Whirlwind

Hurricane Sandy is currently covering most of the U.S. east of the Mississippi river.  We here in northwest lower Michigan are not immune.  We have rather strong winds today.  And, weirdly, it’s been raining and snowing at the very same time.  I’ve never seen that before.  I’ve seen plenty of sleet, freezing rain, hail, wet snow, dry snow, and so forth, but never distinct snowflakes and raindrops simultaneously.

And like the weather, my life is a whirlwind too.  I got home late Sunday night from a most fabulous experience at Spin-Off Autumn Retreat.  I want to make a full report, but I cannot today…because…I’m headed off tomorrow morning for Livonia, Michigan.

I’ll be teaching two days of workshops for the Michigan Handspinners Guild.  My friend, Dianne Little, helped organize these workshops.  She lives in Livonia, but she often visits up north and attends the spinning group meetings here in Benzie county.  I will be staying at her house.  She has a significant number of spinning wheels and I look forward to seeing her collection.

On Thursday I’ll be teaching “Creating the Yarn You Want”.  It’s a workshop about controlling the thickness and twist of yarns as well as learning practical strategies for matching the thickness and twist of already existing yarns.

On Friday I’ll be teaching “Blending Colors at the Wheel”, where we cover a variety of strategies for mixing rovings and tops to create unique yarns without the use of cards or combs.  My hope is that participants will look at their fiber stashs with fresh eyes.

When I return from this trip I’ll do a Tell-All about SOAR and MHG.  For now, it’s packing time.

Makin' a List...

...And checkin’ it twice.

I leave for SOAR on Saturday.  Am I ready?  Nearly.

A few weeks ago, when I was at my most anxious about being ready, I made a list of things to do in preparation for SOAR.  I am pleased to announce I’ve checked off all but two items.  Those two items:  1) buy a pair of black travel pants, and 2) practice packing my wheel in my new suitcase.

Today is dedicated to packing.  Tomorrow I go into town to hunt for pants.

Other items already checked off:  Finish dyeing yarn and fiber.  Done.  Buy airline ticket.  Done.  Buy suitcase.  Done.  Gather materials, tools, samples.  Done.  Ship materials.  Done.

And, get hair dyed.  Done!  By Sharron May, hair stylist extraordinaire, and proprietor of Beyond Salon Holistic Lifestyles. 

Alright, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my closeup.

And, Besides, It's Purple!

The next few weeks are going to be filled with preparations for SOAR.  Spin-Off Autumn Retreat is the premier annual spinning event in the USA.  It is sponsored by Interweave Press, and this year is held in Tahoe City, California, October 21-27.

I’ll have 80 workshop participants in my 6 days of workshops.  That’s a lot.  I’ve got to make sure I have sufficient supplies and all the needed equipment, including a spinning wheel!  Earlier this year, I decided to get a Lendrum folding wheel for traveling.  I’ve spent a good amount of time spinning on this wheel, and I do love how it works.  It’s a fine wheel and does all the things I want it to do.

But it’s big.  Folded up, it’s 29 inches long, 19 inches wide, and 7 inches deep.  When I flew to South Dakota last month for the North Country Fiber Fair, I shipped this wheel in its original box, which worked just fine, but that cardboard box isn’t going to last forever.

I needed a suitcase.  A hardshell suitcase.  One that is big enough for my wheel.  Over the past few months, I have come to realize that the size of the Lendrum is a bit of a limiting factor.  I had friends who were confident they had an old suitcase that would be big enough.  Regrettably, no.

I had to resort to actually shopping for a new suitcase.  Perhaps you can tell that I’m not an enthusiastic shopper (unless of course the shopping is for fiber stuff).  I had to build up the courage to go from place to place.

First stop, Goodwill.  No hardshell suitcases at all.  Then, to TJMaxx:  Some hardshell suitcases, but the biggest ones were ever so slightly too small for the wheel.  Macy’s led to success.  They had a wide array of hardshell suitcases, but only one brand was large enough for the wheel.  The case was available in three colors:  silver, blue, and purple.  Of course I chose purple.

Now I need to practice packing my wheel for best, safest effect.

Is It January Yet?

A few years back, I had the very good luck to teach some spinning workshops at Fiber Whims, a fiber shop in Chassell, Michigan.  That’s just south of Houghton, in the Keweenaw Peninsula of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I was especially lucky because the workshops were in January!  I was so excited to go to a place that averages 250 inches of snow per year.  January in the UP.  January in the Keweenaw.  Ahhhhh…..

