Then It Hit Me....

I spent last weekend in Elliot Lake, Ontario at the WASOON 2012 conference.  WASOON stands for Weavers and Spinners of Ontario North.  The conference takes place every two years, with the location rotating through the member guilds in Northern Ontario.   I attended the conference as a vendor, but also as part of the community of fibre artists that gather to share knowledge, inspire each other's creativity and maintain our friendships.

The Elliot Lake area is truly beautiful in the springtime with blue sky, clean lakes and pine trees.  It displays all the beauty of Northern Ontario.  Elliot Lake was once a booming mining town.  I was there once in the 80's when I worked for a mine safety association to tour the large underground facility.  Sometime in the 90's the decreasing market value of uranium led to the closure of the area mines and very quickly the economic base of this town was gone.  In the heyday of a boom mining town, the population was 25,000, now it is closer to 11,500.  The infrastructure of a wealthy "company town" is still there set amid this beautiful Northern Ontario vista, so the city leaders have marketed Elliot Lake as a dream Northern Ontario retirement destination.

WASOON conference participants found 3 different town promotion packages in our conference package, complete with the Retirement Living pricing list for retirement rentals.  The town mayor opened our WASOON banquet, welcoming us to his town, saying he was happy we were visiting, hoping that we would visit again....and "then come and stay for the rest of your lives".

My travelmate and I got a lot of giggles out of the 'stay for the rest of your lives' comment...it would've made a good movie.  So many people moving in...nobody moves out...

And then it hit me.

Apparently as spinning and weaving conference participants, we totally fit the Retirement Living target demographic.  

If you've ever witnessed a hotel invaded by weavers and spinners...you will notice the candidates are predominately 1) women 2)  gray haired 3) wearing stunningly beautiful handspun, handwoven, beaded shawls you can't afford to buy...(often with..uhm...running shoes...and that's not because we don't have a fashion sense, but in our fibre arts world, beauty only applies to things handcrafted and not many of us can wear handcrafted shoes that you can carry or treadle a spinning wheel in.  Also, by the time we've stuffed the car with bags of fibre, our seatbelted spinning wheels, looms and 2 years of accumulated show-n-tell items we've forgotten the dress shoes). 

Anyway, I headed home inspired to finish all my UFOs (un-finished objects), including this handspun yarn that's been on my wheel since last month.

I'm plying two single strands into a balanced 2 ply yarn on my electric Eortel Roberta spinning wheel.  It does ply quicker than my treadled wheel and of course, I can work at it for a lot longer without wearing out my legs and ankles on the treadles.

The two bobbins of singles sit on what is called a Lazy Kate and ply from there onto my Roberta.  I have no idea why this equipment is called a Lazy Kate.  I did just Google it and could not find an answer.  Perhaps I'll try finding it in my old spinning books or asking some friends who are into this type of trivia.  If you know, leave a comment!

My first skein is 138g and feels lovely.  I have more to spin.  It's 100% alpaca, so it will have lovely drape but possibly not much elasticity.  I think it will knit into some lovely scarves or it might end up on my Etsy site. 

Getting back to the topic of the demographics of the spinners and weavers group.  Yes, the predominate hair colour at the conference was gray.  I've let my hair go 'au natural' for the last couple years.  I have friends and family that applaud that and say that my natural aging hair was a lovely mixture of shades.  I have other friends that frankly look at my unpampered, graying hair and say "Why?" or "What's wrong, hon?".

After last weekend, I decided I no longer wanted to appear as Elliot Lake's target market.  This box got emptied on Wednesday night.  My hubby put the colour in for me as I sat in the kitchen chair and I think he did a very nice job.

This weekend we started shearing.  My hubby actually does the shearing and my daughter and I are the crew.  We began with the female alpacas first.  As one girl was led away from the shearing table, I complimented her on her new hairdo.

Then it hit me.

I have the same hair care expert as the livestock.

I need to get off the farm more.....

 

Oh...that IS soft...

I couldn't resist...

I've never spun a two tone yarn before.  This was a surprise in my last mill order.  I'm anxious to see what the finished knit garment will look like.  I'm thinking a plain rib scarf and cap set.  We'll see.

Experts say you should plan your project and spin for it.  I'm not an expert ;)

December Trials...

The snow has finally arrived!  Oh, sure...it's pretty.



 But why couldn't it just fall on the lawn and not the driveway?

