Algonquin Mill Fall Festival or "The Bullwinkle Convention"

Episode 23

I Production Scheduling

1. Events
   1. Algonquin Mill fall festival was this weekend. What a great time! Nate, and I saw the festival with my dad as Joe had to work. The apple butter is awesome! I've been looking for things to spread it on. I got my Sauerkraut before it sold out,and had some of the best apple cider I've had in a while! We also got to watch a demo on how sorghum was processed. The family selling the sorghum had a large horse hooked up to to a mill of sorts and were boil down the “juice” from the mill on site. I'm a big fan of molasses flavored candies so I've been looking for recipes to use the pint of sorghum I bought. I'm wondering if I can use it interchangeably with molasses... Perhaps some shoo-fly pie bars are in the future? Oh yeah and there was fiber! The Algonquin spinners and weavers has spinning demos, a dye demo over an open fire, some really decent prices on fiber I saw some alpaca blend, Leicester, and dyed mohair locks that I considered buying. I managed to refrain as I plan on stocking up at the Ann Arbor expo and I think I can beg my mom to ask the owners of these animals if I can buy their fiber later on this winter. :) I also came really close to buying some lovely alpaca fingering but it looked like the yarn had rolled around with the alpaca in the bedding. At 18.00 for 200 yds I really don't want to be picking out veg matter. I did buy a very cute treat bag That has a Skull and cross bones on it and reads 100% poisonous Terribly toxic treats Guaranteed to make you shriek! Enjoy at your own peril. It's the perfect size for tea bags or tucking some sweets in for a gift. Nate wore his completed lumber jack hat even though it was about 80 and we were all sweating bullets. It got rave reviews and we were asked If they were selling them at the festival.... Hmmmmmm... an idea for next year? Maybe not because I'd have to track down three designers and ask for permission to sell their work or redesign the whole thing so it's wholly mine. B really enjoyed the steam powered saw mill. We stood for about 20 minutes watching them cut planks. He also enjoyed the steam powered flour mill and the area outside where they were using some of the steam from the mill to shoot plastic water bottles high into the air. He was very excited to shoot the bottle until another child tooted one of the steam whistles and scared him half to death. After that he just wanted to get as far way from that whistle as humanly possible. He did perk up again when I let him ride the ponies. I think that or getting to crank the sock machine was the high light of his day. The sock machines live up to their Hype. They are very cool and I have a few pics to post on the show notes page. B got to crank one and he asked the woman running it what they were making as he cranked away. It was decided between them that they were making “sweaters for snakes.” This was a really we attended event and if you thought about going this year and missed it be sure to look for it next year!
   2. Ann Arbor Fiber Expo or the Fuzzy Fair as Melissa has taken to calling it...October 22 and 23^rd at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds.
   3. Camp KIP April 21-24 2012 at the Cedar Creek Conference center in New Haven, Missouri
2. Production
3. What's in my Tea Pot?
4. Materials Sourcing
5. After 5

II Production

1. I heart lace by Inese Andzane knitted out of Cascade Heritage silk in color 5637 which is a peacock blue. I saw this pattern browsing through ravelry looking for things to use up my stash. I'm a sucker for things with a back seam. The wedding dresses with the buttons down the back, those necklaces that we're popular with the chains that hung down the back, even back seamed hose, all looks I love,. I fell in love with the back seam detail on the shawl and the elegant pointed lace detail on the edge. This was before I found out that the edge on this shawl is just one no nonsense chart. I cast this on Monday night and I'm about 5 rows from starting the lace chart. Reading the comments on the pattern this runs small and some raveler's have added rows on to give it a bigger wingspan. I like wear my shawls around my neck over my t shirts to dress them up at the office so the smaller size will actually help me. ( oh and speaking of back seam detail check out the cowgirl cowl by Pam Powers on Ravelery! I'll be purchasing that one soon! That will look awesome over a t-shirt this autumn!)
2. Beaded Ornament from 12 Exquisite Beaded Ornaments to Knit published by Leisure arts. The first ornament I cast on was just out of some sparkly sock yarn that I had been saving for a preemie hat. I already had one hat out of it so I figured why not an ornament. I did not bead this one as it was an experiment. Other than some shaping and setup in the beginning these ornaments are just tubes that drawstring up and around the top of the glass Christmas ball I slid inside. It's really adorable! With the addition of possibly a bow to the top by the hanger it would look great on any tree. I must say that I do not like how the bottom of the ornament it set up. When the knitting is complete there is a gap at the bottom that needs to be seems up. My ornament is done in a self striping yarn and I can clearly tell where the stitching is. It is on the bottom and the likely hood of anyone examining it is low. But... if I'm giving this as a gift I wouldn't be happy with it. Now that I know the secret formula for making these I'll start tinkering with it. My plan as of now is to treat the bottom like I'm casting on for a top hat. I'll be burning through my leftover sock yarn in no time.
3. Holiday knitting – So after I had stated on knit chat , knit group, and I'll have to go to the replay of what I said on the pod cast... (though I think it was I have to decide if I'll be holiday knitting....) I've been volunteered / shanghaied / requested to do some holiday knitting. So I have at least one holiday project on the needles . Now that I'm on the slippery slope I may just add some more.

