Even though I'm living in Massachusetts, Maine holds the tightest grip on my heart when it comes to the fiber arts. My GG used to knit me sweaters when I was growing up using Bartlettyarns, spun in Maine. I came across some the other day, and that smell made memories of her flood right back. When I was nine, I took knitting lessons at a little shop in Bridgeton, Maine. The woman who owned the shop had shelves of the stuff. It's amazing how smells can be so vivid after such a long period of time. Apparently my yarn sniffing addiction is deep rooted. 

 
Over Thanksgiving weekend, we took a quick trip up the coast to Brunswick, home of Purl Diva and the fabulous Ellen. Her yarn selection is amazing, and you won't find anyone friendlier. Posing on the threading bench, you can see the loot I left with. I picked up several skeins of yarn for a few weaving projects and then proceeded to raid her orphan skein bin. I love orphan skeins. They tend to be discounted, and they're great to have on hand when you want to add in a bit of somethin' somethin' to your weaving. In my world the orphan skein is star of the show. I'm also totally excited to have eeked into a class Ellen is hosting with none other than Franklin Habit. It's all about photographing your fiber art, and as you may have noticed, I need a bit of help.  
 
This past week my sweetheart was down in the Big Easy on a business trip, so I took the opportunity to hop home for some tasty dinner and the excellent company of my parents. We took a field trip to visit Melodi at the Portland Fiber Gallery and Weaving Studio at the base on Munjoy Hill. I learned to spin there, and Melodi has a great selection of spinning and felting fiber as well as weaving supplies galore. I grabbed a couple of batts of merino/alpaca that are just lovely, as well as an orphan skein that just seemed to belong with them. At some point my cruiser bike ended up in the studio, and it has been living there ever since this happy accident happily serving as additional storage when necessary. I'm a firm believer that most things are more than their name implies. 
 
Well, I should be off to the airport to pick up my sweetheart.