It was a great trip.  And since that trip I’ve longed to revisit the UP in winter.  This coming January, I get my chance!  I’ve been asked to teach two days of workshops for the Country Spinners and Bridge Shuttlers, a fiber guild in Sault Ste. Marie.  I’ll be teaching “Spinning With Commercial Yarns” on Saturday, January 12, 2013, and “Shaping With Stitch Patterns” on Sunday, January 13, 2013.

Lois Robbins is the person to contact.  906-632-3689, loisrobbins@gmail.com

Lois asked me to create a new knitting workshop for this visit.  What I came up with, “Shaping With Stitch Patterns”, really evolved out of one of my most recent new spinning workshops, “Spinning Super Stretchy Wools”.  I taught that workshop a few weeks ago at the Wisconsin Sheep &Wool Festival.  To prepare for that workshop, I had knitted up a number of swatches that I thought would make the most of highly elastic yarns.

When I swatch, ideas come to me.  Thus the idea of exploring how different stitch patterns behave.  Here’s the description I’ve written for the workshop:

Many knitted pieces, such as a sweater, require shaping.  Most often, that shaping is accomplished by increasing and decreasing the number of stitches you are using.  In this workshop, we will cover how to shape the structure of a knitted piece by selecting the right stitch patterns.  We will cover stitch patterns that shape by pulling in, pulling up, biasing, curling, pleating, twisting, and more.  In the process, we will explore the importance of both stitch gauge and row gauge to understanding how these stitches work their shaping magic.  We’ll also cover issues and techniques of blocking your knitting, and how yarn selection can influence shaping.

So, I’m headed to “The Soo” in January.  Wanna join me?

Dog Tending Apples

It feels like fall.  There was frost on the ground this morning.  After walking Toby at Ransom Lake Natural Area, I made some applesauce.  A very Michigan morning.  I’d purchased a ½ peck of Cortland apples and a ½ peck of Jonagold apples from Marvin’s Garden Spot.  They've combined to make a delightful sauce.

I saved a few apples from the sauce for eating later.  I decided to put the apples in a bowl I bought at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival earlier this month.

You may recognize the bowl as a piece by Jennie the Potter.  She does great work.  In the past, I’ve purchased charming earrings from her, as well as a delightful coffee mug.  This year I really treated myself with this bowl.

It’s nice when my love of fiber intersects with my love of Michigan.

Temporary Trauma

In 2004, I left my academic job to become a fiber artist.  I have had very few regrets.  I believe I’m now doing the work I’m best at:  teaching spinning and knitting, creating handspun yarns, knit designing, and writing about my fiber adventures.

Earlier in my life, I had trained as a dancer.  And I still fundamentally value dance art, and all the performing arts.

Then I trained as a scientist and taught and did research in an academic setting.  And I still fundamentally value science, evidence, and clinical support for health and wellness.

But, now, yarn is my medium of expression and creativity.  And I truly and fundamentally value this work.

I say all this as preface to a short period of anxiety I experienced last week about my current career path:  When I got back from my trip to South Dakota, there was an email from Del, the festival coordinator for the Michigan Fiber Festival.  He was sending me the evaluations he’d received from folks who’d taken my workshops at MFF.  Here’s the text of that email:

Amy,

here is numberical data from MFF Workshop evals with 5 being excellent

Begin Spin

1/5

Petoskey Stone...

2/4       4/5

Mechanics Wheel

5/5

Spinning w locks

1/5

Del

I need to say that I read this email late at night upon just having returned from being away from home for a week.  I was tired.  When I read his email, I was mortified, shaken to the core.  I interpreted his email to mean that I’d received abysmally low scores of mostly 1s and 2s.  How could this be?!!  Many of the folks who’d spoken to me directly had said very nice things.  What did I do wrong?

I lost sleep that night, worrying that perhaps I was not really meant to be working in the fiber arts and sharing through teaching.  The following morning, I emailed Del:

Hi Del,

The extremely low scores are a surprise to me.  I got a great deal of positive feedback from the participants of my workshops.  Were there any written explanations for the low scores?

To which Del very quickly sent this response:

Scores not low ....

1/5 means you got one check of the 5 (excellent block) for that workshop... 

note that you had nothing below a 4 on the scale of 5 with 5 being exc.

now go have a good day

Del

What a relief!  The trauma was over.  All was once again right with the world.  And I did have a good day.

That's My Brother!

Finally.  I think I’m mostly recovered and caught up after my trip to South Dakota.  It was a great trip; I had a great time.

My flight to Sioux Falls went without a hitch.  I flew out on Thursday.  The weather was perfect, flights were on time, no luggage was lost, Marty Davidsohn was there to greet me.  Marty was the coordinator for the workshops at  North Country Fiber Fair and she took really good care of me over the next few days.  Thank You Marty!

