Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

Warning -- the following is photo heavy!

Yes, I know I'm WAY behind in posting this. But between catching up from being gone, helping out a friend who's under the weather, and playing with a new toy -- well, I've been a little distracted!

(Oh, and before I start -- Kristen, if you are reading this, yes, it'll sound familiar... I copied alot from my summary to you for this entry to save time!)

Well, since it finally stopped raining (there were 2 more deluges after the one mentioned in the previously -- bringing us to a sum total of about 12.5 inches of rain in less than 4 weeks!), we were able to go to MSWF without any concerns of more flooding!

How was MSWF? It was wonderful! Cassie and Mike also had a great time. Mike even said he'd like to make this a yearly trip! :-D We'll see how he feels when we get closer to the event next year. The cutest was Cassie's obsession with all the animals! Saturday, she was obsessed with the "baa" She seriously spend over 3 hours (off and on) in the barns alone! Poor Mike was probably sick of the smell of sheep by the end :-D. Along with a cute little girl, I've included many pictures of fuzzy sheep for Kristen -- who wanted to go so she could hug sheep -- but couldn't b/c of work obligations... :(











BTW, it's hard to tell in the photo, but the black sheep in the last photo are some of the most beautiful sheep I've ever seen!

Sunday, Cassie switched her interest to "pacas", which was nice b/c of course they are outdoors There were 3 different vendors she focused on -- 2 w/ actual alpacas, 1 w/ llamas (at first they were the same to her, but by the end she was telling the difference :-D). In between she also enjoyed the Angora goats (which she thought were baa's as well) and "hops" (angora rabbits). She even got to feed the llamas at one point -- she loved it and couldn't stop giggling! She just kept wanting to feed them more -- if she had her way, we would have spent the entire day standing there just feeding the llamas!







We also got to see the sheep dog show, which she had fun at too... That show was just so cool -- it's amazing what they can do with those dogs (border collies in this case).





The only part that I thought she'd like that she was unimpressed with was the storyteller. Mike took her over b/c it was right before my class, and he said she was completely bored by it...

What did I do? Well, I just spent the entire time drooling over all the beautiful yarn and fiber. Interestingly, there was much more yarn here than at Rhinebeck (the only other Festival I've attended). And, of course, there was a huge line outside of The Fold again for the "socks that rock" yarn.

But I have to say -- the one thing they do much better at MSWF is selling the vendors' whole fleeces. Instead of each vendor having their fleece piled around their all their various stalls, they have a corner of the main building that is dedicated to fleeces. They are all separated out into their different types (fine wools, long wools, primitive breeds, etc) so you can look at them all in one spot. And there is a group of volunteers who just handle the sales of those. And let me tell you -- there were some beautiful fleeces there! I was tempted to get one, but I still have one that I've barely started. But as long as I finish the one I have, I think I'll just wait until I get there to buy one next year...

The other thing I did was the class with Judith MacKenzie McCuin, "Spinning a Fine Thread". Which was WONDERFUL!! I learned so much in that class! All sorts of tricks for being able to spin really fine. I actually got down to the thickness of cobweb weight at one point (even plied!) Of course, it's like the story of the fish that was "THIS BIG!" I have lost the samples in transit. However, I still had a reasonable amount on the bobbin. And they are still definitely lace weight -- about 40wpi plied. The left one is silk, the right one is a merino:



I'm not sure I'll be spinning a large amount in that weight anytime soon, but it was kind of cool that I could do it! :-D She also showed us tons of other stuff. Including a great way to wash fleece while still preserving the locks that is much easier than what I've been doing.

Also, I learned a great trick for working with silk. Usually silk, especially bombyx silk, drives me crazy b/c it just constantly catches on my hands? So she had me rub lemon juice (from a freshly sliced lemon) all over my hands. Once it was dry, I was able to spin bombyx silk top w/o a problem! It was amazing...

But because of that, my only real fiber purchase was a small package of dyed silk hankies. If you remember right, Sarah had sent me a few undyed back a while ago, and I had fun with them. So I figured I'd try out a small package of dyed (only 1/2 oz).



You might ask -- why so conservative on purchases? Well.... My special treat was actually my Mother's Day gift from Cassie and Mike -- a pair of Indigo Hound English Combs! Only I would be asking for something that could be used as a lethal weapon for my mother's day gift! :-D





Why did I want combs? Well, as I'm sure you can tell by the class I took, my newest enjoyment is fine spinning... and one of the things I learned in that class -- it's amazing the difference that fresh combed top makes! Either directly from the fleece, or if you want to blend fibers...

