Quinto Beret & Double Diamonds Scarf

Quinto is a quick-to-knit beret for adults, featuring 5 leaf lace motifs at the crown. Here's a picture of the top of the beret so you can see the leaf pattern and another one of me modeling the beret. Cast on with dpns (or two circs) to start for an I-cord stem and knit down. Increases are concealed in the lace pattern. Change to a circular needle as the stitch count increases. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid in red for my beret. It will take about 120-140 yards of worsted weight yarn on size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles (dpns and circular). Block your beret over a dinner plate to open up the lace and create a sharp edge or leave it unblocked. The pattern has written instructions and a lace chart.

The Quinto Beret pattern is available in my Ravelry pattern store


Double Diamonds Scarf is a garter stitch lace scarf. Garter stitch lace is fast to knit. Once it's blocked, it's hard to tell the difference from stockinette lace. This scarf is a great way to try out lace knitting. I created this pattern to use in my intro to lace knitting class. My sample scarf was knit with one skein of Malabrigo Silky Merino in the Pink Panther colorway. My scarf blocked to 7” x 51”. You'll need 150 yards of a DK or light worsted weight yarn and a pair of size 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles. Use 200 yards if you want a longer scarf. The pattern includes written instructions and a lace chart.

The Double Diamonds Scarf pattern can be found in my Ravelry pattern store.

For more information, visit my Ravelry pattern store to see all my available designs, current pricing information, and purchase pattern downloads.

S-N-O-W!!

This is the view from the sunroom this morning. Yep, it's our first measurable snowfall of the season. Temps dropped into the mid 20's last night. There were reports on the late news of frozen and icy overpasses and roads. Also pictures of high school football teams slipping and sliding around as they attempted to play. :)

It's late afternoon as I write this and it's warmed up into the 40s and the snow has completely disappeared. By mid-week they're predicting we could hit 60 degrees again. We're roller coastering our way to winter. That's ok, the past couple of years it has gotten really cold in October and never warmed up much until spring. A more gradual coasting into colder weather is much easier to take than going from 6o down to freezing and staying there.

I have pulled out my wool socks to wear and am wearing the two sweaters I've made lately. Taking a break from lace for the moment. Though I have ideas for a few new projects one of these days. :)

You've seen the crocheted Bella Donna Cardi that I translated. I had a little yarn leftover so I added a bit of a sleeve to it. I will make it again with longer sleeves. It's gotten too cold to wear this short sleeve version.

The second sweater I've finished is Liesl by Isoda Teague. Haven't had a chance to get someone to take a pic of me wearing it so you'll have to settle for this awful one. It's not easy trying to take a picture of yourself. :) It also points out that I still need to lose some weight. Sigh, and the holidays are coming. :(

Liesl is an easy sweater to knit in a feather and fan lace. It's knit on big needles with worsted weight yarn (up to chunky). Mine was knit with 576 yards of Aran weight yarn on size 10.75 mm needles I got from Knit Picks. For this sweater, you cast on at the top neckline and knit down. Cast off and cast on again to leave openings for the sleeves. Pick up stitches around the armholes for the sleeves. When you're done knitting, there are no seams to sew. Only a few yarns tails to darn in. I love this sweater and will definitely knit it again. The next time I will add the buttonholes. It's my fault for not reading all the instructions before I began knitting. The buttonhole directions are not in the line-by-line instructions so I didn't see them. They're in a call out box to one side. This I think is not a good way to handle this. I checked on Ravelry and I'm not the only one who missed them. I've also made a note to decrease needle sizes as I the sleeves get longer. They're a little wide at the elbow and don't want to fit inside coat sleeves.

Someone asked for a closer look at the sweater. Here's a picture of it on the blocking board. You can see the lace pattern in it.

The third sweater is still in progress---a crocheted Pinwheel Sweater by Amy Depew. This pattern is more of a recipe for a sweater and not detailed instructions. That's great though since you can make it with any weight of yarn you like. I'm using a size G crochet hook and over 1,000 yards of fingering weight handspun from my stash in various shades of blues, pinks, and purples. The sweater starts as a circle at the middle back and is worked in the round. You leave openings for the sleeves as the circle gets larger. After finishing a few rounds after the sleeve openings, I've started on the sleeves. I'm not sure I'll have enough yarn so I want to add any contrasting colors at the outside edge of the body of the sweater and the sleeves. Worse case scenario, I will be spinning a little more yarn to finish this. It would take a long time to knit a pinwheel sweater like this. I'll post pictures of it when I get it finished.

