Something Strange Is Going On....

February in northeastern Vermont usually means several feet of snow on the ground with icy cold nights and cold and snowy days.  Not this year.  We have maybe 6 inches of ice crusted snow on the ground, with daytime temperatures in the 30s and 40s.

This is February???

Maple sugar season usually starts around the last week of February, first week of March.  This year it started last week.  Most disturbing of all is the wildlife.  Skunks and raccoon usually sleep through February.  This year they are out and about, starting their mating season very early.

This 'easy' winter has national broadcasters proclaiming how homeowners are saving 10% of their heating costs, not due to fuel prices going down (they've actually risen), but rather due to less heating being required. This mild winter is not unique to Vermont - it appears to be the same across the continental US.

What does any of this have to do with crochet?  Slow sales of wool products.  Hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves are generally all good sellers during the winter months, but not this year.  I suppose some of it can be due to a poor economy, but mostly I blame the weather.

The bright side of all of this is that the warmer temperatures make it easier to focus on spring and summer products, and to work with lighter yarns, such as cotton, bamboo, and rayon.  By starting now, more time will be available to complete entries for the summer fairs.  I wonder if fall will come early this year, too?

Crochet At The Fair

Going to the county fair each summer has become a tradition.  The kids go off to the rides, while I stroll through the arts and crafts and animal barns.  I already knew from previous fairs that there were some extremely talented thread crocheters in the area.  What I saw yesterday was truly impressive.

The first piece to catch my eye was a framed (yes, behind glass!) 24" pineapple doily.  The stitches really popped from the black matte background.  It was definitely a work of art!  I like the idea of framing - I think it would make a wonderful gift.

The most memorable piece for me was a child's granny square afghan.  What's so special about that?  It was all done in thread!  Each 4" square was done in 3 different colors.  As it was on display, I couldn't get close enough to it to count the number of rows, but I did comment to my husband "now THAT was a winter project!"  What a wonderful idea, to cover a toddler in the summer heat with a light cotton afghan!  I can only imagine how many hours that took to create.

Remember that water bottle sling I wrote about last week?  I spied someone wearing one, quite similar to the ones I used to sell, walking through the fair.  I know I didn't make it, though, as I could clearly see it was made of acrylic as I walked past.  Whoever did make it had put little accents, like a row of double crochet around the middle and a couple of curly-cues at the top.  It was actually quite cute!

There was one vendor there who's table was half crocheted baby sweaters and baby afghans and half jewelry.  I felt somewhat sad for them, as the summer heat was not the environment for selling these items and there never seemed to be anyone visiting their table.  As it was a county fair and not a craft fair, people were there primarily to have fun, not purchase gifts. 

As usual, I return home from the fair with a head full of ideas for my own crochet projects.  Time to write them all down in my idea notebook!