Pomatomus and Other Fibery Goodness

Tonight, I finished a pair of socks that I have been working on since August. The pattern is Pomatomus, by Cookie A. I don't know about the rest of you, but the cat kind of cracks me up in the picture above.







This took me such a long time because I didn't get much knitting done in late August or in September. Somehow, though, the knitting really clicked last week, and I went from completing the gusset on the second sock on Thursday to almost finishing the foot on Friday. I had placed the first sock on a holder at a certain point in the pattern so that I could pick it up when the second sock got to be the same length and finish them together, ensuring that they would be exactly the same length. This ended up working quite well, and my feet happen to be just the right length to end the patterning on the sock at the peak of some of the scales, which is a detail that I like.



I have attended Knit Night for the last two weeks. September 30th was particularly good, because the store hosted a Heritage Wool Celebration, where local handspinner and weaver Mary Underwood of Front Porch Textiles and local shepherd, weaver, spinner and rare breed expert Neil Kentner of Wynsmoor Manor presented talks about fiber types, sheep breeds, and spinning and preparation techniques.



I purchased some of Neil's Wensleydale roving, partially to show support for having more spinning fiber and events at the shop, and partially because I haven't played with Wensleydale before. In fact, this will be only my second time trying spinning fiber from a longwool sheep. I ended up hanging out at the shop for an hour after normal closing time, talking to the presenters, the shop owner, and another knitter who seemed very cool. Mary told me about some local spinning groups I might be able to join, and Neil gave me some gardening tips. Along with his flock, he also has a garden full of heirloom vegetables, from which he saves seeds for Seed Saver Exchange. He kindly offered to help me select the appropriate heirlooms for the area, rather than the ones I am used to succeeding in Georgia.

I am looking forward to attending more fiber events and more events supporting local growers and producers in the near future.

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