Sheep and Wool (and Fish) report

I think sporting a fish at the Sheep and Wool Festival is becoming a bit of a thing for me... at least, last weekend makes the third one in a row that I have attended.  

Here's the little guy, made with some of the yarn I spun up last summer during Tour de Fleece.

The yarn came out beautifully after its bath, soft and kinda drapey.  I paired it with some Madeline Tosh dk in my go-to grey. I had intended to use the yarns together in a different pattern and made several false starts, but in the end I was happy to let the yarn speak to me.  It also told me I needed to add a little something to the tail and fins. 

Okay, I'll let you in on a little 'secret': lately I am contemplating putting in a different color stripe at the end of everything.  It's ridiculous.

Oh, and my fish had the most delightful company this year.

There was other lovely company, but I didn't get pictures of them all.  

Oh, and would you believe I only bought one skein of yarn? 

That's right.  One.  Well, okay, the sweetie bought me one as well, but that's it! Two!

Well, plus some potential yarn.  Check out the lovely fibers by Into The Whirled:

I kinda don't want to tell you about these guys because I want to keep them all to myself, but they are really nice, and their colors all seem really great. I was first introduced to them by Aaron back at the last Rhinebeck trip.

Segue to Aaron's beautiful gift: my first handwoven scarf!  Hopefully it's not my last.  

Didn't Aaron do a great job?  He used Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine. The colors, as it turns out, have a special sentimental value for me, so whether he knew it or not, he made a really special gift.  Thanks, Aaron!

Proof

I love this time of year, especially when spending much of my time in long hallways and dark, little rooms. Sights like this one make me very grateful to the people who put the thought into landscaping nursing homes.

For shut-ins, these sights are a real saving grace- better than medicine. And that also goes for the people that care for them.

This afternoon we got to take a whole lot of people outside, and it provided a great chance for me to work with one woman on a few more squares to add to the little pile shown below. Please pardon the lousy picture; I try to give my time to the people at work, rather than my phone. Still, I managed to snap this shot as a bit of proof of what we've been doing at the home.

Enjoy the sights, and maybe think of someone who can't enjoy them without some assistance. Cheers!

The one where I crochet!

See the light green border on this lapghan? It was crocheted by yours truly!

The lady wearing it had quite a blast telling me about her crochet days.

And I felt so much better after putting a border on this bugger.

One of the ladies at work is a hardcore crochet fanatic,

and she crocheted the bulk of this little blanket.

I rather like it, now it has that color pop.

And of course, it's a green pop.

I survived quite well. Actually, I'm enjoying a fair bit of crocheting around work. Last week I held my second "crochet and knit circle" with the elderly, and even shared a bit of EZ's The Opinionated Knitter with them. I could tell who the die-hards were; they kept lusting rather loudly after the acrylic yarn I had bundled into color combinations.  I may be the only person at my job who understands their condition, and I'm happy to humor them - when I can bear to part with the colors myself.

I hope this post finds you well and working that yarn happily, whatever your age and yarn orientation may be.