supported by her very hard working man,
I feel very blessed.
About five years ago,
I took up my long addiction to fiber.
Hubby sent me to Minnesota for a long weekend
to learn how to spin yarn.
And he bought me my first ever spinning wheel!
Every year since then, he has encouraged me to take more classes,
dive into my passion, and enjoy!
This past weekend I did just that!
I drove to Grayslake, Illinois where I attended three classes
at the Midwest Fiver and Folk Festival.
I first stopped in at IKEA, since I was so close!
Love that place!
I only bought a small mixing bowl, a new dish drainer,
a summer duvet cover and a picnic table, bench and two chairs
for my parents 50th wedding anniversary present.
Not bad. Go outta there for under $200!
When I arrived at my hotel, in Lincolshire,
I was very impressed!
Huge King sized bed, separate living/kitchen area, dressing area and shower/bathroom.
I felt just like Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman,
rolling around that big bed, kicking my legs in the air!
I never did get a chance to sing Prince in the hot tub,
as there was an very amorous couple frolicking there.
The next morning I went to the fairgrounds in Grayslake.
I never knew there was so much country land near Chicago.
Thank you God for GPS on my phone!
My first class was softcore spinning with Jacey Boggs.
(Look for an interview with her on Talesfromthecraft.com coming soon)
I have been drooling over this young woman's yarn for years.
She is sweet, funny, very talented and a great teacher.
We learned to wrap fiber around a core material.
At first it was cotton lace weight tread.
Then she taught us her very own invention!
We spun two very thin singles,
and wrapped them while plying them together!
A very pretty, balanced, nicely draping yarn!
I can hardly wait to begin my own,
as I have lots of Romney left that will become my core!
The next day was the natural dye class, with Stefania Isaacson.
What an easy going, wonderful, knowledgeable women!
Too bad a few of my classmates were horrible and distracting.
We did, however, make extracts from Lily of the Valley, Queen Ann's Lace,
Peppermint...oh ya, it smelled wonderful in that classroom!...,
Golden Margarete, and Quobrocho Yellow.
After these steeped for an hour, we dyed three skeins each of white wool.
After another hour, we had twenty five different, yellow skeins.
We then over dyed one skein of each yellow
in Madder, which turned the skein orange,
and one yellow skein in Indigo, which turned the yellow skein green.
...that's right!
I got to dye with indigo!
Imagine anything turning blue from this swampy green!?
We dyed some raw fleece, coopworth,
in indigo as well as three more skeins
for different shades of blues.
I have never had more fun!
I had always wanted to try dying with indigo,
but was intimidated. I had heard that you need to set out a vat,
monitor the ph carefully, and add urine when needed.
Chemistry and Science have come a long way baby!
No more prepubescent boys peeing in our dye, except in extreme emergencies!
I bought a kit, and I won the stock indigo in the class lotto!
You will be seeing many blue things
coming from my kitchen and wheel now, you betcha!
The last day, Stefania taught my last class on how to spin for socks.
She of course had 4 oz to give to each of us,
of her beautifully hand dyed coopworth.
It took me a few minutes to figure out how to spin such fine singles,
but after learning a new technique, and switching drafting hands,
I became more confident!
The plying trick I learned for a balanced yarn made me squeal!
(These are rovings to be spun into socks)
Over all, I had a wonderful experience.
I have been washing my icelandic, so as to dye with,
and practicing my sock spinning this weekend.
That is after cuddling with the puppy,
and mowing the knee high grass!
I am blessed!
Oh Ya, in ten years I am beginning to dream about this baby wolf loom!
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