This blog, the Men’s Knitting Retreats and social media have all put me into contact with some big players in the fiber world.  Having fiber friends who are connected has it’s advantages.

Gifts and Republished Patterns

Fiber Friends with benefits means something different in this case!

At the retreat, I get to be with some pretty high-powered fiber guys.  We get to see workshops and fiber displays that are just being launched into the world. And we get to see bloggers/vloggers/podcasters, designers and fiber-phenoms in person instead of on a screen. Or on their design/storefront pages. One thing I think they like is that even in a fiber-related event, they can be themselves.  They can retreat from their fiber-fame and just be part of the men’s knitting/crochet/spinning community.  Even as a blogger with limited renowned, I love being just one of the guys. Even if it’s just for the week.

A few of the guys went out of their way to show their appreciation this year.

Gifts

Aaron of AaronKnits gave me this fantastic book.

Raw Material – Working Wool in the West by Stephany Wilkes.  Amazon’s description sounds fascinating!

Follow a sweater with an “Italian Merino” label back far enough and chances are its life began not in Milan, but in Montana. Many people want to look behind the label and know where their clothes come from, but the textile supply chain-one of the most toxic on the planet-remains largely invisible. In Raw Material, Stephany Wilkes tells the story of American wool through her own journey to becoming a certified sheep shearer.

Steven, a newcomer to the retreat saw me gushing over another attendees knitting bag.  This “be craftee” bag came in the mail the other day!

Very useful knitting bag.  It has holes in the top for yarn.  It also has lots of pockets for tools.  And it’s got polka dots!

Finally, CabinBoyKnits (Christopher) gave me this fantastic gift.

It’s Blueface Leicester and Silk and naturally hand-dyed with indigo, birch, and Brazil wood.  The photo can’t possibly convey the rich beauty and softness of these yarns.

Republishing Patterns

Rowan has also re-published the Tilt Cardigan pattern by Lisa Richardson on their web site.

I’ve posted quite a bit about this on social media.  But it’s because of blog reader response and social media interest that this pattern got republished!  Thank you all.

Current Knitting

Made some progress on the new Tree Line shawl using Pixie yarns by Dragonfly Fibers.

I’ve never made a crescent-shaped shawl before. The detail of the decreased edge is very cool.

As the winning suggestion for using my Pixie yarn from Dragonfly Fibers, I couldn’t be more pleased with how it’s turning out so far!