Sunday, December 23, 2007

History and local color

I saw a Shetland shawl this week! A real Shetland shawl, made on the islands and brought back by a friend of a friend. It was light and warm and soft - too bad the owner had it covered in cat hair. I know one thing though - I must make one of these! I don't even know what the yarn was, but I'm sure somebody somewhere has written a tome about the shawls.

In other fiber news - Lakeside Fibers in Madison, WI is a gorgeous store. They have one of the best color and brand selections I've ever seen, and the view (they have a huge window overlooking a lake) is gorgeous.

I'm visiting relatives in "the frozen north" and boy am I glad for all the wool thingies we brought! It's been snowing heavily here, and the temperatures are scary.

We are also enjoying learning about quilts (an aunt and uncle are passionate quilters, with a quilt room and all of Kaffe Fassett's quilting books and lots of knowledge), old doilies, older blankets and the rich fiber history of the "frozen north". There was also an article in the local newspaper about a local nun who's made thousands of bears for the Mother Bear project. The story about the bears inspired me - maybe I should make some as well.

No pics in this post, but I'm making great progress on a pair of socks from Black Bunny yarn. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow.