Magnificent Madrona!

A quick update on my recent splurge to attend Madrona for 4 days.  I was under the weather but managed to pull it together to attend my 2 days of classes (with plenty of sleep between).  I took Deb Robson's Survey of Wool Breeds for Spinners - a whole new world has opened up for me; and Beth Brown-Reinsel Stranded Knitting Techniques, a challenging class but so much information - I now know how to Norwegian Purl which will make any ribbing or seed stitch pattern fly!

A pic of my stash enhancement, I was very restrained this year and I won the book as a door prize!

Pilchuck Sock Yarn from Rain City Fiber Arts, mixed and beautifully dyed fiber pack from Dicentra Designs, Raku Pottery buttons, a mixed wool batt from The Artful Ewe and my sampler packs of raw fibers from the spinning class.

Missing is my last purchase of 4 beautiful enamel buttons from Gita Maria.  I will now need to decide which ones to use on my almost completed Lillian Fay, the raku pottery or the enamel ones...

Thinking of heading to the Whidbey Weaver's Guild Spin-In on March 31-April 1 this year...to keep the creative stuff flowing.

Sweater #1 - seeing the light

My personal challenge to start and complete a sweater in one month is progressing nicely.  Completed the main body and one sleeve of my Lillian Fay as of today!  Cast on 2nd sleeve and if I can get that done by the weekend, I will be feeling very confident about completing this by Feb 16 in time to wear it at Madrona Winter Retreat!

My Nalani Perry the Platypus socks are still in the ribbing stage of sock #1...unlikely that I will complete a pair this month, but will fill in my Retreat breaks by knitting on them so should get at least one done.

Have been watching knitting video podcasts and I really appreciate the podcasters - it takes time and commitment to tape on a schedule and keep it interesting for the rest of us. 

No spinning for the past couple of weeks but looking forward to a class with Deb Robson, co-author of The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook in a couple of week.

Happy Knitting, Happy Spinning to all.