WOW. What a Weekend!

Happy Monday!!!!!!!

Ok, yes I am super hyper today, even though I spent 8 hours at work scraping paint and caulking cracks...ick. But it helps that I had a super magnificent, ultra spectacular weekend! Oh and did I mention, this is my 100th Post! :D

Every year towards the beginning of June, there is an AMAZING festival of the arts, smack dab in the middle of Kansas! Bands, artists, crafters, vendors and the like come from all across the country to be a part of this amazing 4 day celebration. I myself have been going since I was young, having grown up in Salina, where it's hosted each year. In the past, I've gone for the food, and looked around at the booths a bit, but never really taken the time to get myself fully engrossed in the arts of it all. This year, it was different.

I signed up to volunteer with the kids crafts on Sunday, so I had all day Saturday to take advantage of what the festival had to offer. Being the knitting freak I am, I asked my good friend Ivy if she wanted to come visit and just sit out and knit all afternoon by the stage. It just so happens that it was also the kick off day of National Knit in Public Week! How lucky is that! So she came up in the morning and we explored the booths and arts and all that fun stuff. I got so many opportunities to meet some amazing artists from all over the country. This being the first time I have gone since realizing that I just want to make art, I was able to get myself fully involved in the art scene taking place and many of the artists I talked to were really friendly and open to discussing their techniques. Overall, I learned so much I plan to take with me next year.

Leslie Emery -- A very nice lady who I exchanged emails with and whose work is much like what I want to do in the future!

Edward Bartoszek -- Told me how he uses acrylics and a lot about how they work

Sharon Spillar -- Gave me some creative ideas for my acrylic ideas.

Brian Sullivan -- We talked about 'the real world' and how I should come to Champaign, IL for grad school

Besides that, I was also able to view a demonstration by a couple who dye, spin and create lace patterns. The husband showed us his wheel in action, something that oddly enough I have never seen. It made me really intrigued and excited to someday learn.  The wife talked about her dying and showed us her lace patterns. They were absolutely gorgeous. I think the biggest feat of the weekend was that I didn't buy any of her amazing, Malabrigo-esque yarn!

Photo courtesy Lost City Knit's website.

So after feasting on strawberry lemonade and stir fry noodles, we hit the grass and got some hard core knitting completed! It was so much fun to just sit out and listen to music while having a good time talking as well. I definitely feel like we became really good friends over the course of Saturday! And I got that much closer to finishing my pink spiral scarf!

What a great day for knitting!

Oh and don't forget the amazing HOMEMADE ice cream bars. This is my Goo Bar: Vanilla ice cream, between 2 brownies, dipped in chocolate! Ivy tried the one with Red Velvet cake. YUM!

To make the weekend even better, I went back with my family on Sunday after volunteering and got some more arts and fiber fun in! I made a couple of super cute buttons at the kids tent, and wrote a very poetic yarn statement on the poetry wall.

The funny thing is, most of these words were laying together in the pile of words anyways!

Totally going on my knitting bag!

I came home sunburned in more places than one, but it was so worth it. I enjoyed every minute I spent at the Smokey Hill River Festival, and you can bet I will be back next year, with pictures of my art to give my fellow artists!

Painted Duckies!

Painted grass and a wheel sculpture.

Oh and guess what? I finished the pink spiral scarf today! I have been knitting on and off of it since January, and finally just sat down and finished it! And I used every scrap of yarn too :) FINALLY no more half skeins laying around.

(more pictures can be seen on Ravelry!)

I hope everyone had a great weekend like me and is back to the groove of the week once again.

~Lisa

** I wish I could have taken more pictures, but I wasn't sure if I'd be violating any copy right laws. Better safe than sorry **