From Ralf Hartwell's stash

Happy Fleece

The Avett Brothers Seaside

Two weeks ago I hit the weaving jackpot. Ralf Hartwell, designer of the official tartan of the State of New Hampshire and recent guest speaker at our guild meeting, decided it was time to destash. I came home with 21 pounds of weaving yarn and a stack of weaving magazines, and I'm embarrassed to say how little I paid. I now have enough linen and cottolin to keep me weaving for a long time, as well as a few good additions to my wool stash. Ralf is a lovely man and a talented weaver, and I am grateful for his generosity.  

 
We also spent a day up at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. It is one of the largest organic fairs around, and my personal favorite. We brought the camera and managed to take no photos, but there are good visuals here and here. The weather could not have been better. My parents had us on the road at an early hour, and we were at the gates 15 minutes before opening time. It was chilly and misty and sunny and beautiful. We warmed our hands with cups of hot organic cider, filled our bellies with organic food, saw lots of happy and organically raised animals and came home with some interesting ideas to reduce our footprint when we finally have our own home. There were all sorts of demonstrations, my favorite being the cooper, and Kevin was very patient while I pawed through bag after bag of fleece. I came home with a fleece and a half of gorgeous wooly goodness that will eventually be washed, carded, spun and woven into something. Our friends Lisa and Zach had the coolest booth at the fair. It really made me ache for a bit of land, a barn and a farmhouse. All in good time.
 
We got to spend a few hours with Jeff, Sarah and Abe when they were in town visiting Sarah's folks. Abe is just amazing. He's got a mean rollover and was trying with all of his might to scoot himself up into a crawling position. I suspect he'll be doing that by the time we head down to West Virginia at the end of the month to spend a few days with them.
 
Back at the beginning of August Kevin and I went to the Newport Folks Festival, and experienced what we both considered our single best day of live music ever. Billy Bragg was great. Fleet Foxes absolutely knocked my socks off with their vocal precision. The Avett Brothers may just be the best live band ever. Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings did a version of 'White Rabbit' (fast forward to the 39:00 minute mark) that gave me goosebumps. The Decemberists gave me my second goodbump-y moment when guest-ish Shara Worden sang 'Repaid'. NPR doesn't have the full set streaming, but you can get the idea by listening to them at SXSW (fast forward to the 26:35 minute mark - not as good as her Newport performance, but you get the idea). Wow. That gal has a set of pipes. We all had a singalong at the end of their set with 'Sons and Daughters' (fast forward to the ten minute mark for a bit of commentary and the sing along). All of the us on the lawn were singing. People moored along the shore were singing. There was lots of swaying and clapping and general happiness. And of course Pete Seeger topped the night off with another singalong that had old and young alike belting it out. And speaking of The Avett Brothers, their new album 'I + Love + You' is a must own.
 
Next up: a report on my trip out to Boulder for Schacht Spindle Company's 40th anniversary party.