...the long-promised images from Wooster, Ohio!

You might recall that, in a fit of energy, I promised you some images from our trip to the Great Lakes Sheep, Wool and Fiber Festival in Wooster, Ohio -- five days ago or so.  Sigh.  I'm getting old, and maybe I'm getting cranky.  I'm really annoyed at myself.

We drove off in our (not very nice) Chevrolet HHR (sorry, Lois, but I really didn't like driving it!!!), the title to which belongs to Enterprise Rentals, and meandered through maybe a dozen absolutely delightful Ohio towns.....before which, of course, you have to get to Toledo, along the perpetually-under-construction Interstate 75.  They will never finish.  It's some kind of out-migration scheme (keep 'em at home by shutting all the roads down for 9 months of the year). 

Some of those wonderful rural towns are full of Mennonite and Amish peoples.  You can tell by the absence of automobiles in some farmyards, the presence of the occasional carriage, and the well-tended appearance of a small farm -- not to mention the taller-than-usual garage or shed doors.  Gorgeous horses.  Healthy people.  I wish I knew more about Mennonite dietary habits, because they are among the healthiest and longest-lived of all Americans, and it has to do with physical as well as spiritual well-being.

And of course there is a certain amount of sadness in some of those towns.  In the otherwise charming Lodi, Ohio, we found echoes of the mid-19th century, when towns like this flourished, and fairly burst at the seams with migrants from New York and Pennsylvania.  Look carefully at the top of this very old building's cornice.  It's not going to last much longer.  The tin work is going, and the paint needs renewal badly.   And all of it takes money -- I wonder how much damage this recession will do in that regard, pushing homes and buildings and farms that are on the brink of difficulty completely over the edge:

and there were the usual, wonderful collectible shops -- usually found dead center on the main streets of towns like Lodi, Ohio.  We found some more buttons, of course, in this one:

.....here is what you should NOT do to old dishes (click on this one -- you won't believe it):

But then, of course, there was the festival itself.  We got to talk to a lot of old friends, about the Third Coast Fiber Arts Festival upcoming and lots more.  Bought SEVENTY-FOUR SKEINS of undyed wool-alpaca, made-in-Ohio yarn, very soft and lofty, from an Ohio mill, which I've now taken to the studio for sale, some of which I'll try to kettle dye.  Here are some of the outside vendors at the Great Lakes festival:

And HERE (blare of trumpets) is either the world's largest bread bowl or Paul Bunyan's cradle:

FINALLY:  This is the best reason of all to attend the Great Lakes festival -- setting aside the high-quality vendors (about 80 in all) and cool collectible shops.   In the center of Wooster is TULIPAN, maybe THE best Hungarian bakery and espresso shop in the entire midwest.  Maybe in the world.  Well, there are such things in Hungary, I imagine, so I'd better not overdo it.  We came at closing and were so crestfallen that the two lovely young women stayed open to make us some gorgeous coffee, fruit, and a piece (for Larry) of amazing almond torte.  We went away happy.  LOOK AT THIS.

More later.  Need to go knit awhile.  The computer has completely worn me out today.

svb

Third Coast Fiber Arts Festival Update

Everyone, a brief note:   Today, we updated the Third Coast link at http://www.artisanknitworks.com/ to include the summary list of the THIRTY-TWO fabulous fiber-arts workshops that will be offered at the event on September 21-22.  So have a look.  I think you'll be thrilled.  We will open up registration as soon as Larry figures out how to manage all of the technical wizardry required to achieve on-line registration!!!!  

And speaking of wizardry:  Look at this amazing photograph that Larry took somewhere in one of the small towns we visited recently in Ohio.   He thinks (he's right) that the best photographs are of PARTS of things, and this one makes the point.  Look at the abstract-art message that this thing conveys.  Click on it.    svb

 

Third Coast Fiber Arts Festival, and Wooster....

Larry and I just returned from a really beautiful driving day -- through Ohio farm country to Wooster, Ohio, and the annual Great Lakes Sheep and Wool and Fiber Festival.  More on that experience in another post, when I can show you some pictures.  Suffice it to say that I bought 74 skeins of wool-alpaca made-in-Ohio natural yarn, to be dyed by ME.  Now THAT is either courage or complete idiocy.

The topic that concerns me right now is the Third Coast Festival.  I learned from a couple of people that there is a lot of at least mild confusion out there.  Larry will be sending out letters with more information; the McGregor Conference Center, for instance, is an URBAN convention center.  It has electricity (some have not been certain it did), it has WiFi, it has gorgeous lighting, it is NOT like a fairground.  You do NOT have to leave two hours after the event ends.  How these things get started I just can't imagine.  But KNOW that you will get something from Larry very soon.  We perhaps have relied too much on photos of the Center, which is very beautiful -- but perhaps the fact that it's smack in the middle of a lovely college campus has not come through clearly.

