Vacation, all I ever wanted...

So this last weekend was the DFW Fiber Fest. A little vacation for mommy. Friday morning I went by to check out the vendor booths and get a feel for what I wanted to buy. Since I had N in tow, shopping was done in spurts, inbetween going outside to let her stretch her legs because in the vendor area she needed to be in the Ergo.

Auntie Liz was thrilled to see little N. N also got to spend a little time with Auntie Dawn just before we left, but I didn't get a photo.
Liz, who is the official Rockstar photographer, took this photo. I was told that N shares my smirk, LOL!Friday night I went back sans child to see and hear Franklin give his talk and spend some quality time with my sheeples.
Saturday morning I left N at home with Daddy all day while I headed off to take a class from Franklin on photographing knits. We knitters like to take good photos of the items we spend so much time on, and his class was very popular. I have this big fancy camera we bought 6 years ago and I finally know how to use it on something other than the automatic settings. Thank you Franklin!
Melanie and I attended class in full-on Franklin Fan Girl attire, sporting our newly-knitted shawls made from Franklin's Panopticon, a Lorna's Laces colorway named for him. He graciously posed for photos with us. Melanie's shawl was made with four skeins of sport weight while mine was made with two skeins of fingering weight.
During my recent yarn excavations in my craft room, I decided to only purchase yarn if I was in love. I obsessed about this colorway Friday night and decided to get three skeins Saturday. It is Terra by Madeline Tosh. Her colors are SO beautifully dyed. (Photo taken in Franklin's photography class.)
I also bought roving, which I do not have a photo of. But here is some roving I bought from Christina Marie Potter a couple of weeks ago in preparation for my Saturday afternoon drop spindle class. Along with the two spindles I purchased before Fiber Fest to learn on. (Photo also taken at Franklin's class...I will be making a light box because it is TOO cool.) The multi-colored spindle is from Dyak Craft and the mahogany one is a Bosworth.
And this is some of the yarn I spun. I don't have a nostepinne, so I wound the yarn from the spindle I was using to the one I wasn't. I'm not sure if I will ply this yarn or not.
Sunday morning I learned to tat. My dad's mom tatted and when I saw the class on the schedule, I jumped at the opportunity to learn. Tatting is essentially making lace out of knots. Tiny knots. There is essentially one stitch made by performing two separate but very similar steps and it is not a craft for people with bad eyesight.
After about 3 inches of practice thread, this is what I accomplished in the last hour of class.
My teacher could do this in about 5 minutes or less. She's been tatting pretty hardcore for ten years. Those two rings are supposed to be the same size. Like anything else, practice makes perfect.
Sunday afternoon my vacation came to a halt as Daddy had things to do and I had to go back into parenting mode. I had a wonderful weekend, though, and thoroughly enjoyed being with my friends and practically rolling in the fiber. It was hard being away from N so much, though. She was apparently fine without me, but I sure missed her.