III What's In my Tea Pot

1. Silk Road Teas: Jasmine Pearls (Mo Li Zhen Zhu)

2. Our supplier's family has been making Jasmine teas for generations, choosing high–quality, tender green leaves and buds for our pearls. The leaves are hand rolled and later infused with the essence of fresh Jasmine flowers. The pearls open during brewing to release their pale green liquor. Aromatic and naturally sweet, this is a relaxing tea. Steep at 175 – 185 degrees for 2 minutes and enjoy
   

3. What can I saw Jasmine is my hands down favorite. There's just something about how the floral perfume hits the back of my sinuses that relaxes me. This particular tea infused well through the second steeping. That being said while I love this jasmine pearl it's pretty much the same as any other I’ve had lately. The bag states it's from Fujian Province so who knows the last three label's I've tried could all be buying from the same supplier. Price and availability will be the key to weather or not I re purchase this tea.

IV Materials Sourcing

1. I finally did it. I started the Knitty and Color batt that I purchased with my winnings from the Summer Spin Along on the I got Ewe Babe group on ravelery. This bat was named Cauldron and is 4.6 oz of BFL and Merino with some Firestar (tri-lobal Nylon) and purple angelina mixed in for sparkle. It's fun and very seasonal. It's been spinning up well with no predrafting. I have about half the bat spun and I'm almost ready to swap bobbins so that I can do an actual two ply. No Andean plying no chain plying. I think that I want the barber poling to break up some of the purple sections with the black and the gray.
2. Some time ago I spun a chunk of Kid mohair that had been given to me. At the time I wasn't sure how I wanted to ply it or what I wanted to ply it with. With a little more time to ponder and a lot more exposure to other spinners I've decided to ply the single with thread and beads. I'll be using it to make some Christmas ornaments as I'm certain that I don't have enough yardage for anything larger than a dish cloth. (who ever hear of a mohair dish cloth?!) I picked up my beads and thread this weekend. I went with a metallic silver thread and clear silver fill beads. I'm going for as much sparkle as possible... I hope it doesn’t end up being really tacky! I was getting ready to take the cauldron batt off the wheel for a bit with the aim to ply the mohair. I figured I'd string the beads first and found out that my beading needles had disapeared and that I had nothing to string the beads with. So tomorrow I'll stop at cvs on my way home to get a pack of dental floss threaders to get these beads strung. Why is it that ,y est laid plans never seem to work out?

V After 5

1. Joe has graduated from Knits and Purls and stockinette. This week is the big week if I can ever manage to be in the same room with him for any amount of time before midnight. He'll e casting on his decepticon washcloth in Peaches and crème in Denim. The Pink, Hot Green and Yellow I had in house didn't appeal to him... :)
2. The race for the Halloween costume is on. Halloween is Joe and my favorite time of the year. Each year we try to think up something to dress up as while we take B trick or Treating. It's really hard to think up couples costumes. I think this year we have it though. I think I'll be able to make him the hat for Fin from the Adventure Time cartoon on Cartoon network. Fin just wears A blue t shirt and blue shorts which Joe already has with a green back pack and sword. That puts me one hot pink thrift store prom dress away from a princess bubble gum out fit. If I can't find that I can always get a long lack wig and some grunge rocker clothes and go as Marcelline the vampire queen from the same show. B is still on the fence. One minute he wants to be the creeper from scooby doo which can easily be any Frankenstein costume, then he wants to e a race car driver with a helmet and a gun? Not sure where he got that race car drivers carry guns... and now he wants to be Super Why from a PBS show. I thought that would be next to impossible to pull off but then I saw that I could order it online. What I really need is for him to really settle on something before I order the costume.
3. B really doesn't like tea. He must take after his father in this regard or maybe it's just a taste I need to cultivate in him. When I use my tea steeper none of my mugs totally empty the steeper. So I usually just put it in another cup so it doesn't over steep. B wanted something to drink and I was about 10 stitches from the end of a row and told him he had to give me a minute. Instead of waiting he wandered into the kitchen and grabbed my extra teacup. I had no idea what was going on and all I heard was the sounds of him trying to cough up something in the other room. So I ran in there to find him with my tea cup and and a straw. He had taken a huge swig of unsweetened tea and was not happy about it. Between his sounds of disgust he managed to gasp “What is that! It's awful!”.
4. This week was Sunday brunch with the knit group. Joe has been working 12'sand weekend's for the past few weeks so Nate baby sat for the half hour between when Joe left or work and I walk ed in the door. Joe put B down for his nap before he left. He told “It's nap time. I won't see you when you get up because I have to go to work.” “Is mommy home?” B asked... “No,she'll be home in a little bit.” “Nate's in charge?” “yeah just until mommy get's home.” “Awwwww! I thought I was gonna be in charge!”