Don't get me wrong -- I'll still card certain fleeces -- such as the CVM fleece I got a few months ago. I'd still like to try and make it into a sweater for Mike. But the 1 lb of Polwarth that I still have left from Rhinebeck last fall is definitely going to be combed! And now that the weather is nicer (and I know an easier way to wash fleece w/o worrying about felting it!), I should be able to start working on them.

The only down side? No maple cotton candy! :( But at least they had funnel cakes!

Finally, not to be outdone... I got my second Zen String April Fiber Club. As always, it is beautiful!



4 oz of BFL in the Fiore colorway. I still haven't completely decided how I want to spin this one, but I'm leaning towards a worsted or heavy worsted to give the colors a chance to stand out a little more since they are lighter. It'd make a beautiful pair of shorts for Cassie! We'll see if I can get it done in time to still need shorts! Ahhh... so much fiber, so little time! But what a wonderful problem to have...

Oh, and I can't forget one of the reasons I was so delayed in posting... I was playing with my combs. One of the fun treasures I got to take with me from the class was a reasonably large sized chunk of raw Ramboullet fleece. So I washed it using my newfound method (involving a crockpot and cooking the locks like they were asparagus), which worked perfectly! Then I used my combs last night to create these:



I know, not much, but I'm still learning. Combs are definitely not as easy as they look!

Well, if you made it through this entire post -- I'm impressed! But it was nice to rave about the festival...

Where's the ark?

Well, we made it through the deluge! We were definitely lucky. We've since spoken to a bunch of neighbors, and many of them were not so lucky... :-(

We had almost no water in the basement. The only water was one or two "streamlets" that were seeping in through the french drain in the furnace room, which is the lowest point in the house. But they just ran straight to the sump pump that's right there. And it's just cement, so the water doesn't really damage anything. But at one point, that thing was going off every 45 seconds (yes, we timed it!). Of course, 99% of the water going into it was draining in from the side, below floor level, not those streamlets. And, this is the pump that is set to go off when only about 2 pints of water has accumulated in the hole, despite the fact that it can accomodate several gallons. Why it is set that way, I have no idea, but I really don't want to mess with it since it works!

Our only real stressful event? Well, we actually have 2 sump pumps. The other was probably put in when the house was built, and wasn't placed at the lowest point in the basement. So at some point, a previous owner redesigned the setup, and we gained the other sump pump. So the original one almost never goes off. I think it's gone off maybe once or twice in the whole time we've lived here. But it is this huge 50 gallon pit. Well, at one point when I went down to work on the laundry. I noticed it was going... and going... and going. That's not normal. That pump can usually empty out about 30 gallons in a minute or so. Why do I know this? Because it freaked the crap out of me the one time I acutally saw it go off a couple years ago! I was wondering where all the water was coming from. So, anyways, back to the present. I called my husband to come take a look. At first we thought it was dying (this thing is pretty old), but figured we'd try and empty out the pit to see if he could check for any blockages at the bottom. Sure enough, after about 45 minutes of scooping and dumping with pots, we finally got close enough to the bottom for him to reach the bottom of the input pipe. Turns out, a plastic ziploc must have fallen in at some point(which is bizarre considering where this thing is!), was sucked up, and was now partially blocking the pipe coming off the pump into the pit. He pulled it out and low and behold, the pump is working just peachy again :-D.

So how bad was it for us? At the peak of the flooding, about 3/4 of our backyard (and many of our neighbors backyards) were all under water. But we were the lucky ones. Many of our neighbors ended up with flooded basements, so I can deal with a backyard full of water MUCH better than a basement full of water. Of course, it was dark out, so we couldn't take a picture, but here it is the next morning:



And remember, this is the improving version! When we looked at night, it was about 2 feet closer to the house, about up to where the grass gets thin in this picture (the thinning grass isn't not from the storm. It's just some leftover damage to the grass from our deck construction last fall, which should start filling in now that spring is almost here).

Ah, well. Everything is fine and we are safe. That's all that's important now. So back to our regularly scheduled fiber blog...

