Amish Quilt Auction

my bidder number

This past Saturday there was an Amish Quilt Auction in southern Wisconsin, near the communities of Brodhead and Albany.  We are lucky to have relatives that live down that way and we spent part of our weekend at the auction with friends and family.

one of ten racks of quilts and quilt tops for auction

There were hundreds and hundreds of quilts: finished quilts, King-size quilts, antique quilts, pieced quilt tops, baby quilts and everything in between.  And that was just under the quilt tent.  There was another tent devoted to Amish furniture and other goods, as well as a farm equipment auction, food, cold drinks and a horse that made ice cream (by pulling on the hand crank).

under the quilt tent

We had a fantastic time - there were a couple professional auctioneers that kept things lively - and I came home with two quilts. One is a double-wedding ring quilt in very bright colors, and the other is red polka-dots on a tan background. These are bright and modern looking quilts; they are not a good representation of the traditional designs, historic quilts, antique quilts and solid colors that dominated the auction. But they are in keeping with my personal aesthetic. 

double wedding ring quilt, queen size

All the quilts went for good prices and I hope will provide for the kids of the Clearview school, and all the members of local Amish communities, in the coming year.

red ball quilt, full size

And if you are interested to attend in the future you are in luck.  It is an annual event.

detail of double wedding ring quilt

FO: Current

Thanks to a much needed gift of a night 'off' from my husband, I curled up in a quiet corner of the house last week and worked furiously on the last sleeve of my sweater.  And by mid-morning the next day I finished it!

And would you believe that last little bit of yarn was the end of my third ball?!  I didn't even have to break into the fourth skein, not even a little.  As I worked on the sleeve I kept rolling over in my head things like, "when will this ball run out?" or "I can't believe that I just might squeak this one out!"  And at the end of my final row, I came to the end of the skein. 

I'm not terribly superstitious, but I am enough to wonder what it might mean when two ends come together in such a perfect way.

The sweater fits beautifully, but I have yet to find buttons, weave in the ends, and decide whether I want to block it.  I might give it a whirl to even out some stitches and give the whole sweater a more polished look, but I sure don't want to lose any of the fit.  It's a great pattern, a lovely sweater and I'm so happy the result.

And not more than 30 minutes after binding off that last sleeve my daughter snapped the photo below of me working on my 'strawberry and pineapple' socks.  Not sure if these are destined for me, or as a gift, but they are fun to work up.  Interestingly, it is one of a few rare photos of me actually knitting.  There's plenty of my work product and process, but not too many action shots (smile). 

More photos of the finished sweater to come...after the last details are sewn up and placed.

Suddenly Socks

globe trotter socks

The weather here is hot.  Not as hot as some other places in the United States, but hot nonetheless.  We are experiencing drought-like conditions and the crops here in Wisconsin are suffering.  And all this heat means that I don't want to knit anything that could make me the least bit hotter.  So the sweater has been set aside for two smaller projects that can be held in my two hands without the discomfort of a pile of wool/silk on my lap.

The globe trotter socks are for my husband - it is the first pair that I have ever knit him.  They have a nice seed stitch rib pattern which I think that are simple enough, but still have a unique look.  He tends to prefer black for work, and white cotton for around the house, so we'll see how he likes these.  The second pair are for me.  Basic Ann Budd top-down socks using my own handpainted yarn! 

Yeah for socks - although it will be quite awhile until I care to wear socks again!

simple rib socks

 

Yarn Painting



my four hand-painted skeins.

This past weekend I was lucky to attend a yarn painting workshop given by Sandy Jones of Sandy's Palatte at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point, WI.  What a fantastic afternoon! 

[Mineral Point, an old mining town, is worthy of its own photo shoot.  Many of the original Cornish-built, miners' homes have been restored and there is thriving arts community to round it all out.]

Yarn dying is a dirty, hot business.  And one best not done at home with curious hands about.  For this reason alone I am excited that I was able to get away and try it in a space where I didn't have to worry about anything (except for what colors I wanted to try!)

undyed worsted weight wool

We started with skeins of wool and roving.  Dipped in a bucket of warm water, they are soaked to prepare them to take the dye.  


empty dye jars.
dye will be shelf-stable if not used for up to a few months.

We started mixing dyes (vinegar, dye, and boiling water) in mason jars, and practiced mixing colors on coffee filters.  They bleed nicely and let you guesstimate how two adjoining colors will blend.  Then the fun began.  We painted to our hearts content, completing as many skeins as we wanted.  It was hard to start - the fear that I would create something that would simply turn out brown was high - but once I began I didn't want to stop.  The possibilities are truly endless.


last skein (sock weight) in bright colors.
 what's going to happen with all the white space?

After painting, the skeins are wrapped up in plastic wrap and steamed for about an hour.  Then they are removed from their casing, rinsed (being sure not to agitate, lest you felt them!), and hung to dry.

three of four skeins after steaming and rinsing.

In a mere 3.5 hours I created 4 one-of-a-kind, non-reproducible skeins from which to knit two pairs of socks and two hats. I am so excited to start knitting a project using my custom-painted yarns!!  I can see how custom painting yarns is addictive.  But given the little people in my life it is not something that I will begin doing at home.  I am, however, interested in taking another class and painting more yardage in a particular color blend.  Lucky for me Sandy has said that she's open to hosting one or two day-long dying workshops in the fall and next spring too.

Over the weekend I also bound-off the bottom edge of my Current cardigan!!  Now...on to the sleeves.