Saturday Sky: All About Joan
On Thursday we went to the annual Rangeley Blueberry Festival. It's primarily a smallish craft fair, with twenty or so vendors selling Maine-themed products like blueberry honey and blueberry jam, as well as assorted pottery, kitchen and table linens, woodwork, and so on embellished with blueberries and moose and so on. We didn't buy much, but we did meet Joan.
She was sitting next to her booth (or maybe a friend's booth? truthfully I didn't think much about that part) spinning Icelandic wool on an old Ashford Trad with a new jumbo flyer on it. She and I talked about wheels and drop spindles and wool and her sheep, and after a while Grant and Miss B ambled by, and Grant said, "Trust you to gravitate to the only spinning wheel here."
"Well, yuh," I said, and asked Joan for a business card, remarking that she lived in Oquossoc, which is right next to Rangeley, and she asked where we were staying, which actually is also in Oquossoc, and invited us to visit her and her sheep.
These are some of Joan's Icelandic sheep.
This is Joan's flower garden, which has nothing to do with sheep but is quite lovely.
This is the fleece Joan gave me.
I have to sing Grant's praises here. You know that conversation you have with your spouse from time to time, where he (it's nearly always a he) points out to you that you have an awful lot of wool, and you tell him what SABLE means if he doesn't already know, and he says, so you'll never need any more wool, right? and you say what does SABLE have to do with acquiring more wool? Grant and I have had this conversation a number of times, most recently at Joan's house. Despite his belief that I am clinically insane, not only did he not prevent Joan from giving me the fleece, but he is proposing to drive for four hours today with it in the van. (We didn't bring the clamshell this year because everything fit without it. Ah, the clarity of hindsight.) At least cool weather is forecast.
Thank you, Joan!
And, honey, I owe you (another) one. As if you didn't know.
She was sitting next to her booth (or maybe a friend's booth? truthfully I didn't think much about that part) spinning Icelandic wool on an old Ashford Trad with a new jumbo flyer on it. She and I talked about wheels and drop spindles and wool and her sheep, and after a while Grant and Miss B ambled by, and Grant said, "Trust you to gravitate to the only spinning wheel here."
"Well, yuh," I said, and asked Joan for a business card, remarking that she lived in Oquossoc, which is right next to Rangeley, and she asked where we were staying, which actually is also in Oquossoc, and invited us to visit her and her sheep.
These are some of Joan's Icelandic sheep.
This is Joan's flower garden, which has nothing to do with sheep but is quite lovely.
This is the fleece Joan gave me.
I have to sing Grant's praises here. You know that conversation you have with your spouse from time to time, where he (it's nearly always a he) points out to you that you have an awful lot of wool, and you tell him what SABLE means if he doesn't already know, and he says, so you'll never need any more wool, right? and you say what does SABLE have to do with acquiring more wool? Grant and I have had this conversation a number of times, most recently at Joan's house. Despite his belief that I am clinically insane, not only did he not prevent Joan from giving me the fleece, but he is proposing to drive for four hours today with it in the van. (We didn't bring the clamshell this year because everything fit without it. Ah, the clarity of hindsight.) At least cool weather is forecast.
Thank you, Joan!
And, honey, I owe you (another) one. As if you didn't know.
posted by Lucia at
12:01 AM
8 Comments:
What does SABLE mean?? Is something to do with more stash than you will ever knit/spin in yourlifetime? Does this mean your vacation is over and you're on your way home?
By
knitnzu, at 11:44 AM
Nice score, on the wool and especially a new friend! I always explain to Brian, the idea of SABLE. If you don't keep adding, you can't ensure you'll be SABLE, cause who knows how much time there will be? ;)
By
Carol, at 7:06 PM
I can't believe my eyes! Not one but TWO big bags of Icelandic fleece! I bet you didn't see THAT coming when you set off for Maine. But what a completely wonderful surprise!
Joan is clearly a kindred spirit. Imagine raising your own flock of Icelandics in Maine, within spitting distance of a national park. She almost makes me want to run away from home! ;-)
By
Anonymous, at 9:16 PM
Free fleece, free fleece, two bags full! Is it clean?
Grant is a hero! Bravo to him!
By
roxie, at 10:18 AM
I have that same discussion with DH every time I want to buy some yarn.
I've learned to buy it when he's not around, and sneak it into one of my stash bags. When he sees it, I'm truly using yarn from stash.
Any chance we'll get to fondle the fleece in the Java Room :-) ?
By
Nicole, at 1:42 PM
Oh, yum! Gorgeous picture of the fleece against the lake. of course, this likely means you'll be communicado for weeks while... erm... communicating with your new friends?
By
Lene Andersen, at 9:26 PM
What a guy! What a score! So much fun.
By
Laurie, at 7:46 AM
What a lovely trip and meeting wonderful new fiber friends to boot! Grant sounds like a most understanding spouse. :-)
By
WandaWoman, at 12:42 PM
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