I'm getting the urge to knit some thicker winter socks to wear around the house or inside boots. They'll be toe up and start with a rectangle at the toe. (Much easier to do than most toe up starts.) And I'm thinking about using a short row garter stitch heel. I have a skein of Yarn Bee Snowflake from Hobby Lobby that I may use. It's rated as a DK weight yarn. I bought the yarn on sale because I liked the color. I do not like the strand of thin bumpy, scratchy thread they've plied with it. Ruins a very nice yarn in my opinion. I'm nutty, so I pulled the thread out of it in short sections and cut it off. I now how a nice ball of machine washable wool yarn for thick socks. Now to figure out what size needles to use and how many stitches I need to cast on to start them. :)

Archer Scarf

Here's my newest pattern -- the Archer Scarf.

This is a garter stitch scarf that's completely reversible --- no right or wrong sides. It's an easy and fast project to knit! The pattern contains full written instructions and a lace chart.

I knit this sample scarf with size 9 (5.5 mm) knitting needles and a ball of Trendsetter Tonalita Fusion. The long color runs in this yarn really show off this easy lace design.

With one ball (109 yards) of worsted weight, my blocked scarf measured 6" wide x 46" long. If you want a longer scarf, use 150-200 yards of yarn. Want a wider scarf, add a few more stitches on each side of the lace design.

I've been thinking that this would look great as a stole or a cowl too. :)

Knit it in light or bright colors for women and teens or dark and masculine colorways for guys. Yes, this lace pattern is subtle enough that some men would be happy to wear it.

For more information, visit my Ravelry pattern store to see all my available designs, current pricing information, and purchase pattern downloads.

Sad endings

The past two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster to say the least. Not much in the way of knitting or crocheting has been happening either.

On Oct. 18, I heard that one of my uncles was in the hospital. He was comatose and not expected to survive. My uncle Gene suffered from Alzheimers. He was married to my mom's sister, who was caring for her husband at home. That's a difficult thing to take on with an Alzheimer patient. My uncle recently developed shingles in his mouth and throat. (I've never heard of anyone having them develop there before!) It certainly sounds painful. :( He was taken to the hospital when he could no longer eat or drink. I suspect he was having trouble breathing too.

Meanwhile, by Thursday of that week, I was all packed and ready to leave town at a moments notice with my parents for his funeral. That was the night my husband received a phone call that changed everything. My BIL called with the news that their eldest brother had been found dead in his apartment. Neighbors had noticed when newspapers began piling up and no one had seen him for days. Worried, they called the police. The police broke into his apartment when no one answered the door. They found my BIL dead on the floor of his apartment. The coroner's report set his time of death as Oct. 18 from natural causes.

Chris kept to himself. My husband tells me that at the age of 12, his brother developed a very high fever for a couple of days (maybe measles?). This would have been about 1960.

I am old enough to remember measles running through all the kids in our neighborhood about that time. We have vaccines for childhood diseases like this now. Then we didn't. We forget that measles and other childhood diseases were/are very dangerous diseases. They can kill or cause harm to whoever has them. I have memories of our doctor making a house call when my brother's and I got the measles. And yes, doctors did make house calls back in the day.

I digress. After that fever, Chris was never the same. I met him a few times when I was first dating my husband. I can't say that I really knew him. We had dinner at his parent's house every week. Chris was always there. (He had moved back in with them and was living in their basement.) Chris wouldn't look at me or talk to me even after we had been introduced. I had forgotten until my husband reminded me, that when Chris wanted to ask me something, he would ask someone else to do it for him. Odd. He was a skinny little guy but I've never seen anyone able to eat as much as he could. He ate his dinner and then, once everyone else was finished, he polished off all the leftovers. I don't know where he put it all!

The sudden, unexpectedness of his death has really thrown everyone for a loop.

On Saturday, my uncle passed away.

