Been there, done that.....

I have been waiting to do some posting on my blog when I had some pictures to  put with the places we have been to shows.  I am finally ready.  Hurray!  (try not to get too excited)

My sister and I went out to Watertown, S.D. for the North Country Fiber Fair.  It was fun to see how another fiber event is held.  A much smaller venue than Shepherds' Harvest in Minnesota but a very nice event and I have not been to Dakota for a few years and although we were hardly across the border you can see the land change from flat prairies where the combines were already rolling through western Minnesota into the rolling hills of grassland.  Everything looked dry starting about an hour west of home, the corn looking like it had been frosted to death which of course it hadn't.  Probably why they were harvesting already.  This was only the third weekend in Sept. and there was not much combining go on around home yet.

I will apologize for any fuzziness of the pictures as I handed my camera to my sister as we were headed home and said "here, take some pictures".

There is just something about all this wide open prairie that I love.  We are all kind of "close" around home with our neighborhood expanding rapidly the last few years so it is nice to see all this wide open space that probably has not changed much since creation.

You hardly realize that as you head into western Minnesota you slowly start climbing in elevation and on the way back of course we were headed slowly down.

 And of course out in Watertown is the lovely building which is home to Terry Redlin's gallery.  I toured it a few years ago.  A stately building with all of his beautiful paintings inside and lot of other things.  We were able to see the building from our hotel room.

Next year I hope to spend a little more time and go and tour it once again.  So thanks Watertown and North Country Fiber Fair, we had a great time.

LOUET SPINNING WHEEL FOR SALE

I have a real nice louet spinning wheel for sale, either a 70 or 75, I am not sure if I ever knew as I purchased it used.  I have found the louet to be very easy spinning, very nice large bobbins and very light to carry anywhere I need to go.  I really like the brake system and not messing with the fishing line of scotch tension.  It has 3 bobbins.
In fact, I like it so much that I purchased a newer one with double treadle.  Contact me by leaving a comment if you are interested in purchasing the wheel for sale. 

Wheels & Wings & Oliver in Osceola

I really wanted to be a vendor at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival this year but it wasn't going to happen so we found a nice one-day event in the lovely town of Osceola, Wisconsin to vend at last Saturday.  Sister brought her labradoodle Oliver along.  You met him in the last post as he was patiently waiting to go to the fiber mill.  Our sales had slowed in the late afternoon but that did not mean that people quit coming into the booth.  They only had to catch a glimpse of that handsome dog and we had all kinds of people stopping in. 

I told sister that she was going to have to knit him something to model if he was going to be attracting so much attention.  The scarf he has here just did nothing for his personna.  Maybe something that would hang down more in the front to catch the dribbles off his mustache!

GOING TO THE MILL!

The last few years I have had a lot of fiber processed by Blue Hills Fiber Processing out near Bruce, Wi.  Recently the business changed hands and last weekend I had an opportunity to go and see the new location of the business and pick up some fiber that my sister had dropped off there for me.  My sister lives fairly close to this fiber mill so she does a lot of dropping off and picking up for me when we are going to be doing something together or she has just come home from doing something.
Last weekend we were vending out in Eau Claire for their Art in the Pines festival.  It is a lovely location and all that shade helped with the ninety degree weather that we had when we were there.
We took some fiber from friends over to the mill on Friday and my sister's dog made the trip along with us.

Doesn't he look excited?

SISTERS

I am a very fortunate person to have (3) sisters.  It was crazy growing up and I am sure we all drove our parents crazy as we were very close in age and constantly going somewhere and doing something.  One of my sisters helps me TREMENDOUSLY with knitting product and dyeing fibers and felting and packaging and going to shows with me.  I seriously could not do so much without her. 

This is Zoe and ZuZu and when reading before going to sleep last night these two sisters were laying on the end of the bed giving each other baths.  I thought how wonderful that those two sisters have each other and then I thought how wonderful that I have all my sisters even though I do not get to spend time with all of them.  It is always nice to have a sister to lean on... just whenever.  Thanks Sisters!

Our lovely Sven and our Schedule

This was our Svenie boy.  I sat down last night and started spinning some of his lovely clean fleece that I can put up to my skin with no irritation which can be a little different with some Icelandic sheep.  I am thinking that I may have to keep some of it for myself and would love to keep it white but I do like dyeing and my sister and I are going to have a natural dyeing time (for fleece) on labor day weekend.
Thanks to everyone that made purchases at the Garlic Festival in Hutchinson this past Saturday.  It helps me to maintain the flock at home and they sincerely appreciate it.
We are going to be pretty busy at shows on weekends coming up so catch us when we are in your area.  It is always fun to meet new people and see friends and aquaintances.

This Saturday we are at the Arts & Crafts festival in Buffalo from 9-3.
The next weekend you can find us at Arts in the Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
The next weekend is Labor Day weekend and we will be working on fiber at the farm.
On Sept. 8th we are in Osceola Wi. for Wings and Wheels event.
The fifteenth is South Dakota's fiber event at Watertown, S.D.
We will be taking in the Cranberry Festival in Warren, Wi on Sept. 29
and another Cranberry Festival on Oct. 6th at Stone Lake, Wi.
Oct. 13th we will be down at Mill City Farmers' Mkt. in Mpls.

Hope one of these events fits into your schedule to come and see us.  God's blessings to all of you.
And thanks Sven for the beautiful fleece....

GARLIC FESTIVAL COMING UP1

The Garlic Festival is this Saturday, the 11th of August!  How did that happen so fast?  It is a wonderful extravaganza of garlic, food, entertainment and beverage tasting.  It takes place at the McLeod County Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Mn.  I go and do vending at this show with my own look-alike garlic bulb...natural wool dryer balls!  I make them from the wool of my sheep.

Zhu-Zhu is busy helping me rearrange the roving that I use for making the dryer balls, lots of nice white icelandic fiber.

I weigh the fiber and roll it by hand and then the fun of felting begins!  I use them in my own dryer at home and have not used those awful dryer sheets or fabric softener for years.  Love 'em.  So do the cats and the dog when I drop one. 
So remember Garlic lovers!  This Saturday in Hutchinson.  Did I tell you that they usually have garlic ice cream there?  It runs out every year I think.  If you google the web site for the event you may find 2 for 1 coupons!  Come on and enjoy all things garlic and Sustainable.