Molly Bee's Attic

And bring him home with me!!! Went to the Midwest Alpaca Festival this morning at the Coliseum. There were alpacas of all shapes, colors and sizes. There were... Chorus Line Alpacas Punk Rock Alpacas And punk rock alpacas who's parents couldn't take it any more and took them to the barber... This little fella thought I was his mama and wanted to come home with me. Neither of us could convince Mr. Bee of this though. Alas. I even tried the 'I would feed him and walk him and clean up after him' thing but to no avail. I did bring home some beautiful natural colored alpaca roving to spin-black and buff. And my buddy (read 'Wicked Enabler' here) Sandy from Sandy's Palette was there. I can never resist her beautiful colors. These are all merino or merino and tensel . And these called to me From Susan's Fiber shop. Lousy shot through the plastic bag...sorry! They are Louet wool top in Grape Jelly and FrootLoops colorways Plus I saw lots of old friends...

...who says I need to post more pictures of myself on my blog. Here's why I don't! Got up early to go garage- saleing in the neighborhood. Turns out it was 38° with gale-force winds so we drove around a bit, but unless there was a 10 cent Hummel or a previously undiscovered Monet prominently displayed at the end of the dooryard, we didn't even get out of the car. We then headed to warmer climes inside The Sow's Ear for their Pampered Knitter sale. It's like a craft sale in the store; enamel jewelry and buttons, Heather's famous cat toys, felted items and roving. This afternoon I spent in the company of my fav knitting group, the Victor Allen's Saturday afternoon knitters. I always have a great time with them and they always drop kick any blues I may be experiencing away. The conversation rocks and their mad knitting skills are always inspiring. Tomorrow it's off to Alpaca fest. I am atwitter with anticipation! Photos tomorrow!

Finished the Denim Surprise yarn last night. Why Denim Surprise? If you look a few entries back, the roving was mostly aqua and apricot. When I plied it, I was stunned to find that the overall impression it gave was a denim blue color. Huh?! Who knew! I guess the surprise is half the fun! Now it's off to start this little bit of loveliness from Rainbow Fleece Farms. It's an overcast day so you can't see the sparkles, but it's really shiny! My favorite!

We had a busy and eventful weekend! Saturday was Mr. Bee's birthday and in keeping with our Birthday-Palooza tradition, we turned it into 3 days of fun. And I actually started a little early since I went to Knit Night on Friday night. I got a hardy chunk of Mr. Bee's sweater done. At least enough so you can see the pattern. I'm really liking it. It's enough to keep me interested but not overly complicated; just lattice and seed stitch. Saturday we went out for a big brunch and then meandered to up to Ho-Chunk Casino in Baraboo. I went to the $1 slots and won $500 ($150 and then $350) in the first 10 minutes. I took my voucher over to the Blackjack table, handed it to Mr. Bee and said, "Happy Birthday! I'm going to knit." Then I went up to the second level of the hotel atrium, picked a big comfy leather couch and knit more sweater. The atrium is amazing. Even if you don't gamble, you should dodge in and take a look if you happen up that way. There'...

I am such a geek. Mr. Bee obtained a 'Serenity' comic book for me that had been personally signed by my hero "Cap'n Mal" (Nathan Fillion). I was so elated I did the one-footed-happy-dance (which Mr. Bee says is very close to the Pee-Pee Dance so he was momentarily confused, as naturally he would be) all around the kitchen. I kept thinking, "Captain Mal TOUCHED this! And I work in a company where we could extract his DNA from that and clone him!" Lucky Girl! Lucky Girl! Sigh. SUCH a big ol' geek. I have been dividing my time between spinning and starting Mr. Bee's sweater. I'm spinning this wool/tensel from Sandy's Palette. I was iffy about the colors at first. I chose it because it's so out of my comfort zone color-wise. It's teals and fleshy apricots mostly. I was concerned when I started pulling it all apart that it was kind of 'barfy colored' for lack of a better term, but now that I've spun up a bobbin, I lov...

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Our friends in New Jersey sent pictures of Adorable Baby Jack and the blankie I knit him. Looks like it was a resounding success! Just look at that face! He's only 3 and a half months old but he already has exquisite taste in hand-knit ' woobies ' and a grin that's gonna break a lot of hearts some day! He already has mine! "I think you missed a stitch right here, Aunt Molly Bee!" "Nah! Just kiddin' ya!" Go on! Click on them to 'biggify'! You know you want to!

