Girl Fun

It's always nice to get away when one has been bustin' butt for weeks. I had been in my dye kitchen in the basement dying yarn for so long that I started to feel a bit like Gollum. I was lucky enough to have a 4-day girl weekend right on Lake Michigan. Seal, Macy and I flew to Chicago where Tara picked us up and whisked us off to her beach house 2 hours north.


This is her beach"'cottage", not too shabby and plenty of room for 4 women and all our wine. It's located right on Lake Michigan, near the quaint village of Douglas and the adjacent artsy town of Sagatauk. In 1830 it was a big lumber area, until they stupidly cut all the trees down. Then in the 1880's Chicagoans began coming up for the summers, making it a resort town. In the 1920's artists established an artist colony nearby, Ox-bow, now part of School of the Art Institue of Chicago. Many of the homes are of the Arts and Crafts, Italianate and Colonial Revival style. Luckily the trees have grown back and it's heavily wooded, nearly all the way to the beach. Lake Michigan looks just like the ocean, with waves lapping and white sand beaches. Huge dunes line the coast.


This house is just down from Tara's, covered in local stone.


Because a ravine is between the small road and the houses, bridges were built to each house. They all vary in style, but I found them all quite charming. Some had little benches built in and twinkle lights along the railing.


Homeowners also own a bit of beachfront. One can walk all along the coastline, you just can't 'loiter' on someone's property. There is also a public beach.


I had no idea what Lake Michigan would look like. I really was surprised it looked like the ocean, with the waves being large enough to surf when it was windy.


Here we are out on a shopping adventure, looking for more art and jewelry.


Seal wanted to get this butterfly but just couldn't figure out a way to get it on the plane.


Douglas has many sculptures around the town.


We came across this young ceramic artist who is doing big, bold pieces. I had to take this pic of because I liked the colors, purple, teal, orange and chartruese, a new colorway in the making.


My favorite stop was this darling studio, a former one room schoolhouse.


It was previously turned into a home, with the boy's cloakroom a kitchen and the girl's cloakroom the bathroom. Now it's the studio of Dawn Stafford, an artist who does amazing oils and prints. She was so charming and nice, welcoming us to her light-filled space.


The school was built around 1867. Tall windows show a view of the peach orchards in full bloom.


I was taken by this artist's vignette. She's ready to grab her flowered bag full of tools and supplies, her straw hat and venture out into the nearby fields for a day of painting.


She was nice enough to pose for a photo.


Across the road was a pick-your-own peach orchard.





Our next stop was "Art Barn", a clever business that has different stations for teaching pottery, jewelry, fused glass, stained glass and mosaic work. It was so colorful and well organized. Tara said it's packed in the summer on rainy days.


The tables are mosaics and the chairs happily painted in cheery colors.


Macy amongst the color.


Don't you just want to grab some paints and start painting?!


or doing a mosaic?





Out front was a water tower with petticoats up top blowing in the wind, ala "Petticoat Junction"


But the big draw that weekend was "Tulip Time" or "Tulipalooza", a 10-day Dutch celebration, honoring the tulip. We arrived just in time for the Klompen Dancers, a thousand young dancers in wooden shoes and Dutch costumes.






NOT Klompen dancers!


Besides lilacs, tulips are my favorite spring flower. They are so cheerful and fun. Amazing that this large flower can stand so tall and straight on one thin stem.


The skies cleared briefly and I got this shot of the ferris wheel, reminding me of tulips going round.


Before we left Chicago, two of my friends, Chris and Cathy, picked us up and took us to see Oak Park, the neighborhood of Frank Lloyd Wright. This is the home he built in 1889.




Another example of his architecture. I wish we would have had more time to walk these beautiful neighborhoods. The day was sunny and crisp and it was so enjoyable seeing the Wright's architectural talent right there in front of us. All in all, it was a perfect weekend, spending time with girlfriends, eating well, (thanks Tara for the best strawberry/rhubarb pie I've ever had!), seeing a part of this beautiful country I've never seen, and not being in my basement dyeing yarn. Ahh! I love vacations!

