Tuesday, May 08, 2007

May I present...

Arwen!

Finished Arwen Cardigan

A Cardigan for Arwen
Interweave Knits Winter 2006
Started March 14, 2007
Finished May 6, 2007
Yarn: Ram Wool Selkirk in Red. Approximately 6 skeins.
Needles: Knitpicks Options size US7 and US8
Mods: I added 2" to the length
Note to Minty.... Photo shoot took place at the National Arboretum.

Cardigan for Arwen
Arwen cable
Arwen at the Arboretum

I'm so happy it's DONE!! And, I am proud to say that I seamed it myself. I was tempted to send it off to Jolene for finishing, but I decided I'd better learn how to do it on my own. So Jolene kindly gave me a quick lesson. I think I did pretty well! (Good teacher!)

I wasn't loving it when I first finished it. The arms were too tight. But some hardcore blocking took care of that problem, and now I'm quite happy with it. I wore it on Sunday to Sheep and Wool and was quite comfortable in it. And I got a lot of compliments from total strangers which is nice too!

Diane thinks she is the last blogger to post about S&W, but really, I think it is me!

What can I say that hasn't already been said? It was truly fabulous. Great friends, amazing yarns, cute fuzzy animals... It was perfection. Both days were so spectacular weather wise. And Sunday was even cool enough for me to wear Arwen all day.

Saturday morning, I had all the girls (and one very brave man - Jody's husband) over for a pre-fest breakfast. After filling up on coffee and bagels, we headed off to the fairgrounds. (Sorry we left you in the bathroom Jen!!!) I didn't get very far through the gates before my wallet sprung a leak.

Here's the 2007 haul!
The MDS&W Haul

Apparently, I was on a brown and blue kick. I didn't even realize it until I got home. In the picture, we have...
Handmaiden Seasilk
Blue Moon STR in Obsidian
Tess Supersock
Louet Gems
and
Persimmon Tree Farm

I love each and every skein. It's all gorgeous. The STR has already been cast on for socks (trying to come up with my own design.)

The Seasilk was a definite cave in my resolve. I spied in on Saturday and fondled it for many minutes until I finally convinced myself I didn't need it. I already have two skeins of Seasilk in the stash. I didn't need more. Well, I ended up thinking about it all night long. So on Sunday I decided if it was still there, I would get it. When I got to the booth, it was the last skein of Seasilk they had, in the exact color I wanted. I HAD to get it! Really! It is so gorgeous!

In addition to the yarn, I also got two needle felting kits and Folk Knitting in Estonia, which I had wanted for a while.

I ran into a few blogger friends including Minty and Gryphon (and her gorgeous baby girl!) and went to the Blogger meet up for a bit. I had a great time wandering around with everyone, but I crashed pretty early. (I had been up since 6 a.m. which is completely unheard of in my theatre life.) So, I went home and crawled in bed.

Sunday, I woke up bright and early. I finished seaming and blocking Arwen and then headed back to the fair. I met up with the girls again and hung out on the hill and knit for awhile.
The girls

Then I wandered off to make sure I hadn't missed anything to spend my money on. I stumbled on one of my favorite festival events... The Shepherds Lead Contest. It is basically a sheep fashion show. It's all these little kids that are dressed in handmade wool garments and they are leading around their pet sheep - who are dressed to match!!! So ridiculous and so cute!
Sheep Fashion Show

This was my favorite...
Sheep Fashion Show

In case anyone is interested for next year - Adults can enter too! And, you don't have to own a sheep - you can borrow one!!

Soon after, I hooked up with Amie. She had to pick up a wheel that she had repaired. The guy told her to test it out before she took it home. And instantaneously, she drew a crowd.
Amie spinning

After her one woman spinning show, there may have been some ice cream and then we went and picked up some prize winners from the Skein and Garment Competition.

Amie's Sockness Monsters
Amie won a blue ribbon!

Jolene's socks
And Jolene won a blue ribbon too!

Hooray for Jolene and Amie!!! (And to Jolene I say... I told you so!!)

And then we were done. I went home a very happy and very tired girl. It was a perfect weekend. See you next year!!!
Fuzzy bunnyLlama llama Duck!
Angora goatSheepy
AlpacaSleepy Sheepy

11 Comments:

Blogger Terri Lynn said...

What a great post, the Arwen is spectacular and looks so good on you! And all the yarn and cute pics of the kids and goings on at the fair!

I can't wait for our Estes thingy here in Colorado.

11:26 PM  
Blogger Mintyfresh said...

great location choice for the photo shoot! congrats on finishing; it looks great.

11:40 PM  
Blogger chacha / Jen said...

Arwen looks fantastic! Excellent job! :)

I'm seriously going to develop a complex about using bathrooms... ;)

2:04 AM  
Blogger KT said...

Fuzzies! Arwens! Pretty colors! Animals! Socks! Blue Ribbons! Yay!!!

And getting up at 6:00a...you poor thing!!! At least it was worth it!

2:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your photos are GREAT! I am sad I missed the shepherd contest, it looks so cool.

Congrats again on finishing Arwen. It looks amazing, and your photos are great!

8:21 AM  
Blogger Stacey said...

that came out beautiful - and what a great place for a photo shoot - I'll have to come down there to do all mine.. :)

I wish I had gone back with you guys on Sunday!! Looks like you had fun...

10:13 AM  
Blogger Amie said...

Ice cream? I saw no ice cream! Who had ice cream???

11:43 AM  
Blogger Jody said...

Awesome photos!! I NEED to get down to the Arboretum sometime!

11:51 AM  
Blogger Lolly said...

Coleen, it is just an amazing cardigan! what a great color and fit for you too! Love it love it! and what a pretty photo shoot too :)

MDSW was jam-packed. Sorry I only got to see you for 5 minutes!

12:30 PM  
Blogger Lucy said...

GREAT PICS and Arwen is GREATER!!

11:34 AM  
Blogger Fun is always in style. said...

Arwen is beautiful! I like your blog & love Babs the knitting chicken... can never have too much Nick Park :)

12:01 PM  

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