Last week was a fun week of white-knuckle driving...black ice, then deep snow, frozen mounds of slush on the highway.  (Note to self:  if I'm worried about getting out of the driveway, I should perhaps stay home.)

Winter has arrived and, if history repeats itself, it will stay for 5 months.  I better get used to it.
It's time for me to look in the mirror and say "Suck it up, buttercup". 

Here's my latest handspun, handpainted, homegrown baby alpaca yarn on my umbrella swift.

The handpainting or handdying process makes a mess of the skein organization, so usually I will wind the skein from the swift to either a ball winder or a skein winder.  In this case, I needed to put the skein on the skein winder in order to measure the yarn.



I was lucky to buy this old skein winder off of a friend who salvages old fibre arts equipment, fixes it and resells.  Along with the swift, it's a valuable tool of my craft.  While my skein is on the skein winder, I can figure out how much yarn I have in my skein and from their determine how it compares to yarn standards in terms of yards per pound or meters per 100g skein. (yes, I have a metric to imperial conversion calculator!)  This is important to know if it will suit a weaving or knitting project, and whether I will have enough to complete the project.  





These are my two newest skeins. 

I can usually achieve a nice balanced handspun yarn.  This latest spinning project was a challenge.  I was using up some wonderfully soft cria fleece that unfortunately had a lot of second cuts from shearing and VM (vegetable matter like hay and twiggy things) in it.  I wouldn't sell that fleece because of that but the fibre itself was way too lovely to throw out (after all, my little cria spent a whole year growing it).  When you start with 'problem' fleece, even with careful preparation, it's hard to end up with rovings that just glide through your hands at the spinning wheel.  While spinning, I had to keep stopping to pick out clumps of crud.  Then, I decided to use my electric spinner, which I am still getting used to, to ply it.  I ended up with yarn that almost has the appearance of a boucle yarn...not what I planned but I think it will still create two shawls or large scarves for a couple of people that I love.  I'm excited to start those knitting projects.

October Stay-cation

One thing our family does really well is work.  Declaring a "day off" is difficult.  As the "mom" of the household, I declared Sunday morning that we were going to have a much-needed "fun day".

With so much to do around here, it's hard not to commit to an hour or two of labour before taking the rest.  If it hadn't been for a broken ax handle, we would have put in an hour of chopping and piling our winter wood before hitting the road.

It's seems funny to say that on our day off from the farm, we drove to an agri-tourism destination called Leisure Farm.   The farm is a popular day-trip around our parts, although mostly for families with small children.  Our tall, teenage daughter still loves it though.  It was a beautiful, sunny October day.

This pig was hilarious.  He had his own pile of reject pumpkins that he was pigging out on.  Most times, he had his whole head stuck inside a pumpkin, and would then emerge with an orange-pulpy face.

There were about eight turkeys this size, trying to snooze in the sun by the parking lot.  It never lasted long, because some young children would invariably wake them up so that they could chase them through the parking lot.

The farm had wagon rides, a corn maze, a playground, a kids craft room, a marshmallow roast, and a kiddies haunted house.  You could also buy pumpkin, apples, lunch and baked goods.

This year, I reluctantly paid $14 for my daughter and I to go through a haunted house.  The sign said that you had to be at least 12 years old, so I thought it might not be too corny.  Well, my daughter and I had a very good scare.  My hats off to the young people that put it together, it was very professional.  There was always something touching you in the dark and the scenes that you came upon were very realistic and scary.  I probably have a bruise on my arm from my daughter clutching me so hard.  We screamed a lot in the dark and then laughed a lot when we got outside.  It was worth my money.

Here is a picture of my multi-tasking last week.

Judith McKenzie's "A Spinner's Toolbox" made is easy for me to get through peeling 10 lbs of carrots.  I had a hard time making time to finish watching that video, so having to sit to peel carrots was a good excuse to multi-task.

This video is a must watch for anyone who spins without the benefit of a good workshop or lessons.  I've been spinning yarn for about six years, and I cannot beleive that there were so many basic things that I did not know!  She covers worsted, semi-worsted, woolen, semi-woolen, slub and boucle styles.   I'm anxious to do some slub and boucle yarns as my next spinning projects.  I highly recommend this video to any spinners.

