Trip to SAFF

Mitzi, Carla, and I made plans to visit SAFF in Fletcher, NC for the last weekend in October.  Carla took care of renting a very historic and charming house in Montreat.  And Mitzi agreed to be the driver.  I am the enthusiastic “moocher”…..Sally met us in Fletcher as she and her husband had already planned a trip there in their motor home.

SAFF is a huge fiber festival.  Next year it will repeat its date of being the weekend after Reinbeck in New York.

Here is the link to see the fun for yourself at SAFF.

https://www.saffsite.org

We drove through the mountains of Kentucky as we chose to go the shortest route that is not necessarily the quickest.  But it is definitely the most scenic.  We drove down 23 past Lousa headed for Ashville.  Montreat is a town next door to Black Mountain, NC.  Black Mountain is a darling small North Carolina Mountain Village.  Black Mountain is the Village that has grown up next to the neighborhood that includes Montreat Anderson College and the Presbyterian Conference Center that also goes by the name Montreat.

It 

We arrived in Black Mountain about 5PM and decided to drive by the little yarn shop that Carla frequents during her summer visits to the area.  It would probably be closed at 5PM, but we couldn’t resist.  And lo and behold, it was not only open, but packed and jammed.  Donna and Don who own the shop hosted what seemed to be half of the ladies who might be on their way to SAFF and stopping at the Black Mountain Yarn Shop on their way.  (Well might seem to be half until the next day when we say how huge SAFF really is!)

The house was charming and the neighborhood at Montreat is lovely.

Sweater detail done by Suzanne Byrom

The knitting group was very pleased last week when Sarah brought a new person to the knitting group:  Suzanne Byrom.  Suzanne was Mary's speech teacher at Barboursville High School.  It was very good to see her again.

Suzanne was knitting a green sweater.  I particularly liked the trim down the front of the sweater.  It was formed by adding another yarn for JUST the trim that made it heavier than the rest of the sweater.  So the main yarn was somewhat a mohair while the added yarn was more like a wool.  It is a very good look.  The pattern Suzanne is using is a Lion Brand pattern called Free Spirit Topper.  It calls for the trim to be in Seed Stitch.  I like Suzanne's variation much better.  I have filed the pattern in drop box as Free Spirit Topper in folder named sweaters.



Below is a photo of the two yarns.  However the color below is not true.  Both yarns were close to the color above and match each other well.  However the below photo gives an idea of the difference in the texture of the two yarns.  The body of the sweater is the fuzzier yarn (mohair?) while the added stability of the trim is caused by the addition of the second yarn which looks to be a worsted weight.

Mitzi's sweater out of ALP yarn

Mitzi made a sweater out of a very funky yarn that has brand name ALP.  I have stored the pattern in drop box in folder named sweaters.

Cokey's Hat

Cokey finished a darling hat out of Malabrigo Rasta which is a bulky yarn. It is knit on size 15 needles.   I think that I have some of the yarn on hand in the china closet in my bedroom.  She shared the pattern with me.  Pattern is in hats folder on drop box.  It only takes one skein.

Baktus Scarf

I think that I started a Baktus Scarf with yarn from Louisa Harding called Noema last spring.  The pattern is actually a lace version of the Baktus.  I am knitting the scarf on size 6 needles.  The yarn calls for size 6.  I can find the pattern on my knitting slide show by using Baktus as search term.  And there are also some photos of other versions of this.  Here is one more search term:  Spring knitting.


 Here is the work in progress:

I am adding to this post in June 2018.  I finally finished the scarf.  I like it a lot!  I wore it to knitting today and Sally took this photo:

Mitzi's shawl

Mitzi and Sally and I looked at a pattern and yarn several weeks ago. Mitzi bought the yarn and started on the project before Sally and I had purchased anything.  And Mitzi was disappointed with her project so neither Sally nor I bought the yarn nor pattern.  Now that I see the project in person, I am considering looking for pattern and yarn!  The yarn is Scheepjes Secret Garden.  And the pattern must be Shawl of Secrets.


I just bought the pattern and filed it in dropbox under shawls.  Here is the photo and yarn requirements from Ravelry:





Yarn Requirements 
50g Scheepjes Secret Garden : Rambling Blooms (705) 
50g Scheepjes Secret Garden : Summer House (707) 
50g Scheepjes Secret Garden : Hidden Pathway (701) 
50g Scheepjes Secret Garden : Secluded Lake (703) 
100g Scheepjes Secret Garden : Lavender Beds (704) 
50g Scheepjes Secret Garden : Herb Garden (702)

I have more projects than I can finish right now and the yarn is no longer on sale.  I think that I will put this project on back burner for a while.

Kelly's hat

Kelly finished her hat and tried it on for us all to see.  I like it a lot.  Don't want to loose the idea.  Kind of a tree of life motif on the side.  I think that I might make it just a bit less tall if I copy her idea.