Black Swamp field trip

Don't let the title fool you -- this was not a journey into some dark, murky pond. Six members of the Black Sheep Knitting Guild headed out this morning to see what the Black Swamp Spinners Guild was all about by attending their 24th annual show in Bowling Green, OH. Judith, Linda (Lu), Coralee, Sharon, Harriet and I drove down to the fairgrounds to get our fill of fiber. We all found great things to buy, another way to help boost the economy. We found loads of yarn available and plenty of raw fleece:

There's nothing like a sea of colorful roving and freshly spun yarn, to brighten up your day. My rug hooking friend, Kris Miller, was vending there along with her husband, Ken. Her business is Spruce Ridge Studios out of Howell, MI and she does beautiful work - both with her hand dyed wool fabrics and the carefully crafted hooked wool rugs. Check out her website for more of her products but here's an example of the work that she does:

and here is some of her scrumptious wool:



Here's our happy little travelers as we headed out the door to our next stop.

Our next stop was Sylvania, OH, where we invaded the Uptown Fibers Shop. The fabulous store, only open since last October, is owned by Jackie Goff and it's filled with an abundance of samples to support the yarns and patterns. Good thing we hadn't exhausted our desire to shop. It would have been a pity to miss this great store.

And here's our group with owner Jackie, holding the Berroco Bramble Bag she's currently working on, using Berroco Peruvia Colors and a Peruvia solid. It's going to be gorgeous!

And with that, we headed for home. Well, sort of. We made a detour to Cantoro's Italian Market in Livonia, to stock up on fresh bread, rolls, cheese, cannoli, cookies, fresh made pastas and sauces, oh, and a few bottles of wine. I had a feast for dinner! After which, I casted on the yarn I purchased at Uptown Fibers to make a felted bag:

It was the perfect day, or so it seemed, until Mom called to say she'll be signing the papers on Monday for Dad to move to the memory care facility near them. That leaves me unbelievably sad................