My Day Spent My Way

We've had a lot of beautiful autumn days so far.  Tuesday was one of those days.  The sun was shining and made a perfect day for washing some windows. The temperature made it lovely to be outside and pull the garden that the frost had taken.  A nice warm breeze was perfect for hanging out blankets on the line.  I could leave the door open while dragging out the basement "barn room" rugs and boot trays to wash outside.

Oh, the list never ends...

But, I had something else on my list. 

So, Tuesday afternoon was mine...alone...

with a DVD that I borrowed from the my local spinners and handweavers guild...   

and my spinning wheel...spinning soft alpaca....in the kitchen, with the warm sunshine streaming in the window.

I needed that.  I should do it more often!

Take the time to do what you love.  You deserve it.

Art Yarn

I've recently been intrigued by the creation of "Art Yarn".  I found an Art Yarn group on Ravelry and was drawn to the pictures.  The process looks incredibly creative compared to my attempts at traditional balanced yarn.  I'm thinking of spending some time trying this soon.  To this end, I ordered the book,
Intertwined: The Art of Handspun Yarn, Modern Patterns, and Creative Spinning by Lexi Boeger.

In it, I found a most eloquent passage on handspun yarn that just made my heart swell.

"Handspun yarns are made by concious beings, not unconcious machines.  This imbues them with an internal energy, giving them character and uniqueness.  Each yarn is a reflection of the individual spinner who made it.  It is this quality that makes handspun yarn so amazing to work with.  As you work through a skein, you can see, inch by inch, the decisions that the spinner made.  It passes before you just like a story."

This probably translates to any handcrafted product, doesn't it....

Some of My Favorite Things

I received this book as a gift last week.  It's a very cute, very Canadian book that'll get you singing to the old familiar tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas".  (Substitute with the likes of "Four Calling Moose, Three Beaver Tails"...you get the idea!)  The artwork is fantastic.  The only thing that would have made it better, would be an alpaca or a spinning wheel in there somehow.

I found a new favorite thing....dangerous!

Do you know what this is?  My friend Joanne dug it out from the basement of her gift store that she has sold.

 It's a skein winder or wool winder.  After a spinner has spun yarn onto the bobbin of their spinning wheel, they would then use this to make a skein (big loop) of yarn before washing or dyeing it. The new ones have adjustable arms so that after you have wound your wool, the arms collapse in a bit, so you can get the skein off. 

This is my Quebec production wheel.  At one time, many Canadian farmhouses would have had one of these kept busy spinning yarn for the family's clothing.  I have to admit, it's not very productive in my house.  I have a modern Lendrum double-treadle that I use as my working spinning wheel, and an electric spinning wheel that I would like to be more productive on.  I never got the hang of this old wheel, and it may have been a bit warped when I bought it. It is a nice conversation piece and even though it's not being used, I take comfort that I am keeping it safe as an historical artifact.

Smoke is in the House

It's official. Smokey the Barn Cat is retired. After a couple invites into the house, and putting the husky in her place with a few well-placed swats, Smokey has settled in.

We aren't sure how old Smokey is. We guesstimate about 8-9 years old. Smokey came with a mysterious past. His previous owner brought the cat home upon graduation from his university frat-house, where the cat had lived among young men. After some time, that owner gained a new fiance that was allergic to the cat. Smokey took right to the barn, made quick remedy to our barn mouse problem and never strayed. In turn, he had a comfy spot in a heated barn room with a cat door, 2 squares a day and all the necessary vet care. Although he was wary of the alpacas, he loved farming. When hubby would walk out to the back pasture to close a gate, faithful Smokey would always be walking along beside him. Smokey was right with us, whether we were fixing fences or skirting fleeces.

We figure Smokey has reached the age where he deserves more comfort and companionship. Apparently, so does he.

The only issue is that I can't keep him out of my alpaca shop located in the house. It's like an obsession for him to be in there, and I'd rather not be mixing cat hair with the alpaca fibres. However, if you think about it....he's lived with alpacas for the last 4 years, he probably thinks he belongs there.

I have a very different life than I had 12 years ago. Way different. About that time, I was doing some soul-searching as my life wasn't about what I wanted. I read a few self-help and motivational books. One must have suggested writing down what you imagined your perfect life to look like that started with the phrase "I see myself...."

I still have that piece of paper somewhere. There are about 7 main phrases there. One of the items said "I see myself amid a circle of artists".

I put that list away for years. One day years later, I came upon the list and realized that, even without my directed effort, most of the items had come true in some way. I guess that by recognizing what you want, you put things in motion to get there.