Of roving, People! Of roving! Man, you guys are quick to ride that train right on into the Gutterville Station aren't cha?! :-) We went to Rainbow Fleece Farm yesterday for their 'Sheep Shearing' days. Here's my loot. You can't tell, but most of the roving has shiny tinsel like strands in amongst the wool. I'm spinning the stuff on my wheel as fast as I can because I can't wait to tuck into that shiny red! I went into the farmhouse where they were having demonstrations on needle felting, drum carding and spinning and look who was there! Hazel Carter , ya'll! Knitter, spinner, lace designer extraordinaire!!! I 'bout died, I did! It was like an Elvis sighting ! I held it together quite well on the outside, but in my head I was dancing around screaming...everything short of launching my underwear towards the stage! I'd never met Hazel before but I have long coveted her lace patterns and plan to attempt one when I grow up. I got to spend 30 minutes a...

...and her wrist. Yeah, that headline will get your attention, huh? When you're 96 you don't bounce as well as you did when you were...say... 82. She was walking the few yards from her apartment to the mailboxes and down she went. My mother happened by and when she pulled in the dooryard she found Grammie on the ground and a crowd around. The ambulance came and took her to the nearest hospital about a half hour north. They discovered the broken facial bones there and sent her to a bigger hospital two and a half hours south. They put a splint on her wrist, loaded her up with Darvocet and sent her home the next day. I think that fact is actually scarier than the fall itself. Cut a Grammie some love, Big Hospital People! She broke. her. face . If that doesn't warrant a couple days of bed rest and some green Jell-O I don't know what does! I talked to her this morning and other than being hopped up on the drugs she sounded OK. She's a tough ol' bird! They grow '...

Fiber:Hand dyed Leicester wool Source: Unknown (a vendor from the Jefferson Sheep and Wool Festival) Weight and ply:3 oz./2 ply Lace weight Time to completion: 1 week Destination: a bowl on my dining room table with Claret and Mermaid Tails to be fondled and admired for now. Overcast day=bad color The 'money shot'!

But at least now it amuuuuuses me!

Say hello to my leetle friend. This will be my new bestest buddy for the next SIX WEEKS ! Looks like a Star Wars Stormtrooper boot to me. I've been telling folks that the other boot and the helmet are back ordered . Or that it's a Time Life installment plan kinda thing. It definitely needs some stickers or something to dress it up. I've always operated under the 'if you can't hide it, decorate it' rule. Maybe it won't look so ugly with some butterflies on it. Yeah right! Seems my 'heel goiter' as I've been affectionately referring to it, is actually a ruptured Achilles Tendon. I TOLD you it HURT! I wear this oh so attractive boot for 6 weeks to see if it 'helps', which it won't, and then it looks like there will be a surgery in my future. Swell. I'm thrilled. In fact I was so grouchy about it when we were driving back from the orthopedist's office that I earned the nickname " Bootsy Undeebundle Nickertwist " from...

I was speaking with a young friend today regarding the new Dr. Seuss movie. ME: Have you seen 'Horton Hears A What'? HIM: Who. ME: (giggle) Horton. HIM: What? ME: Yeah, Horton hears one (hehehehe). HIM: Hears a what? ME: Yeah (heheheheeheheheheheh) HIM: No! Who ! ME: Horton! Try and keep up! (hysterical laughter) This went on for quite some time, with him having no clue about the old 'who's on first' gag and getting more indignant by the second. Finally he decided that I must be a couple eggs short of an Easter Basket and a couple days late April foolin' him and gave up, at which point I tried to explain the old 'who's on first' gag which, as it turns out, I couldn't. It just sounded really stoopid , which made the whole thing seem even funnier (to me). I can just imagine how he's going to relate this at the dinner table tonight. It will start out with, "That Molly Bee is so weird..." Hopefully it will amuse his parents where it p...

My new Mermaid Tails lace weight is dry! The roving was 50/50 Merino and Tencel from River's Edge Weaving Studio in Grand Ledge Michigan. I picked it up at the Sheep and Wool Festival in Jefferson last fall. I'm pretty happy with the consistency this time. It has a few issues but overall it's OK. It's more consistent than the Spring Claret I spun just two weeks ago. And way more consistent than my lumpy, bumpy first attempts. Maybe the Dyson Vacuum Guy was right after all!