Friday, December 10, 2010

Craft Fair Eve

I still don't have this craft fair thing down - I mean, the getting ready part. I woke up about 3:00 this morning and realized that I have nothing to spin on my wheel, that is, nothing of color. I laid in bed and calculated my morning, how I could dye wool and make two batches of cookies before lunch. I remembered that I had this 4 ounce bump of merino, bamboo, silk that I bought from Mim last spring.
I have been spinning the undyed roving on my drop spindle, planning to dye the finished yarn. I know I bought it last spring because I took it to Spindle Camp in May for my first major drop spindle project and boy, was it challenging. Anyway, I still don't have dye liquors so keep limping by with my Gaywool dyes.
I poured the three dyes in stripes, then covered with water and baked at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes. I lost track as by then I'd started on the cookies. I'd already started the day with my coffee at the spinning wheel so was in a pretty good state of mind.
My current spinning is Alpaca/
Rambou-
illet roving for my squishy cable cardigan and I am on the last bump, last bobbin. I'm eager to get it done so I can start the sweater, but will it be nice to spin some color for a change. The dye took up nicely but I really do need to break out of my purple rut.
I went over to Mim's after lunch for some girl time in her womb room. I wish I had the presence of mind to take a photo of the gorgeous rovings she has for sale. I selected these two blue-faced Leicester bumps and plan to spin them lace weight (not together). I realized there's no way mine will be dry and ready to spin by the time I leave for the fair in the morning.
Most of her flock were on the north side of the house and we had watched them from the window. I love Shetland sheep. They are like a cross between meat sheep and goats, very personable and entertaining. I didn't realize any of her sheep were by the barn until they started yelling at me. Yes. They were yelling.
The dining room is my staging area. I have almost everything here, except my wheel, spinning chair and roving. All this for a five-hour gig. Sandy is driving so I want to be ready when she gets here at 8:15. Oh yeah. I need a sandwich.

And of course, everything is subject to approval by the snooper-
visor. That's a pretty exciting box he's checking out since it comes from our potter neighbor who is sitting his open studio this weekend so can't participate in the fair. I'm taking a sample of his wares and cards - a pottery babysitter?
I made some origami boxes from an old historic Nevada calendar before I went over to Mim's - 12 months, 6 boxes. If I can't sell them, I'll use them as gift boxes for soap. Sandy, Mim, Jeanette (whose alpaca is in my hats) and I will share a booth space. If nothing else, we will have fun.
I didn't even burn the cookies. I promised Ian half the chocolate chips cookies - his favorite. The crafter price of admission is a platter of cookies, which will be available, along with coffee, to the shoppers. I did it! I got everything done and I even cooked a delicious dinner from my new Cooking Light cookbook I bought at Costco. It's my new most favorite cookbook ever.

And here is some merriment of the most merry sort, Silent Monks singing the Hallelujah Chorus. It's a lovely way to end a week. Skip my whole post and just watch this~

9 comments:

re'New said...

OOOOO... I likey the boxes! Those are really neat :) I've been meaning to dig out some of my horse sketches and scan them in to print out into notecards. Never seem to find the time to do it- and I need to remember to find some envelopes, too. It seems I need to find some smaller items to sell in my booth. Maybe I could raid my daughter's photo file, hmmm.... you give me ideas! Have fun at the craft sale - I really like the cookies as booth rent idea. Hope your weather is better than ours! I'm wondering if the event I"m supposed to do will happen. Blizzard...

Kim said...

Beautiful colors! I haven't been by in a while, but wish you all the luck in the world! You need no luck, but there it is. Such yummy looking cookies too!

Anonymous said...

Great oragami boxes! Good luck at the fair.

Nina said...

I hope you sell out at the fair! The cookies look so yummy. I do have a soft spot for purple so I really like those newly dyed rovings although the BFL look pretty awesome too.

Valerie said...

whoa...I got tired just reading that post! what kind of coffee do you drink!?

BTW...whatever that link is, it's broken. Tease!

Good luck with the sales.

vlb5757 said...

Love, love the colors your of your roving. I just got my two dye books and dye back from a friend and I am going to dye some wool that I bought from a CSA. I hope my stuff turns out half as nice as yours did! I hope you did well at the craft fair. The cookies looked really good too!

Michelle said...

What a perfect arrangement - the crafters get in for cookies, and the shoppers enjoy homebaked goodies! I think ALL craft fairs should follow suit! I'm headed down to a craft fair in Salem today to pick up a couple things I ordered at the little fair Brian and I attended last Sunday. Pictures to follow!

Birdsong said...

I hope you did well! I haven't gotten this whole thingy down yet either, though I do realize that I create marketable items; just not that I can market well myself, at least not yet!

bspinner said...

Good thing you're retired!!! You make me feel like a "slacker". Great dye job and I love the boxes. Never seen anything like them before.

Good luck at the fair.