Lucky Baby

Travelling to Duluth is always a treat. I was gone for 7 days; I left on Thursday, May 3, and got home on Wednesday, May 9. On the way to Duluth, I stayed overnight in Ironwood, on the far west border between the Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin. There was still some snow on the ground in the UP and ice on the water near Munising, Marquette and also Ashland, WI.

Arriving midday Friday, I was greeted by Judy McLaughlin and her husband Jim. I stayed with them for the duration. They are both generous and gracious, and they made my working trip as easy as could be. As a bonus, Judy made her fabulous lamb stew, which we had – along with mint juleps – on Saturday to celebrate the Kentucky Derby. My pick, Justify, won! (Well, he was the favorite…)

Judy and me. Lamb stew and mint juleps.

On Friday night, I gave a presentation, "Sources of Inspiration", to the Duluth Fiber Handcrafters Guild and enjoyed a delightful pot luck dinner. This is a presentation that I especially like; it gives me the opportunity to combine my thoughts on dance, neuroscience, art, fiber, rocks, and Michigan.

Saturday and Sunday workshops were “Blending Colors at the Wheel” and “Creating the Yarn You Want”. The group of spinners was terrific; engaged and inquisitive. Judy and another guild member took and shared photos. Here are a few.

I'm explaining some samples I'd made.

Here are some samples that participants made in the workshop.

I stayed an extra day in Duluth. Judy, her friend Donna, and I visited Marie Glaesemann. Marie has sheep. Over the years, I’ve purchased many fleeces from her, and they’ve all been great! This year I got two: from sheep named “Lucky” and “Baby”. Both are mixed-breed sheep, with some Corriedale, some Romney, and maybe some Merino or Ile de France in there too. I can hardly wait to get these two fleeces processed into roving.

Marie on the left, Judy on the right.

"Lucky" above, "Baby" below.

Marie's spinning wheel. I gave the drive wheel a "shove" and it spun around endlessly. Sweet!

Judy, Donna, and I then had lunch and a visit to the yarn shop, Yarn Harbor. I bought a couple skeins of a lovely wool/silk lace weight yarn for re-knitting my “Curvy Corner Shawl”, a pattern that I plan to write up and have available later this year.

I finished the day by finishing the book I’d brought with me on the trip: Louise Penny’s Glass Houses. I am addicted to this author’s series of mysteries set in eastern Canada and featuring Inspector Gamache.

The trip home held more adventures. First I stopped in Ironwood to shop at the local Ben Franklin’s. At the entry of this town, there’s a billboard stating that this Ben Franklin’s is the largest gift shop in the Upper Peninsula. With a claim like that, I had to stop. I bought some cotton yarn for more dish rags and a few odds and ends for other fiber projects. Also a few bumper stickers to adorn the car I got last fall.

Then I stopped at Fiddle Knoll Farm  a bit south of Marquette. Sue Kapla is the shepherd. She raises Romney and CVM sheep. This year, I had reserved the fleece from a CVM ewe, “Heli”. The fleece is gorgeous! I can hardly wait to share it with students in my workshops. Sue is a PhD trained animal behaviorist. In addition to raising happy and healthy sheep, she is also a dog trainer. On this visit I got some dog advice from her (because I’m hoping to get a dog sometime this year). She’s a wealth of knowledge!

Heli's fleece, still on the hoof.

The penultimate stop on the way home was in Nawbinway. I got some smoked salmon at King’s Fish Market. Another good place for bumper stickers. There was still some snow and ice in the UP on my way home. Lastly, I stopped in Petoskey to pick up some dreamy peanut brittle at Kilwins. Yum!

Next weekend I get to go back to the UP for the Spring Fiber Fling in Pickford. Say Ya To Da UP, Eh!

May Madness

Yay! May is a month of action for me. I will be travelling both north and south to share fiber goodness.

First, I will be driving to Duluth, Minnesota. That means I get to drive over the Mackinac Bridge and through the Upper Peninsula. The Duluth Art Institute  is hosting my spinning workshops “Creating the Yarn You Want” and “Blending Colors at the Wheel” on Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6.