Of course, while all this was going on, I needed to do something to get my mind off of things and relax me, so I worked on this:



It's 2 oz of the merino-bamboo from the Zen String Fiber club spun up into a laceweight yarn(yes, you heard right -- my first real laceweight yarn! And it actually looks pretty good if I do say so myself.) Specifically, it is about 28 wpi right now, and 400 yards. It still needs to be washed, so that will probably change a bit, but it'll still be within laceweight range. Here's a closeup view, just because I'm so happy with how it's turning out:



Next, I decided that I needed to do a bit of a change of pace. I've been doing too much thin stuff lately, and I needed to do something thicker so I don't get in a rut... So I decided to work a little more on my long draw with some undyed targhee I have. Well, it didn't completely work out as a traditional long draw. It's probably closer to what I've heard described as "supported long draw" but I'm getting a bit better. The end result was this:



A little less consistent than my usual, but that's actually a nice change of pace. I have offered it to someone on a Yahoo group I belong to who was in need of some undyed targhee. We'll see if she decides to take it. If not, I think I'll continue the experimenting in the dyepot and see what comes out! :-D

And, of course, I decided to go back and finish poor Iris. I finished making the singles, and started to try and do the navajo ply. And, well, lets just say it's not going so well! It keeps breaking, what yarn I am making is overtwisted, and I'm frustrated! So I've decided to put it aside for a few weeks, then I'll try again. Why a couple of weeks? Well, that brings me to my other big event of the past week and a half... I entered a lottery to try and get into "Spinning a Fine Thread" with Judith MacKenzie McCuin at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Amazingly, I actually got in! It's only a 3 hour session with 15 people, but I'm sure I'll learn alot! I can't wait!! So, of course, I'm hoping we'll maybe cover navaho ply, or if not, maybe I can still take a few minutes to see if she has any suggestions of what I'm doing wrong. I don't know if I just didn't put enough twist on the singles, or if I'm actually pulling too hard when I'm pulling it through the loop? I think I'll pull out some of my plain BFL to practice on and get it right before I try it on the Iris again. I'd like to have something useable come out of it! It's just so pretty... This will teach me for trying to do my first full foray into navajo plying (outside of some minor playing) with something so thin! And, no, I'm not posting a picture of the results so far... it's just not pretty.

And my final excitement of the week? Well, a few months I signed up for a co-op. Then a few weeks ago, I joined another. And of course, they both came in this week -- the Zen String on Saturday, and the Purewool on Monday. Now, no offense to the Purewool, but the Zen String was definitely the more exciting of the two! Look at this beautiful wool. I'm still drooling over it! :-D And it smells so heavenly:



BTW, don't mind the blur in the corner (you probably also saw it in the previous photo). I didn't notice until after I took the picture that Cassie must have gotten to the camera and put a few greasy smudges on the lens. I've since cleaned it off, but these are definitely yarns that look best in natural lighting, which is a little scarce at the moment.

So, my only problem? I don't know where to start! Another shawl (Ochoco)? The sweater for Cassie (amaretto cheesecake)? More socks (the rest of the Lotus Toes)? Or maybe the quick satisfaction of a couple of soakers for Cassie (the two Nirvanas)? They are all so lovely, I want to start working on all of them right now. But I have to pick one (well, or maybe two...) for when I finish with Icarus. Of course, that isn't exactly a complaint. I should have such problems all the time!

And of course, the Purewool is wonderful as well. It just had the unfortunate circumstance to come in at the same time as the Zen String. But not to be forgotten, here it is (I only grabbed one skein of each -- some have multiples):



The brown worsted in the middle is for my husbands long neglected slippers that I keep promising him (hey, at this point, I have until the fall, don't I?!!? :-D) and the one to it's right will probably be mine (just in case, I got the undyed at the end as a backup if I didn't like that one as slippers). Also, I decided to try their laceweight. I wasn't quite sure how the singles would work out. But it really looks nice! I can't wait to try it.

All I know is getting these two boxes made me realize I have WAY too much yarn at the moment! (I know -- is that really possible?!?!). So this is it for a LONG time for me. I might get a little something at MSWF, just because there is so much to see there. But at the moment, I have such a backlog of stuff I want to make, I need to get through some of them before I get more! Of course, I do still have 2 more months of Zen String club coming to me that will help keep me from going through too much fiber withdrawl ;-)

So where do the rest of my projects stand? I'm happily working again on the Pomegranite Bamboo Merino. That stuff is just WONDERFUL to work with! And I'm still working on the Icarus. Here's a picture, although half of it is wrapped under b/c the needles are only so long (I know, it pretty much looks like the last one, but trust me, ALOT of progress has been made!):



The good news on the icarus? I've gotten past the straight sections and have started on the "feather tips" So I'm getting there! It's been slow, though, b/c I've been a little more engrosed in spinning lately.

