this soon? I don't know where this year has gone. When working, I'm already scheduling appointments for 2018! It just amazes me how the days and weeks fly by.
Several yarnie things to report from the last few months.
I did a spectacular thing this summer. I went on a knitting cruise to ALASKA! This was huge for me as I very rarely take a true vacation and, in all these years, I have never been west of the Mississippi River.
I have been looking at / drooling over the trips posted on Craft Cruises website for years and years. FINALLY, I signed up for one from August 13-20. Of course, this cruise was just a tease as we only went to places in the "tail" of the state - Juneau, Sitka, Hubbard Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and Victoria, British Columbia.
When I told a knitting 
friend that I was going, she decided she wanted to go, too. Then, two other of our knitting peeps signed up and there were FOUR of us going! We went a few days early and stayed on Bainbridge Island - home of Churchmouse Yarns & Teas - and rode the ferry back into Seattle to check out 
So Much Yarn and Pike Place Market. I'm so glad we had those few days prior to setting sail.
There were sixty-four knitters on board and two teachers with a full week of classes available. You could sign up for as many classes with either teacher as you liked. I registered for the whole slate of classes with Galina Khmeleva. Galina is known for her great love and proficiency of knitting Orenburg Lace and was also a wonderful knitting historian.
While on the cruise, we visited yarn shops in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria and an indie dyer in Sitka. SO much fun! I came home with lots of wonderful goodies and fun memories. And......I'm ready to go again! I would definitely recommend Craft Cruises and hope to join them again in the future. 
In September, the annual A Wool Gathering was held at Young's Dairy in 
Yellow Springs. When I moved to Ohio Labor Day weekend 2009, this festival was held just a couple weeks after I arrived. Well, what a 
wonderful way for Ohio to welcome me! Each year, the event has grown. This year, the place was packed with vendors. Our wonderful Miami Valley Rug Hooking Guild had a great booth and drew lots of interest and some new members.
One of my favorite booths (see photos above) was Colorscape Studio (Etsy: Colorscapestudio) which featured all the colors of fall in naturally-dyed fiber by Laura Krugh. Laura's booth was breathtaking! The palette of colors!!!!!!! Just awesome! Natural dying is a lot of work! Not just the dying but the gathering and preparing of the materials for the dying process. She also runs Patchwork Gardens - providing fresh local food to restaurants and offering and bulk orders. I was impressed with her work AND her commitment to the earth and all things 
natural.
Last weekend, Susan and I headed to Columbus, OH for the Neverland Artisan Market held by a couple of friends and their talented friends. It was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to do some early Christmas shopping. We then headed to lunch and to check out Yarn It & Haberdashery. Awesome shop and way too much fibery temptation. Among other stuff, I found yarns (on the left) for the pattern Find Your Fade - an awesome shawl. I'm excited about knitting this! What do you think about the colors? I also found this gorgeous skein and since it matched the peppers that were lying on the counter, I had to get it! (Poor excuse but good enough for me!) This gradated yarn (on the right) will knit up as this - Hei Cowl.
Before leaving Columbus, Susan and I stopped to check out The Topiary Park - a topiary 
interpretation of George Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande Jatte. It is really a site to behold. Amazing that they can translate a painting with shrubbery. You can visit the website for pictures and, if you find yourself in the area, please go and see it in person! In fact, take your knitting and sit for a spell and knit few rows.
I've been doing a little bit of spinning - trying to spin up 
all of this roving that, now that I look at it, resembles the Find Your Fade yarn pictured above. The spinning wheel family here has a new addition - a Louet Hatbox. I have not allowed myself to touch it until this roving on the Lendrum has been spun up, plied, and wound into skeins. Anticipation is building!
Gotta share this picture with you. We celebrated Daddy's 89th birthday last week. 89 years young! WOW! I love this picture of the three of us - Mom, Daddy, and me - taken Labor Day weekend. They are my fan club and I am so fortunate to still have them with me.
Well, time to end this post. Thanks for hanging in there with me and reading to the end. I 
reward you with an aerial shot of my three kitties! From left to right - Earl Gray, Gracie, and Buster. I made tuna fish salad that night and the three were enjoying the juice from the water-packed tuna. This is very rare to have Gracie in such close proximity of the two boys. She couldn't pass up tuna fish juice!
Until next time and as always - thanks for reading!
