More on the Symposium

I'd thought I'd share a little more on the Symposium. As I said before, I was there a week. I shared it with my friend, Erika. We rode up and back together and were roomies. If you haven't been to Madison before, I highly recommend it in the summer. We were there the third week of July and the temps were about 84 and no humidity! And Madison is surrounded by lakes that are beautiful. Here is a picture of Susan of Susan's Fiber Shop. And yes, she smiles like that all the time! And next to Susan is Michelle. 


I had 3 days of classes with Michelle. She is a blast to have around. Not only does she tend to her family of 2 kids and her partner but she does Roller Derby! Did she have some stories to tell! Thanks, Michelle!

This is the felted alpaca dress I made for baby Avary that I displayed in the Symposium's Gallery.

Murder Mystery Dinner

We had the pleasure of attending a Murder Mystery Dinner Party hosted by Judy and Dan Brauchy this past weekend. It was a blast! We had a Vegas casino scenario and all those attending had a character they were portraying for the evening. During the evening, a murder was committed and at the end of the evening we were to guess 'who-done-it'!! I went as Liza Monelli, how fun is that? My most frequently asked question was how did I get all my hair under that wig! I even was asked to sing 'Cabaret' on the stage. I couldn't have had a better time. I was escorted by my husband, Darrell, who was playing the security guy (and who had a crush on Liza). Can you guess which picture is him? The man to his left is our friend, Sam, who played Tom Hanks (and one of my 4 ex's that were in attendance). The other couple are our hosts. Thanks, Judy and Dan!

                                                        Even Elvis Was There!

Midwest Felting Symposium

I just got back from a wonderful week at Midwest Felting Symposium hosted by Susan's Fiber Shop in Madison, WI. It was a week of felting with other felters. I took a class from Lizzie Houghton from the UK, Charlotte Sehmisch of Germany and Vilte Kaslauskaite of Lithuania. I came home exhausted but it was worth it! I took a hat class from Lizzie, a seamless cube class from Charlotte, and a texture class from Vilte. There was a wonderful gallery of felted items and vendors full of felting supplies. On Saturday night we had fun fashion show. The next Symposium will be held in 2012. 

 

Vilte on left and Charlotte in middle. My alpaca rugs hanging in the gallery. approx 3'x4' in size

Cherries!

I've been very busy with cherries coming in. We have Nanking cherry bushes and they are having a great year! I picked about 2 gallons a day for over a week. And I still only got to maybe a little over half of them. Nankings are used as the rootstock for our modern dwarf cherry trees. The cherries are small and fairly sweet and great for juicing. I have made cherry jelly, jam, a tapioca fluff (that didn't turn out as well as expected) and 2 gallons of cherry bounce. It wouldn't seem right if at this time I didn't thank Buckette, our black snake. Because of her, the past 3 years I have been able to get cherries of my bushes. For 5 years before that the birds got them. I would show you a picture of her but as with all good black snakes, I very rarely ever see her. My family is now set with jelly for the year. I have also used the jelly as a glaze for grilled salmon that turned out very well. I will keep you posted with any other recipes I find. Thanks, Buckette!!

  

Illini Alpacas and Rendezvous!

We had Rendezvous on June 5th and 6th 2010, this year and it was a big success with over 20,000 visitors attending. You can see the teepees in the background in the picture below. The alpacas aren't phased by the cars stopping in front of the house or even the cannons going off all day! It is truly a fun time!

Eagan's Sweater

I had been working on a spring sweater for my grandson, Eagan, and finally got it done! It is made of superwash merino in a lovely baby blue. Of course, do I check the gauge as I start the project? No!! As you can see from him modeling it that it will fit him this fall and be a nice fall sweater! I got the pattern for the kimono style sweater from Ravelry. When it was finished I didn't care much for it so I added 3 rows of garter stitch to the sleeves and bottom. Then I added an attached I-cord around the neck and I liked that much better! I am adding a picture of his alpaca knitted and then felted boots I made last winter. Its a good boot that actually stays on little feet.