Estes Park Wool Market

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Two weeks ago was one of my favorite events of the year - the Estes Park Wool Market. One of the best things about living in Denver is that I live within driving distance of this fiber paradise. And this year I managed to talk Denise and Megann to come to Denver and go to the Wool Market with me.

It was unseasonably cold in Colorado, but that didn't stop us from having a great time. We stayed up in Estes one night so could get to the market early and enter some of my handspun in the handspun competition. We even had a chance to meet up with our friend Lynda - a fellow Spring Flinger and fiber junkie. I can always count on seeing her at Estes and Taos.



We ooh'd and ahh'd over the Paco-Vicunas, Alpacas, angora bunnies and the goats and I made friends with one of the goats. He was so soft!



If you happen to know this goat and would like to send me it's fiber to spin, I wouldn't complain!

One of the highlights of the weekend for me was the handspun competition. I entered two categories, thin wool singles and goat fiber other than mohair.

My wool singles won 1st place!


And my pygora won 2nd place!


Not bad for the first time I've entered! I learned a lot from sitting in on the judges comments session at the Market and can't wait to enter again next year.

The rest of the weekend, we spent our time knitting, spinning and setting up my new loom. Since I didn't have enough hobbies, I decided to take up weaving. I'm really excited to see what I can make. This is my first project in progress.



This photo makes it look much more neon than it really is. These are the skeins I used:



The purple is the warp and the green/blue is the weft (look at me go with the weaving terms!). I've finished it, but haven't had an opportunity to take photos yet. I'll show it and the dish towel that is currently on the loom off in a future post.

Happy Adoptiversary to Purl and Ashford! It is hard for me to believe that three years ago my sweet tortie girls came to live with me and Xena. I'm so lucky to have these goofy cats in my life.

An Urban Adventure

In August, my friend Tali, my little sis Mary and I are going to be competing in the Denver Oyster, an urban adventure race. The three of us are competing in the full course, a 4-6 hour race where we get clues, find our way to a checkpoint somewhere in Denver, then complete a task that could include a physical challenge, a puzzle or any other type of crazy challenge the organizers can come up with before we are given our next clue. Sort of a mini Amazing Race. We can't wait!

One of the requirements to competing in the race is that we raise money to support the local Make a Wish Foundation. This is a fantastic organization that helps make the dreams of sick kids come true. Our team's goal is to raise $800. We'd love to have your support!

In order to entice you to make a donation, I'm going to hold a drawing. For every $5 you donate by July 31, 2010, you will receive an entry to win a skein of my handspun. I will be giving away at least four skeins of handspun and I'm sure I'll find a few more goodies to add to the prize list, including something for the non knitters. I'll post photos of all of the prizes by July 1. The drawing will be held between Aug. 1 - 15. Here's two of the skeins to start:



1. 400 yds of 3-ply fingering weight, spun from an Enchanted Knoll Fibers Happy Hooves Club Sparkle Batts "Roses in the Snow" (mauve, gold and white with a hit of pink sw merino fiber and sparkles, sparkles sparkles!). Photos can't capture how sparkly this yarn is!



2. This may look like a plain ball of brown fiber, but looks can be deceiving. It is 2 oz of cashmere fiber, purchased this weekend at the Estes Park Wool Market and soon to be spun by me. Based on past experience, I expect to get at least 400 yards (more likely 500-600 yds) of gorgeous and oh so soft 2-ply laceweight yarn.

Additionally, a person or business that donates $50 or more will have the option of their name or url on the back of our team shirts and recognition on my blog.

Any business donating $200 or more would receive their logo on the back of our team shirts and recognition on my blog.

To donate, just click here and select Denver, Team Cupcake Mafia, and Team Member Lynn Zimmerman.

Thank you for your support!

Just one of those days

Waking up at 5:30 a.m. to a blaring carbon monoxide detector followed by a visit by three of South Metro Denver's Bravest is not a great way to start the day. Fortunately, it was a false alarm and I've purchased a new CO detector. I hope I'll get a good night's sleep tonight.

It turns out that 2.5 years after you move into a new house is when things start to break. Last week, I fixed a toilet, and this afternoon my doorbell started buzzing so I had to dismantle it. So, if you're coming over to my house, please knock and walk carefully. Hopefully, this isn't a sign of bigger things to come.

In happier news, Colorado decided to skip spring and after a mid May snowstorm we have gone straight into summer. While I would have liked a little bit of a spring, I'm just thrilled to see the sun. I've been able to get out and ride my bike and go hiking with friends.



