for their alpacas is infectious! Oh, I would so love to have some of my own, BUT they clearly have the perfect location and damn it, I clearly don’t! AND we had beautiful weather, both days!

Here’s why I love alpacas!

A bit of a disappointment over the weekend, too. Was expecting daughter in for a quick visit to attend the wedding of two of her good friends and at the last minute, she was unable to make the trip. All is well, but I know she was very disappointed, too, to be unable to see the beautiful ceremony and spend time with all the guests, again, all friends since high school or before.

Knitting continues – finishing up a shawl and thinking about a top-down sweater next – pictures to follow. I promise.

 

Spent Saturday and Sunday at the Open House held at Outstanding Dreams Farm in Preston, MD, demonstrating how to spin fiber. Took my Ashford Traditional wheel, as it has the appearance that most people are familiar with, rather than my more modern-looking Ladybug. Although the Ladybug is smaller, I actually find the “Traddy” easier for me to carry. I can just grab it under my arm and go. Fortunately, I can pull the car up pretty close, unload, and then take it out to the parking area.

I was working with merino/silk, an 80/20 blend in purples, hot pink and white. Fairly well blended in the braid, so I’m not getting shots of the individual colors, but the tonal quality is working nicely. Spinning rather fine, and it will be plied with the second bobbin.

The event went well, and I’m so happy for Phil and Vickie who put out a great deal of effort to make everything so nice for all the visitors. Terrific people to be around, and their love for their alpacas is infectious! Oh, I would so love to have some of my own, BUT they clearly have the perfect location and damn it, I clearly don’t! AND we had beautiful weather, both days!

Here’s why I love alpacas!

A bit of a disappointment over the weekend, too. Was expecting daughter in for a quick visit to attend the wedding of two of her good friends and at the last minute, she was unable to make the trip. All is well, but I know she was very disappointed, too, to be unable to see the beautiful ceremony and spend time with all the guests, again, all friends since high school or before.