Fiber Fool

Yikes! I can’t believe how crazy it has been around here. Last week was a whirlwind with a less than 24 hour stay at a hot springs resort for a family reunion that required 7+ hours of driving and resulted in only 45 minutes in the hot springs - all smack in the middle of the week. It kind of threw off the whole week, with Monday being jam packed with things that needed done before I left for work and at home. Then Thursday was catching up on everything else that landed on my desk while I was gone which overflowed into Friday. I didn’t even take any pictures on the trip. It was too short and DH kindly pointed out I’d just hide behind my camera if I brought the big one, which is quite likely true since it was his family and not mine. Once we were actually able to leave it was a good trip, although a bit much work for too little time.

This weekend though was all about resting and relaxing - at least after a trip to our fav coffeeshop which also serves fresh made juice from local and organic produce followed by a stop at the farmer’s market. I’ve been feeling horribly run down. I think it is part heat and part allergies or maybe a sinus infection trying to take over. So I’m pushing the fresh veggies and fruits like crazy. And Saturday even included a nap!

Before all that, I had a wonderful girly day with Amanda in Denver. She had a very rare all-day yard pass. We started off as one of the first 100 at Fancy Tiger Craft’s 6th anniversary celebration where we got goodie bags. We also had no trouble spending the $25 to get a free tee shirt. I got some fabric for two shirts and a vintage 1940’s dress (a pattern Amanda scored for me earlier this summer).

Then we wandered down the street a little bit to an interesting cafe that had been recommended to us - The Sputnik. I had the Vegan Power Stack - quinoa cakes with lots of veggies, including kale, zucchini and avocado. Amanda had a breakfast burrito that she said was quite good.

Then we wandered back towards Fancy Tiger and stopped into their old location which is now a coffee shop and got some iced lattes. I love their cold brew coffee set up and am kicking myself that I didn’t just order iced coffee! Next time!

The last stop on the trip was to hit The Pavillions and the new to us, H&M store which I think is coming up on it’s 1 year anniversary late this summer or in the fall sometime. I learned I need to go shopping with others more often. I still think like my 22/24W sized self and would look at things and say “I’m not small enough to pull that off yet” and Amanda would grab it and tell me I was trying it on, LOL! For the record, she was right! The striped number above? A fitted t-shirt dress that did end up coming home with me.

I also got this navy pencil skirt above for under $10! And, it’ll serve as a template for making my own. We discussed some styling ideas and I was so excited I had to play around with it as soon as I got home. Which is your favorite? I think a lime or mustard skinny belt would be nice too in place of the red and I have shoes for those. My mom was just asking me about web sites for accessories, especially belts. Do you have any suggestions?

Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the chai cake donuts. It is nearly all drafted and should get posted at some point this week.

What a week last week was! There were a few “firsts” that took place. Then it ended with my birthday yesterday which included a fun little road trip with Amanda to Ikea (complete with Swedish meatballs) and sushi and chocolate. Not a bad way to start my next trip around the sun!

I mentioned last week how I’ve now dipped into the smallest pant size of my adult life. Well, add to that list someone wanting to set me up with someone else (both the engagement and wedding rings are laughably large - on my thumbs even so there is no visual clue to my married status!). Too, too weird. Neither party knows me that well so they didn’t know I’ve been married for almost a decade now so that was a little ackward. But flattering.

I also had my first “oh, you’re just whithering away” comment. I knew to expect these as both my mom and sister have experienced them. It is kind of amusing though when someone who is likely a size 4 or at most a size 6 is telling you that at a size 12 you are “wasting away.” This particular person sees me weekly as she is one of my yoga instructors. All winter though she happened to see me most often in oversized sweaters (frequiently my Wisteria which has about 10-12 inches of ease now). I know she was very surprised the first time she saw me in a more fitted top with my yoga pants and to be fair I missed the week prior due to a bug so likely a 2 week spread in seeing me brought some change to my body into stark contrast for her. But it still made me chuckle.

Of course if I don’t stop the birthday celebrations soon I won’t be keeping my size 12 pants! ;-) Today is the last day of celebrating. I brought my rhubarb filled cupcakes with almond buttercream frosting to work. I have to say - I should have brought in baked goods much, much sooner! :-D I’ll be bringing some to knit night tonight as well and then I’m done with the celebratory refined carbs and getting my butt back onto the treadmill doing intervals at 5am!

Another advantage of working outside the home - I have coworkers to eat up my baked goods so I can enjoy making them and eat one and not have to worry about eating the rest! I think I may have to resurme semi-regular baking. They were definitely more than appreciative of my efforts! More of them were fans of rhubarb than I expected. I wonder how they feel about cardamom? Also, can I pull off an at least partial whole grain version of bullar? Hmmm….

Thanks to Deb and her daughter’s CSA share and our own I was able to get 2 free tickets to attend Grant Family Farm’s Harvestival on Sunday afternoon. The lovely Kathryn stopped by and picked me up along the way (and gave us a jar of homemade apple butter!) and we spent several sunny hours on the farm.

We were greeted by these two rather tall individuals just outside the gate to the paid section of the festival which included two stages where musicians and sustainability-minded speakers could be seen.