Last night, I met some friends in downtown Denver and we wandered around the Denver Chalk Art Festival. The artwork was amazing. It is hard to believe it is chalk on concrete.







And Xena and I have spent a lot of quality time sitting out on our front porch. She loves to roll around in the sunshine.



This coming weekend is the Estes Park Wool Market and this year my friends Denise and Megann are flying in to go with me. It will be great to see them again and I'm looking forward to a weekend of knitting, spinning and weaving! I'm also frantically trying to finish a two skeins of yarn before they arrive on Friday to enter in the handspun competition.

I finished my first skein this morning. This is some Pygora (really really soft cashmere-like goat fiber) that I bought at the Taos Wool Festival. The goats the fiber is from were raised on a farm in western Colorado so I thought it was appropriate to enter in a local competition.


(Pygora fiber, 1 oz, 192 yards)

I'm not sure if it's spun well enough to win because the fiber was a little nubby, which makes it hard to spin smooth, but it is the softest yarn I've ever made. And I think it's really pretty, nubs and all. I'm still trying to decide what skein #2 will be. I think it will be a low twist single spun from a long fiber like Wensleydale.

I also recently finished spinning this fiber from the Southern Cross Fibre Club. This fiber is dyed by a very talented dyer in Australia. The fiber is Shetland, which is one of my favorites.

Before:


After (4oz., 612 yards):


I have way too many projects on the needles and haven't made much progress on any of them. The one I'm most excited about right now is my second Daybreak Shawl (see Daybreak #1 here)

This version is made from Zauberballs, which is a single-ply self striping sock yarn. The colors in this yarn are amazing, but I have been disappointed with the quality of the yarn. I'm not even halfway through one of the balls and I have already come across three knots and numerous frayed areas. Not a good thing. That said, I'm very happy with how this is turning out.





Purl and Ashford are more interested in the project bag I'm keeping the Daybreak in than the actual shawl.



And another Purl photo just because I think it's adorable.

Never a dull moment

It has been a busy month here at Chez Zimm, plus I am fairly certain Colorado is trying to kill me with all of the pollen that is in the air right now. I have never sneezed so much in my life! But in happier news...

In March, I met six of my best friends for our annual girls weekend. This year we decided to meet up in Sedona and we rented the most incredible house. It was the perfect place for us to make dinner, hang out and catch up.



It was also a quarter mile from this.



The view from the top of that looks like this.



And the woman who owned the house is a wedding cake baker and she made us a fantastic cake. Yum!



Of course, I didn't manage to get a photo of the group of us. I'll have to do better next year!

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in St. Louis for The Loopy Ewe's Spring Fling. One of the highlights (aside from shopping at The Loopy Ewe!) was getting to take a class from Jared Flood, who is an incredible knitter and an equally incredible teacher. He helped make sweater knitting a lot less mysterious. I took my handspun Girasole - made from a pattern he designed - to class and I was beyond thrilled that he thought it was beautiful. It was a great compliment that someone who knew the pattern inside and out spent time looking at the detail. It was a proud moment for me. :)

It was a fun weekend full of spinning and knitting where I got to spend time with friends from past Flings and make new ones. It always goes by so quickly! I got to room with my good friend Stacy, and if you want to get a taste of what happens at the Fling, check out The Knit Girllls videocast - episode 7 was shot in my hotel room and features Stacy (I was in the studio audience and some of my projects make an appearance!).

In finished object news, I completed my Daybreak Shawl. It was also a big hit at the Fling and I think several other Flingers went home with yarn to make this easy and beautiful pattern. Mine was made from two different skeins of Madenlintosh Tosh Sock. Project details can be found here.



I loved making this so much, I've already got the yarn ready for number 2 - and maybe #3.

I also finally finished the Baby Surprise Jacket and it went to little Jasper in Taos. It probably couldn't have made it to him any later, because the sleeves are a bit short and he slightly resembles a sausage wearing it, but I still think he looks awfully handsome.



The BSJ pattern is the perfect pattern for handspun yarn.

Speaking of handspun yarn, I made some yarn as a gift for Sheri from The Loopy Ewe as a thank you gift for inviting me to attend the Fling.



This is 425 yards of fingering weight yarn spun from black BFL dyed by Gale's Art. The colorway is Cherry Blossom. Sheri happens to have some of that colorway in stock. It's a beautiful fiber to spin.

