June 14, 2011

Saturday, I wandered more, talking with people, renewing friendships, making connections, and seeing lots of cool things at TNNA. Every hour or so, I went back to the Up North booth to make sure I was available to speak with anyone who wanted to connect with me.  At one point, I ran into Ragnhei∂ur Eiriksdottir, also known as Ragga, who is from Iceland and has created a DVD on knitting lopapeysa, what we know here in the US as Lopi sweaters. Ragga gave me a copy of her DVD, which I was thrilled to receive!

 

She is also conducting many knitting tours through Iceland.  One that is upcoming is with Franklin Habit and will be in October, 2011 during the annual music festival in Reykjavik!  That will be a lot of fun!  Then Ragga hinted that she would love to build a tour with me as the teacher.  I LOVE Iceland and hope that this tour will materialize.  You'll hear all about it on this blog if it comes to be! Across the way, a booth called The Dolly-Mamas piqued my interest.  Lisa and Darlene have created patterns for all sorts of KuKu dolls and work with Connect Africa in Uganda to help knitters there make money to fund schools and other needed projects.  The dolls "are multicultural, knitted, felted dolls that are available as kits, patterns and finished dolls. Each KuKu Doll has its own name and personality and when you make one, you put a little touch of yourself in it as well." You can order many of these kits from this page on their website. These needle gauges caught my eye at the Puffin & Company booth.  They are made of laser cut Alder and size needles from US 0 to 17.  There are different styles, but you can order this one here.

 

Later in the day, I discovered a booth representing The Imperial Stock Ranch.  This Oregon ranch has been operating since 1871 and is credited with the development of the Columbia breed of sheep.  This family raises beef and lamb, and produces breed specific wool yarns and garments with sustainability in mind. Here is a small photo of one of their yarns.   And speaking of breed-specific yarns...I had dinner with Deb Robson of Nomad Press and former editor of Spin-Off Magazine. We had a good time catching up and she told me about her new four pound baby The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook which she co-wrote with Carol Ekarius.

This 448 page book is the most comprehensive yet describing the fleece and information about more than 200 fiber animals.  This is an editorial description from Storey Publishing:

"This one-of-a-kind photographic encyclopedia features more than 200 animals and the fibers they produce. It covers almost every sheep breed in the world — from the longwool breeds of the United Kingdom to the Tasmanian merino, the Navajo churro, the northern European Faroese, and dozens and dozens more. It also includes goats, camelids (such as alpacas, llamas, and vicunas), bison, horses, musk oxen, rabbits, and even dogs. Each entry includes photographs of the featured animal; samples of its raw fleece, its cleaned fleece, and yarn spun from the fleece; and samples of the yarn knit and woven. You’ll find everything you want to know about each animal and its fiber, including the fiber’s color, density, strength, and staple length, and recommendations for processing and using it. This is the essential reference no fiber-lover can be without." We also traded experiences about doing DVDs.  Deb's was done through Interweave Press and is called Handspinning Rare Wools.  I look forward to owning my own copy of this DVD.