We stayed at Marty’s house on Thursday night, after a delightful dinner at a local Chinese restaurant.  On Friday morning, Marty drove us up to Watertown, where the Festival was held at a local state extension service.  The building we were in was quite large.  There was one very large space for vendors.  Another equally large space which contained a kitchen, eating area, registration desk, some more vendors, and what is referred to as “the spinning circle”.  Another section of the building was dedicated to workshops.  I was given an honest-to-god classroom for my workshops:  real walls, a door, lots of space, good lighting, an airconditioner, plenty of nice tables and good chairs.  I was in fiber teaching heaven!

And I thoroughly enjoyed all the workshop participants.  On Friday afternoon and evening, I taught “Blending Colors at the Wheel”.  At the beginning of the workshop, I introduced myself, saying where I lived and so forth, then I asked participants to introduce themselves.  One of the last folks to do so was a woman named Cheryl.  She first mentioned where she now lives in South Dakota.  Then she said she grew up in Midland, Michigan.  That’s my home town!  “Cool!”  Then she said she had gone to school with a boy named Bogey Tyler and she wondered if I was related.  “That’s my brother!!”  Turns out she lived about a block from where I grew up.  We attended the same elementary school, the same junior high, and the same highschool.  We did a quick series of common reminiscences, and we later caught up some more.  How absolutely delightful.

One more thing about that:  After I said, “That’s my brother”, Cheryl replied that she was wondering if he was my father.  I do look young, dontchaknow!

Things at the festival really got hopping on Saturday.  One of the interesting events is a fundraiser called “the fiber sandwich”.  Anyone can donate about 4 ounces of fiber.  Then volunteers layer all the donated fibers, like a sandwich.  Then the sandwich is cut up (so to speak) into 4 ounce chunks.  Volunteer spinners then spin their chunk of fiber.  The resulting yarns are auctioned off to raise funds for the festival.  Here’s a picture of the fiber sandwich being built:

I mentioned earlier a “spinning circle”.  When festival goers are not shopping or in workshops they gather in a large circle to spin or weave or knit or whatever.  The circle is always in flux, changing shape.  And these folks can be found gathered and fibering late into the night.  Here is a partial view of the spinning circle:

I was delighted to see a number of sheep skins and beautifully hand made items covering chairs.  One hand knitted piece really struck me.  It’s constructed of squares that are knitted from the center out, starting as a circle, then ending as a square by means of short rows.  Clever!  Here it is:

Another fundraiser that the festival has is a spinning wheel raffle.  This year, the wheel was a SchachtLadybug.  Nice wheel.  I wanted it.  I bought one raffle ticket ($5).  I did not win.  You can imagine my disappointment.  Here’s the wheel:

My shopping was selective because I was travelling by air and I didn’t want to pack too much.  The spinning fibers I purchased included camel down, dyed bombyx silk top, and some ColumbiaXRambouillet roving.

I made one impulse buy.  One of the workshops was taught by Tracy Kellen on rug hooking.  She had the nicest rug hooking frames available for her students, and available for purchase.  They were so well designed and built that I had to buy one.

Now, I am not currently a rug hooker, but over the past several years, I have purchased a few books on rug hooking as well as a hook.  I have had every intention of hooking with my handspun yarns.  Well.  I guess I’d better get started!  Her business is called “On the Prairie” and she has an etsy presence.  

Sunday was the last day of the festival.  Before driving back to Sioux Falls, a small group met for dinner at a really good Mexican restaurant.  Yum.

Normally, I would have flown home the following day.  But the Sioux Falls airport is under construction and was closed for departures that Monday.  So I stayed with Marty.  We took my packages to the post office to send home.  We ate out for lunch and dinner.  She took me to a swell gallery that specializes in Turkish rugs:  Rug& Relic.  The owner gave us a thorough tour.  A great afternoon.

So, on Tuesday, Marty first took me to the local yarn shop, Athena Fibers, where I was smitten with a number of Habu  yarns.  I bought 3 cones.  I crammed the yarn into my already stuffed suitcase and we headed to the airport.  Marty dropped me off.  Another day of lovely weather.  All seemed so good….

But my flight was cancelled because a bird had collided with the jet and damaged a jet engine.  The soonest available flight back home was the next day.  Marty came to the rescue and graciously let me stay one more night at her house.

Wednesday’s flight home went without a hitch.  I touched down in Traverse City near sunset.  It was raining in the distance, and the sun was shining, and I was greeted with a double rainbow.  The perfect ending to a delightful time at the North Country Fiber Fair.  I want to go back!