On Sunday, hubby, I and other family members cleaned out Chris's 3rd floor walkup apartment. It was a very sobering and somewhat disturbing experience that has haunted me for days. It was hard to see the reclusive way he chose to live--apart from any contact with his family or anyone else. We still have the daunting task of sorting through all of his papers to discover what still needs to be dealt with or people notified.

My uncle's funeral was on Tuesday in southern Illinois. I feel guilty for not going with my folks to his funeral. Unfortunately, I can't be in two places at once. And going with them would have meant leaving my husband to deal with his loss alone. Sigh...a no-win situation no matter what I did.

The wild, windy, and unsettling, weather we've had most of the week provided an appropriate counterpoint to the events that have been unfolding.

Chris's funeral was yesterday. It was a difficult day. :( My husband, FIL, and my BIL's are having a rough time dealing with this sudden and unexpected loss. At the service, I cried for both my uncle and Chris--both men living with mental impairments whose lives had been cut short. Hug your loved ones while you still can.

Today, I am sad and tired. I'm hoping for a restful and uneventful weekend. We all could use it.

I'm slated to teach two lace knitting classes next weekend at a local yarn shop. These were scheduled months ago. Only one person has enrolled so far and tomorrow is the deadline to register. At this point, I'm hoping the classes are cancelled. I really could use a break.

Bag it Up! - a felted bag pattern

Bag it Up! is a felted tote bag pattern I designed for the Holiday Mystery Gifts group in 2009. Yes, the name is a little silly. I couldn't come up with anything that I liked better even with suggestions made by friends and others.

This is an easy bag to knit from the bottom up with no seams. Knit a bottom rectangle, pick up stitches around it, and knit the sides. The handles are knit in as you bind off the top of the bag and the ends are joined with a three needle bind off. Tuck in the yarn tails and felt it to create a very durable bag.

This one was made with 2 balls of Patons Classic Merino (one ball in Leaf Green and one in Forest) on size 10 (6 mm) 16" circulars. Don't you love how the variegated colorway made a unique pattern as it was knit? You never know how variegated yarn will pool or pattern as you knit it in the round.

If you'd rather have a solid color bag, only use one color of yarn.

If you have any leftover yarn, knit a pocket and sew it inside the bag like I did. Instructions are included for the pocket.

My felted bag is 11" tall (not including handles) and 32" around. It's a nice size bag that will easily hold your latest knitting project. (I gifted this one to a knitting friend, Anita, as a farewell gift before she moved to another state.)

Click here if you'd like to download the free pattern from Ravelry.

Bella Donna Cardi to crochet

As a crocheter, I've been intrigued by the Bella Donna Cardi pattern on Ravelry. It's a beautiful shell stitch sweater pattern available only in Danish. I finally broke down and translated it so I could make it. I love this sweater! I used less than 5 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in Wisteria (about 1,000 yds for the L/XL size). This yarn is rated as a fingering weight though it's a bit heavier than that. I'll be making another one in wool. It would be easy to customize by adding sleeves or give more tummy coverage by working more increases under the arm.

I contacted Laila Gerster, the designer of Bella Donna, and she has kindly given me permission to post my English translation here on my blog. Thanks, Laila!

The L/XL size is first and the S/M comes after. If you find any errors or have any questions, please leave a comment or contact me on Ravelry. Have fun!


Bella Donna Cardi
by Laila Gerster
translated by Vicki Mikulak

This pattern has negative ease at the bust of 3-4".

Size: L/XL: for bust 40 - 43"

Materials:
S/875 - XL/1258 yds fingering/sock weight yarn
Crochet hook G/4 mm
3 buttons
Split ring or locking stitch markers

Key:
ch = chain sc = sc dc = dc
Shell = 2 dc, ch1, 2 dc in the same stitch or worked in ch1 of shell in previous row

Gauge: 5 shells = 4.25" Make a swatch of 7 shells x 2 rows skipping 3 ch between shells. Adjust your hook size up or down as needed.

Neckband:
Chain 126 + 1 turning chain, turn.
Row 1: Ch1, sc across (126 sc), turn. (127 sts)
Rows 2-6: Ch1, sc to end of row.

