Valkyrie and my gnomiejo knits orifice hook!

When Ellen and I went down to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in September I purchased some roving from Blue Moon Fiber Arts - 50% merino, 50% silk in the Valkyrie colorway.



This particular purchase was a definite impulse buy. Here comes the justification logic. I figure you can't purchase roving(except superwash merino) on-line. When you go to conventions and festivals they always have roving of different fibers. This is the time you *need* to stock up on BMFA roving! Plus!...you know Tina's take on color...you can't resist!

I had gone back to their booth because I had loaned Tina Newton(owner and dyer extraordinaire of Blue Moon) a sweater I had made out of BMFA mediumweight Socks that Rock to display in their booth. I picked up my sweater and also picked up this roving. I recall trying to call Ellen on the cell to have her talk me out of it but she didn't hear her phone ring. I guess her not picking up the phone worked out well for me!

I finished spinning this up into 2-ply laceweight. It is very pretty and I enjoyed spinning this. I wasn't sure if I would like working with this blend and I found out that I really enjoy it(good thing because I bought a lot of merino/silk blends at OFFF). It is approximately 7 ounces. I'll have to check again but I think it is around 22 wpi.



I made a recent purchase at Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs. I know one of the owners of the shop, Shiori, as she is a fellow student in Nihon Vogue. I saw an orifice hook with a gnome on it in their shop. I emailed Shiori right away and asked if she could do some custom work on it. Her business partner, Stephanie, makes these works of art and she graciously agreed to make me a custom hook!

I wanted her to add 'gnomiejo knits' somewhere on the hook for me and she did!

Isn't it just wonderful?





I love the glass bead they added to the base which has a toadstool look to it. I appreciate the attention to detail that went into creating this work of art.