It is springtime in Colorado, which means it could be snow one day and a heat wave the next, but there is always sunshine. The girls have fallen in love with the sunbeam on the stairs.

Xena had to squish herself up against the wall to enjoy this one.



And Purl knows that the sunlight brings out her colors and makes her look serious.



It's not a sunbeam, but Ashford seems to have found her doppelganger.

Springtime in Colorado

It was 70 degrees yesterday. This is the view from my front door tonight.



5-10" is expected. Craziness!

Happy 2010!

What? It's March, you say? Seriously? How did it get to be March anyway? Life just continues to speed by and I'm just trying to keep up. At least I can say my new year has been a productive one so far.

In January, I spent a fantastic weekend in the OC with Megann and Denise. We met two years ago at The Loopy Ewe Spring Fling and became fast friends. Our rented beach house was perfect for hanging out and knitting, plus we went on a fantastic yarn shop crawl. We had so much fun that I only took one photo the entire weekend. At least I can prove that Megann and Denise were there.



I've also have spent a fantastic weekend skiing at Copper Mountain with my friend Allison, but I didn't even take the camera out. A photographer, I am not.

I have been doing a lot of knitting and spinning, and because photographing projects is much easier than capturing events as they happen, I have photos!

This is my first pair of socks made out of my latest obsession - self striping yarn. I love these socks. The yarn is Yarntini in Cheertini. Hard to believe I had completed a Christmas project in February.



The yarn is Yarntini and the colorway is Cheertini Stripe. Love them!

I also have finished a Stacy Shawl. My good friend Stacy dyed the yarn and it and the pattern came as a kit. This yarn is so soft. It's a blend of merino, cashmere and nylon. I definitely am looking forward to my next project with this blend. Yum!



On the spinning front, I can't believe I haven't shared this yarn yet. This consumed most of my spinning time for the last six months of 2009. Countless hours were spent spinning two bobbins of singles and I spent 13 hours plying this yarn. 1500 yards...out of 4 oz of a superwash merino/silk blend from PoppyFlowerFibers. Amazing stuff. And I'm quite proud of the finished product. I've picked a pattern, now I just need to get up the nerve to knit with it. Nothing but perfect will be acceptable for this yarn.



After the marathon spinning project, I needed an instant gratification project and spun some Romney wool dyed by Hello Yarn. I'm not a huge fan of the long wools - too coarse and scratchy - but I love the colors and I am very happy with the finished yarn. It even matches the kitty.



Finally, my grandma's birthday was over the weekend. I have a quilt that she made me for my high school graduation. It gets a lot of use in the winter since I keep my house fairly cool. I'm not sure who appreciates it more, me or Purl.



Happy birthday, Grandma!

Tis the Season

I finally drug the tree out of storage and decorated tonight. It's feeling a little more like Christmas! And the fact that it's supposed to be -2 degrees tonight means the holiday isn't very far away.

I was excited to get the tree up so I could put my new star on top. The pattern is the Star Tree Topper (Ravelry link) from the 2009 Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts issue. As soon as I saw the pattern, I knew I had to make one out of my handspun. The fiber was easy to choose. I dug out my sparkly batts from Enchanted Knoll Farms and picked the perfect one. Josette is the queen of sparkles!

The batt..


This is the yarn. Unfortunately, it's hard to capture the sparkles in a photo.


I think it looks great on the top of the tree!




Now, to catch up a bit...

In October, I was able to attend the Schacht 40th Anniversary Celebration in Boulder. Here I am with my handspun yarn that was a finalist in their contest.



Unfortunately, I didn't win the grand prize, but it was fun to get to be a part of the event. The woman who won the grand prize spun peacock feathers into yarn. How do you compete with that?

I also took a trip back to Oklahoma for my friend Andrea's baby shower. Of course her baby girl needs some handknits. I made her this sweater...



and this hat.



Mary, Phil and I also went to Taos for the Taos Wool Festival, and once again we had an amazing time with James and Becca.



This is the view from James and Becca's porch. How could a person not love this place?


Finally, I hosted Thanksgiving again this year and was very pleased with how the turkey turned out. Thank you Alton Brown for showing me the way and insisting that I brine the turkey. Yum! I used this recipe from Whole Foods Market: Honey and Rosemary Brined Turkey

The turkey looks a little crispy in this photo, but I promise you it was just right. So tender.



We had enough food for about 20 people. There were 5 of us. Yea leftovers!



Anybody want some turkey?

Xena would, but then she'd have to move out from under the Christmas tree.