Also, I did finish the first of the toe up feather and fan socks:



I know -- it looks kinda funky here. Now I now know why people get those sock blockers! Trust me, it does look better on. But I just don't have the guts to show off my awful winter white legs on here! Also, in fairness, I'm still not completely sure I'm happy with the top anyways, so I might frog the top few rows and redo it. We'll see...

Wow -- I think I need to update more often so that these entries don't end up so long! Of course, my rambing on at the beginning about our "great flood" didn't help!

Easter Treats

Well, I did manage to complete the Easter stuff (just barely!). I started planning on two eggs, but Cassie was having so much fun playing with them that I kept going and made 4. Besides, they were quick and fun, and I still had plenty of scraps left!

So, then onto the peeps (I planned on making two originally). I thought it would be fun to try a boucle b/c then it would look "fluffy", but of course, I didn't think to get one beforehand! So on Saturday, the only real option was Michaels and some cheep acrylic boucle (which, btw, was a PITA to work with!) So, of course, I only had the patience to finish up one of them... I will admit, I think it turned out pretty cute, but definitely not worth the hassle!

So, here are the final results. First, the whole easter basket (including a bunch of plastic eggs -- one of Cassie's newest fun toys!):



And next, just the peep and eggs:




Next, while I was picking up the boucle, I decided to get some sugar and cream to try for a washcloth. I never even thought to try knitting a washcloth until I saw some of Carole's beautiful washclothes. The one that especially inspired me was a lacey heart washcloth (again from smariek's blog). So, now that I finally had pink cotton yarn, I decided to try it out. Again, I used my lovely font that I found to create a chart. Here's the final product:



I think it turned out pretty well. And despite my usual dislike of cotton, this was a small enough project that I didn't mind it at all. Plus, I think it only took 1/2 a skein, so I may be able to get a second washcloth out of it! Not bad for $1.60 worth of yarn! :-D

My next big event -- I received my first Zen String Fiber Club fiber! It is BEAUTIFUL!!! It's called Pomegranite, and it's a bamboo merino blend. Of course, being the callous woman that I am, I cast aside the Iris BFL to try it out. It really is lovely! I have visions of a beautiful fingering weight with the shimmer of the bamboo and the subtle color variations throughout. Here's a shot of the fiber:



And here's the small bit that I've had time to do so far:



All I can say is Yumm!!!

Otherwise, I'm still plugging away on the Icarus Shawl. I've made quite a bit of progress, but nothing really significantly different from the last photos.

Hopefully, this time next week, my Zen String co-op yarn will be at Sarah's, soon to be on it's way here :-D Can't wait!

Well, I finally finished the Targhee. The 2nd skein was 690 yards, 20wpi. So it's grand total of approximately 1400 yards from 11 oz of fiber. I'm really happy with the way it turned out! Not so much for the weight, but because it's probably the most consistant yarn I've produced to date. 11 oz of it, no less! :-D

Of course, I was rushing out of the house to go on vacation just when I was finishing it, so it got balled and I'm using it right now. So no picture of the second skein. But I do have the shawl in progress. I really like how it's turning out. And since the 1st skein was a bit more of the pinks and reds, and the second skein was more yellows and oranges, I'm using the 2nd skein first. Then, I'll use the 1st skein next. Hopefully the end result is a gradual transition, with more yellow and orange near the top, and more orange and reds near the bottom. Of course, projects don't always go the way we plan -- we'll see what the final product looks like. Here's the current status:



In addition, my daughter's Easter basket is currently going through the wash (so no picture currently available -- I'll add it in the next entry). Also, Carole pointed me towards a pattern for some cute Easter Peeps (obviously non-consumable), so I think I might try making 1 or 2 of them. And finally, I was going to also try and do one or two Curly Purly Eggs. All this before Sunday... maybe!

