we might not have the colour of the east coast

[piranha]

but our maples still put on a good show.

i went to the cowichan fleece and fibre fair today. it was lovely; more stuff than i had expected. there were remarkably many people with ravelry stickers (provided at the door), but i was shy. did talk with a happy, chatty woman whose handle i recognized from the van isle fibre lovers while waiting in line. had a long, fun conversation with a woman who raises shetland sheep (i am convinced this is where i might be headed, or maybe in an alternate universe). also talked with an older lady who just took a course from pluckyfluff (i wish i had known she was coming to quadra island) -- she was fun; making yarn from all sorts of clothing. also talked with alison irwin, a weaver, who let me try her inkle loom -- that shouldn't be hard to build. but what i really drooled over was her small "structo" tabletop 4-shaft loom. she was really interesting; very quickly realized she could talk tech to me, which was extra enjoyable -- i'd love to take a workshop from somebody like her. expressed my pissed-offness at VANOC and the bay towards the women with the cowichan knitwear, and bought a scarf in solidarity. might go to the protest on the 31st.

wow, that was a lot of talking. no wonder i am so worn out.

watched people spin. everyone does it differently. that's reassuring.

i also bought some fibre, *grin*. 1.5 lbs variegated grey shetland at a super price, a little lumpy, which, strangely enough, i am doing better spinning than i did with the lovely soft commercial top the woolery sent me with my wheel (it hates me). i can spin the grey shetland amazingly fine (for me), and the tiny lumps (i am not making these; they are in the wool) give it character. the rest of what i bought is all top drawer: bamboo, ramie, beige and dark brown alpaca, merino top, seacell. i didn't buy any of the lovely blends; i want to try all the raw, pure stuff first.

Comments

[matthewdaly]

That tree is prettier than anything in my part of the world. We're trying to recall the combination of temperature and rainfall in the summer and autumn that produce good colors, but whatever it is we didn't sure didn't do it this year. I sure hope our first freeze doesn't come along with an icestorm like it sometimes does.

[piranha]

we had our first freeze already, very surprisingly -- also luckily mild enough to not kill off any of my plants before i took the non-hardy ones inside. that's probably why we're getting fairly glorious colours this year, though we don't have much red (since we don't have many native trees that produce reds).

here's hoping against your ice storm as well.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, wow, gorgeous shot! I love the maples leaves, and their contrast against the pine greens, and the composition.

--
Selki

[crantz]

I find the notion of bamboo fabric amazing pleasing.

Also, beautiful picture. We didn't really get the beautiful fall colours here in town, all the trees stayed green, then their leaves fell off.