Best Quote I Heard All Day
Too fucking busy, and vice versa. [Reply to her editor who was bugging her for her belated work while she was on her honeymoon]--Dorothy Parker

As always, Dot has le bon mot. Busy I have been and busy I will be this week.

Howsomever...let me introduce you to my stereo.

I call him Nigel. Sometimes I call him Japanese Piece of Shit. Isn't he cute? Sadly, he's due to go into a garage sale. He's not that cute. I'll throw in his handknit cover for free. Even Cleo won't sit on it.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Warm-up for Rhinebeck
Thanks to Joe, I found out about this last week and so I dragged John and his 15-year-old daughter Katie on a trek down to the Garden State Sheep & Fiber Festival at Hunterdon County Fairgrounds to check it out.

This is it. I wasn't expecting Rhinebeck but a nice, simple local show and that's exactly what it was. Some fiber, some sheep, some llamas, some alpacas, a few bunnies and sheepdogs.

I stopped at the North Country Spinners booth, where they had samples of their judged work on display. Because I am self-taught and have always spun in a void, without physical contact with spinners (other than Joe), I was very interested to see how my work compared with that of the guild members. I was really pleased that my work was equal to theirs.

Nice stuff. Very interesting to read the judge's comments as well. I've never been interested in entering my work, either knitting or spinning, into a competition because I do both to please myself, not some judge. However, I can see where some people get so wrapped up in competing that they forget why they're doing it to begin with.

I also got to see the Woolee Winder in action. A very worthwhile tool. Even though shifting the yarn from hook to hook isn't a big deal for me, I can see where it speeds up the spinning.

And no trip to any show is any good without pictures of recalcitrant alpacas, who refused to stay still for the photograph.

The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of The Lace
I'm almost there, 576 stitches on the needle and ready for the edging. The edging is begun with a provisional cast-on, and then each fucking stitch is attached to the edging, which is worked with a double-pointed needle. So here it is, some of it anyway, looking like a sorry sack o' shit.

Still doesn't look like much. However, it should be finished by next week. Three weeks from start to finish. That's pretty good for me.

Stitches Prep
God, I can't believe it's that time again. The camera is rested and ready. The cell phone aka Clive is ready. Ma is ready. I will be going next Friday and next Saturday. Friday is Ma's day because I'm a good daughter and I'm happy to spend the day yarn/book shopping with her. Saturday I'll meet up with Kathy, Liza and I hope Lisa. And of course, we'll have to free Carol from her booth duties at Rosie's Yarn Cellar. Lisa Myers, Rosie's owner, always brings good stuff.

So please, if you spot me at Stitches, don't hesitate to say hello. I don't bite, really. I'm quite friendly. And besides, you'll make my mother proud. She still doesn't quite get the whole blogging thing or the writing, for that matter.

Since I will be out of my mind for the entire weekend, between two days at Stitches and John's birthday next Sunday, I imagine that it will take me until Monday to publish the Gallery of Ghastlies. That is, of course, if I find good fuglies wandering about.

And I will find them. The KnitDweebs continue to use Stitches as their Promenade of Fugliness. So I'm sure they will be suitable garbed in tacky shit. Perhaps the X-men would like me to teach a class next year on rareness and handiness. Oh but I will be so disappointed if they turned me down for lack of teaching experience. Heh.

Addendum: Really good news! Loopy's son AJ is being sent home from Kuwait and discharged from the Army. The bad news? His back is fucked up, hence the good news. But at least he won't be a sacrificial lamb for Dubya's swell little war. That's one kid home safe and sound. Let's get the rest of them back. NOW.