The Ulster County Fair’s Fleece to Shawl competition was a lot of fun! We were tucked away on the porch of the lovely dedicated Wool Room building, safe from the pouring rain and sheltered from the later afternoon sun. The Elmendorph Guild teams were the teams present, so we competed against ourselves. It was the “Red Hook Spinners” (complete with snazzy shirts) against the Elmendorph Handspinners, the latter being the team I was on. Our loom was warped to create an ivory/hunter green/redwood brown shawl in a simple twill pattern. What made the shawl shine were the colored sections of the warp, they were heathered with bright pops of color that gave it a lot of depth. The Red Hook team was weaving a lovely black/grey/cherry red warp in an undulating twill pattern. Our weavers were Lydia and Elizabeth, respectively. Our judge, Maureen, was wonderful and kept us company the entire time.

The time seemed to fly by, during which I discovered exactly the right way to card wool so that I could get a spinnable rolag. While my technique needs work, I know, for only my second time using hand cards I’m not going to complain! Our fleece was slightly felted, so it was still a bit hard to spin, but I kept reminding myself that I didn’t have to spin perfectly, I just had to spin… the clock was ticking! You forget, when you’re used to spinning finely, how hard it is to spin thicker. The most I could do was shoot for DK and hope for the best. I was the assigned speaker for our group so I did a lot of talking to the community. I managed to stick my foot in my mouth once or twice, but I did my best and hope that I didn’t embarrass myself (or the guild) too badly.

Things went so well that we finished with 45 minutes to spare, but then again, competitions of this nature usually only last 3 hours so we weren’t exactly running around like mad as I’m told it usually ends. Seeing the shawls, both of them, come of the loom was very exciting, they each were gorgeous in their own right. There was a lot of laughter and excitement as we knotted fringe, trimmed ends, and waited for judging. The judging was swift, and my team (the Elmendorph Handspinners) took first place… but, only because we finished first! The two shawls really were so lovely that we’d tied other than the fact that we earned extra points for finishing ours first. Congratulations to both teams for their hard work! Thanks goes to the other demonstrators, our lovely judge, and to the wonderful fair volunteers who made our day such a great one.

I will definitely do this again soon, and I’m thinking that next time I’ll try spinning the warp again. I have visions of a stunning black, wine and rose warp. Couple that with a grey fleece that’s been over-dyed cranberry and I’d just about die from joy. I don’t really need to shop all day, both days of Rhinebeck, right?

You can view more photos from this event by returning to the guild website and clicking on the Album section.

I’d had the penguin family done for this otedama (Japanese juggling and jacks game) set for quite a while.  But just sat down today to finish up the set by making the bag for it and posting on Etsy.  Thought I should share the cuteness.

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Decided to break up the Wii Fit routine and do some different exercizes.  Normally in the morning I do Yoga (Sun Salutation and Half Moon) to stretch my back, then Aerobics (Super Hula Hoop 6 min, Advanced Step, and 10 min Free Run).  Afternoon 10 min Free Step.  Evening 10 min Free Run again.

But today I skiped the hula hoop and did boxing.  Combined several of the run excercises to get 18 minutes of running (because I wanted to hear the end of Twin Stars Episode 3).  (I want more Twin Stars!)  Then in the afternoon did the longest boxing exercise.  Nice to have a break from the routine.

BMI: 28.64

Weight: 167.8

Work out time:(TBD)

Calorie intake in yesterday: 2011

Calories burned (approximate): 604

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Saturday is the fleece to shawl competition in Watertown.  Most teams spin the yarn and make a shawl by weaving, knitting or crocheting.  The head of our team received permission to felt a shawl this year.  So while the other teams are sweating it out all day, we will be playing in water and soap.  Though, we’ll be scrubbing and mashing wool like mad and I suspect it will be more physical work than carding wool, spinning yarn and weaving was last year.

I’m a bit nervous about taking my camera with our group playing in the water.  But I may wrap my camera in a plastic bag and just take it.   We’ll see…