Adventures at the Ren Fest 2019: Final Weekend

And another season comes to a close! This long weekend, I met: A woman who started crying in the booth because the prices were “unreasonable.” Another woman who walked by my demo, pointing at me, saying “That is a massive pain in the ass.” A man, who came up to the very modern Spinolution Echo […]

Black Friday Knit-a-thon

Yes, it’s not even Halloween yet, but we crafters always have to be looking ahead. Most of us are hand-making gifts, you know. The holiday season is a time of year where we especially look out for our neighbors, and we have a great organization that does that here at home. The Johnson County Christmas […]

Adventures at the Ren Fest 2019: Sixth Weekend

Buckle in, this weekend was a doozy! Last weekend, I met: A woman who said “You don’t use stitch markers in crochet.” When we pointed out that we had lobster claw stitch markers for crocheters, she said “Yep, I have a ton at home.” Some poor child had an adult in their life who kept […]

A Pilgrimage to Hedgehog

I’m Emma’s mom, Cyndi, and I’ve just returned from the most amazing trip. Emma agreed to let me do a guest post for her blog. I’m so excited, and maybe still a big jet lagged, so please be understanding. Being of Irish decent, I’ve always dreamed of visiting Ireland, and finally, after decades of waiting, […]

Adventures at the Ren Fest 2019: 5th Weekend

It was the last weekend in September. By now, we should have cool, crisp breezes that smell like the changing leaves and be able to wear all of our handknits, but no. It was still humid, in the 80s, and we had to dodge a little rain. I was only out there Sunday last weekend, […]

Socks for Ireland

Earlier this year, my mom and I went to a spinning retreat in town, and one of the techniques covered was fractal spinning. The braid I received for the project was green, white, and orangey-gold, which made me think of the Irish flag. My parents were planning a trip to Ireland for their 30th wedding […]

Adventures at the Ren Fest 2019: 4th Weekend

All of us who work the Faire were mentally preparing for a downpour all weekend. We discussed strategies for paper boat races, if we got the usual river down the middle of the lane. Short of a couple of short rain bursts, though, we were spared. The guests must’ve missed the memo, ’cause it was […]

Stoplight Knitting

I have a confession to make: I knit at stoplights. When people hear this, I get one of three reactions. Least often, they look at me like I’m a genius. Here and there, I get amusement, because of course I am someone who would knit at stoplights. Finally, most often I get looks of sheer […]

Adventures at the Ren Fest 2019: 3rd Weekend

Last weekend was dog weekend! My personal favorite themed weekend, because they always hold corgi races! Aren’t they adorable?! My booth-mate Christina took these photos. It’s a hoot to watch them. As always, I got to meet some interesting characters: I had a woman ask if we had hats, and I told her “of course!” […]

I’m Teaching at KITH!

Announced earlier this week, I’m teaching a class at next year’s Knitting in the Heartland! It’s a fantastic regional yarncraft conference put on by the Sunflower Knitter’s Guild every other year. I’m teaching Advanced Crochet Stitches, and it’s a fun one. I’l cover moss stitch, bobbles, cables, lace, Catherine Wheel, star stitch, and more! It’ll […]