For those of you who have NO IDEA what I'm talking about:  Have a look at the link on our website (http://www.artisanknitworks.com/) or just read some of the entries on this blog, beginning in early May! 

Cheers.  Will write about the Great Lakes festival after a night's sleep!!!

svb

LOOKING FOR A MEMORIAL DAY ACTIVITY?

Here is what you do:   Go to a public park, sit on a park bench in plain view of everybody, and do this:

I'll be back with lots and lots of photographs from Wooster, Ohio, and the Great Lakes Fiber Festival, probably by Monday.  And, yes, that's me -- do NOT compare with the photograph in the blog's heading.  That was only five years ago!   How the hands age as the years advance.  It's appalling.

svb

THIRD COAST YARN BOMBING!!!

Okay, guys.   Spread the word.  I now have permission to undertake a YARN-BOMBING BLITZ on the Wayne State campus maybe two weeks before the Third Coast Fiber Arts Festival occurs (the festival is September 21-22).  We will announce some sessions at our shop -- so look for announcements here and in the newsletter and on Ravelry.  You can bring yarn you no longer want, big needles or hooks, and join us in making colorful strips.  You can make 'em at home or in coffee shops.  You can do whatever you want -- but if you are making them in a group or something, do tell us so we can have a rough idea how many more we need to make.  When the time comes, we will announce a MEETING TIME and descend en masse on the campus, probably on a Sunday, when parking is the most ample.  Each one will have a little sign that says "YARN-BOMBING by knitters and crocheters, Third Coast Fiber Arts Festival, September 21-22, McGregor Conference Center."  Or some such thing.   I also have in mind inviting poor people to take strip-shaped objects down AFTERWARD and keep them for winter scarves.   So we will sew them on loosely. 

But we can make all kinds of shapes, so long as we stay away from City-owned stuff (like parking meters).  Here is a link to a Time magazine article.  If you want, go down to campus and have a look at the McGregor Center area, which is just a few feet off Cass near Kirby, roughly across from the law school's main entrance, or the many adjacent malls, for that matter.  We could make many shapes.  It's important only to remember that we can do no damage.   For amazing examples, look at   www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2077071,00.html

Stay tuned!

svb

Third Coast Fiber Arts Festival -- plus Wooster!

This Sunday and Monday, Larry and I are going to take a small vacation.  Other people get to vacate, so now it's our turn.  For Sunday, we'll go to the Great Lakes Fiber Expo in Wooster, Ohio, a delightful town to the south of Cleveland.  This is the town I YEARN to revisit, not just because of the festival, which has over 80 vendors (most of them REALLY high quality), but also because of the darling Hungarian pastry shop and cafe in the nice downtown area.  They have GREAT espresso and amazing baked goods, the kind that make you fat but you don't really care......?

As to the festival:   If you haven't heard about it, please read the last six or eight postings on this blog.  I have been dazzled by the response.  We have over twenty vendors signed up, many of them from Michigan, but some from out of state (Texas!  Oregon!).  We have some of the best teaching talent in the nation (Melville, Eisner-Strick, Pascale, Peasley, Thies, maybe Nancy McRae from East Lansing, and a range of other fantastic local people).  We will meet for two action-packed days at the gorgeous McGregor Memorial Conference Center in midtown Detroit, on the Wayne State University campus (where I teach), there will be a yarn-bombing a couple of weeks in advance (you can participate -- just look for the announcement on this blog and on Ravelry -- and in the meantime make some LOOOONG knitted or crocheted strips in weather-proof yarn, preferably in bright colors!) on the campus.  There will be a jazz combo on the closing night of the festival in the Center's glass-y atrium.   And so on.

Stay tuned.

svb

Third Coast Fiber Arts Festival -- A Musical Note!

....late-breaking news (blare of trumpets):   Chuck Newsome, a jazz guitarist and member of the Wayne State music school faculty, will gather up two students that he plays with all the time and provide JAZZ for our Saturday night gala reception in the McGregor Memorial Conference Center atrium!!!  How cool is this?  He is tentatively scheduled to start at about 5:30 and continue 'til we're out the door, whenever that might be.  When the event approaches, I'll get the McGregor staff to provide some beverages, cheese, fruit, etc., for that event in addition to the Friday night dinner stuff, box lunches (for those who order in advance), and all-day refreshments.  For the gala, they are not able to provide wine (university rules), but WE can.   

svb