Great Lakes Fiber Festival--woohoo!!

Just got back last night from the festival in Wooster, OH where we had a great time. I met up with one of my BFFs who was my maid of honor 13 years ago, and once a business partner of mine. We only see each other every few years so it was soul-warming to chat in person. This year we decided to stay overnight rather than do a 5-hr round trip, and it was a wise choice. We had sooo much stuff crammed in the car that it was ridiculous. Of course, some of the stuff was our wheels and luggage but that's not the important stuff, is it?


Here we have the famous and popular AMZ dragging her THIRD load back to the car--it was a feeding frenzy. Some of you who have been on KnitList for years may know AMZ in her other persona, Blankie Woman. Apparently, the Blurbles were hungry for knitting materials.....





These are my acquisitions. That tan/black/lime green one in the front is an alpaca/llama blend that I'll probably ply with some black Merino I have in my stash. The lime is MUCH brighter than the photo shows. I've pretty much decided how to spin and ply each one, but that orange/green one in the back right has me puzzled. Oh well, by the time I get the rest done I'll have figured out something.



The sky both days was cloudless, the temperature was perfect and the trip was all I could ask for. Next festival will probably be Fingerlakes in the fall, if I can find someone to tag along with me (be forwarned, I'm a world-class enabler).

Waynesburg, PA sheep festival

Yesterday we drove down to Waynesburg for the festival. I'd been wanting to go for several years but something always seemed to pop up and prevent it. This year I was determined to go. At that point Murphy's Law kicked in and within hours someone signed up for my Saturday spinning class. But this is a 2-day festival so not a big deal to miss Saturday. Sunday dawned rainy and cold, but the forecast was for decreasing showers in the afternoon and off we went!

Next time I'll know better. Although the festival was nice, it was evident that several vendors would not be manning their booths the second day. Which did not deter me in the least. I found a lovely project basket at one booth, a couple of good wines at another, and a third booth with the loveliest Rambouillet lamb fleece. Since I spin for a living, I never use raw fleece anymore because I just don't have the time to process it these days. I'd forgotten how lovely it is to stick your hands into a fresh fleece. I want to sit down and handcard this pound of fleece like I used to do in the 70s (except I had to dispose of those handcards because the lanolin ruined them). It brought back memories of sitting in my friend's barn in Chicora on shearing day, spinning up the fresh warm fleece as it came off the ewe. Maybe I'll just tease the locks apart and spin them? Or flick-card and spin? Or (ugh!) wash the locks and drumcard them? It's just such a nice bit of wool....just look at the crimp on those locks!

My Wildish Woman

So the past few days I've been re-reading my well-worn copy of Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. It keeps me on an even keel, especially when things are going a little wonky with my life. And I recall some advice when I was in a business seminar, that our company logos should say something about what our business sells/does. I sell handspun yarn and fiber and teach handspinning (and sometimes weaving). However, I choose my logo (wolfprints) and name (Feistywoman) so I could say something about what my business does--it tells me that I've finally come full-circle, that I've recognized my Wildish Woman, that there's a reason the wolf in American Indian birth symbology is my totem, and that I will never again allow myself to be declawed. I have not behaved as my family would have liked, I have not behaved like a lot of the other moms in my area, and I almost died trying to follow the career that my family thought was "fitting" for me. And I stopped doing those things a couple of decades ago and have been immensely happy ever since. Not that there hasn't been a price to pay for this obstinate following of my muse. It's never easy to swim against the tide and takes it's toll on your energy. But when you reach the goal, it's ever-so-much sweeter than if you had settled for the average.

"The hallmark of the wild nature is that it goes on. It perseveres." (WWRWTW, Estes, p. 203)

It's Easter all over again

The new sock rovings are all dry and listed on my webpage. I had to keep one of the rainbow rovings for myself and started spinning it over the weekend. The first bobbin of Easter Eggs yarn is finished....ta da!

I seem to be suffering from mild pollen allergies this year. Not badly enough to dose myself with meds, but not satisfactorily clear-headed either. My car is covered in pollen every day, so it's little wonder that I'm muzzy all day. Spring is my favorite season, but my sympathies to all those who suffer seasonal allergies.

Off to the studio to get some work done.....