Paddling, Packing and Spinning

[Photo:A breast cancer survivor team
heading out to race]

It was a busy busy weekend. The big Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival was on, which had 78 dragon boat teams competing in races all weekend. We had four races, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. It was busy busy busy with me dashing back home between races to do laundry in preparation for packing and clean the house in preparation for the house sitters. But it was all great fun (the races, not so much the laundry and cleaning).
On top of all this, I was trying to finish a few spinning projects and organize spinning homework and pack up some spinning projects to take with me.

On the spindle: gray Alpaca from Koksilah Farms.
Off the wheel: Romney wool, silk and mohair blend.
Off the wheel: white Alpaca, wool and nylon blend
On the wheel: white Suffolk cross wool
In the packed bags: silk hankies, tussah silk roving, and ginned and pima cotton.

Racoon Invasion. Again

This is a raccoon's view of what is left of eleven ravaged 70% Dark Chocolate bars and a bag of cat nibbles (most of which were left on the carpet). This is what was what remained after a raccoon broke in and attacked my chocolate bar stash. Who knows how many he ate. This theft was not an easy feat. The raccoon had to figure out how to get one of his claws delicately wedged under the magnetic cat door and carefully pull the bottom of the hinged door towards the outdoors. Then it had to sneak under the door, past the cat (that was probably easy) through the living room, past the kitchen, through the dining room into the hallway, then rise up on his hind legs, stretch and somehow be able to grab onto the round slippery door knob and turn it while at the same time pulling the door towards him while balancing on two rear legs. Once in the laundry room, he had to figure out how to hop up 3.5 feet onto the top of the clothes dryer, reach above that and grab onto the small carton of chocolate bars (let's ignore the fact that I have a store of chocolate bars) and open the bars and peel off the tinfoil. Let's think about that. This raccoon not only has a highly sensitive nose, but he ignored all the kitchen food smells and honed in on the chocolate bars which are wrapped in tinfoil, then paper and in a cardboard carton (okay, I admit it, it was a carton of chocolate bars), and down at the other end of the house in a laundry room! That is some nose and a gourmet one at that. The cat door has now been blocked off. I just hope that raccoon is suffering from constipation.

Fondle this fibre!

[Photo: From top clockwise: Gray alpaca on spindle
and 2ply,  cream alpaca with cashmere and silk,
alpaca with nylon and wool]

At the Olds Fibre Week (last week of June, first few days of July) Alpaca Canada donated sample bags of Alpaca for the spinners to spin and samples of alpaca yarn for the knitters and weavers to use. Ooooooooh what beautiful fibre! This is fondle fibre. You just want to put one of those sample bags in your pocket to carry around all day to fondle ... or, as Jacey Boggs suggests (check out her blog, she is hilarious) .... I think it was Jacey ... if not it could have been Jacey...in any event, someone like Jacey, suggested that there are certain fibres, and alpaca is one of them, that you just want to stuff into your bra and fondle or squeeze a breast or both, all day.

[Photo: See the softness]

I spun some Kensigton Prairie Farm roving which was light fawn coloured 85% Alpaca and 15% Tussah silk. Exquisite! And the samples from Alpaca Farms Koksilah on Vancouver Island (I will be visiting this farm!) and Graycott Alpacas in Ontario were so silky and luxurious to spin. They were so soft and felt so good I did them all on a spindle to stretch out the fondle time.
Twisted Sisters Fibre Mill donated some rovings of an alpaca blend with wool and nylon. See the picture and you will get an idea of how the addition of wool adds loft. Sounds like a perfect sock yarn.

[Photo: The alpaca/wool/nylon blend on the
left and the silky suri alpaca on the right]

My Mother (Mom are you reading this?) offered to knit my niece, a pair of socks and let her pick the yarn. She picked a heathered blue alpaca yarn. Mother was horrified thinking these socks would wear out in weeks being made with such delicate yarn. So I checked out the characteristics of alpaca and was surprised to find it is 10 times stronger than wool, more shrink resistant, softer, smoother and with little or no lanolin it is perfect for those who suffer wool allergies. They should be perfect socks.  
And should they ever wear out, well, they will be good bra stuffing.

Olds Fibre Week

[Photo: Nunu felted peacock dress]

One of the things about being at Fibre Week at Olds, is meeting such interesting and creative folk. Last night I was sitting watching the fashion show (check out the nuno felting peacock dress) and a few seats down there was Syvia Harding knitting another fabulous shawl (check out her lace designs). Down a row was Carol Balogh who has some great knit kits available at her online store Nature's Knit-ch(click here to see some of them) And Barb Brown (one of the guest speakers at Sock Summit 2011), a very gentle soul and well known for knitting knee highs, was there with her book Knitting Knee-Highs, plus the socks in the book! One could findle them. Here's Barb's web site: Wild Geese Fibres.

