Reef Party

We had a two hour window in which to set up a party, have it and begone, before the tide came back up and covered the party grounds. This was the challenge that Jurgen had to deal with in organizing the first annual Satellite Reef party. The loest tide of the year fell mid-day on July 22, 2009 the next tide that low to expose the reef would be midnight sometime in December. He wisely chose the July date. The barge boys, Will and Gonzo his trusty helper, loaded the barge with a piano, BBQ, table and a few lounge chairs, filled the space with people and off we went. It was a lovely party. The Gabriola Ferry had been warned to slow down when passing the reef, else we might have been awash. We sand, some danced, we ate and drank and two hours later packed it all up just before the tide once again covered the reef, and all signs of a party vanished into the sea.

Nanaimo River Estuary Dig

I was lucky to be able to spend a day on the Snuneymuxw archeological dig in the Nanaimo river Estuary helping to find old fishing weirs. They have found many many stakes indicating many fishing weirs. Two of the stakes have been found to be over 1000 years old. We had to work between the low tides. It was hard work as you can see from Gary's pose!

Master Spinners Level 1 Course

I survived the level one week. The Master Spinners program is offered through Olds College out of Alberta but this cohort was held in Victoria. There are six levels, so I have five more to do. The course was great fun but I didn't expect so much homework. I am not complaining. In fact, it is great to have some projects outlined to do after the course. So the next few months (year?) I'll be busy completing my assignments.

Here are some pictures of the commute. I took my bike and peddled the Galloping Goose trail which took me to one block of the course location right downtown Victoria. Note my spinning wheel on the back of my bike! Another first.

Busy, busy, busy!

It has been a very busy few weeks. I've been to Ottawa ---took a new spindle and learned to navajo ply--got caught in the midst of the Ottawa marathon and 50,000 runners--and saw Leonard Cohen.

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Went on two hikes to see Gary Oak meadows with various people involved in restoration of these ecosystems.

Piloted a boat so Mark could take pictures of the start of the Van Isle 360. Watched something like 50 fiddlers fiddle away.

From Fleece to Loom

Things have been happening very fast. I bought a fleece. $25 for the whole fleece. I figured it would keep me busy for a year. Th store I bought it from were not sure what breed of sheep but it had lots of crimp similar to a merino and they thought it was lambswool which it could very well be,being fine and soft. Hard to believe but it is white.

I rushed around figuring I needed to clean it now while the sun shone and before I headed down to Victoria to see a loom I had read about for sale. I threw the whole fleece into hot tubs of water and headed out to Victoria. On the way i read about how to clean a fleece. Step 1 - carefully layout the fleece and skirt it by throwing away the not-worth-the-bother-of-cleaning sections. Step 2 - categorize and separate the various qualities. So much for that.

Which brings me to my new loom. 45" Leclerc-look-a-like counterbalance loom. It fit in the car! I just needed a new brake. So now i have to figure out my first project.

Stash

I love Judith MacKenzio McCuin.  She taught me to spin, weave and dye 25 years ago.  She continues to inspire me with her books and articles.  Others obviously feel the same way as there is even a 'Daughters of Judith' fan group on Ravelry. More recently, she has helped to remove my guilt about my boxes and bags of wool hidden in the loft.  Nay, she encourages stash. 

Stash g-

1.to put by or away as for safekeeping or future use, usually in a secret place (usually fol. by away: The squirrel stashes away nuts for winter.
2.a stash of gold coins buried in the garden.
3.a place in which something is stored secretly; hiding place; cache.
4. a supply of hidden drugs.

Hmmm, note the reference to hidden drugs.  They might as well have said '...or fibre both of which provide a high.  A sign of addiction.'

Right up front in her book, Teach Yourself Visually Spinning, she actually devotes a chapter section, and I quote "Start a Stash - Every spinner has a stash--that wonderful collection of fibres that are just waiting for inspiration." 

So.  I continue to collect more stash.  Yesterday I bought 1/2 lb of washed mohair from a lovely woman who raises a few angora goats and recues and fosters greyhounds, endangered San Clemente goats, mistreated goats, and even a great granddaughter.

Acronymns

I have noticed that spinners and related fibre people have developed a mass of acronyms.  A whole new language.  Here's a sample from ravelry's list, just the u,w & y's:

UFO UnFinished Object (usually a WIP that has been abandoned or neglected) 

WIM Work In Mind 

WIP Work In Progress 

WoTA Wool of the Andes (yarn) 

WPI Wraps Per Inch (number of times yarn will wrap loosely around ruler or similar tool in one inch; more wraps indicates thinner yarn)

yarn barf (yarf?) a big lump of yarn that accidentally gets pulled out of a new centre-pull ball, when you’re trying to find the end 

Yarnie independent dyer or spinner with a small business 

Shellfish Fibre
Thursday we launched the new Centre for Shellfish Research boat the Cheltlo - Chinook jargon for Oyster.  The Chetlo is being blessed by Ray Peters, a Quw'utzun (Cowichan) elder. Uncle Ray (as he is known) is using cedar and introducing the boat to the water.  In the Coast Salish culture, it is important that boats and people are introduced to the water.  On the Tribal Journeys, a 12 day canoe paddle, we, and the canoe, were introduced to the water every day before starting to paddle.

Having a twisted mind, chetlo/oysters  reminded me that mussles create very strong threads in order to attach to rock.  These threads need to be very strong to withstand the pounding of wave action but also very fine, so fine they can attach to a single grain of sand.  One species, the Pen mussle (pinna noblis), produces shiny golden threads, was used to make fabric Byssus--the silk of the sea, also less  gloriously known as '"fish wool".  One theory possits that the 'golden fleece' was referring to the golden threads of byssus.  In his novel  "20,000 leagues under the sea", Jules Verne wrote '...I felt so great a heat that I obliged to take off my coat of byssus!'