The yoke grows to prepare for the armholes. You’ll add dc between shells and increase into these dc on following rows. Always work a shell into the ch1 of a previous shell and dc(s) into the center stitch of the previous row.

Place a marker in the center back shell on Row 7 [or place markers before and after the center section so you don’t have to count the repeats]. Repeat instructions inside [brackets] as noted.

Use the written instructions below for Row 7 and then go to Row 8 of the Yoke Chart or continue with the written directions for your size.

Yoke:
Row 7: Turn, ch3 (equals 1 dc), dc in dc, skip 1, [shell, skip 1, dc, skip 1, shell, skip 3] repeat 7x. (Place marker) Shell, skip 3, shell (center back shell), skip 3, shell, (Place marker) [skip 3, shell, skip 1, dc, skip 1, shell] 7x, skip 1, dc in last 2 ch. (31 shells)

Row 8: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell (in ch1 space of shell below), dc in dc, shell] 7x. 3 Shells. [Shell, dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 9: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, dc in dc, shell, dc between shells] 7x. Shell, dc between shells, shell, dc between shells, shell. [Dc between shells, shell, dc in dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 10: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, dc in dc] 14x. Shell, dc, shell, dc, shell. [Dc, shell] 14x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 11: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 2dc in dc, shell, dc in dc] 7x. Shell, 2dc in dc, shell, 2dc in dc, shell. [dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 7x. Dc in last 2 sts.

Row 12: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 2dc (in center of 2dc), shell, dc in dc] 7x. Shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell. [Dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 13: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc in dc] 7x. Shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell. [2dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 14: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 2dc] 14x. Shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell. [2dc, shell] 14x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 15: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 3dc in center of 2dc, shell, 2dc] 7x. Shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell. [2dc, shell, 3dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 16: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 3dc in center of 3dc, shell, 2dc] 7x. Shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell. [2dc, shell, 3dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 17: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc between 2dc] 7x. Shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell. [3dc, shell, 3dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 18: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 3dc] 14x. Shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell. [3dc, shell] 14x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 19: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 4dc in center of 3dc, shell, 3dc] 7x. Shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell. [3dc, shell, 4dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 20: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 4dc in center of 4dc, shell, 3dc] 7x, Shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell. [3dc, shell, 4dc, shell] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 21: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc in center of 3dc] 7x, Shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell. [4dc, shell] 14x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 22: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell, shell in center of 4dc, shell, shell in center of 4dc] 7x, Shell 5x. [4 shells] 7x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 23: Turn, ch3, dc, shell in center of every shell across the row, dc in last 2 sts.

If the yoke is too short, repeat the last row. (61 shells) Remove markers.

Body & Underarm:
In this section you will divide the yoke for the armholes. Place markers between shells [8 shells (right front), 14 shells (armhole), 17 shells (back), 14 shells (armhole), 8 shells (left front)] before you begin Row 27.

When you get to the underarm, ch15, turn. Work 14 sc back over the chain. Join to a corner of a shell with a slip stitch. Turn; work 15 sc back to other side and catch with a slip stitch before continuing across the row.

Make the sweater smaller/larger at the underarm by changing the number of shells you start with. I used 4 but 3-5 is fine. Start with 4 dc or less in each shell.

Row 27: 2dc, 8 shells, skip 14 shells (armhole), ch15 for underarm (work 2 rows of sc in this chain as given above). Continue across the back for 17 shells, skip 14 shells (armhole), ch15 for underarm (work 2 rows of sc in this chain as before). End with 8 shells (front), 2 dc.

Row 28: Work even but at both underarms—skip 1 sc, shell, skip 3 sc, shell, skip 3 sc, shell, skip 3 sc, shell, skip 1 sc.

Work even until cardi is long enough. I did 21 rows of shells after the armhole.
Go to the finishing instructions.

Size S/M - for bust 34" - 38"

Neckband:
Chain 123 + 1 turning chain, turn.
Row 1: Ch1, sc across (123 sc), turn. (124 sts)
Rows 2-6: Ch1, sc across.

The yoke grows to prepare for the armholes. You’ll add dc between shells and increase into these dc on following rows. Always work a shell into the ch1 of a previous shell and dc(s) into the center stitch of the previous row.

