One Fine Day

Another gorgeous day spent hanging out with friends, drooling over yarn and fiber - what could be better? Yesterday morning, a small caravan from MD drove through the countryside and crossed the border into PA to go to The Mannings for their 39th Annual Spinning Seminar.


It may not look like much in this picture, but trust me... The Mannings is sooo worth the trip. This was my second trip there, and I still love it. Room after room after room chock full of yarn, fiber, weaving equipment, spinning wheels, books, patterns,... pretty much any fiber related item you might ever need. This place is HUGE. There were lots of demonstrations going on including sheep shearing, spinning, natural dying, weaving and this guy was preparing flax for spinning.



But, I think my favorite part was all the animals they had there.


The picture in the center of the mosaic is my favorite.

It's a smiling alpaca!

We were all trying to figure out how we could fit a llama, a sheep, a few alpaca and that teeny kitten into the back seat of my car. SOOO cute!

Of course, a trip to a place like The Mannings had to include some serious stash enhancements. My first score for the day was this book.


I have wanted this book for a long time. My parents ordered it for me for Christmas and it is still on back order. So, when I saw it on the shelf, I pounced on it. There are so many gorgeous patterns in here. I am going to try to hold off until mitten season before I start casting on for anything. (I still have an anemoi to finish first!) But, I love the book and I'm so happy I found it!

To continue in my brown and blue faze, I also got some beautiful lace yarn.

First, I found this

The flash on my camera kind of washed out the color in this picture. The blue is much richer. It's Jaggerspun 2/18 wool in color Admiral.


This is some tencel that really, I HAD to have. It is so beautiful. The color is Acorn. I cannot wait to knit with this.

I've been itching to knit a lace shawl. I'm going to try to finish up my orange Trekking socks today and then maybe cast on for a shawl. I bought a Fiber Trends lace shawl pattern at the Mannings too, but I think I will be looking through all my lace books before I make a decision. But the tencel will definitely be my yarn of choice. We won't talk about the Seasilk scarf that I haven't finished yet.....

Thanks to Jody, Sarah, Cheryl, Jolene and Amie for a fabulous day! Again next year!

And it's not even my birthday..

In addition to a great trip, I have also been the recipient of a few fabulous gifts lately. I have been coveting one of Sarah's amazing box bags for a while and now I am a lucky owner.



It is so cute! I love it. It's a perfect sized project bag. And the fabric is this really great vintage-y looking beach print. And she made it just for me! Thank you Sarah!!!

Then.... I saw Jody's new bag (which Sarah helped her make!) and I loved that too. I kept trying to steal it from Jody. Well, she went and made me my own! I couldn't believe it.


How cute is that?? And Jody knows I kinda have a thing for chickens, so check out the inside of the bag....

Isn't it awesome? I love this bag! Thank you Jody!!!

And then, not to be outdone, Cheryl presented me with this lovely laceweight yarn. There's plenty there to make a shawl. It's a really pretty berry color. And guess what, I love it too! Thank you Cheryl!!!


I am so lucky to have such generous and talented friends! Thank you thank you thank you! I really am crazy about all these great gifts.