Sedalia. At Last.

I know.  It's about time I got back at the blogging.  I have a long list of excuses for the most recent radio silence, most of them pretty weak.  But I'm back now.

Back from spending 4 out of the last 6 weeks on the road, sleeping in strange beds, slogging through airports, snuggling up to total strangers on airplanes.  And teaching 106 people to spin.  Dude, ONE-HUNDRED-AND-SIX people!  I've been busy.

You've read about SOAR.  You've read about Tucson.  You haven't had the Sedalia report.  Yet.

This is the second year I have taught a Level 1 class in Sedalia, MO, and it felt rather like coming home.  The accommodations in the Hotel Bothwell were fabulous, the weather (except for one very blusterous evening) was fine, and the students (as always) were amazing!  Many of the students I taught last year were back for their Level 2 class, as well, so it was rather like a homecoming for me.

The first day of classes fell on Halloween, and there were a few shenanigans...

...including a pair of rather sassy sheep from the Level 2 class. (Sheep-nanigans?)  I even made a sad attempt at cobbling up a last-minute costume...

...Ooooh, scary! 

I decided three days before I left Tucson to knit a sheepy costume and whipped up the headband, and a tail in my "free time".  There were others who got into the spirit, as well...

...and we all went out to dinner together.

We sorted fleeces, we washed, fleeces, we carded, we spun woollen and worsted yarns, and we dyed...

...It never ceases to amaze me the colours that we get.  It's like magic every time!

The week absolutely flew by.  And then it was over.  But I wasn't ready to leave.

I had been invited by some of my students from last year to visit Chillicothe, MO, so I packed up my gear and hopped into the waiting chariot and was whisked away to that very charming community...

... for some well-deserved R and R.  My hostess, Zelma, took excellent care of me.  And kept me hopping!

We visited a covered bridge that dates back to the Civil War, one of the few remaining in Missouri...

I learned about osage (aka "hedge") trees...

...and that the dye derived from them, osage orange, was used to dye the uniforms of US WW1 troops at the suggestion of local-boy-made-good General John J. Pershing...

I visited longhorn cattle...

...and llamas...

I also attended a local church service, and a concert featuring country music legend Gene Watson.  I was even the guest of honour at a brunch hosted at Nico'Z for the local Fiberistas...

Yet, as busy as the weekend was, I managed to rest and recuperate from two solid weeks of teaching.  It was a perfect little getaway.  Then back onto a plane and home.

Where a gargantuan mountain of laundry and an empty pantry were waiting, along with the final paperwork for Fibre Week 2012, another writing assignment, and a pile of requests for proposals.  And as I have been chipping away at those things, a whole pack of exciting new challenges and opportunities have been coming up. 

And, of course, there is much spinning to be done!

Postcards from the Road: Tucson

Greetings from Tucson!

Well, actually, greetings from the Albuquerque airport.  I've (reluctantly) left Tucson behind to travel onward to Sedalia, MO.  I say (reluctantly) because Tucson was FABULOUS!

My visit began with a warm airport welcome from my hostesses for the week Jill and Lura and only got better and better.  Except for one day, but we'll get to that.

Little did I know that plans had been made for me upon my arrival.  The visit began with a trip to the woodshop of spindle maker extraordinaire Ken Ledbetter...

...which was literally stacked floor to ceiling with spindles-to-be. 

I was given a sneak-peak at his new Russian and Tibetan spindles, as well.  And yes, the spindle collection was enhanced!

Then we scooted over to an arts and crafts sale where Lura was selling some of her glorious weaving with her partners Mary and Barbara, who joined us for dinner before I was whisked away to the Tucson Music Hall for a performance of Shrek: The Musical.  All in all a wonderful day, and I felt most spoiled by all the treats.

That would have been enough to make any trip worthwhile, but the week went from great to indescribably fabulous the next morning when we travelled in to Crizmac Marketplace and met the Master Spinner class.  What a wonderful group of women!  It was a joy to teach such an enthusiastic, inquisitive, and daring group of students.

The facility, as most off-campus facilities do, presented a wee bit of challenge for Level One, which is a pretty wet and messy level.  The shop itself is lovely...

...and filled with charming and colorful Fair Trade goods from around the world, with a particular emphasis on Mexico.  Our classroom was a little warm on some of the hotter days, and it was a little cozy washing our fleeces...

...but we all survived.  And will live to laugh about it.  Eventually. (And Level 2  would fit in there nicely...)

Tuesday was a day of woolen and worsted, carding and working with fleeces.  The route home that day included a stop into Kiwi Knitting Company's fabulous little shop, just across from the historic Rincon Market.  Kiwi is the home to this fabulous yarn-stormed bicycle...

...which is apparently driven by this guy...

...knit by Jill Holbrook.