I also met Caroline Sommerfield, a master of support spindling. If you aren't sure what support spindles are, check her web Ancient Arts Fibre and her book Spinning Exotic Fibres with Russian and Tibetan Spindles. Caroline it turns out also knitted a couple of the socks in Barb's book. It was sandle weather that day, so I did not bother to check out what socks she was wearing on her feet. I took Caroline's advice and bought a Russian spindle or, as Caroline puts it 'I liberated a spindle for the sake of the people'. This woman is persuasive if not downright subversive by converting every passerby into a spindler. The spindle is a walnut one (feels 'right' in my hand and is made by Dick Carney in Kamloops. To go with it, I bought a bowl with an ironwood centre made by Jim Leslie of Calgary. The bowl will fit on my lap.  
With a trip to Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands coming up, and support spindle homework on my list, I justified these purchases as I will have something light and portable to take with me. She also sells fibre and I bought a mixture of Lllamam, mohair and merino but I was sorely tempted to get some mixtures of yak, bison and silk but ran out of cash. I am not too worried, there is always the online store.  

[Photo: Elizabeth aka Zemmie (Ravelry)
with her handknit traditional
Shetland shawl]

[Photo: Putting the shawl through
her grandmother's wedding ring]

Speaking of the Shetland Islands, Elizabeth from North Vancouver, who was in my Level 1 Master Spinners course in Victoria, was there wearing a hand knit shawl she had done in traditional Shetland-style. A true Shetland Island shawl is made from Shetland sheep wool (go figure) and must be spun so fine, that the whole shawl will slip through your wedding ring. I guess maidens are not good enough spinners. It must take years of spinning experience to accomplish yarn that is only a few fibres in diameter.

Note to self: Read Course Supply List at least two months in advance.

[Photo: Spinning in front of Mt Rundle]

So there I was, the night before we leave for year 3 of the Master spinners course. I had not packed, nor finished my homework when I read the list and start throwing things into bags. Scissors, check. Niddy noddy, check. Lazy Kate, check. Dye pot, check. Gloves, check. 25 skeins, 10 meters each of hand spun, tied off and labeled ready for the dye pot Monday morning. 25 skeins! Holy cow. That's 250 meters! And it is needed for first thing Monday morning. 

[Photo: 23 skeins drying in the
motel washroom]

According to homework assignment #38 - Calculating time needed to spin-- that is about 250 minutes for a 2 ply, or just over 4 hours of spinning. It will take a day and a half of driving to get there which will give me a day to spin, but I have to finish my homework, re-paginate everything and double check all the assignments, as well as checking out the fleece judging. That cuts it pretty fine for spinning 250 meters.
So I spun in the car, I spun in the motel in Revelstoke. I spun with the spindle in the car from Kamloops to Banff. I spun while admiring Mt Rundle. I spun from Stony Plain to Olds. I spun in Olds. I spun up all the mohair roving I brought. All 230 meters. Yes, that is right, I am 20 meters short!

Homework - D-Day is coming

[Photo: Starting with this]

Today is Friday. This means I have only 7, seven, s*e*v*e*n, 7, as in one week, 7 days left, that is seven working days, to complete my homework before heading back to Olds College for Fibre Week to start my level 3 Master Spinners course.  

[Photo: To do]

There are two problems with this.
First, I work. And I am away on Sunday. Away, as in 'away from my spinning wheel'. And I am the steers person for a dragon boat team (i.e. I steer and if I don't turn up 22 paddlers will beat me with their paddles) and we have 3 evening practices in the next week. This means I really only have Saturday and 2 evenings in which to finish my homework! You may well ask what the heck I am doing right now spending time telling you this when I should be doing homework. That, is a good question.


Second, this means I only have 7 days before I get assigned another YEARS worth of homework! And the whole darn thing starts all over again.

[Photo: Done!]

NOT Art yarn

[Photo: Jacey Boggs, wearing a
beehive coil-to-be]

I spent the weekend on Quadra island with an inspiring instructor -- Jacey Boggs, and 11 other students. We were there to learn 'hardcore and softcore' spinning, which is another name for textured yarns and is NOT another name for Art Yarn. Jacey rues the day when she coined the term 'Art Yarn'. The term was originally meant for yarn with integrity, yarn with structure, yarn that is usable and not just something to put on the mantelpiece. But that meaning has been lost and the term is now being used for yarn that is pretty to look at but not much good for making anything. For two days we learned how to create yarns with structure, with integrity. We learned how to make textured yarns, interesting, beautiful to look at, fun and usable yarns.  

[Photo: Stephanie's beehive coils]

We used some wonderful fibres. A beautiful hand painted merino top (sponsored by SpringtreeRoad) which we used for thick and thin yarn and for coils and an incredible batt from Sayra of Atomic Blue. You have not seen batts until you've seen these! Check out their products with the links embedded.

[Photo: AtomicBlue batt and yarn samples.
Much more vivid in real life]

Jacey has a book coming out this fall (December?) on making textured yarns --Spin Art: Mastering the Craft of Spinning Textured Yarn. I think this will be one of 'those' books that will have a tremendous impact on spinning. It will take spinning to a whole new level. I suspect it will generate a lot of buzz and a lot of new spinners. Keep an eye on her blog for this and for her new DVD (her current DVD covers this workshop). Heck, check her blog anyway. She's one of those special people that will inspire you and leave you envious of all her energy. 

[Photo: Michelle getting a kick out
of  being loaded into a tiny boat
and kidnapped]

I came away from the workshop just as energized (v. 1. to make energetic, vigorous or active. 2. another word for overspun kinky single yarn ) as the yarns we made. I also came home with Michelle, my soon to be Master Spinner Level 3 instructor! I have her tucked away in the guest cabin known as the Hilton. Yes. My own private spinning instructor. I may not let her off the island.