Just a little over two weeks until the Deerfield Fair! Outside of the fact that this is my favorite fair, it's also my four-days-a-year paid job. I actually get paid to sit and spin in the Farm Museum for four days! How awesome is that! If anyone reads this, I'll be there with my antique Canadian Production wheel from 8 or 9 am until about 6 pm (with breaks for meals) all four days. Please stop by the Farm Museum and say hi!

One thing I love about this fair is that there are NO games! I find the people who work the games booths at other fairs to be among the most annoying people I've ever encountered (yes, right up there with telemarketers), so it's wonderful that there are none here.

I have been spinning for the Farm Museum for four or five years now. I always bring a spinning wheel, and always a saxony style wheel - what people expect a spinning wheel to be. I'm sure I could raise a few eyebrows with my Majacraft Suzie Pro, but it is the Farm Museum, after all. My Canadian Production wheel fits in perfectly! It was also while spinning at the Farm Museum that I met the man who sold me an antique treadle sewing machine, in wonderful condition (although it needed a lot of cleaning and oiling) for $50.

I also brought along my Harrisville 4-harness loom one year, and a bobbin lace pillow with work in progress another year. This year I'm planning to bring some bobbin lace again, although I'd like to get a little more work done on the piece that's there by then. I'm also working on a piece of tatting that will eventually be a bookmark. Last time I brought along the bobbin lace, I was astonished at the number of people who told me (and were willing to argue the point!) that what I was doing was tatting. This time I'll have some tatting for comparison.

This is my tatted bookmark so far. I worked on it at the dentist office this morning, while waiting for DS. I had two people - one client, one hygienist - stop and talk to me about my tatting. Both knew what it was, but neither was a tatter.



I've also put a few rows on the Flirty Ruffles shawl lately. I had a hard time spreading it out to get a good picture of the pattern. I think next time I'll have to knit it onto two needles to spread it out some more. This one is growing quite slowly. Between doing lots of woodturning, and beginning both a bobbin lace and a tatted piece, there has not been much time for knitting. This pattern requires quite a bit of concentration as well, which has not been in abundant supply lately.



I did spread out half of it to show off the pattern a little more. Click here for a closer picture.