I am exhausted.  Seriously.  In a fantastic way.  I got home around 11 last night from SIFAF in Corydon Indiana.  We had such a great time at the festival.  We met wonderful people, got to pet llamas and alpacas, sold a decent amount of yarn, and even had yummy fried green tomatoes, fresh from someone’s garden!  Life doesn’t get much better than that.

On our way home, Mom found Barking Dog Cafe in Indianapolis, continuing our record of always eating way too well on show weekends.  If you are ever in Indy, stop by and try their amazing clam chowder, and whatever the entree special is that day.  You will not be disappointed!

So, I managed to get the kids to sleep a little after midnight, and collapsed into dreamland myself.

This morning I’m lazing around, but before you know it we need to get hoping as we have another show coming up this weekend!

Fiber Expo in Ann Arbor, MI is breathing down our necks and we have so much to do.  It should be a great weekend, come out and see us!

Did I mention I really love this time of year?  Okay, off to find some coffee.  I need some kickapoo-joy-juice.

We’ve been incredibly busy at Froebe Fibers, which is no excuse for ignoring the blog, I know, however . . .    Okay, I’m ending that sentence before it becomes unreadable!

I just got back from Stitches Midwest, were I had way too much fun partying with so many friends.  I personally snagged some great yarn for my stash, lots of nifty new tools, and bags for storing my tools!  I also drank more than should be allowed, but we won’t talk about that.  No, really, we won’t.  You’ll just have to look at others photos from Stitches if you want to see how outrageous we got, but I will say there were Sushi PJ’s and bunny ears involved!

Well, at Stitches I realized that I hadn’t announced all the amazing stores that now carry Froebe Fiber’s Yarns!  So, if you want to find us in your neck of the woods, check out:

• Art 4 Soul –Homewood, IL
• The Fold —Marango, IL
• Yarn to Dye for and More — Frankfort, IL
• Prairie Yarns — Fargo, ND
• Pam’s Knit ‘N’ Stitch — Great Falls, MT
• Y’Arnings — Helena, MT
• The Whole Ball of Yarn — The Dalles, OR

More to follow, exciting news coming up.  Honest this time!  Oh, and I’ve missed you all!

Hello hello, long time no see.

I seem to be saying that a lot lately.  Well, Froebe Fibers have been busy little bees, and we now have two new yarn colors for you!

Sapphire Martini is my personal favorite.  So much so that I snagged the very first skein as soon as it was dry for my own personal stash.

It is mostly blue, but has lovely dark violet variegation and the colors just pop.

I’m debating making socks (of course), or perhaps a shawl.

What do you think?

Of course, Sapphire Martini and Purple Viking (along with all of our other yarns) are available on our website, but we are also now in three, count them, three brick and mortar stores!  Art 4 Soul in Homewood, The Fold in Marengo, and Yarns to Dye For & More in Frankfort.  See, we have been busy bees!

Oh, what is Purple Viking you ask?  It’s our other yummy new colorway!

Just look at all that luscious purple!  Each skein of Froebe Fibers yarn is hand dyed individually, so no two are exactly alike.  There are several shades and hues of purple in Purple Viking, and while not variegated per se, the yarn does give a nice color variety, without striping for a more “natural” effect.

Can one say a purple yarn looks natural?  Well, I think I just did!

So, come into the local yarn stores, or look for us at your nearest Yarn Festival!  We’re heading to a bunch of them this summer and fall.  I’ll post the list shortly, so keep your eyes peeled!

More goodies coming your way soon!

Froebe Fibers will bet at YarnCon Chicago! Come out and see us at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse on October 4th, 2008 from 10am to 4pm.

We’ll have all your favorite Froebe Fibers yarns, and some special yarns just for the occasion, available no where else!

My persimmon yarn arrived from Morehouse Farms today!  Thanks ever so much Yarn Harlot for the link, which let me find this lovely easy scarf pattern.  I plan to get started ASAP. 

The persimmon is much more orange than I expected.  I guess this is what hapens when I let the hubby select the yarn color.  I’m sure it will turn out lovely though.  The yarn is a super soft lace weight and I’m very excited to get to play with it.

I’ve been working away (again) at my wavy blanket.

Devil ducky thought he could help give some size perspective, but that would require you to know how big devil duckie is.  Let me put it this way, if this blanket plans to be 50 inches long (as the pattern calls for) it better start eating some wheaties.

Since devil ducky was so helpful though, here’s a close-up. 

My Labor Day yarn purchase arrived!  I’m so excited!  New yarn to play with!  Okay, now that I’ve used up my lifetime quota of exclamation marks, I can calm down a wee bit. 

Twice a year, Cherry Tree Hill Yarn does a "direct to consumers" sale, mostly of mill ends and discontinued lines and the like, but not always!  They also sell these packages they call "grab bags".  You choose either cotton or wool, and your color family, and they send you a full pound of yarn for only $30!  Typically it is a $90+ value. 

I’ve always ordered wool in the past, and have always been thrilled with what I recieved.  This time I decided to try cottons (I think the heat is getting to me), and I’m just overjoyed with the yarn I got.  I selected "blue/green" as my color choices, and they sent me two skeins of navy fun fur (50 gr, 128 yards each), a skein of North Country Cotton Mini in "Green Mountain Madness" ( 4 oz, 210 yards, 5 st per inch on size 6), 2 skeins of Rainbow Ribbon, a cotton worsted tape (4 oz 262 yards each, 4.5 st per inch on size 6).

I also go 400 yards of Lucci Yarn (a lovely ribbon) in both silver and green, a possim worsted color card, and a pattern and magazine! 

Okay, I guess I’m back to the exclamation marks.  I should sign off now.  Gotta go play with the yarn!  I need to figure out what to knit. 

Last Sunday, we went exploring.  We followed the Fox River all the way down from near the Wisconsin border to Aurora, Illinois.  We took the better part of a day, and just randomly turned left and right as we saw fit.  We drove down Hazard Road, which wasn’t very hazardous, and drove through Carpentersville, which was beautiful.

Around 2, we stopped in what turned out to be West Dundee, and there, with the knack I seem to have developed, within 5 minutes of parking the car, I found a yarn store!   The Gifted Purl, on West Main Street, had the most wonderul selection of yarns, and a very helpful woman behind the counter who even gave us an excellent lunch recommendation.

After about an hour of touching everything in the store and nearly squeeling with delight, I settled on two skeins of Tiny Toes in the brightest crayon colors. I managed to hold off from casting on until Tuesday morning, when I also came down with a bad head cold.  So, for a whole week, what you see is all I’va managed to accomplish knit wise.

I also fell in love with Classic Elite Yarns MIRACLE (a tencel alpaca blend) and so it made the trip home from The Gifted Purl with us as well.  An adorable combination of blue and sand will make a fantastic Buckahrian Yarmulka for my fiance. 

 There’s just something about discovering a new yarn shop that makes me happy all over.

It’s not an addiction, I can quit any time . . .