Creating the Yarn You Want

Blending Colors at the Wheel

Before these workshops, on Friday, May 4, I will be giving a presentation for the DuluthFiber Handcrafters Guild, “Sources of Inspiration: Show Me a Miracle”.

A couple weeks later, I go north again to teach some knitting workshops. I am so excited to be part of the Spring Fiber Fling, an annual fiber retreat sponsored by the Country Spinners and Bridge Shuttlers. This retreat is the weekend of May 19-20 and it’s located in Pickford, Michigan (north of The Bridge). I will be teaching “Knitting Ribs and Welts” on Saturday, May 19.

Knitting Ribs and Welts

Then I drive down to Petoskey (a bit south of The Bridge) to teach at the Tip of the Mitt Fiber Fair. This annual festival is in its second year and is also the weekend of May 19-20. I am teaching “Matching Yarn to Project and Project to Yarn” on Sunday, May 20.

 

Matching Yarn to Project & Project to Yarn

At the end of May, I travel south to Wooster, Ohio to take part in the Great Lakes Fiber Show. I was there last year for the first time and loved it. This year, I’m teaching “Variations on Long Draw” on Saturday, May 26. That afternoon I’ll be judging the skein competition. The following day, Sunday, May 27, I’m teaching “Spinning Luxury: Cashmere, Camel, and More”. 

Variations on Long Draw

Spinning Luxury: Cashmere, Camel, and More

So, May is a month of packing, unpacking, driving, teaching, and doing laundry. And interacting with wonderful fiber folks. It will be a non-stop month, but a good one, I am sure!

Trips to Toledo

This part of Michigan – where I live – experienced a significant, multi-day winter storm, starting April 13 (Friday the 13^th, of course) and ending April 16. The average April snow fall for nearby Traverse City is 2 ½ inches. Over that weekend, TC got over 20 inches of snow…and sleet…and ice…and other forms of frozen precipitation. I like winter. I like snow. But. Gah!

It started to warm up significantly by Thursday, April 19. Good thing, too, because I was preparing to drive down to the Toledo area to teach some workshops.

The Holey Toledo Knitters Guild had invited me to teach workshops on Saturday, April 21: “Extended & Manipulated Slip Stitches” and “I-Cord Edges and More!” I had so much fun sharing some knitting excitement with 16 of the guild’s members. What a delightful group of knitters! They were engaged, cheerful, friendly. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day of knitting. And the guild members gifted me a bag of Toledo-specific goodies: yarn ("Bad Amy Knits" How appropriate!), candy, pickles, coffee, and soap. I was blown away. Thank you all, again, for your generosity. In addition, I was treated to two nights out for dinner. Apparently, the Toledo area has a lot of Lebanese and Middle Eastern restaurants. I got to enjoy some delicious kabobs and falafel. Yum!

The workshops were held in a nearby public library. It was a terrific setting; good light, plenty of room, plenty of table space. And the guild members brought snacks for our enjoyment. Wendy’s ginger cookies were out of this world! She let me take some home. They did not last the drive. I hope I can persuade her to share the recipe with me. I stayed overnight both Friday and Saturday at the home of the guild’s president, Sue. To my delight, Sue had two cheery dogs: Ezra and Josie. And Sue herself was also cheery, and a perfect host. I couldn’t have been more comfortable.

Back to the weather. When I left for this trip, there was a covering of about 12 inches of snow in my yard, and I was a bit concerned that I might not make it out of my driveway. I am happy to report that I did make it out of the driveway. When I arrived in Toledo, it was actually spring. Greening grass, daffodils, and all kinds of bird sounds. Here is a picture of Sue’s back yard.

On my drive home, I didn’t see any snow until I got to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, where there were just hints of sad, melting piles. When I got home, this is what my front yard looked like.

I am confident that all the snow will be long gone by the time I take my second trip of the year to the Toledo area. I have been invited to teach two days of spinning workshops for the Black Swamp Spinners Guild, June 2-3, 2018 in Elmore, Ohio. I’ll be teaching “Blending Colors at the Wheel” on Saturday, and “Variations on Long Draw” and “Ply This Way, Ply That Way” on Sunday. I am so looking forward to another trip to that fibery corner just over the Michigan border.

