ANWG Shopping

Of course whenever I go to a weaving (or sewing) conference, the part I most look forward to is perusing the vendor area. Here is where the yarn fumes are permeating the air and excited conversations are buzzing everywhere and there is So. Much. Good. Stuff. Every time I entered the gym at UVic I managed to find something I had to have. Even though I already have everything. At least I thought I did.

I seem to have been on a linen theme for most of my purchases. Nearly all the yarn I bought was linen:

From the top that's Shibui Knits Linen, colour "scale", purchased in downtown Victoria at Beehive Wool Shop; Maiwa's new Honest Yarn linen lace, colour natural undyed; and Prism Euroflax Linen laceweight, colour "Kilimanjaro". All 100% linen, all different, all going to be linen shawls.

I also got 3 cones of Habu's bamboo wrapped copper:

It's colour is listed as brown but it's really black with glints of the copper showing through. I'm hoping there's enough to make some kind of garment even if I have to combine it with something else. Apparently the manufacturer isn't making this anymore so I won't be able to pick up another cone if I don't have enough!

Along with the yarns I bought fabrics, including 2 pieces of undyed linen:

The top one is a lighter weight texture weave and the bottom one a heavier canvas weave, both from Gala Fabrics and very reasonably priced. They will of course end up in dyebaths before I sew them up.

And the best for last:

This is a precious 5M length of Indian khadi cloth, handspun, naturally dyed and handwoven by Raju, as you can tell by the tag. It's cotton, wool and silk and each selvedge is a different colour - red and blue. I'm going to have to find something to make that utilises that, right? It's very light and airy.

I nearly forgot to mention the lovely shopping basket I bought, made by weavers in Ghana and purchased from Big Blue Moma:

I especially love the effective designs and the leather-wound handles.

So there you go.

We also had a great time on our camping trip - apart from the inevitable mosquitoes. I even got to swim in a little bay on Hicks Lake (northeast of Harrison Hot Springs)

Yes, including a flock of geese, tiny fish, an inflated crocodile and two of my three grandchildren. It was fun! I rarely get to swim since I'm increasingly sensitive to chlorine. It's got to be in a lake or the ocean. I'm not a good swimmer but I love just splashing about in the water. Especially on a very hot day, which it definitely was.

So now we're home for the rest of the summer, at least until we head off on our annual September Trek. So far all I've been doing is watering and weeding the garden. It kind of got neglected while I was away. No sewing and minimal knitting is getting done, though I'm almost finished the Bosc Pear Shawl. Needless to say, I want to start a shawl with that lovely orange chain-plied Shibui Linen. And I have wool to spin up for a sweater for Thom which has to be done before we leave so I can knit on it while we're driving. Who says summer is lazy?