And, of course, I had to start another pair of socks. I figured for a change of pace, I'd try a toe-up pattern, so I'm using the pattern on Wendy Knits. I'm even doing the Feather and Fan pattern. Hopefully, this will go faster than the last pair! I've actually made quite a bit of progress, but that is partially b/c of being on a flight to and from Florida last week. Of course, I could have accomplished much more than this -- our flight back was a fiasco that involved 5.5 hrs to get from Ft. Lauderdale to Newark, with an unscheduled stopoff in Philly b/c we were running low on fuel (not something you want to be hearing at 30,000 feet!). Unfortunately, Cassie never took a nap. Mind you, her naptime is 1pm and bedtime at 8pm. We got to the airport around 12:30, were supposed to take off at 2pm, were delayed until almost 3:15, then didn't land in Newark until after 8:30. And she never slept! Although I was very proud of her... she was amazingly well behaved despite being stuck in either a carseat or stroller for pretty much 9 hrs door to door. She finally passed out exhausted 5 minute from the house! :-D Ah well, I guess the days of her reliably falling asleep in the carseat are over! It was good while it lasted! Now, just thank god for DVD players! :-D

Oh, so here's the progress on the first sock:



My newest spinning project is an attempt at using navaho ply. It's BFL in a beautiful colorway called "Iris" from Zen String. It is varying shades of purple with small highlights of yellow/orange. But I was worried that the gold/orange colors would be lost in all the purple. So I decided it would probably be best to use navaho ply to preserve the color transitions. The only problem is that I suck at navaho ply! Of course, there was an article and pattern for exactly this on Knity -- Palette . So I decided it was kismet and it's going to become "Palette". Besides, you have to start somewhere.

Here's the current status. Just under 2oz completed. I still have a little over 2 oz to go:



As you can see, it's REALLY thin. I've been shooting for about 45-50 wpi (I got one of those card thingy's for measuring -- I'm not obsessive compulsive enough to actually do all those wraps!) My hope is that the resulting yarn will be about 18 wpi.

And finally, my other new project. I've been inspired by Carole and am attempting my first washcloth. I know tons of people love making them. So I figured I'd give it a try. What's really nice is that it's a relatively short project, so I get the "reward" pretty quickly. I started yesterday, and here's where I stand right now:



It's a very lovely pattern -- I found it here on Smariek Knits. She has quite a few really nice patterns. I'll probably a few other washcloth patterns (I really love the lacy heart pattern) and I really love her Persephone scarf too (what is it with me and greek mythology?!?!) My only problem is that I'm really a "chart" knitter. So, of course, being a computer geek as well, I can't go with the simple paper and pen approach. I can do a chart in Excel, but how to do the symbols? Well, turns out, someone created a font for it! YAY! I found it here at Aire River Designs. So I've created a chart for this washcloth, and now I'm a happy knitter...

I've been a bit under the weather for the past few days, but seem to be doing better, so I wanted to try and at least put a quick post up. Partially b/c I got some beautiful stitch markers the other day that I wanted to post, plus I finally finished those socks!

First, the stitch markers from Sarah:



Aren't they beautiful! And very well made, which is a necessity b/c of my new lace obsession. Otherwise, I'd constantly have to be untangling. MUCH better than the straw pieces (which, btw, have a tendency to slip under a stitch, which can REALLY throw things off!) Plus , she sent me an extra little treat:



Yep -- silk hankies! I've really wanted to try them, but they aren't the type of thing you can just buy a few of...

Of course, with not feeling well, I didn't get a chance to try them out until today. But that's ok, I spent that time moisturizing my hands to cut down on the snagging. My hands have a tendency to be rough and dry to start with, so they desperately needed it anyways. They really are facinating to work with! It's like what I'd imagine pulling taffy is like. You have to pull pretty hard, but you need to make sure you don't overdo it and pull them apart. I managed to do 2 of them this evening. The first was REALLY slow getting it stretched out to my satisfaction, but the second went much quicker since I had a feel for it already. I think the first one I was just trying to be too delicate. By the second, I realized I really could pull much harder on the stuff. So, this is the results:



Next, the socks. They already look a little stretched out, especially at the top. but that's just because my feet were cold when I finished them, so I couldn't resist putting them on. Of course, I never got around to taking the picture until a day later. The picture doesn't do justice to this colorway -- it's Gold Hill from Lorna's Laces.



