Would an Evil Laugh be Appropriate?

This is amazingly like me. I wasn't sure what I'd come up with, but it's pretty spot on, although I like to think I'm a little more adventurous than this. (I know, I know- it's just a quiz!) I will admit, though, that I mainly used to knit scarves, and I've been working on my Royale Wrap for months, having bought the yarn several years ago.

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer. You are through those knitting growing pains and feeling more adventurous. You can follow a standard pattern if it's not too complicated and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've started to experiment with different fibers and you might be eyeing a book with a cool technique you've never tried. Perhaps you prefer to stick to other people's patterns but you are trying to challenge yourself more. Regardless of your preference, you are continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as well you should since your non-knitting friends are probably dropping some serious hints, these days.http://marniemaclean.com
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Mmm... Oakland

I went to the Knitting & Crochet Expo at the Oakland convention center, with my parents. We didn't get to stay for very long, as we got there maybe 12:30, and the market closed at 3. As we all know, 2 1/2 hours to see a couple dozen booths (some- like Carolina Homespun- very large) is not enough. Plus, all the cash I had was $11, because I forgot to go to the bank, and I don't have an ATM or credit card. (I did get 4 oz. of hand-dyed superwash and a mini baggie of silk noil from Royale Hare, who I first bought from at the Gravenstein Apple Festival in Sebastopol.) It was sort of depressing that I had no money, and my mom kept rubbing it in my face (she's really into reminding me that I need to remind myself of things), but I did see some things I liked, and made note.

Next year, I think I'll organize to take a class or two at the Expo, so I can spend more time getting to know people.

In the last half hour or so of the market, my parents and I chatted with the ladies of Royale Hare (not the owner, but the two women who helped her). They both go to Renaissance Faires (RF), and are RF guild people; one of them is the head of a guild that does women-stuff: spinning, knitting, singing (her words). So, of course now I'm excited to go back to the RF, and maybe I'll find motivation to join a guild.

Thinking of RF, I have a friend (Cynthia) who- last Christmas- started a little company that goes to the Dickens Fair in San Francisco, and she thinks maybe she'll do an RF if she can find one that's close enough and long enough running for her tastes and time. Oh!- almost forgot- she runs a booth that does crafts with kids: sachets, pomanders, roving angels (sacriledge- she cuts the roving so the angels will stand up!), painted lanterns/fans, and bath bombs. The nice thing about kids' crafts is that you don't have to be concerned with authenticity. I may work for her (the pay would be slim-to-nothing, 'course), because she's fun to work with, her daughters want nothing to do with it, and it'd give me an opportunity to a) do crafts and b) be at a Renn fest.

In the Beginning...

I fully intend this to be a craft-only blog, not that it matters. (You can't tell me what to do... Bwahahahah!!)

I've been spinning about 1 1/4 years. I started two Januaries ago, at a local Girl Scout event called Discoveree. There was a spindling class, which I took (I was so excited, I bought Spin-Off just to get acquainted with the material). It was a great beginner's class- we handled several kinds of fiber, and tried to guess which was which, and then we made CD spindles, and spun up some admittedly yecchy yarn, which we Andean plied (I still use the technique when I have a small amount of singles that need plying) (Andean plying is a certain way of wrapping the singles around your hand so you can ply from both ends).

The next thing I spun was 2 oz. of soy silk that I got on eBay. Whoa. I can't remember what I thought of it at the time, but looking at the yarn now, I think I did pretty well (I'm a fast learner). I remember I stayed up all night plying the yarn. I also remember I wrapped the singles too tightly around my hand, and I could barely get the stuff over my middle finger to start plying; my finger was turning dark red, and was a little swollen- not happy, and I was freaking out (quietly) that I was going to have to CUT all that hard work off my hand, or lose a finger. Fortunately, I worked the stuff off, and proceeded to ply. I haven't used it for anything yet, as I intend to dye it some fabulous color.

Oh, I just wanted to say that I'm calling this a craft-blog because I don't just do one craft (most of us don't). I spin, knit, crochet, I'm a beginning weaver and I will dye at some point (I've certainly collected enough dye), and I may or may not learn to dry felt. I also do a bajillion other crafts (it comes with the territory when you work with Girl Scouts). Plus, I paint. So, any and all of aforementioned crafties will be featured herein.