I can especially recognize that I am, indeed, amid a circle of artists. Artists enrich my life. True artists have the courage to let their individual light shine. I'm still working on that.

My friend Fay came over the other day to get my opinion of an applique quilt she was piecing together.

This is what comes of Fay's imagination....

The details in her work are amazing.

I met Fay through my alpaca yarn shop and she fast became a good friend. I have met so many interesting and talented people through my small business. Some of them, I haven't actually met in person, but through email or Ravelry.

Fibre artists share a bond and I usually feel like I've met an old friend.

Here's some shots that my new friend, Val sent me. It's of my handdyed fibre that she bought and spun on her spindle.

Yes, Val....I also would need a beer to spin on a spindle ;)

(Seriously, some people swear by the spindle....I could never get the hang of it. I didn't work with a quality balanced spindle, which might have been my problem. Little kids in Peru can master this while they walk!)

I think Val is a natural!

I know that Val is addicted. She's just purchased her first spinning wheel. I remember that feeling...to fibre artists, it's better than the "new car smell".

Enough Already!

Here's the reason that we will never shear before the last week of May at my farm. This picture was taken Saturday morning.
Not a great day for the Country Roads Tour. The hydro went out for a bit over 5 hours. We have an inline generator, so that didn't affect us much.
However, I didn't have customers Saturday.

I could have felt bad, but I felt worse for my friend that has the tour tea-room. She had spent Friday baking pies and cooking food for the weekend.

Today's weather was better. The wind was bitter, but the snow gradually melted away.

We did have a stream of customers come through today. Several were disappointed that the alpacas weren't out at the front to greet them. Most understood when I explained that I couldn't feel good about putting the alpacas out in a temporary pen with no proper shelter to stand knee deep in snow. The children felt better when I told them that they could call to come back in July to see the baby alpacas that we were expecting.

I demonstrated handspinning to the children, explaining how the pioneers would have made their clothing and they were so interested. I'm always surprised at the number of adults who tell me they have never seen a spinning wheel at work before. It gives me a lot of pleasure to be able to show this historical craft.

At 6:45pm Sunday, it looked like this.
Our area sure needed the extra moisture that the snow brought.
I am looking forward to the return of warm weather this week.

Spinning Faster...

I'm spinning so fast, it's making me dizzy :)

No, not really, but...

I remember when I bought my first wheel, a Lendrum DT, my DH offered to "put a motor on that thing". I gave him a look and told him that he was missing the point of spinning.

Someone once likened spinning to the "new Yoga". Well, I have to agree. Spinning for pleasure is meditative and relaxing, as any spinner can tell you.

However, every June I have the job of turning a trailer full of fleece into dollars. Most of the farm's harvest gets taken to the mill to turn into rovings, batts, yarn or felt. However, those special 'best' fleeces or the odd-ball colour\grade fleeces are washed, carded and spun by yours truly for sale as skeins or garments.

I had been half-heartedly looking at the Roberta on the internet. An Ertoel Roberta promised more consistent yarn in a faster rate while saving my ankle joints from treadling.
But, I didn't know anyone who actually used one and the new sticker price was beyond my current gambling limit.

Then about a year and a half ago, I had the great luck to hear about someone in my region selling an electronic spinning wheel. It turned out to be an Ertoel Roberta.

And the price tag on a used one was worth the gamble. Especially, if I could process more fibre at home rather than paying mill processing costs (I can justify any expense :)).

Well, even though it has taken me a year and a half of 1) findling around with it 2) getting frustrated with it 3) swearing at it and 4) staring at it for months...my Roberta and I have finally bonded. It took some adjustments and oiling, and use to both wear it in and get comfortable with it.

The on\off switch and the speed control are hand knobs on the front of the unit. This is a bit awkward when you start out. I was going to either get a pause-switch foot pedal or have DH make one, but it never got done. Now that I'm used to it, I don't think I actually need one.

I used some Polworth from my old stash to test drive her. It ended up quite overtwisted, but I'll use it for some spare mitts.

Then, I started spinning some of my 70% alpaca\30% merino rovings. Since I don't have a 3rd bobbin for plying on my Roberta, I plied on my Lendrum.


I'm really happy with the result. It's very consistent and wasn't overspun.

I'm starting another batch of the same yarn and I'm going to track my time this round.