Place a marker in the center back shell on Row 7 [or place markers before and after the center section so you don’t have to count the repeats]. Repeat instructions inside [brackets] as noted.

Use the written instructions below for Row 7 and then go to Row 8 of the Yoke Chart or continue with the written directions for your size.

Yoke:
Row 7: Turn, ch3 (equals 1 dc), dc, [dc, skip 1, shell, skip 1, dc, dc, skip 1, shell, skip 1] repeat 6x. (Place marker) Dc, skip 1, shell, skip 1, 2dc in next ch, skip 1, shell (center back), skip 1, 2dc in next ch, skip 1, shell. (Place marker) [Skip 1, shell, skip 1, dc, dc, skip 1, shell, skip 1, dc] 6x, dc in last 2 chs. (27 shells)

Row 8: Turn, ch3, dc, [dc in dc, shell, 2dc (between 2dc in previous row), shell] 6x. Dc in dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, dc. [Shell, 2dc, shell, dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 9: Turn, ch3, dc, [dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 6x. Dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, dc. [Shell, 2dc, shell, dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 10: Turn, ch3, dc, [2dc in dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 6x. 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc. [Shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 11: Turn, ch3, dc, [2dc, shell, 2dc, shell] 6x. 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc. [Shell, 2dc, shell, 2dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 12: Turn, ch3, dc, [2dc, shell, 3dc in 2dc, shell] 6x. Then: 2dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 2dc. [Shell, 3dc, shell, 2dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 13: Turn, ch3, dc, [2dc, shell, 3dc, shell]6x. 2dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 2dc. [Shell, 3dc, shell, 2dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 14: Turn, ch3, dc, [3dc in 2dc, shell, 3dc, shell] 6x. 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc. [Shell, 3dc] 12x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 15: Turn, ch3, dc, [3dc, shell] 12x. 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc, shell, 3dc. [Shell, 3dc] 12x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 16: Turn, ch3, dc, [3dc, shell, 4dc in 3dc, shell] 6x. 3dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 3dc. [Shell, 4dc, shell, 3dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 17: Turn, ch3, dc, [3dc, shell, 4dc, shell] 6x. 3dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 3dc. [Shell, 4dc, shell, 3dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 18: Turn, ch3, dc, [4dc in 3dc, shell, 4dc, shell] 6x. 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc, shell, 4dc. [Shell, 4dc] 12x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 19: Turn, ch3, dc, [4dc, shell, shell in 4dc, shell] 6x. 4dc, 5 shells, 4dc. [3 shells, 4dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 20: Turn, ch3, dc, [4dc, 3 shells] 6x. 4dc, 4 shells, 4dc. [3 shells, 4dc] 6x, dc in last 2 sts.

Row 21: Turn, ch3, dc, [shell (in 4dc), 3 shells] 6x. 5 shells. [4 shells] 6x, dc in last 2 sts. (55 shells)

If the yoke is too short, repeat the last row. (61 shells) Remove markers.

Body & Underarm:
In this section you will divide the yoke for the armholes. Place markers between shells [7 shells (right front), 13 shells (armhole), 15 shells (back), 13 shells (armhole), 7 shells (left front)] before you begin Row 27.

When you get to the underarm, ch11, turn. Work 10 sc back over the chain. Join to a corner of a shell with a slip stitch. Turn; work 10 sc back to other side and catch with a slip stitch before continuing across the row.

Make the sweater smaller/larger at the underarm by changing the number of shells you start with. I used 4 but 3-5 is fine. Start with 4 dc or less in each shell.

Row 22: 2dc, 7 shells, skip 13 shells (armhole), ch10 for underarm (work 2 rows of sc in this chain as directed above). Then continue across the back for 15 shells, skip 13 shells (armhole), ch10 for underarm (work 2 rows of sc in this chain as before). Then 7 shells (front), 2 dc.

Row 23: Work even but at both underarms—skip 1 sc, shell, skip 3 sc, shell, skip 1 sc, shell, skip 3 sc, shell, skip 1 sc.

Remove markers. Work even until cardi is long enough. I did 21 rows after the armhole.
Go to Finishing Instructions.

