Today was a good day

My love of fiber arts continues to grow and over the last year, I have been learning to weave. Today, I brought home my newest tool, a Schacht Baby Wolf loom. I am so excited to get it all put together so I can get it warped and start to weave.



I also came home to find a package from The Loopy Ewe. Sheri held a contest on Facebook when the shop hit 5,000 fans. I was the lucky winner! In true Loopy Ewe style, the prize was fantastic. I won a beautiful knitting bag and two skeins of yarn and two braids of fiber.





To top the day off, I got to have lunch with my beautiful baby niece Hazel (I'm a bad aunt - no photos of her today...I was too busy holding her!). I'm a very lucky girl.

Plying Demo

Some friends asked me to create a video of how I ply the yarn I spin. It's not the best video quality, but I hope it helps you see what I do to create an evenly plied yarn.

And of course, there is a cat cameo. Ashford couldn't resist being on camera.

Spinning

This is some fiber I'm spinning for a friend. I think it was dyed to be spun on a cherry wheel.

A new camera

Here's a short post to get back into the swing of things on the blog.

I recently bought a new camera - a fancy one in fact - because I wanted to take photos like I was seeing from some of my friends and on some of my favorite blogs.

It arrived earlier this week and I've been learning how all of the bells and whistles work on it. I think I'm going to like it.







Of course it is difficult to take a bad photo when you have models as cute as mine.

I'm looking forward to getting outside this weekend to try out the landscape features and take some portraits in natural light.

Crafting for Others

I'll admit, I'm usually pretty selfish with my crafts. I don't have as much time as I wish I had to work on my projects, so when I do have the time, it's usually something for me. But this summer, I've learned how much joy the things that I make can bring to others.

If you've been following my blog, you know that I offered several items that I have made as prizes in my fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Most of the prizes were already completed, but there are a few that were custom made for the winners.

The first was a handwoven scarf, won by Amanda. She picked out a fantastic skein of Wollmeise sock yarn in one of the sock club colorways, Hollerstaud'n. I think this scarf is so beautiful! There are definitely more Wollmeise scarves in my future.



I also am working on the hat that Tammy won. She picked out a pattern that I couldn't resist making out of handspun. I love the fiber she selected. I've only spun half of it because I wanted to make sure I got it bulky enough. I am completely enamored by this yarn, but's a little thinner than I had hoped, so I'll be back at the wheel to see if I can get the squishy bulky yarn I wanted. I'm sure I'll come up with something else to make out of this.



This last skein of yarn was not from the fundraiser. At The Loopy Ewe Spring Fling, I made a deal with my friend Jessica. I would spin a skein of 3-ply sock yarn, and she would knit me a pair of colorwork socks - something I would never make for myself!

The socks she knit for me are the Norwegian Rose socks by Wendy Johnson. I think I got the better end of the deal.



The yarn I spun for her is Rambouillet - a very soft and springy wool - hand dyed by JulieSpins. While there were times when I wanted to throw this wool out the window...we just didn't get along very well...I am very happy I stuck with it. I know Jessica is going to make something beautiful with it!

Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year. The leaves are changing, the air is crisp (although Mother Nature seems to be trying to hold on to some of the summer heat) and it just makes me want to spend time outside. I've been lucky this fall to go to some of my favorite places.

Over Labor Day, I went back to Kansas City to visit my friends and we spent a day in Lawrence. I hadn't been back there since I moved away five years ago. I enjoyed a black bean quesadilla from Free State Brewery, did some shopping on Mass St and then we went up to campus to wander around and take a trip down memory lane. It was a gorgeous day and it was the first football game of the season so there was a lot of energy on campus.

I love to see the game day flag flying on top of Fraser Hall.



Later in September, Gina and I decided to celebrate her birthday by taking a drive up to Breckenridge. We took 285 and the aspens were glorious.





This past weekend, Mary, Phil (click to see their photos from Taos) and I took our annual trip to Taos for the Taos Wool Festival and we once again stayed with James and Becca. I had been looking forward to this trip all year.

We stayed in their incredible house out on a mesa...



Such an amazing view from the front yard...



We took a hike through the sage...



And toured an Earthship that is under construction...



There are thousands of bottles and cans used to create this home...



and the fence...



Of course we went to the Taos Wool Festival...



And I can't post about Taos without including a photo of Jasper modeling a hat I made...



It's a bit snug, but he was a good sport.

Cracking the Oyster

It's been almost two weeks since Team Cupcake Mafia cracked the Merrell Denver Oyster and I still smile when I think about how much fun we had. It was a gorgeous blue skies Colorado day and Mary, Tali and I were all ready to race.



I saw more new to me places in Denver in the 6 hours and 30 minutes it took us to complete the course than I've seen in the almost 3 years I lived here. What a great way to see the city! We covered more than 30 miles on foot and on our bikes.

Our day included an early morning kidnapping, searching for public art, making guacamole at Chipotle (sounds easy - try doing it zip tied to 2 other people!), visiting the Pepsi Center, riding an absolutely insane ride (note to self: look at the NAME of the ride before deciding to ride it...if the name includes Chaos, keep on walking) at Elitch Gardens, kicking some goals at DU, eating cupcakes, riding scooters and playing beer pong. And we climbed a lot of stairs. A LOT. Phew. But I would do it again in a heartbeat.





I love this next photo...it was taken by the race photographer right after we had overtaken another team in our division. The intense competitiveness really came out. The thing I love most about the photo is that we're all looking in the completely wrong direction of what we were supposed to be looking for. We did find it shortly after the photo was taken.



Our support team Phil, Joe and Monica were incredible. They made sure we had everything we needed throughout the race and they were key to helping us figure out where we needed to go. They also set up our awesome transition area.



We ended up in 4th place in our division, which makes me incredibly proud. We certainly weren't the fastest team out on the course, but we worked so well together and enjoyed every step of the way. Next year we'll be aiming for a podium finish!

And we also raised a lot of money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Team Cupcake Mafia's grand total was $2605. Wow. We were recognized as one of the top fundraising teams and I was also recognized as one of the top individual fundraisers. The total money raised will make the wishes of three very deserving kids come true. I hope those kids have as much fun with their wish as we did at the Oyster. Thanks to everyone who helped us make this happen!

I can't wait until next year!

You can also read Tali's recap of the race on her blog.

Do you want to be a part of the Cupcake Mafia? We have some extras of our team tank tops and one could be yours for $30 (includes shipping). The shirts are a bamboo blend so they are super soft and they are great for the gym.

The front of the shirt:


The back, which lists the names of some of our awesome donors. And the ball of yarn and needles represents all of the knitters who made donations!



We have 1 small, 1 medium, 3 Large and 1 XL. If you're interested in purchasing a shirt, send me an email at lynnazimmermanATmacDOTcom.