I had meant for months to share the Gothlet’s tribute to her father, for Father’s Day, then forgot.
So, belatedly, here ’tis.
This looks like one stage of development beyond the Preteen’s Shell Report (i.e. about first grade).
Transliteration:
Dad ♥ and i (continued)
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My dad is my dad,
he’s cool but he’s strict
My dad is my dad,
he[‘s] the one that Mom picked.
Good choice Mom! (literally!)
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Thank you, Gothlet! I agree!
Huh?
Well, it made sense at the time! Kind of? Not really.
Yesterday, FINALLY, it didn’t rain (I waited till today to post that, though, after what happened Friday night) and we had glorious sunshine all day to let the floods and puddles dry up, and to KIP in for WorldWide Knit In Public Day.
This is knitting in public at the morning Viroqua’s Farmer’s Market, sponsored by Ewetopia Fiber Shop. The sun was welcome though warm. I had some real home-made lemonade being sold by the Pony Club next door to raise money, mmm, tart and refreshing. I haven’t had real lemonade in a long time. Look above the silver car in the picture above, and you can see the top of an Amish buggy, one of several at the market to sell woven baskets. I resisted the lure of iIsconsin honey, hand-made items of various lovely sorts, vegetables, maple syrup, and plants (either didn’t want to carry them or, though I was tempted to buy a tomato or some flowers, knew they wouldn’t stand up to the day’s heat as it would be a while before getting home). But a home-made donut and molasses cookie might have called my name over the course of the morning.
That wasn’t the only lure at the market. Someone brought these little guys to sell too:
Despite the fact that the puppy would only cost two years’ allowance, and that Mom didn’t mind holding the puppy either 
, somehow my friend Karla and her family did NOT come home with a new puppy. A certain amount of angst followed. Puppies can snuggle their way into your heart very quickly, eh? But a dog is a lifetime commitment.
Anyway, knitting moved to Ewetopia
when the Farmer’s Market packed up (with a stop on our part for lunch and a visit to the ice cream/candy shop, where they had turtle-shaped turtles!) 
I didn’t get a decent photo in the shop because my hands were kind of busy. But over the course of the day, two other La Crosse knitters came to knit (they’re on Ravelry as Mairwen and PhireAngel), and Karla left as her girls were getting a touch antsy (the idea of knitting was much more enthralling than actually knitting at that age). VIroqua is a 45 minute drive or so from La Crosse, which is the reason I don’t get to Ewetopia very often given my full-time plus job and mom stuff, but WWKIP Day was a great excuse to make the trip, given that I didn’t have to work yesterday.
And there was a ‘learn to spin’ class in the afternoon. Never mind that the spinmeister Marge would have been delighted to get me addicted teach me to spin any time last November when all the wheels were set up at the knitting retreat. No, I wasn’t going to take up a new obsession; I have no room for a wheel and I already have way too much yarn. But since I had called Kathryn the day before to check if preregistration were necessary for the class, just in case I was there and interested, and then no one else was stepping up at the time, I did feel a little obligated to fulfill my curiosity. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)
Kathryn, Ewetopia’s owner, patiently showed me how and encouraged me through some truly awful overspinning and slubs (mostly the former, I have to learn to treadle slower — I think it’s a musician thing, I keep tapping out more of a driving rhythm as I would to mark a beat). But at times, I had a flow going briefly, and did spin enough fiber to ply, which was satisfying. The yarn was deemed ‘pretty good for the first time’ and ‘not too overplyed’ after plying (well, slightly more encouraging things than that were said, but I’m being realistic!).
So here it is, after washing and weighting — I made yarn out of fluff!
Now the eternal dilemma; what to do with just a small amount of (less than perfect, shall we say?) handspun? Maybe 20 yards of, um, highly variable weight thick and thin bulky-ish wool (which was wonderful stuff to spin, by the way, I forgot to ask what it was). Because you can bet I am making this into something, and something for ME, because I am the only one who will appreciate this rather idiosyncratic twisted fiber. Coffee cup cozy, perhaps? I will take thought.
There are witnesses who will swear that I bought a copy of Spin-Off magazine. Perhaps I did, but it was just for the knitting patterns. Truly. This doesn’t mean I’m addicted . . . . not yet. . .
Here’s the Saturday Sky when I came home, with a red-winged blackbird exiting stage left (I don’t usually see those birds in my back yard. Maybe due to no tall grass in the marsh to hang out on right now?).
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And now for something completely different:
On this sunny Sunday (again! Not saying anything about rain or lack thereof yet, though!), Father’s Day is celebrated here in the United States. I feel so grateful that I can celebrate Father’s Day with my father, who only lives a few blocks away. And I feel grateful to have a father whom I know loves me and is proud of me. And tells me so. And likes hand knit socks! (Fear not, Dad, more socks will come!)
I’m also grateful for the husband who embarked with me on this crazy ride called parenthood, and became a father almost 13 years ago (about thirteen years ago, The Preteen was trying to kick her way out at my brother’s wedding, as a matter of fact!).
Thanks, Dads everywhere, present with us, and present in our hearts. We love you.
Hither and Yarn 