Yesterday was a good mail day

When I went outside to get the mail yesterday, I had no idea what fun was waiting for me! The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival Catalog and Vogue Knitting for Spring! This is the first Vogue Knitting in a while that has anything in it that I would knit. I actually like the skirt on the front cover, but I would be more likely to sew something similar than knit it. I've never been a fan of knitted skirts, but this one looks pretty wearable. The fact that it could essentially be made in fabric in under 2 hours means I won't be knitting it, but its nice to see one that's worth wearing. This is the first year I've gotten the MDS$W catalog before the festival so this was a very exciting moment for me. I'll probably wear it out before May, but they'll have more of them at the show. For those that have never seen one, its filled with ads (sheepy, wooley, fibery ads!), class listings, a map of the fairgrounds (got to plan out the shopping), and pictures of sheep. I just love sheep! I want to hug their wooley necks when I see them, but most of them don't really want to be hugged, so I look at pictures of sheep. This book has lots of pictures of sheep! I also love the logo for this year's festival - the sheepy yarn balls are so cute.

Do you want to know what else happened yesterday? Mickael is getting me some Alvin Ramer Super Mini Wool Combs for my birthday! We ordered them yesterday from The Wheel Thing and I was expecting to have to wait a month or so like the website says, but I got an email from Janet this morning saying she's expecting several sets of combs in by sometime next week! I might actually get them by my birthday next week! WooHOo! I have been debating getting some hand cards or combs for a while now and I finally settled on combs. They cost more, but I prefer to spin combed top and I can always send fiber out to be processed into carded rovings. So I Googled wool combs, I checked the Spindler's archives, and I slept on it for a while to see if the feeling would go away. It didn't, so now I'm getting combs! I'm planning on getting a fleece at Maryland and now I'll be able to comb it!

One last note, yes there will be a Mystery Stole 2006. I have to get it knitted up to make sure all the bugs are worked out but I will be doing another one. I'm thinking I'll probably do it in the Summer again like last year, since I'm working on something else right now, then I'll really get going with the Mystery Stole. For those who missed out on the first Mystery Stole Along, the group is closed but the pattern is available - its Leda's Dream and if you check the sidebar, you'll find a link to the page with more details and purchase information. I'll announce more about Mystery Stole 2006 as I get the details figured out. I'll post information on my blog and in my Yahoo group - Pink Lemon Knits.