And finally, I'm ALMOST finished with the Targhee! There are only 4 fluff balls left. Here's a picture from earlier today, only b/c I thought it looked really cool :-D



Next up, another pair of socks, a new shawl, and a new fiber. I've already picked out the shawl and socks, but I'm still trying to decide which fiber I want to start next. But I'll leave those for another day. I'm a bit tired and want to go to bed!

Flower Basket Shawl Blocked

Well, I finally got time to block the Flower Basket Shawl. Because I've become so addicted to lace knitting, I decided to try one of the wire blocking kits. I'm really happy with the kit b/c the blocking went MUCH smoother this time. It made it much easier to block it evenly. The last time, there was a bit of an "arc" to the center line. This one is much more even. So, here it is, first a full picture:


Here's a closer shot where you can see what the pattern looks like:



And, finally, a really close up one to see a detailed picture of the pattern. It turned out really nicely!



The other thing I got to do was dye 2 4oz skeins of Knitpicks bare merino lace. I'm reasonably happy with the way it turned out. The color doesn't show up well in picture. And it looks better wound up than in the original dyed skein It's a pale periwinkle color. The only problem is that there were apparently a few bits of blue that didn't quite disolve -- I used some blue that I prepared back a while ago, so it was kind of a jello consistancy. So I have a few specks throughout the yarn. I'll have to see what it looks like in the end. They are REALLY tiny but they are significantly darker. We'll see. But here's a picture of it in the mean time:



Changes I'd make in my process next time. I definitely need to make sure that I reheat "premixed" dyes thoroughly before adding it to the water. I really think that was all the problem was. That, and I probably should have made the water a bit warmer before adding the dyes. Finally, I think I've hit the limit for the crock pot. I don't think it can handle more than 4 oz. I'm going to try and find a larger metal pot that isn't too expensive.

Other than that, I've really just been making progress on projects. Nothing exciting enough to take pictures. First, the second sock that has been sitting there for a WHILE (I finished the first one at Thanksgiving! :-D). And second, the Fire Spirit targhee. I'm about 2/3 of the way through the last 5 oz. So I'm hoping to finish it up this weekend!

Flower Baskets and Fiber...

I haven't posted in a while, mainly b/c life has been a little chaotic. My dh has been working all hours of the day and night, so I'm pretty much on my own taking care of my daughter and the house. So my free time has been a bit limited. And what time I did have, I dedicated to finally finishing this:



Well, actually, almost finished. It still needs to be blocked. It's definitely bigger than the last one. Actually, it's pretty much the same size unblocked (28inx61in) as the last one was blocked. But this is the FiberTrends Flower Basket Shawl. Oh, and see that few yards of yarn on the left? That's how much yarn I have left from the original 8oz. Think I cut it a little tight? Actually, I can't complain. I went into it knowing that I didn't have enough and that I'd probably have to cut a round or two out. Amazingly, even though it called for 1100 yards and I only had 880 yards, I just made it with the full # of rounds! It's not getting blocked tonight... I'm babysitting for some friends, so it's been me vs. 3 kids (4, 3 and 2) all night and I'm pooped! I don't know how everyone who has 3 or more kids does it! :-D

Other than that, I also washed a small amount of the CVM and carded it:



It's got more neps than I'd like... but I did some asking around, and I think it's because I'm using the wrong cards. So I've ordered a pair of fine fiber cards since that's predominantly what I plan on doing. I haven't decided whether I'm going to actually use these still or if I'll just work on my long draw with them. I might try a rolag or two first, see how it looks. I'd like to try and make this into a 3 ply light worsted weight yarn that I can then knit into a sweater for my dh. The nice thing about 3 ply is it hides a whole multitude of sins! :-D I know it's a huge project that will probably take me until Christmas, but I've wanted to make him a nice sweater, and I believe I have just enough of this fiber to do that.

And finally, my newest "aquisition". I swear, I have absolutely no self control when it comes to Zen String! She really does make some of the most beautiful colorways I've found anywhere... if you haven't seen her stuff, I HIGHLY recommend you go take a peak :-D. Here's what I got during her latest stocking:



The first is 8oz of Merino/Bamboo in the Spring colorway, and the second is 4 oz of BFL in Iris. I can't wait until I can try them... I have a few items that I'm considering for the first one, but I'd like to use the second for Palette from the newest knitty. I really think it would look best Navajo-plied. And I've wanted to work on that anyways!