Kiss My Knits!

Had a good time at the Carolina Alpaca Celebration in Concord on Sunday. I went with turtlegirl76 and illiane. The animals were so cute I considered smuggling one out, but decided it probably wouldn’t fit comfortably in illiane’s SUV. Curses, foiled again! The event was geared more towards breeders, but was still fun.

However, we did have a good time at the free spinning seminar, which turned out to be more of a talk about shearing, picking, carding, and very little spinning. We got to see a bit done, though, and I learned that I like a double treadle, more modern machine than the single-treadle antique that I briefly experimented with in the seminar. No, that is not me in the picture, it is Donna Blackmon of Flint Ridge Alpacas.

There were, of course, vendors there, with all manner of alpaca and craft-related stuff. I wound up spending every single cent of the “mad money” my husband left me. (I had paid bills the day before and mentioned that we were officially broke, but oh well, I’d still have a good time. He left a wad o’ cash on the bedside table for me before he and my daughter took off for Laurinburg. Sweet!)



What’d I buy? Well, Creatively Dyed Yarn had a booth, so I had to get that pretty skein of sock yarn to the left, of course. Also, the one to the right, which is a little more tan and less pink than the picture shows. There was also some worsted, and from other vendors, a bar of really minty eucalyptus-y soap, a pair of incredibly soft baby alpaca gloves, some finger puppets for my daughter, and a little treat for my husband which I can’t show yet because apparently he does occasionally read my blog. Who knew?

Then it was back to Charlotte, where I helped turtlegirl rearrange her furniture. I swear, it was more fun than it sounds. Our cat mercifully let me sleep until 7:30 this morning, so I awakened full of pep! I’ve spent the day cleaning the house. It still looks like a sty, but it looks like a sty which could actually someday be clean. At least the piles of crap are smaller. Just gotta keep that momentum going.


Major down side? Today was Presidents’ Day and there was no school. Or so I thought. We had a snow day two weeks ago, and apparently the school system decided that today was a makeup day. I didn’t know this until my mother called at noon and mentioned it. Meanwhile, my daughter’s out of town. I seem to remember that when I was a kid, they just tacked all those days on the end of the year. I figured that’s what they’d do this time. Apparently not.

My daughter’s school has an automated system which they use to call us all the time, once in English and once in Spanish. If there’s a school play, or a “donuts for dads” type thing, we get calls. They couldn’t call and say “hey, there’s school today!”? Gr. So we missed a day, which is frustrating.

Well, it’s back on the alpaca horse tomorrow, but hopefully we’ll all be in high spirits. I know I feel better having a cleaner house and new yarn to play with.

Now when’s my next vacation?

Hats up for: OR, OR, and NY.