It's All About the Grrls

SOAR was so much fun because of the company. Of course the fiber is always fabulous, but meeting up with other fiber enthusiasts makes it that much better.  On the drive up it was a treat to spend 'one on one' time with Susan. We usually have a crowd of Stitch ‘n Bitcher’s around us so the quality time was a pleasure. We met up with Michaele and had a great time enabling encouraging each other while shopping.  First stop was  The Fold for Socks That Rock, due to Cara and the mania she started around Blogland.  Just so you know, half of what I bought went to her and two more to Snow. (I made sure Toni knew it wasn't just my addiction, Cara.)

Our next stop was the  The Wooly West booth where we visited with Nancy and did a bit of shopping. Yes, she is right here in SLC but we seldom take the time to run by or call, so this was a nice opportunity.  I bought this beautiful  Schaefer Anne and with 500+ yds, it will most likely become a shawl some day. With the yarn pictured is a set of book plates. Nancy's husband made up two different styles so that you can now carry book plates with you to a seminar or book signing instead of all the books you want signed.  Nancy also had many hand knit items from Estonia, including lace shawls. 

There were so many wonderful booths filled with yummy fibers for spinning and knitting.  At one booth I put my hand into a bag and couldn't get it to come out again. If the hand hadn't been attached to my body it would have stayed behind, stuck in the heaven fiber (I can't remember what it was but it was very expensive.)

Before long we found Marcia, one of the people we wanted to meet most of all. Here is Marcia, Susan and Michaele showing off the stash enhancement.

Michaele took her leave, but Susan and I went back to Marcia's room to meet her charming husband and enjoy an hour of chat while resting our weary feet. 

What would a fiber festival of any sort be without animals? Deb invited us to visit her farm in Kamas, Utah so on the way out of town we took a detour. We were greeted by curious looks on the faces of the alpaca and llama herd. You could almost here them thinking, "Who or what is that large herd coming toward us?"

Deb let them out of the corral to walk around and eat from our hands. Susan has a picture of me on her blog, trying to take a picture of the llama who is an arms length away. They were gentle and easily spooked but happy to eat the feed.  Susan just watch from afar, but it was fun to see them up close and personal. There is much more to tell, including a trip back up the next day with Anne. More to follow on Wednesday.

Tomorrow is revelation day for the Better Pal exchange.  I had a very fun experience with my BP and I'll share with you tomorrow. My giftee was fabulous and I can't wait to find out who my pal was and show the last great package which arrived on Saturday.

The Grrlfriend Gloves are finished, Brier is nearly done and DFS is back in play and should be finished up this week. That means my needles will be free.  The last two weeks of November I plan to knit for others. Sandy shared some info sent to her by Anne, on a town in Indiana that was affected by killer tornados. You can read Anne's plea for warm items needed to help her neighbors, who lost everything, get through the winter. A short Knit Along, called "Knit Unto Others", is in order and I'll have more details for you during the week if you're interested. Many people around the world need our assistance, so you can knit for any charity you like and join along.  This is the time of year to give thanks for all we have and to share our time and talents with others in need.

Comments

[Laura]

Late November - Thanksgiving time - perfect for charity knitting. And what a great knitalong name too, Knit Unto Others. Thanks for the heads up about this one. :)

[Liz]

"They were gentle and easily spooked but happy to eat the feed." could also refer to my ducks. ;)
Looks like you had a fabulous time.

[Cara]

Oh personal shopper extraordinnaire - thank you thank you thank you thank you! I think by the end of all this Toni *might* not like me anymore. ;-)

So glad you got to hang and have fun and feed llamas!

[Cassie]

It sounds like you had a great time. I wish I had been there, if for nothing else than to see the Estonian knits in person. One day....

[Janine]

You look as if you enjoyed yourself :-)
I have emailed the village knitter to see if there is a time limit on these hats etc. I would like to participate but I have to get the finshed articles "over the water" for them to be of any use.

[Norma]

Sounds all so heavenly. And what a wonderful idea is Knit Unto Others. Of course you know I'm already onboard.

[Carole]

I'm with you on the Knit-Along, but you already know that. ;-)
Sounds like you had a great time and I love the book plate idea!

[Jan]

Sounds like a wonderful weekend! That herd photo and comment is so funny.

[Teri]

I can't believe Susan didn't help you feed the animals! ;)

[Mindy]

Your weekend looked great.

[Manise]

Count me in! Just started knitting chemo hats for my mom who's undergoing chemo. Great cause!

What a nice time you had- totally jealous here.

[Scout]

Looks like SUCH a great time!

[Brenda]

Sounds like a wonderful weekend, add me to the jealous list!
(On another topic, saw Nancy's new Vintage Socks book this weekend, and I think it is the best sock book I've ever seen. I can't wait to get my own copy)

[Snow]

Oh, boy! Thank you, Margene. Very, very much. Send me an email and let me know how much to Paypal to you.

[Sneaksleep]

Welcome home! Thanks for sharing all the wonderful pics with us--feels almost like I was there. :)

[mrspilkington]

looks like a wonderful time! felt like i was part of the herd right there with you, and i enjoyed some vicarious shopping to boot. :-)

[The Knitting Kit]

Looks like you had a fantastic time. :) Those alpacas sure look sweet.

[Isela]

It appears that a wonderful time was had by all :)...thanks for sharing the event with us.

[Rebekah]

Sounds like a wonderful trip with many wonderful people. Do many people knit with Llama fiber? My husband and I were discussing this recently after my trip to the Alpaca farm. And is llama fiber just called llama fiber or is it something more exotic like spittin fiber (every experience I've had with a llama eventually involved it spitting at me).

[Birdsong]

I am glad you had such a great time! The knit unto others knitalong sounds like a timely idea, count me in! I am actually taking a little time this week to knit for myself for a change, but will come up with another charity project for the KAL.

[Donna]

What could be more fun than friends and all of that fabulous yarny goodness?! So glad you enjoyed yourself. The scenery is beautiful!

[Vera]

Looks like you "grrls" had a wonderful time!

[Laurie]

Wonderful fiber experience! I can guess what heaven fiber was...three choices. Alpaca? Cashmere? Guanaco? Vicuna? Ooops. Four.

[Wanda]

That sounded like fun times for you at SOAR. Lots of fibery goodness!