Finishing instructions for all sizes:

Bottom Ruffle:
Row 1: Add 1 dc between shells in this row.
Row 2: Work even.
Row 3: Work shells even; in every 1dc between shells work 2dc.
Row 4: Work even. (Make the 2dc between the 2dc in the previous row.)
Row 5: Work shells even; in every 2dc between shells work 3dc. Do not cut yarn!

Now you will continue up the front to make the left front band, then across the bottom, and finish with the right front band and buttonholes.

Left Front Band:
From the bottom edge of the left front band: Ch1, work 2 sc in every row end along the front edge. Work 5 more rows of sc to complete the band. You’ll end at the bottom edge after the 5th row. In the bottom corner work 3 sc. Continue across the bottom edge working sc in each dc and ch1 space. (I used a slip stitch across the bottom for a softer look.) At the bottom corner, work 3 sc.

Right Front Band & Buttonholes:
Continue up the right front band working 2 sc in every row end. Turn; work 1 more row of sc.

Stop! Count 25 sts down from neck edge. Place marker here for the 1st buttonhole.

Buttonhole Row: Turn, ch1, sc to marker, ch3, skip 3 sc (buttonhole), 6 sc, ch3, skip 3 sc (buttonhole), 6 sc, ch3, skip 3 sc (buttonhole), 4 sc.

On next row work 3 sc in each ch3 space. Then work 1 more row of sc.
Cut yarn; pull thru out of the last loop. Weave in all yarn ends. Sew buttons in place.

© July 2009 Laila Gerster All rights reserved.
Translation by Vicki Mikulak - September 2010

Click on the Yoke Chart below to enlarge or print.

A Wool Gathering

Hubby and I drove to southern Ohio for A Wool Gathering fiber festival in Yellow Springs (near Dayton). It was a surprisingly sunny and hot day with temps nearing 90 degrees as we arrived at the festival about 2:30 pm. It was packed! We were lucky to find a parking place by the Inn. Those who parked out farther could ride a free trolley from the outlying parking lots.

Most of the vendors were set up inside 3 huge tents on the ground. Interspersed around them were many smaller tents. It was hot outside and uncomfortably hot inside the tents. Though still had a great time shopping vendors I've never seen at other fiber festivals I've been to in the past. I came home with lots of goodies and business cards in case I want to get anything else. :)

Young's Jersey Dairy Farm is the location of the festival. Their cheese and ice cream shop was so busy that the line went out the door. Thankfully, you could buy a cup of ice cream from a booth outside. Hubby and I sampled the vanilla and it was very good but melting fast. It helped us cool off a bit.

We saw a sword fight between two members of a group that dress up in medieval costumes. Sorry, I can't remember their name. I loved their outfits thought they were definitely too heavy to wear on such a hot day.

There were activities for the kids. Two tents were set up where kids could turn a crank to make their own jump rope. Someone was driving a vehicle that looked like a plane at the front and end with little trailers linked behind it. The kids were having a good time! A batting cage nearby was busy with people hitting baseballs.

I was severely tempted to buy a small Shetland fleece at one booth. There were several mills at the festival where I could have dropped it off for processing. Wooly Knob and Ohio Valley Fibers were both there. I resisted the temptation to buy that much wool. They had a tent set up where you could watch them shearing sheep.

Here's a picture of my booty from the festival. A t-shirt for hubby, some Cashmere laceweight, a skein of superwash merino laceweight, 3 skeins of fingering weight, plus spinning fiber in natural and bits and pieces of colored. I bought Falkland, Cormo, BFL, merino, and Corriedale.

Here are links to the vendors:
(BTW, just checked some of these and they don't work. I don't understand vendors who give you a card with a website and it doesn't work.)

Cashmere laceweight - Stitch Sisterz
Hand dyed superwash merino laceweight - Carriage House Woolens
Grab bags of fiber - Happy Hands Yarn
Undyed Falkland - Bullens Wullens
Undyed Cormo - Wooly Knob Fiber Mill

It was a very long day. We left home about 9 am and didn't get back until 10:30 pm. Too many hours spent in a car in one day! I did get some knitting done on a baby blanket I've been working on.