fiber twist north

Last weekend, we were at the Fiber Twist at our favorite farmers' market. This Saturday, we rolled northward nice and early. Destination: Franklin County (Massachusetts) Fiber Twist. We shared a booth with our friend, Leslie Wind, whose beautiful metal shawl pins and cable needle necklaces were a nice complement to Scott's glass work.

Leah was tickled by the whole thing, of course, but especially by the opportunity to wear her Sylvi sweater/coat in Twist Collective's fashion show. She otherwise spent the day flitting among the knitters, participating in charity knitting sessions, gathering ideas, soaking up colors, and doing metalwork with Leslie. She was also working on her Swallowtail shawl again, as apparently it's been in a time-out long enough.

Beads made of beads. Must find tutorial.
In between selling Scott's glass stuff, I enjoyed a steady stream of knitting friends I know from other places, folks I had just met but felt like I could talk to for days, and loving all the incredible things they were wearing -- beaded, felted, knitted, crocheted, woven, and on and on.

No lack of inspiration or ideas after a day at an event like this!

Leah made a point of visiting Gail Callahan, the Kangaroo Dyer, to tell her she finally found what she thinks will be the perfect pattern for the gorgeous red and black hand-dyed yarn Gail gave to Leah last year. They had a good chat and the next thing Leah knows, Gail is handing her this awesome skein of yarn to go turn into something fabulous!

It looks like blue shades on my monitor, but it's purples, from hazy gray-purples to full-on grape, with itty bitty iridescent sequins spun into it. Incredibly beautiful, especially for a kiddo who is recently falling back in love with knitting lacy patterns. This might become a Shetland Triangle or a Forest Canopy Shawl. Gail has a book coming out this winter and it's bound to be a great resource with stunningly dyed examples.

Home again in time to scoop up Jesse and head out to Pipes in the Valley, a Celtic music festival in Hartford, so we could see performances by the Wicked Tinkers and Gaelic Storm. Then home to bed, with another big day to follow.