Nobody's Perfect

I couldn’t be more pleased that there are two of my articles in the Spring 2018 issue of Spin Off magazine. My “Energized Cinder Blocks Cowl” is a featured project. And there’s my article, “3-D Effects with Energized Singles”.

I have truly enjoyed writing articles for Spin Off, ever since my first article was published in 2006 (“A Study in Zig. Six Energized-Singles Scarves” Spin Off, Spring 2006, pp58-64). I’m mean, who doesn’t like seeing their writing in print?

This time, however, there were some minor mistakes in the editing of a photo caption that resulted in a confusing explanation of my intentions. So, Anne Merrow, the editor of Spin Off graciously fixed those errors and made the revisions available on line for free. Thank you, Anne, and all of your editorial staff for your good work.

Click here to see my “7 tips for knitting with energized yarns”.

Click here to see the corrected version of my article, “3-D Effects with Energized Singles”.

Click here to see the charts for all the stitch patterns in my swatches.

Click here to purchase a copy of the Spring 2018 issue of Spin Off.

On that last "click here" you might also notice that I’ve got an article in the Winter 2017-2018 issue of Spin Off: “Mittens from the Mitten State”. And those mittens are on the cover!

I know it’s mid April, but here in northern Michigan, we are still experiencing winter, so I’ve been able to make good use of those mittens. They are sweet!!!

New Website, and Coming Out of My Shell

Well, folks, my fall and winter have been tough. Emotionally, financially, physically, and psychologically. So, I played the hermit. I’ve been quiet.

One specific I’ll share is that I had developed significant right elbow epicondylitis (aka “tennis elbow”) which forced me to rest my arm and not knit and not spin for well over 6 weeks. Torture! At least now all is well, elbow-wise, and I’m happily spinning and knitting again.

It’s time to force myself out of my shell.

Let me share some good news with you. I have a new website!

http://www.stonesockfibers.com/

And a new business email address: stonesockfibers@gmail.com

The back story: My original website was generated though Microsoft Office 360. But last year, they stopped supporting websites. So, I was unable to edit. Maybe you noticed that my list of “Upcoming Events” was woefully out of date. But no more!

With some invaluable help from my friend, Joan Watson. If you are interested in using her skills, check out her website:  www.watsonineedyou.com

Joan has some mad IT skills. She got me using Weebly to generate the website content and format. Weebly basic tools are free, by the way. And she helped move from the old website to the new website. And she helped extricate me from Microsoft. And she helped me deal with domain name issues.

Joan lives in Tucson. I live in northern Michigan. We communicated by phone and email and some other computer ways that I am not informed enough to explain. She made it all work beautifully.

On the Homepage, you will find “buttons” for

Resume: an up to date listing of my recent fiber teaching and publications

Upcoming Events: an up to date listing of places where I will be teaching and/or presenting

Workshops: descriptions of the spinning and knitting workshops that I offer

Gallery: a selection of yarns and knitted projects that I’ve created

Blog: a link to this blog

Contact: a page for contacting me by email 

In addition, on my homepage, you will find a link to my Ravelry knitting patterns.

So, check out my website. I’d love to hear what you think.

Summer Teaching

The Summer Solstice was last week. It’s officially summer. And here’s my official summer teaching schedule.

In July, I’m off to Millersville, Pennsylvania for the MidAtlantic Fiber Association Conference, “A Kaleidoscope of Possibilities”. Dates are July 20-23, 2017. MAFA is a biennial event, with all workshops in a 2 ½ day format. In addition to the workshops, there is a marketplace, fashion show, and the keynote speaker this year is Madelyn van der Hoogt. 2017 marks my fourth time teaching at this conference. I’m teaching “Woolen-Worsted Continuum”.

In August, I’ve got my annual pilgrimage to the Michigan Fiber Festival. This delightful festival is held at the bucolic Allegan County Fairgrounds in Allegan, Michigan. Workshops are Wednesday through Saturday, August 16-19. Some vendors will open on Friday, August 18. All vendors will be open Saturday and Sunday, August 19-20. Also on those two days, there are demonstrations, exhibits, fleece and fiber animal judging, and more! I’m teaching Wednesday – Friday: “Beginning Spinning at the Wheel” (sold out), “Knitting Petoskey Stones” (also sold out), “Diversity of Wool” (3 spaces left), and “Creating the Yarn You Want” (3 spaces left). So, I will have Saturday and Sunday to enjoy all the festival goodness.