We did stuff Wednesday.  I know we did, but I can't really remember what.  Master Spinner stuff, I'm sure-I have a lesson plan somewhere to prove it.  But Thursday, I remember very well.  Too well.

I like to do the Level 1 dye day on the Thursday of the week.  We have covered all of the key topics by then, and everybody's brain is overfilled and leaking a little, so the change of pace is very welcome.  Usually, dye day is physically gruelling, but kind of fun.  Well, for me, it was just plain gruelling.

You see, I woke up in the night with a wee tummy-ache.  Which became a REALLY BIG tummy-ache.  By 2 a.m, I was worshipping at the great porcelain altar.  By 6 a.m., I was pretty sure all I had left to throw up was my own innards, but the fun continued until nearly noon.

Meanwhile, there were 10 people waiting to learn to dye with natural materials.  So, green about the gills as I was, I trooped in, pointed vaguely in the general direction of some dye pots and turned them loose.  Apparently, they figured it out...

...and fabulous colours were made.

I took a nap.

Then I was given the miracle cure.  There is a local food chain called Eegee's and they sell a frozen lemonade drink called, oddly enough, an Eegee.  An Eegee was what I needed.  That and 12 solid hours of sleep.  And I was up and atom again on Friday morning for a day of blending and spindle spinning with the gang.

We wrapped up the class and all (well, mostly all-some had other commitments) went out to dinner together.  Where we were joined by wonderfully supportive spouses and by another Master Spinner student, Carl, who had been in my class in North Carolina a few years ago...

...Carl is an Arizonan (Arizonanian? What do you call folks who live in Arizona?) now and dropped by for a visit with his family.  La Parilla Suiza had no idea what had hit it--15 people all talking spinning and sipping margaritas.  A great wrap-up to the week!

I had planned to spend Saturday touring around Tucson, but you know what they say about best-laid plans.  I spent Saturday napping and knitting and staring and regrouping.  And now, here I am , on the way to Sedalia.  I know Sedalia will also be fabulous, but it's gonna have to work pretty darned hard to top last week in Tucson. (I would, however, be thrilled if we could avoid the day of blech this time around, okay?)

Big hugs to my class from Tucson.  Thank you all so much for being who you are.  I hope you are resting and recouping after a pretty tough week, and that those of you who have to travel are having safe journeys. 

Now, get cracking on that homework!

The SOAR Post

...'cuz I know you've been waiting for it.

On October 1, I travelled to Manchester NH to attend my second SOAR.  Last year, I went as a scholar.  This year, I was a mentor.  And I only have one word for the experience:  WOW.

SOAR was held in a city, in a convention-style hotel, for the first time ever...

...and it turned out to be a pretty good thing.  Not only was the hotel well-located, but it was well laid out, with spacious, well-lit rooms, and easy to navigate.  The only complaint I had was the coffee-like substance that they served.  And if that's the worst I have to cope with, I'm good.  (One of my students discovered a marvellous coffee shop just a few blocks away, and a brisk morning stroll took care of the caffeine crisis.  There was also a cupcake shop on this route.  WIN!)

Up and at 'em on Sunday to grab breakfast with a table full of fabulous fiberistas, followed by a wine/nibblies run and classroom set-up, and it was time for the welcomes and introductions.  The day went by in a blur.

Frankly, the week went by in a blur!

Monday through Wednesday, I taught Blending and Spinning for Superior Socks to a very enthusiastic class...

...seen here deep in discussion.

On Wednesday evening, the participants display their samples in the Workshop Showcase, where my group showed off their wee sample socks...

...and an alarming number of yarn samples.  I had no idea they were making so much yarn while I was jabbering on about twist and blending in the right amount of nylon!

That night, all of the mentors were gathered together, so I took advantage of their exhaustion to grab some photos to prove that I travelled into some pretty high-falutin' circles...

...a meeting of the minds with Stephenie Gaustad...

...a spinning guru sammich with Sara Lamb and Stephenie...

...cuddles with the highly cuddle-able and very wise Beth Smith...

...another sammich, this time featuring a zesty Deb Menz filling...

...playing coy with Jacey Boggs, and meeting any number of other amazing fibre folk.


I also had the very good fortune later that evening to meet up with Gord Lendrum (left) and Barry Schacht (right)...

...who were posing with Jacey Boggs at this particular moment.

I also got to meet Schacht Spindle Co.'s Production Manager Cindy Lair, with whom I did not pose for a picture, much to my disappointment.  She is a lovely lady, and knows sooo much about spinning wheels that it's a little frightening.  I want to be like her when I grow up!

The next day was a day off for me, so I slept in a bit, then mosied down to the Marketplace that opened that morning.  I was given a spinning lesson in the Ashford booth, so now I finally know how to spin properly...

...(yes, that is Richard Ashford himself!)

I got in line for a fabulous Golding spindle that I HAD to have, then dashed off to join a small group who were headed off to the Millyard Museum in the former Amoskeag Mills site.

