Last night, Granny and Grampa Joe arrived safely. Tonight many more family members are coming to help us celebrate Megan’s graduation. In the middle of all the craziness…we got a new car, a Toyota Corolla. It already has The Twisted Purl sticker across the back window so if you see it driving down the highway be sure to give a honk! The hub works out of Little Rock and needed a REALLY good gas mileage car, and this one gets close to 40 per gallon. Sounded good to us!

Amazingly enough, I also got some new fiber posted on Etsy. Here is Clown’s Hair. Next, a little festival inspired Cotton Candy sock yarn.
I do want to get more posted today…hopefully, in between yard work and shopping I can get some fiber listed. It is just so hard for me to part with fiber. I dream of how gorgeous it will look spun.
This morning, I came across this verse:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:26
It gave me great comfort in my stress and exhaustion from the last few weeks of non-stop action. Like a little reminder that God loves me and is waiting for me to come to Him for recharging. I may name this fiber “Rest” after this verse.

As for me, my resting time is done, I have to mow the lawn and get some laundry moving. Plus, shopping for Megan’s brunch tomorrow (at my house) and her BIG party, on Sunday, at Dad’s. ♥

Although Toad Suck Daze is now over and we are in the comfort of our home with our feet kicked up, many memories of the weekend are still being repeated and laughed about in our home.

Our booth was set up right next to the Famous Toad Dome where numerous children came to race Toads.

We heard every child name his Toad and each time the Toad Race would begin the announcer would proclaim “Ready…..Set……TOAD!!!!!” and the race would be on.

With all the preparation that went into the booth, the boys did not get to go out and hunt for their own toads. We were very pleased to find out you didn’t have to bring your own toad, they would be provided.

Above, the boys are getting their very own racing toads.

They then got to name each toad and race them as well.

It was quite amusing hearing all the children name each toad over the three day festival. There were girls racing their toads with gorgeous names like Precious, Rainbow, Sunshine, and Pretty. Boys had Toady, Warts, Harry Potter, and Speedy. The name that had to take preference with all boys though was Luke Skywalker. There had to have been at least 30 Luke Skywalkers. Toads like to use the force ya know!

A parade went by the booth while Debbie was helping. She has this strange history of taking her picture with the Chick Fillet Cows…not sure why…but next thing I knew I had my camera in hand and we were stopping the parade for a quick photo shoot.

And lastly, there was Face Painting! Here is Brady, showing off his rocket ship. All and all, the festival was a blast! If you are in the area next year, do not miss it!

My sister graduates Hendrix College this weekend. YAY!!! We have loads of family coming in and it will be an absolute blast. But with that comes the house cleaning. G’ah…I so wish we had a maid. ♥

Toad Suck Daze 2008 is OVER!!! *does a dance* I had an absolute blast meeting and talking with folks as they walked by my booth. There were some rather tense moments…but overall the weekend was a success.

I could not have done the weekend with out the help of my friends. My sister and her boyfriend, Matt, Jeanetta, Debbie, and of course my awesome husband Todd. When I did have help, I was able to go out of the booth and spin yarn. I was so very pleased to see so many kids knowing what on earth I was doing! It was awesome to see their parents looking at me like I was an alien and saying “What on earth are you doing?” and to hear their kids say “She’s spinning yarn!” Too cool!

Jeanetta of Splendid Designs on Etsy was a tremendous help. I would spin yarn and then as I was spinning it, she would explain how the wool would go from the sheep (natural wool) to processed roving, then painted, and then spun. This is the yarn we used to show what the roving looks like spun up. I just love this set, I may have to knit it up myself.

Our painted silk scarves looked lovely on the first day blowing in the breeze looped through the back wall lattice. Of course, my hubby had the coolest seat ever. The wind continuously blew him some fine locks of painted silk hair.
Speaking of wind! The start of Day Two was a nightmare! The wind had blown so very hard during the night a lot of folks lost their tents and had a mess. We had put up Wind Shield Walls. The wind blew so hard the wall blew in and we came into the entire inventory and cubes all in a pile on the ground. Thankfully, none of the yarn or roving was hurt.

Debbie, my wonderful step-mom, rushed out to save the day! Within minutes of my desperate call for help she was there assisting me in the clean up and soon enough we were back open for business.

The day was still pretty windy and there were some pretty tough moments. I was very thankful to have Matt holding up the wall by sitting in the chair for awhile.

Here are a few pics of the layout of the yarn.

And spinning fibers! Yay! I have a ton to spin still. This was just two of the cubes. We had six cubes set up of fiber alone.
The Conway Paper interviewed me too. Here is a link to the article if you would like to check it out. CLICK HERE Also, a very nice man from Conway made a video of me spinning and talking about what I was doing. Who knows, it may just show up on my website.

Today has been a bit strange. I feel like I need to go back to my booth and work. Strange, I know…I really love the convenience of selling my yarn and fiber online, but honestly, I love talking to people in person about the craft. It is just too cool to meet other yarn-a-holics and understand their need to touch every fiber and dream of all the things they could make. I enjoyed each and every moment of Toad Suck Daze. It makes me want to do it more often or open up a shop. There’s a time and season for everything (God’s time…God’s time!)

There is still so much more to share about the fun that was had during the festival, but for now, I must get my house back under control…image what your house would look like if you left a man alone with three boys for three days. ♥

There’s nothing nicer than seeing beautiful hand painted roving and yarn blowing in the wind. Today, I ran out of drying space. With it being a very nice sunny day, I figured why not run a line across my backyard. This was the result!
The Arkansas Etsy Street Team Goody Bags turned out super cute! Thank you so much to everyone who sent items for the bags. I will have to tell you all a bit more about the goodies when I have more time to breath. Also special thanks to Jeanetta, Debbie, and Megan for their assistance in stuffing the bags.
Here is some roving I finished yesterday. Mostly all in semi-solid shades, with a few surprises here and there.
Cotton Candy anyone? I am sure there will be plenty of that floating around Toad Suck Daze! Here is some handspun Cotton Candy for ya!

Today is The Twisted Purl’s official Dye Day of 2008. Maybe it’s a two day holiday, since it really started yesterday. Hopefully later today, I will find my camera, and be able to show off all the yummy goodness.

My sister has started a Facebook group for my yarn. She is just too cool for words! Check it out and be sure to join. CLICK HERE

Sorry for the briefness, but the yarn is calling my name. Hope to post pics later. ♥