Saturday, April 21, 2012

It's All Fiber

  Say "Hello" to Little Marta!!!  Oh yes, she's my precious little Ashford Traditional spinning wheel that came all the way from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to play at my house!
  And, since I'm a novice to this fiber play, I'm getting lots of novelty yarn!  But, I love this new adventure!












  You might recognize Marta and Wally from an older Tuesday Weaver blog.  Marta returned to Santa Fe, and continues to weave and stay in contact when time allows.  A recent email from Marta was the announcement that she was letting her wheel go to a new home.  It came at just the right time!
 
Since Little Marta was due to arrive on Thursday, Tina schedule my first spinning lesson on Wednesday.  We had lunch and then we got down to business.  She had me on the spindle wheel, which gave me the opportunity to see how spinning really works.  Great idea, Tina!!!
  Then yesterday, Tina brought her Ashford Traditional wheel, and I had lesson #2.
  Here you see Tina fine tuning the tension on my wheel.  Then, we had our very own "Spin-In" in the kitchen.  How fun!!!!
  In fact, we had such a good time, we were thinking this might make a good TW retreat this summer.  We could even include some Kool-Aid dyeing in the afternoon.  What do you think????  Bring a wheel, or come and learn to spin.  A fiber day....imagine that!!!!
  Tina brought me a LARGE ball of roving (did I get that term correct?) to continue practicing my spinning.  I'm thinking that I will take Sharon's advice and spin for a bit every morning.  Practice, practice, practice!!!!

  My daughter, sister and I had a fiber day on Sunday afternoon.  We each had a crochet project to work on while we chatted away.  My sister is using my favorite hat pattern for chunky yarn (or two strands held together.)
  She is starting to make chemo-comfort hats to donate.  I had a lot of peaches & cream yarn left over from the mug rug class, and I tried out one of her patterns.

 (Sorry, I don't have a head form....so I used a cone of mop cord.)  I even crocheted my first flower!!!!  She can add this to her collection to donate. 
  Fiber does that to you, don't you think?
  Or is that the love of fiber????
  Either way, it's so nice to be with folks who see the endless possibilities.  And, we join a long thread through the ages of people who created with fiber.

  I've got some weaving ideas that are percolating, too.
It never ends, does it????

Have a great weekend, and
Happy Weaving (spinning, knitting, crocheting, etc....)
LouAnn

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had such a great time crocheting and talking with you and Meghan!
Joyce

Tina J said...

You've got me spinning again too! I have some good blog posts about it coming up in the near future! You are doing great!

Linda said...

The hats look nice. What a great idea!

I like the retreat idea! I haven't spun in months. I need to get back into it expecially now that I have a sheep!

Maggie said...

Yes, please! A spinning-dying retreat! Let me know waaaay ahead of time so I can schedule, please!

Bonnie said...

A nice hat. Good use for them.

Anonymous said...

I knew that wheel was going to a great home! It was just meant to be. Love the crochet flower! ~Big Marta in Santa Fe

Theresa said...

What a fabulous little wheel! Congrats on a new and wonderfully fun fiber pursuit. NO, it never stops percolating.

Tina J said...

Wally was so cute!

Judy said...

Congratulations on your new wheel! Spinning is so relaxing and so addictive.