We had quite the adventure at the Museum.  Imagine four fibre fanatics in a museum dedicated to industrial revolution spinning and weaving equipment and the people who worked it.  Dianne and Sarah even got Jen, our guide and the museum's education officer, spinning cotton on a spindle...

Back to the market for the afternoon, where a wee bit of fibre was acquired (because I don't have enough at home!), a quick classroom rearrangement, dinner and we were off on the Retreat Sessions.  The Retreat Sessions, for the uninitiated, are half-day workshops.  Or rather, the same half-day workshop four times.  I saw 70 participants in 2 days.  I'm sure I said something that sounded smart at some point in those two days, but I really don't remember.  It was fast-paced and busy, and by Saturday evening, I was exhausted.  Happy, but exhausted.

I slept in on Sunday, so I missed saying goodbye to some people, but had the chance to hang out in the lobby waiting for my turn on the airport shuttle and see a lot of my new friends off.  And SOAR was over.  Just like that.

I took a couple of days to tour around the area, then headed homeward on a 2-day journey.  When I got here, did I rest?  No I did not.

But that's another story...

Who's Who At The Zoo

Your erratically scheduled fibre arts blogs has been pre-empted so that we can bring you the following information recently learned during a visit to the Calgary Zoo, courtesy of several very young zoo patrons...

There are no caribou in Alberta.  These are reindeer.  And reindeer do not really fly, 'cuz they couldn't keep them in a zoo if they did.

Wild turkeys look like buzzards, but taste much better.

The more female lions a male lion has, the happier he is.  Because the females make all his food for him.

Gorillas are monkeys.

Lemurs are monkeys.

(Insert brother's name here) is also a monkey.

Eagles are NOT raptors.  Everyone knows raptors are dinosaurs.  That's okay, even zoos can make a mistake.

The elephant god of India is called Ganja.

Boy camels have two humps.  Girl camels have one hump.  That's how you tell them apart.

These are snow leopards.  They're kinda like cheetahs, but they live in the Arctic.

Peacocks are pretty, but they're mean.  Kinda like Aunt Kathy.

And, most importantly...

...T-Rexes are like wasps-they can't see you if you hold still.

No, the zoo isn't just for kids, but I'm pretty sure the kids are the most entertaining critters in any zoo!

Ain't No Cure

...for the Summertime Blues.

No, I'm not gonna raise a fuss, I'm not gonna raise a holler.  I'm just immersed in a world of blues.  The colour, that is, not the emotion.

So much has gone on since my last post.  It's been another month of whirlwind travel, bracketed by various plagues and pestilences.  There has been garden upkeep, and the madness of Fibre Week planning for 2012.  There has been SOAR preparation, and the first of 4 local workshops.  There was a kidney stone (ouch!), and a knee injury (ouch again!), and a really nasty cold.  But in between the chaotic moments have appeared wee moments of spinning, knitting, and dyeing.  And it seems that the colour of choice is blue.

First, though, the travel.  I turned the big five-oh last month.  When my family asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told them that I wanted to be with them.  That's all.  So they put their heads together and came up with a plan to whisk me to Vancouver, where my two older children live, then take a family trip to Gibsons.  It was FABULOUS!

We spent the big day out on the ocean, kayaking around Gibsons and Keats Island...

...and I had my 4 favorite people in the world with me.  (The fourth is wielding the camera for this picture!)

We may have been a little silly...

...but it was just what I needed.

And now I'm 50, and I've got the Blues.

Blues like this one...

...handspun Blue-faced Leicester/silk blend, mordanted with copper and dyed in logwood.  Logwood usually gives purples, and you can certainly see the purple cast in the yarn, but the copper sulphate mordant darkens it to a stunning navy blue.  (The mordant also serves to make the notoriously unstable logwood a little more colourfast.)

I'm currently transforming this yarn into Sivia Harding's Harmonia's Rings Sweater...

...in what passes for free time around here these days.

The blue theme continues onto the spinning wheel...

...with this lovely little yarn.  The fibre is a batt that I purchased from Lynne Anderson of West Coast Colors at Fibre Week, and the blend is 60% Merino, 20% yak, and 20% silk.  Yes, indeed, it IS as yummy as it sounds, and Lynne's batts are a wonder to spin.  (In fact, I relieved her of a few more while I was out on the Coast!)

Then there is a little novelty yarn that was inspired by Jacey's workshop...

I really love coils, and this fibre just called out to be coiled.  The blues lean toward aqua, but, hey, blue is blue.

Then, there is this today's little distraction...

...a lovely little batt from Atomic Blue.  (Blue by Blue!)

So there you have it.  From sitting on blue seas...

...to sitting under blue skies...

...spinning and knitting with blue fibre, I clearly have a case of the Summertime Blues.