Why is muñequita crying?

It’s all Bárbara’s fault.

500

¡A partir de hoy he tenido quinientas visitas!

As of today I have had five hundred visits!

For My Secret Pal/Para Mi Amiga Secreta

Some days ago I sent off a package to Mae, my secret pal from the Intercambio Arácnido. It contains the following:

Hace unos días le envié el regalo a Mae, mi amiga secreta del Intercambio Arácnido. Contiene lo siguiente:



a felted bag (see the tutorial below) - bolso afieltrado
a CD of music in Arabic – disco compacto de música árabe
a spider stitch bookmark – marcapáginas en punto de araña
freesia perfume (her favorite) – perfume de freesia (su favorito)
a letter – una carta
yarn – lana
jellybeans – dulces
a crochet hook – un ganchillo de crochet
a crochet magazine (with plenty of charts & diagrams) – una revista de crochet (con bastantes gráficos y diagramas)

I am so excited now that it’s in the hands of the USPS. I’m a little worried that the perfume will spill and that the candy will melt or that she won’t like the color (or style) of the felted bag. Well, there’s nothing I can do now that it’s on its way to Chile. I enjoyed putting it together and hope she likes it. This was my first felted bag and I’m pleased with the end result. Might make another one for myself. We both enjoy listening to Arabic music, so I was happy to send her a compact disc. Check out her blog even if you can’t read Spanish. You can look at photos of her projects, especially her incredible amigurumis.

Estoy muy emocionada ahora que el regalo está en manos del correo. Me preocupa que se derrame el perfume o que se derritan los dulces o que no le guste el color (o el estilo) del bolso. Bueno, no se puede hacer nada ya que está en ruta a Chile. Me dio mucho gusto preparar los diferentes elementos del regalo. Espero que le agrade. Este es el primer bolso afieltrado que he hecho. Me gustó como salió y pienso hacerme uno. A las dos nos fascina escuchar música árabe, así que con gusto le envié el disco compacto. Visite su blog para que vea los trabajos que hace, especialmente sus amigurumis increíbles.

Felted Bag Tutorial/Tutorial Para el Bolso Afieltrado

When Giving Knitted Gifts to Non-knitters...

Canadian knitting celebrity Stephanie Pearl-McPhee said in one of her interviews that when she gives someone a knitted gift she often includes a card saying approximately how many stitches the gift contains. That way people will have a better idea of how much work went into the sock/hat/scarf/et cetera and will appreciate it more. I might borrow that idea. Of course, this need not be done when one is giving a gift to a fellow crafter.

Furry Caterpillar Invasion/Invación de Gusanos Peludos

Some weeks ago I began seeing this on many area trees. I call it a caterpillar house because dozens, if not hundreds of them crawling around it. There’s a correct term for it, I’m sure, but I don’t know it. I wouldn’t mind them except that several of them are in the trees close to my balcony. I’m okay with sharing this earth with caterpillars and other insects, however, I wouldn’t be happy if they walked through the balcony door and decided to share my apartment too. Some weeks ago I began seeing this on many area trees. I call it a caterpillar house because dozens, if not hundreds of them crawling around it. There’s a correct term for it, I’m sure, but I don’t know it. I wouldn’t mind them except that several of them are in the trees close to my balcony. I’m okay with sharing this earth with caterpillars and other insects, however, I wouldn’t be happy if they walked through the balcony door and decided to share my apartment too.


Desde hace unas semanas he notado esto en muchos de los árboles de la zona. Lo llamo casa de orugas porque decenas, si no cientas de ellas viven dentro. La cuestión es que hay varias de estas “casas” en los árboles que estan cerca de mi balcón. Aunque no me molesta compartir el planeta con las orugas y otros insectos, no me gusta para nada la idea de que entren por la puerta del balcón y decidan compartir mi apartamento.

A Few Random Festival Photos and the Ride Home

As I said before, the weather was gorgeous, so here are some shots taken through Whisker’s windshield on the way home.

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Handmade brooms for sale, a good day to wear a kilt and an impromptu jam session.

Goats and More Sheep

I was upset with the Wensleydales because they stole my hairstyle. Some nerve!

Auction of the Shawls

These shawls were produced during the Sheep-to-Shawl competition in which each of eight teams must shear its sheep, hand card and comb the fleece, spin and then weave it into a shawl of predetermined dimensions within three hours. It’s great fun to watch. Although it is a timed event, the team members never seem nervous or anxious. There is $1000 in prize money at stake. Next year I’ll take photos of the teams working on the shawls. No just anybody (meaning me) can participate. This contest is serious business.


In previous years the shawls have been auctioned off for a lot of money, but this year they went for a paltry $100-200. Jane, the woman who used to run the auction, was a lively old auctioneer who could really get people to keep bidding higher (and was entertaining, to boot), but she died last year. People blamed her lackluster replacement for the low bidding and thought is was a real shame that such high quality shawls were sold for so little. I overheard one woman say, “She won’t be running the auction next year, I can assure you of that!”


Of course, those who were in the market for a hand-woven shawl (for Mother's Day next week) were thrilled at the rock-bottom prices.

I liked the pattern of the dark green shawl, but the rainbow-colored one was gorgeous. The earth-toned one can go with almost anything in one’s closet (dressy or casual) and the light green one was very appropriate for the spring season. There was a natural-colored one which I didn’t get to photograph which was quite pretty, but one had to see it up close to appreciate its beauty.

Eek! Naked Sheep!

A festival volunteer does a a sheep shearing demonstration with electric clippers.

Another volunteer shears his Border Leicester with blade shears. This method is more time consuming, but less traumatic for the sheep. He also explained that in past the wool of black sheep* was practically worthless because everyone wanted white wool which could be dyed. Today, however, it is very sought-after by spinners and weavers of natural hues precisely because of its blackness.

*The English idiom ‘black sheep’ originated from the occasional black sheep which are born into a herd of white sheep due to a genetic process of recessive traits. Black sheep were considered commercially undesirable because their wool cannot be dyed as white wool can.