Weekend Fun

Ah, the weekend....where did it go? Time always goes at fast speed for me and especially when I'm having fun. And I did have fun this past weekend. Saturday morning at 6 am, Sara, Kim and I met in the parking lot at Meijer and, after a breakfast fast food drive-through, we were on the way to the Southeastern Animal and Fiber Fair (SAFF) just outside Asheville, North Carolina. The 4 1/2 hours down passed quickly for me, but I will admit that all I did was sit and knit and talk. Sara ended up driving the whole time, both ways, so I got more knitting time than I was expecting. Once it was daylight, the drive was beautiful. There were many colorful trees, unlike here at home where the drought has turned everything brown.

SAFF was much as I remembered it from the last time I went, years ago. Although it did seem to have a bigger commercial area, I thought the fiber animal show looked smaller. There didn't seem to be as many sheep competing, but there was a fairly large contingent of alpacas. It is certainly not in the league of Maryland or Rhinebeck, but it was a nice outing on a beautiful fall day.

One of the best things about the trip, for me, was going in to downtown Asheville, visiting a terrific yarn store and eating dinner at a wonderful vegetarian restaurant, The Laughing Seed. The yarn store was Purl's Yarn Emporium and it was chock full of great yarns and books. I loved the eclectic decor and comfortable places to hang out. Even better was the attitude of the sales staff---so friendly and helpful. Dinner at The Laughing Seed was an experience in fabulous food and all you could hope for in good service. I would definitely recommend both places to anyone traveling in the area.

Since I didn't do any driving, I did do some knitting. Did I finish up any of the many projects I took with me? Why no! I cast on for a new project, but one I've been wanting to make for a long time. I am knitting Eric's Glovelets from Green Mountain Spinnery I have had the pattern forever and am embarrassed to admit that I had not actually read to comments describing the pattern. I assumed Eric was a man and the glovelets were man sized, but I liked the design so much I was intending to change the pattern to fit me. Turns out, Eric is a designer and musician (woman) who lives somewhere close to the Spinnery. I have finished the first glovelet and am working on the second one. It's a pretty quick knit and would be great for Christmas presents. The baby cable pattern keeps it interesting and I am loving the mossy green tweed. I'm using 2 balls of Rowan Scottish Tweed DK (color # SH015) that I found in a sale bin on my last trip to Cincinnati. (It looks as though it will take about 1 1/2 balls.) I did lengthen them enough so that they came further down my fingers and if I knit another pair, I will make the thumb smaller. These are likely to become my every day mitts this winter.