Sock Toys 1

Alright, I've started Christmas gifts already. I'm trying to do better and finish more now so that I don't have to rush at the end. I recently purchased Toys to Sew: Dozens of Patterns for Dolls, Animals, Doll Clothes, and Accessories by Claire Garland. I love this book. I will warn that I don't feel this is a beginner's book. If you are not used to sewing, some of the instructions are a bit too brief and more information would be needed, such as how to sew knit fabric, where eyes, nose, and mouth are placed, etc. I'm used to placement diagrams and there was less in this book than I expected. But, I do love the toy I made. Check her out below. She's a gift for a little girl I know, but she's not for a family member.



When she doesn't have clothes on, she doesn't sit well. So, apparently the only way this little doggy is going to sit is with her dress on. The next project in the book is the Tiger, or at least my version of the tiger.

While sewing this little one, I kept giggling. I'd put an eye on and giggle. I'd put her nose on and giggle. My husband was in the room with me laughing about how happy this little project made me. And it did. Making this little dog made me smile. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to see toys come to "life". Needless to say, there will be more of these projects in the future.

Whatever you do, I hope you get to giggle now and then too!

SAFF 2007

Okay, I know I'm slow, but things are busy over here. Robin and I headed over to Fletcher, NC for the 2007 Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair. She headed up on Thursday evening and joined our friends up there at a cabin very close to SAFF. I headed up on Friday to join them at the show.

However, on the way up, I made a detour and went to Black Mountain, NC and picked up a Christmas gift for my mom (a small purse/wallet; she knows about it) at Black Mountain Quilts. I ended up buying me a wallet one and a small one that I used immediately. Sigh, I thought I was buying a wonderfully handmade item that was locally produced. Um, no, I was buying a Chinese made item, designed by a US company. I still like the items, but what a big disappointment. Why couldn't the company make them here? I know there are people out there that can make these.

Anyways, enough said about that. I had a hard time finding parking on Friday, which was great. This meant the fair was full of people and indeed it was. I headed into the show and dropped off patterns at Avillion Farms. I met up with my friends at the skein & garment competition, which we were in charge of again this year. We're still learning, but we're doing better. What we lack are volunteers to help keep an eye on the items so we can go shop. There were five of us that were mainly volunteering to watch the booth, one of which taught courses. We need more people next year to help out and hopefully we'll have help. Many people did stop by to help though and hung out with us, but not on Friday when we probably needed people more than on Saturday. Oh well, no use complaining about that right now.

There were many beautiful items entered in the competition, so competition was tough. Judging occurred on Saturday. We had three judges this year, unlike last year where we had a single judge who was overwhelmed by all the entries (over 160 I think last year). This year we had over 100. Judging went much faster, and judges were able to leave helpful comments on all entries. A vast improvement over last year. We also had three helpers down there to help the judges, some even modeled items for the judges. Very interesting process. I was up in the booth helping to set things up with Robin. I was her guru. She points, I place items. I also recorded winners in our booklet.

On Friday night, I took a few people back to the cabin where we stayed and Robin and I made dinner. Okay, so really Robin made dinner as I was working on determining where and how prizes were to be distributed across the 20 some odd categories. Some of our gift donors wanted their prize to go to certain categories, so the whole project was a huge logic puzzle. How to fit in the smaller prizes, how to even out prices so no one complains, etc. It took over 3 hours and thank goodness Robin made dinner and was fine with that. Isn't she great? Anyways, here's a pic of Robin relaxing before making dinner on the deck of the cabin. She's doing one of her favorite things -- reading. I'm not sure she even knows I took the shot. I think she read two books or something like that while she was there two nights. She's a fast reader.



What goodies did I buy? Well, first of all, let me say that I entered four items in the competition and won two firsts and one second, plus Judges Choice for my Soumak weaving bag (black bag with sunsets on it). I was stoked and had a gift certificate and some money to spend. I received some yummy socks as well from Creekwater Alpacas, but my feet are so small that I couldn't wear them (I often shop in the kids section for shoes, no joke; it's very embarassing). One pair of the socks already went to a loving home and the other will be going to my mom, where I'm sure she'll do what I did and sigh in luxury as she puts them on her feet -- they are that wonderful feeling. Unfortunately my feet slip inside them which means I'll get blisters if I wear them. :( Oh well, they were yummy feeling when I tried them on.

On Friday Robin and I got around to the different shops and Saturday and Sunday I finished my shopping. I'm a sucker for colored fiber. I bought some lovely fiber from Miss Babs. I've mentioned her store before and I love her stuff. In the image below is the batt I bought from her. In the image is also some sock yarn from Just Our Yarns, a purchase that was a result of a prize I won in the skein & garment competition.



The booth for the competition was below some very colorful fiber (from Gale's Art) that I eyed throughout Friday and Saturday morning's busy time. Finally I decided to take a look. The fiber was gorgeous and so yummy. I checked out my color choice with Robin, who was down below me, still in the competition booth. I'm sure the owner, Gale, probably had a heart stroke as I tossed the roving down to Robin (I asked if I could show, not toss; shame on me; of course in my defense we'd been down below for several hours). I bought a roving and coordinating color, to ply together.

Now, on Sunday, I just couldn't resist going to look again and buying one more roving and solidish color to ply together. Robin wasn't around to ask opinion as she had to leave on Saturday to be able to ring handbells on Sunday. Talented woman, isn't she? Anyways, when I told Robin that I stopped there again to buy another roving, she said she thought I would. Sigh, guess I really am a sucker for colorful things. Anyways, I also have an 8 oz roving she bought me that goes with the other two and some solid blue to ply with that roving. So, all together I have 1.5 lbs to make a luscious sweater, with an extra half pound kept in reserve. I think I'm going to like this. I just knew the rovings were meant to go home with me!

Left multicolor fiber is Deep Blue Sea, right multicolor roving is Potluck (one of a kind dyeing she does). Aren't they lovely together?



Okay, what else did I buy? Hmmm, some prints from Jane Voorhee. I bought two card ones and put them together in a frame. They look awesome on my mantle. I received a gift certificate to Lorien Alpacas, where I picked out some luxurious alpaca/nylon (85/15) roving that I plan to overdye and spin into sock yarn. Lovely stuff and nice people. She had other lovely blends, but once my hand encountered this stuff, I knew it had to come with me. I don't have a picture of that though.

What did Robin buy? Hmmm, not much. I'm forgetting right now, but she's on a fiber diet so to stay. I think silk bits, but maybe not. She found a bag pattern she liked at one place. She almost came home with a bunny. She tried to convince me that I needed a bunny to keep at her place. LOL. Sigh, I'm really forgetting what she purchased. I'll ask.

Okay, that's it for me on SAFF. Happy fibering!