Last time I wrote here, we were heading off for the college graduation of our two oldest children. I am so proud of them! They both graduated with honors. Our daughter got her degree in English Literature with a minor in Italian, and our son got his degree in Computer Science with a minor in Pure Math.

The graduation was beautiful (albeit hot and humid), the commencement speaker was fantastic, and we had a wonderful time with friends and family.

Right now all of the children are home except one who has a programming internship. It’s the quiet before the storm, though, as different children are heading in different directions in the next couple weeks.

Meanwhile, I’ve been dyeing up a storm and doing the hundreds of little things involved in my next yarn festival. It’s the Flagstaff Wool Festival this coming weekend, and it’s the third year I’ve been a part of it. Every year it gets even better, and this year I am so delighted because the high is supposed to be in the low 70s. That means we’ll get to actually wear our hand-knit and handwoven goodies! Here’s a photo of my booth from last year:

I also decided to bring my small rigid heddle loom this year so anyone who wants to try weaving can do so. I warped it with Kristin Lavransdatter in Squoosh DK, and I started weaving with Smaug’s Treasure on the same base. I’m having to resist going further with it so the majority of the scarf is available for visitors to my booth to play with. Here it is so far:

The multitude of decisions involved with a festival like this can sometimes be a little overwhelming. How to set up the booth, what to bring, what not to bring, how much more yarn to dye, how much more grid wall to buy, and whether to bring my spinning wheel are just a few of the questions I’ve been dealing with. Fortunately, my sweet hubby is taking care of setup and take-down of the pop-ups and grid wall, and three of our children are going to be taking turns helping me at the booth. If you are in the area and able to come, here’s a link to the festival info.

Purple Lamb Fiber Arts is going to be right across from the playground. I’ll have lots of hand-dyed yarn, hand-dyed top, art batts, and my fiber paintings as well as a little bit of handspun yarn, and there are so many wonderful artisans who come back every year. There are also fiber animals and workshops and the great little museum that’s right there as well.

I’m sure I’ll have more to share about the festival next week, but meanwhile I did want to tell you about the June Club Colorway. If you remember when I first started the yarn and fiber clubs at the beginning of the year, I invited everyone to vote on their favorite colorway. Well, “Sunday on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Seurat got the most votes, so that was the first one. A close second, though, was Raphael’s “School of Athens,” so I decided to use that as my inspiration for June. I also really wanted to go a little further back in art history and do something from the Renaissance. Here it is:

I also wanted to remind you that you are welcome to change quantities from month to month. For example, if there’s a colorway you especially like and would like to get more for a project you have in mind, you can log in to your account at the top of my website and change quantities, switch to a different club, or even skip a month. I just ask that you make whatever changes you like by the 1st of the month as I usually start dyeing and carding shortly after that.

This month because of the festival, I will probably be sending out the yarn and art batts a little later than I usually do, but I will of course get them to you as soon as I can. I anticipate being done with them by the 3rd week of June at the latest.

What are your fiber arts plans for summer? Whatever they are, I hope they bring you joy!

Until next time, happy fiber artistry!