... The Mouse Will Play

The husband is away on business for a while, so I'm taking advantage of some "alone time." And I wasted no time in figuring out what I'm going to be doing for the next few weeks and weekends!

While he was still in the air, en route to a different time zone, I bolted from the house yesterday morning and headed to northwestern New Jersey!

Long before I even got to Hope, I could smell the animal "scat" in the air--and knew it would be less than a half hour until I was in downtown Hope:)

I attended one day (out of a two day festival) of the annual Christmas festival/bazaar in Hope, New Jersey (which is held every year, the first weekend of December.)

I was a woman on a mission: to find the folks from Brains Barn and buy one of his hooks! For those hookers out there, check out his site: http://www.brainsbarn.com

My hook is African cherry, and has a lampwork bead worked into the handle towards the end. It is glorious!

After the bazaar, I headed off to find either Four Sisters Winery or a local sheep farmer. I found the winery and stopped in for a tasting, and of course to stock up on some Leon Millot and Papa's Port! I don't recommend going for a tasting (and not spitting) and then go drive!
http://www.foursisterswinery.com I'll have to make a future trip out here again (for all sorts of reasons which are obvious), but due to tax problems, they can't ship to New York!

After the winery, I headed off for another northwest New Jersey "institution": Hot Dog Johnny's! http://www.hotdogjohnny.com. The sun had already set by the time I got to the hot dog stand (which is now fully enclosed with a small dining area). I got some of their home
brewed birch beer and a few dogs. Very peaceful being there. Not much of anything near them except the Pequest River. Just great.

I headed back to the hotel for a nice, hot, leisurely bubble bath, some crochet and plenty of sleep:)

When I woke up, I looked out the window to see that it snowed over night, and where I was, it was not a simple little dusting either. And naturally, I neglected to pack boots, so I was left to wear my clogs out to the car, in the snow.

Before leaving the area, I finally found Jenny Jump Farm, http://www.thompsonpottery.com, where I met the owner, Joan, who sold me some great tri-color roving and some homespun from her own sheep, which are Jacob sheep, and her farm is part of the Jacob Sheep Conservancy: http://www.jacobsheepconservancy.org.

I had a great few hours at her farm, talking about all manner of things fiber related. She showed me her enormous triangular "Weavette" loom that she weaves shawls on; showed me a new fiber technique "Nail Binding" which I need to Google the moment I finish this post. And lastly, she took me out to the area on the farm, in the foothills of Jenny Jump state forest preserve, to show me her sheep, her goats, her horses, and even a turkey. I even got a quickie tour of her husband's pottery studio. They are quite the fascinating and creative couple, it was a blast visiting with them. I can't wait for next year's NY Sheep & Wool, as Joan mentioned she (might) be there.

After I left Jenny Jump Farm, I headed east, and stopped off in Montclair to go to Stix-n-Stitches LYS to pick up some things, and apparently missed a booksigning!
http://stix-n-stitches.blogspot.com/2007/12/weekend-wrap-up.html.

And of course, while there, I had to "show-and-tell" and show the gals my roving, yarn and new hook, and even did a bit of networking on behalf of Jenny Jump and Brains Barn. Would be fabulous if S-n-S ends up stocking any of their wares!

I stopped for dinner... and now I'm home, dividing up what I bought (every last bit of what I bought was hand made), and making an assessment of what projects need to be finished and when, and what else I need to make for gifts. With the exception of buying books, the bulk of my holiday gifts this year will be handmade.

Um? Gah? Let's see if I can accomplish this!