Photo Friday: Little Toes!

Constance

Introducing Constance (rav link)! For a long time I have thought it would be nice to have a baby size model for the booth. 

So, one day while I was poking around Ravelry I came across this pattern. The original is simply adorable! The designer is from New Zealand, so I was a little hesitant to buy the pattern at first. I'm super glad I did! The pattern is one of the best I have ever knitted. It is written practically row by row. There is incredible detail in the pattern, down to things like a tiny indent for a navel and a crease for the butt cheeks.

I only have 2 wishes for this pattern, to make it better. The first is I wish I had better doll making & embroidery skills. The pattern walks through step by step how to do all the finishing touches, like fingers, face shaping, toes, ears, etc... My skill and knowledge of different sewing techniques made it a little difficult and I had to take things out a couple of times to fix them. I know more practice would make it better. So maybe I'll make another in the future. The other thing I had trouble with was finding baby flesh colored yarn. I looked through tons of yarn and most of them were either too yellow or too orange or too pale. The pattern calls for a DK weight yarn on 2.5US (3mm). I finally settled on Cascade 220 color #9601 Pink Taffy Heather, which is a worsted weight and used a #3US needle. So my dolly came out around a 6 month size, instead of newborn. I don't mind her size at all. I just wish I could have found the yarn in DK. I will be on the lookout for such a yarn and if I find one, you will see another of these on the needles!

CGFF Wrap Up

I finally feel like I have everything wrapped up for the most part from the CGFF. Lots and lots of little details to give it a nice put away feeling. I have been knitting a ton lately, mostly in preparation for the little one coming a few short weeks! I just have a couple of things from the show left to share with you and then maybe I can feel like it is finished for 2012!

I really wanted to share with you how blessed I am to have such awesome vendors! They are really the most generous group of people I have ever met! I especially want to thank Alpha B and Rainbow Farms Pygora for giving me little treats in appreciation for my work as vendor coordinator. It makes me feel so good to be appreciated!

On top of all the lovely goodies above I couldn't resist a few I saw in the marketplace. More fiber from Rainbow Farms Pygora (the two in the back). The brightly colored one is dyed Ramboullet, which I am dying to spin up! The one in front is from Woolgatherings and is dyed tussah silk and black alpaca. Both are scrumptiously soft. Too bad they may have to sit and wait until I have time to spin again post-baby.

The other last things to check out are:
The photo gallery
The Raffle Prizes and their winners
The Treasure Hunt Prizes and its winner
The General Survey - Please fill out if you plan on attending next year!

I have some last things to finish up on the website to wrap things up and then it should be all put away. I'm hoping to blog more regularly. I have lots to catch up on!

Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival 2012 Photos!

Photo Friday: Yep, Still Buried!

Photo Friday: Toy Composition

Photo Friday: Flower Talk

Have you heard? The CGFF is this weekend!

Photo Friday: Spring Garden

No photo from X this week, instead I thought I would share what is blooming in the garden! Happy Spring!

More Treasure!

I just keep getting more treasure for the Treasure Hunt. This week's treasure is a bag for the treasure chest and the bookmarks. All provided from Judy Becker herself! She even threw in a few extra pins! These are a Beyond Toes exclusive! I'm so excited to get these and to share them with you! Check out more info on the Treasure hunt here!

The next item of treasure made me gasp at the sheer beauty of it! This is a hand carved shawl pin by Tool Man. They are featured on a couple different shawls throughout the book. His wife is also one of the designers. Both are going to be part of the Treasure Hunt, so you will have the opportunity to meet them both next week! (Can you believe that it's only next week?)

Lastly I wanted to point out that the Blossom Festival Map is up! You can view the .pdf here! The CGFF is stop #1 on the tour! How cool is that?! I'm so happy everything is coming together so nicely!

Photo Fridays: Little Angel