Yarn Prawn!

I know it's supposed to be Yarn Pron but I just always think of shrimp when I hear that in my head, so I'm going with prawn.

Let me just say, first off, I have the greatest respect for all you fibre junkies who go to events like Reinbeck and the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. I do not know how you guys do it. How you can go from vendor to vendor of fabulous yarn and fibre and not buy it all, even if it means mortgaging you home and the homes of all your family members. The reason I bring this up is that yesterday I went to the 35th annual Langley Spinners and Weavers Artisan sale in Fort Langley. I lost my freaking mind! I was madly clutching skeins of wonderful yarn and the nice ladies kept offering me baskets to carry it in but I HAD TOO MUCH YARN FOR THE BASKETS! It was amazing, intoxicating, fantastic, I don't have enough words for it.

Got there around 10:00 and I had a blind date meeting me too, dontcha know! Linda from My Knit Niche was meeting me! This was the first time I'd ever met someone in person that I had met via the internet. Very cool! I was her secret pal back in the spring and we only live maybe 35 minutes from each other! So I invited her to meet me halfway in Langley and come shopping! She showed such restraint, I was wicked proud of her. I'm such a doof though, I forgot to bring my camera so that I could get a pici of the two of us together! Doh. You can imagine us now: we're both tall, we have medium brown hair, wear glasses, and love to fondle yarn while making little animal noises. She's also just learned shortrows & wrapping on toe up socks and I can't wait to see how her heel is turning out!

Okay, yarn prawn, first off I bought seven skeins of handspun/handdyed yarn by Ann Embra. That's it just below. The oranges and pinks were amazing and I completely devestated the rack of her yarn. I couldn't help myself. some is 100% wool in a chunky and some is a sport/fingering weight mohair/wool blend. I can't seem to find a website for her though so I guess I will have to wait until next year to get more.

Then I found this wonderful kit to make a handspun shawl. All different weights and fibres all in oranges/yellows/pinks, like a perfect White Rock sunset. I may just have to cast this on today!


Then I went to see Jane at Mount Lehman Llamas. I love Jane and her llamas. Every year I find something new and gorgeous at her stall. This year it was two skeins of sport weight from the llama Pamela that had been dyed a wonderful dark burgundy. I also bought a Chul'lo hat kit but I've already wound it up into balls and I'm casting that on today as well so I didn't pici it, but here is a link to it. My hat is in natural/rust/orange, nice. You can also get fibre and yarn here. You have never felt anything like this. She had a llama/wool/silk blend at the show yesterday that was pretty amazing too.


The skein of opal was picked up somwhere in my travels yesterday, I couldn't tell you from who. I was actually in a fugue by then. :) It's pretty though, eh?

After the show I went up to visit the papa. He's doing better, his colour was much better yesterday and they actually had him up and walking around his bed once. It was very painful but he did it. He still sleeps a lot of course, the pain meds knock him out pretty good. I sit and knit and he wakes up once in awhile and we chat a bit then he falls asleep again. I'm going to go back up and visit him this afternoon and see what sort of fresh torture the physiotherapy people have in store for him.

And, last but certainly not least, here is a better pici of the prizes for the Dulaan contest. I wasn't thrilled with the image quality of the picis last week and there was better light today. From left to right:

Third prize - two skeins of Regia
Second prize - 5 skeins of Classic Elite Maya (50/50 llama & wool)
First prize - 1 skein Fleece Artist Mohair Locks - (94% mohair/6% wool)

You want to win one of these, I know you do! They are yummy and lovely and they want to be won by you. All you gotta do is knit/crochet/sew an item for Dulaan. For each item you create you will get one entry into the draw for one of these babies. Because I haven't been around very much this week and haven't been promoting this as well as I should, I'm going to lengthen the contest to midnight pacific time, December 9, 2006. On December 10 I will draw the three lucky winners and mail out their prizes on Monday, December 11, 2006. With a little luck (and the good graces of Canada Post ), you could have a prize in your hot little hands in time for Christmas day knitting. Whoot whoot! So come on kids, whip up a hat or a pair of mitts, or even a pair of socks. It doesn't have to be perfect or in the most fashionable of colours, it just needs to be warm. I simply want as many of us as possible to make as many items as possible to keep some kids warm next winter in Mongolia. It's wicked important and you'll feel good too! Okay, soapbox rant over. Just send me a link to show me a Dulaan item you've created to this addy: sockpal AT mail DOT com

I'm gonna go do some laundry and housecleaning stuff now. All this back and forth to the hospital this week my little house if feeling sadly neglected and wants some loving. I'm also totally going to cast on for a new project from all my new prawns too!

Have a brilliant Sunday guys. :)