I had a great time at Black Sheep Gathering last Saturday with Kate.

There were no yarn purchases this year, but there was a lot of fiber purchased.  I didn’t have a huge fiber stash before, but now I’m fairly satisfied with my stash.  I’m going to post in the order of purchase.  I’m not sure that there was a method to my buying, but I’m pleased with the fiber I came home with.  On to the details…

First up, 10.2 beautiful ounces of Blue Faced Leicester Top from Diacentra Designs in the colorway Madrona Dark.  It’s a soft blend of dark red/maroon, slate blue and gold.  It really became a tough color to capture with the camera.  I know that the photo here does not do it justice.

I purchased this fiber of purples, blues and greys with the colorway name Heather.  I looked at this one for quite a while before I got it.  I wasn’t going to, but I’m such a sucker for purple.  It’s a Wolf Creek Wools blend of 70% superwash merino and 30% alpaca top, 4.3 ounces in total.

Next up, 2 ounces of 80% merino, 20% angora roving.  It’s Bunny Patch Fiber from New Hue Handspun in the Ancient Roses.  This one was a bit of an impulse buy.  I wasn’t sold on the roving by looking at it while walking by.  As I stood around waiting for Kate to purchase some, I noticed she was selling hanspun out of the roving, and I really loved the look of it.  I decided to buy some and see if I could spin a yarn as nice as the ones she had.

Next, 8 ounces of Superwash Merino from Crown Mountain Farms in the colorway Hey Jude.  It’s a blend of purples, blues, greens, yellows, and oranges.  From talking with them at their booth, this is a new colorway for them.  This is the same vendor that I purchased my alpaca lace from last year for my Icarus shawl.  I loved the yarn, so I’m hoping to love this roving.

At the Tactile Fiber Arts booth, I picked up 4 ounces of a natural colored alpaca silk blend.  It’s 80% alpaca and 20% silk, and so soft.  I admired it several times before stopping by to pick it up.  I can’t even begin to be able to explain how soft this stuff is.  I also love the natural black color with the silk blended in to lighten it up.  I think this is going to be a dream to spin.

Finally, on my way out of the show, I stopped by the Creatively Dyed booth.  I debated for a while, but finally walked away with 8 ounces of the 70% Wool, 30% Seacell blend.  It’s mostly orange, with lots of blues and greens blended in.  If I were naming the color, I’d call it Key West, just a vibe I get from the color scheme.

It’s been a crazy few weeks around here.  We’ve had a ton of out-of-town visitors, which has meant very little knitting and spinning time for me.  I’ve had two projects that I’ve been working on.

With the visitors and other things, I was in a bit of a project funk.  I had nothing on the needles and there was nothing I wanted to make.  I’ve found that the best way for me to deal with this is to just sit down and make something.  Socks are usually an easy answer because I know I’ll wear them, I’ve got plenty of stash, and there are a ton of patterns in my queue.  So, I sat down and picked a sock out of the new Cookie A. book, Sock Innovation, and I cast on for Devon.  The first sock was finished fairly quickly.  However, it may be the first time I’ve had a case of second sock syndrome.  I finished the first sock and had no motivation for the second.  I languished again with nothing on the needles and then finally forced myself to cast on the second.  The pattern isn’t the problem, it’s well written and makes a nice sock.  I’m on the leg of the second sock, but not sure when I’ll finish them.

At work, there’s a bit of a baby boom going on.  Three baby girls are expected in my department over the next three months.  When it comes to baby gift knitting, I’ve always been a bit hesitant.  It’s a lot of work for someone who may not appreciate the effort, and I usually don’t have much baby-safe (machine washable) yarn in my stash, other than sock yarn.  Since the baby parents to be are not knitters, I never feel comfortable giving gifts that require any special washing.

I’ve loved the look of the Tiramisu blanket since I first saw it on Ravelry.  Yes, it’s crochet, which I rarely ever do, but I’ve just really wanted to make it.  When I was at the store the other day, there was a great deal on a few colors of the Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice yarn.  I picked up some in Rose and Fern.  I got enough to make two blankets.  One will be Rose with a Fern border, and one will be Fern with a Rose border.  It’s actually a project that I’m excited about, so I think it may be the way to get me back to knitting.

I’m making quick progress on the blanket.  I’m not sure if it’s because crochet uses more yarn than knitting, or if I just am so used to knitting with lightweight yarns.  I’ve crocheted about 250 yards, and I’ve only worked on it for one evening.  I don’t think there should be any problem getting the first one done before the first baby, as long as she doesn’t come too soon before her July 10th due date.

Finally, this weekend is Black Sheep Gathering.   I’m headed down to Eugene with Kate.  I’m pretty excited.  I wasn’t a spinner last year when I went, and there is a ton of fiber at this event (lots of yarn, too).  I’m trying to decide what my budget should be.  I have a feeling I might go a bit overboard on the fiber buying.  I’ve been managing my yarn stash for so long that it isn’t a huge deal to me to not buy stuff.  But, my fiber stash is relatively small, and shows like this are only a few times a year.  I’ll be sure to take pictures and post details when I get back.