Stone Sock Blog: Eggs and Chocolate

Spinners in this part of Michigan have been meeting once a week for, oh, maybe 30 years. Even though I’ve been part of this group of spinners for only the past 5 years, the group has become a very important part of my life.

Our meetings vary in location. For our last meeting, we met at the house of Carol S. Her house is situated on the Platte River. We gathered in her living room with large picture windows facing south over the river (and through the woods). Here are two wintery views:

There were maybe 10 folks in attendance. Midge O. was among them. Midge is a Cranbrook-trained textile artist. She has been working in fiber arts for over 50 years. These days, however, she specializes in making chocolates. I was delighted to find out that she’d brought some of her delicious inventory for sale. I instantly bought 2 boxes of my favorites: “Chingers” which are dark chocolate covered candied ginger, and “Pepitas” which are dark chocolate covered pumpkin seeds with a hint of cumin and salt. Too tasty! I will dole these treats out to myself slowly, very slowly, so that they will last into the new year.

Another group member, Cindy H., raises chickens. And she brought some fresh eggs to sell. There is nothing so wonderful as farm fresh eggs. After I bought a dozen, Cindy and I discussed the dilemmas of peeling hard boiled eggs if the eggs are too fresh. (FYI: I had done a systematic study of this particular problem. It is my scientific conclusion that it takes about 6 days from laying for an egg to become easily peelable.)

We do, as a group, get around to spinning and other such fiber endeavors. Gladys S. arrived wearing a recently completed sweater from bits of yarns that she’d spun. The design is simple, yet elegant. Gladys is another accomplished, life-long fiber artist. She spent most of her life in the south, but now she is a valued member of this northern group.

Carol S., our hostess, is a masterful weaver. Lately, she’s been spending her days in her studio weaving scarves. Here is a picture of some of her most recent projects:

Libby C. brought two knitted items to show. One was a “hand warmer” that she’d knitted from her handspun yarn. It covers a small fabric-covered packet of rice. So, you can put the bag of rice in the microwave for a bit, then reinsert the bag in its knitted cover, put the handwarmer in your pocket and have warm hands in our Winter Wonderland.

The other item that Libby brought was a magnificent pair of gloves that had been knitted by Daryl W. Libby had recently received these gloves as part of a holiday gift exchange through the local weavers guild. Daryl is a stupendously gifted knitter, and these gloves were coveted by all!