Sunday afternoon was chosen to attend because Joel Salatin, featured heavily in The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Food, Inc. was speaking. He was an interesting speaker, if a tad rambly. With the audience I suspect mostly comprised of CSA members who got tickets as part of their shares he was obviously preaching to the choir :-)

I did manage to spot a bit of fiber arts in the wild…

After the talk we quickly sought out food. We opted for the Grant Family Farm Grill where they were selling bison burgers and brats and well as a smattering of other locally raised foods. Then we wandered one booth south for some homemade root beer (which was less photogenic than the burger).

While it did cost $20 on Saturday or $30 on Sunday to get into the area with the speakers and most of the musical acts and food and vendor booths, there was across the road a free area with a mini farmer’s market and lots of kid friendly activities.

Seeing a watermelon flinged across an empty field via trebuchet was probably the most popular amongst all the ages.

Since the egg recalls, Grant Family Farms has gotten a fair bit of press about their approach to raising chickens. They had two of their chicken buses on display and some boxes of lower grade produce that visitors could feed to the chickens. The converted school buses are driven around to various areas of the farm so the chickens fertilize the soil and graze, then the buses are moved to the next area before overgrazing occurs. They are also locked up inside at night to keep them safe from the coyotes and other predators.

There was a meandering self-guided walking farm tour where you could take in the sights of the orchards and fields and learn some interesting tidbits along the way…

I couldn’t believe this factoid so had to capture it! If I stop and think about it, it makes sense. Grant Farms delivers CSA shares as far south as Colorado Springs each week and they are a major supplier of fresh produce for many of Fort Collin’s restaurants and I suspect many all along the front range.

At the end of the farm tour loop we checked out more of the free section. There were many animals for kids to see. The following is only small sampling.

Okay, you knew I’d take a picture of sheep! The llama and alpaca were in more enclosed pens that made getting fence-free images impossible so you’ll just have to envision those yourself.

Can you name this one?

There were also pigs and a pony and a cow.

And I can’t forget the ducklings (though they were in a different area of the free side). Too cute! I had forgotten how cute they were as it has been decades since I lived on the farm and we hatched any mallards from nests exposed to predators when the alfalfa was cut.

There was also a section with all kinds of fun games, such as the straw pile above. There was a straw maze and what looked like pumpkin bowling (though it was late in the afternoon and no longer being manned). I think there was also a booth where kids could paint and plant a small pot as well as one where they could combine various vegetables into imaginative creatures. There was also a small stage that was frequented by a magician and some smaller musical acts.

I have to say the free side of Harvestival did a really good job of catering to the kids. I think it would totally be worth the 14 mile drive north of town to take preschool and early elementary aged children to the festival in future years.

You can see a few more photos and non-mosaic versions of those appearing in mosaics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/designedlykristi/sets/72157624842183179/detail/

Friday was a fantastic day! About mid-morning Amanda stopped by to pick me up and we headed down to Boulder to meet up with Kristi G. for lunch. We stopped at Shuttles first and did some damage to our bank accounts - most of which was from the shelf of orphan yarns which were marked down an additional 15% off of their already reduced prices so we got a lot of bang for our buck. Oddly, I did a bit more damage than Amanda - that is a rare occurrence!

After filling a bag each at Shuttles we had a wonderful Indian lunch buffet in the same shopping center. It is sure is nice to just park once and walk. We hadn’t seen Kristi in a looooong time so lunch ended up being a 2 hour affair - oops! But the company was fantastic, as was the food.

On our way back to Fort Collins we stopped in Niwot at The Berry Patch. It is a really fun little shop filled with all kinds of things, from amazing vintage-style jewelry and scarves to high end bath and kitchen products and a whole corner of stuffed toys for kids. Our main purpose for the stop was not all the boutique items, but rather the wall of ribbon and shelving unit of buttons. It is the best selection of ribbon and buttons that I have ever seen! Thankfully I was pretty restrained and did not do too much damage. I bought a yard of ribbon and 8 buttons. But there are plans to go back before too long with yarns in hand for matching embellishments. If you find yourself in the Boulder area I strongly recommend the slight detour to The Berry Patch! (Berry Patch photos were taken by Amanda - thank you for remembering your camera!)

Then that evening Drew and I attended a Gogol Bordello concert at The Aggie. It was a fabulous show full of amazing energy and entertainment. They call their style of music Gypsy Punk and I certainly can’t think of a better description for it. I even liked the opening act - Apostle of Hustle. They had fantastic drumming and their sound was amazing full for only two people (yay loopers).

Needless to say, there was no trouble sleeping on Friday night with a day so jam packed with fun activities!

Just a quick note to let you know I will be in a double booth my My Sister Knits at the 2009 KnitWear Fiber Arts Extravaganza this Sunday at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins. The show starts at 11am and runs until 4pm. Admission is $5, $3 for students and free for children under 11. There are free demos all during the event as well as door prizes and a wide variety of vendors, including regional yarn shops, yarn companies and designers and artisans. There are also plenty of tables and chairs for just sitting and working in public with friends old and new. It is a really fun event that is not to be missed.

Come by and fondle samples of most of my currently available patterns as well as samples from the many classes I teach in the area. If you have any of the books or magazines I’ve contributed to feel free to bring them with you to get signed if you’d like.

Full details can be found on the Lincoln Center’s web site at http://www.fcgov.com/lctix/galleries-events.php#knitwear.