September is the month for the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival, in Jefferson, Wisconsin. This is a terrific festival. Fiber, farmers, food. Fun! There are some workshops on Thursday, September 7. And the full festival continues Friday through Sunday, September 8-10. I’m teaching a one-day version of “Woolen-Worsted Continuum” and I will be teaching “Blending Board: Basics and More” twice!

At the end of September (ok, I know it’s officially past summer but it still may be warm enough to swim in Lake Michigan), I’m headed to Petoskey, Michigan to teach some knitting workshops at Cindy’s Northern Crafts. I’m teaching a full-day version of “Knitting Petoskey Stone Medallions” as well as two half-day workshops: “I-Cord Edges and More!” and “The Surprising Yarn-Over.” I stopped off at the shop in May to deliver my Petoskey stone wall hanging for display. 

I hope you can join me on some – or all – of these fiber activities.

Day at the Museum

My visit to Indianapolis and the Midwest Weavers Conference, “Textiles at theCrossroads”, was a delight. After an 8-hour drive, I arrived late Wednesday afternoon. When I got out of my car, I was blasted by the 92degF temperature. Oh, and the humidity. But the fiber fun – and other fun – more than made up for the melting heat.

There are two things in particular I want to mention about the conference. First, there is a lot of volunteer work that goes into making a successful fiber conference. And I want to thank all of the volunteers for their efforts. They really helped me personally – to make sure I had my workshop space in order, to help me load and unload all my workshop materials, to direct me to locations of vendors, exhibits, coffee shop, and cafeteria. They were all tireless, cheerful, and effective. I do so admire them and, again, thank all of them.

The second thing I want to mention is my visit to a local museum. I had arrived a day early, so I had Thursday to spend as I wished. This is an unusual opportunity for me when I travel to teach; often I arrive, I teach, then I leave.

Nora, Tammy, and Nancy invited me to join them for breakfast at Café Patachou, followed by a visit to the Eiteljorg Museum. This museum has as its focus Western American art and Native American art and culture. I was mesmerized. I took some photos with my phone. I want to share some with you, even though some of the photos are fuzzy (or worse).

One of the first things I saw was a triptych of paintings by Wilson Hurley, “October Suite, Grand Canyon”. The paintings are large. They are beautiful. I was especially struck by the “blurb” posted next to the paintings. Here:

So, George James was wrong; Wilson Hurley was right. Here are the paintings.

Just after spending time admiring those paintings, I glanced at another which at first didn’t strike me as all that interesting – until I read the title of the painting, “Shadows”. Then I took some time examining the painting. It’s beautiful, and aptly titled. I can’t quite decipher the artist’s name from this photo.

In one of the rooms, there were several sculptures by Frederic Remington and Charles Russell. I was quite familiar with Remington, but not of Russell. I have to say that I preferred Russell’s work to that of Remington. The pictures I took of the sculptures were a disaster, but here is some interesting commentary comparing these two artists:

The museum was hosting a special exhibit, “Dogs. Faithful and True”, that focused on the role of dogs in the West and in Native American cultures. There were several pieces that I just loved! And I loved reading the commentaries that were posted, such as these:

Here is a picture of a painting by John James Audubon, “Hare-Indian Dog”:

There was a magnificent bronze sculpture by Alan Houser in this exhibit. I loved that it was beautiful from all angles. Here is one picture (the others are too crappy to share), and description:

It was a marvelous day at the museum. I didn’t get to see everything before we had to leave. If I ever get to Indianapolis again, I will most certainly make another visit to this museum.

I arrived home late Sunday afternoon and was greeted by 72degF temperatures. Ah!

Something to look forward to: the next Midwest Weavers Conference, “Uncommon Threads”, is scheduled for June 17-22, 2019 in Grinnell, Iowa. I can hardly wait!