Sheep & Wool & Rain & Fun!

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for coming to see me at MSWF. It was a soaky, wet, drizzly, day on Saturday and an 'open-up-the-skies-and let-it-pour Sunday. But the giddiness of the yarn buyers made it all worthwhile. I didn't hear one complaint about the rain. You can blame me for the weather though. My first S&W fest was 20 years ago. I was outdoors then under a makeshift tent. Overnight winds came up and my tent blew over onto the little goats next to me. Imagine my face when I saw the tent on Sunday morning. The goats were fine, just scared. After that I went indoors, swearing I'd never be outside again. I was in the T-shirt building and the t-shirt lines got longer and longer until it became a burden because not many folks could get into the building. So I decided to move outdoors again, but this time I had a professional tent put up. I did add my 10x10 tent to the back of it which leaked somewhat so next year I'm putting up a Morton building! No, just a bigger tent. So anyway, that's why it rained buckets and buckets.

I took my scary lady mannequin apart as she is just too heavy as a whole person and anyway she tends to fall over (too much wine?!). She had a long rod coming out of you-know-where so when she's upright she fits into a stand. But it just didn't look right (kinda sorta like torture!) so I removed it but it left a hole in you-know-where. Not wanting to scare away customers, I went inside my tent in search of an article of clothing that would cover her up a little bit at least. I found a cowl I had done out of pure alpaca and put it over her hard little hips and butt. I then had to pin a felt flower in the middle so it looked like she was wearing hotpants, pure alpaca hotpants to be sure. Of course she's wearing my hand knit socks. I think she did bring in the customers.

Some folks were not too sure though.

I arrived at S&W an hour early (8:00), but not nearly early enough. My booth was already crowded. Shouldn't have left so many last minute details to do. Next year!

A very satisfied customer, no complaints.

My socks that don't rock.

My three awesome helpers. Suzanne, Natalie and my son, Garrett. Garrett has grown up selling yarn. He was my yarn pimp at Oberlin College (it helped pay his way). He seems to enjoy helping out and I REALLY appreciate the help. (Garrett does not usually have facial hair but he was participating in 'Cinco de Mustache' yesterday. Guess he has shaved it off by now.

Walking around a bit on Sunday, we noticed how bad the mud was in other booths. These folks had to dig a 6" deep trench to divert the river rushing by their space.

Mud flood.

This totally felted tower with Rapunzel leaning from it was entered into the competition. Sorry it's a bit fuzzy but it was so awesome!

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your wool!"

Kathryn Crippen of Crippenworks created these colorful knitting needle bags. I was so smitten with her display that I asked if I could take some pix. She's one of those people when you meet, you seem like you've been friends forever. I loved her choice of fabrics and her designs. Since I can't sew, I am always in awe when someone sews a straight line and can put pieces of fabric together the right way.

Garrett took this pic of me while we were driving to the festival. Many of these photos are ones he took with his amazing camera.

I had 80 pounds of wool in the back getting wet.

John at Frankenmuth Woolen Mill packaging up my raw wool.

Garrett got this shot of me as we were standing out in the pouring rain. Well, I still have a smile on my face, but I do look a bit bedraggled!

Comparing wellies. They were the footware of choice last weekend.


I think this is my favorite shot of the festival. Pretty in pink.


My little pepper plants being very happy in the rain.

My trusty U-haul trailer.

Sheep and Wool Fest would only be a wool fest if it weren't for the likes of this guy. Muy friendly.
"What big ears you have!"


Llama llips.

Near the end of the day on Sunday, about 3:00, we put a sign out,"Rainy Day Discount - 10% off Everything!" That brought the last minute shoppers in.

Annie Kelley of Kiparoo Farm and me talking important knitting stuff. It was really nice being just up from Annie. She ran out of paper and ran down to get some. We needed bags. Annie has been a fiber friend and a farm friend for about 17 years now. Her son, Kip, and my son, Garrett are best of friends. It was nice for them to catch up too.

Annie's booth as busy as ever.


Thanks again and I hope to see you next year at the fabulous MSWF! Happy knitting! Dalis