February 13, 2010

A typical weekend day

I finished the Fiddlehead mittens during the snow storm that never materialized while watching an episode of Foyle's War. These mittens are toasty and sinfully soft on the inside.

Today, I took the mittens for a little roadtrip. Actually, it wasn't so much a roadtrip as a typical weekend day for Boy and me during winter time. February is the best month for Boy to spot bald eagles and I come along on his birding trips on a simple condition: each birding trip must include a stop at a yarn store.

After meeting Shaili for brunch, the mittens walked around Harvard Square and visited the Old Burying Ground. We then headed to western MA to go birding at the Quabbin reservoir. We finished the day in Northampton at Webs (yarns and books were purchased, courtesy of a gift certificate from my in-laws).

Among my purchases was Gail Callahan's book Hand-Dyeing Yarn and Fleece. During Melissa's class at the KR retreat, I was able to see some of the gorgeous yarns and fibers that Gail (aka The Kangaroo Dyer) had generously donated. Gail happened to be in the store this afternoon, she was all smiles, and signed my copy of her book!

Unfortunately I'm not able to attend her dyeing class at Webs this spring. My schedule is also in conflict with the spring classes taught by Melissa Morgan-Oakes and Kristin Nicholas but I hope that their classes will be offered again in the fall. I don't know if I will hand-dye much in the future but it is something that I want to try at least once so I signed up for Barb Parry's two-day "Dyeing to Spin" class this summer. It promises to be a lot of fun!

1 comment:

Melissa Morgan-Oakes said...

Hmmm...I wonder if that nice Clara lady would consider inviting that nice Melissa person to teach her new sock technique at that lovely retreat in Williamstown... ;)