Weaver's Web

A gaggle of geese, a pride of lions.......

I know not what the true name is for a group of spinners, but I prefer to think of it as a twist.

Today was the annual gathering of spinners for the northbay, our first time at this new venue at the Grange south of Sebastopol. For the past 17 years we've met in a vineyard at the edge of the Russian River, the owner a longtime participating spinner herself, but the property has been sold. It's always been a delightful day with good company, good food and an opportunity to score fiber for future project, and even a place to learn different techniques. There's also always been a raffle, a way to cover the costs of the gathering. I always toss in $5 and unless I buy something from a vendor, I return home empty handed.

That is until today.

I came back with back today with a 1/4 lb. of gorgeous bamboo & Merino roving space dyed in shades of blue and green, ironic since I was spinning roving today nearly the same color, although a silk alpaca blend instead (& a roving I think I snagged at this gathering 2 years ago and never got around to using. Score!

Dan (dear friend, my Rose's uncle, husband of donkeygirl06, & a master spinner) drove down from Willets, and he and I took turns tutoring Sheila, a neighbor of mine and a very novice spinner (truth told, before today a fiber virgin).

All in all, a great day. Time for bed. I've someone in early labor and I may get called at 0dark:30 to run to L&D.

It was a great day today.

Once a year the country fiber community has a gathering in a picturesque vineyard right on the Russian River near Healdsburg. About 100 spinners from around the bay show up each year, wheels in tow. Fibers from merino to alpaca, bamboo to silk, raw fleece to finished yarn gets sold, and spinners crank away under the shade of stately oaks just yards from the rivers edge, green grape vines shimmering in the sun nearby.

Dan came down from Ukiah. We nosed through the sellers stalls checking out their wares. There was some gorgeous stuff for sale, but I resisted temptation. I have more stuff in my fiber stash than I could spin up in a year, even if I spent a couple of hours each day processing it. Dan has no where near the stash and he added some alpaca silk roving to his. He got about a pound to work with in varying shades of grey and white with lovely sheen, but then that is the glory of silk.

After cruising through the vendors, we settled in to craft. Men were in the minority and about half that were seemed to be hangers on - guys who were accompanying their wives or girlfriends. Now I'm a fairly proficient spinner, and Dan is bloody meticulous at it. We sat and shot the shit, had some lunch and played with fiber. I did 2.5 ounces of merino today, a roving I got several years ago, teal green accented with colors you'd find on a mallard. It's beautiful stuff, and I'm doing it up as a sport weight 2-ply. Not sure what I'll make with the yarn as of yet, but it will be fun to work with. Dan opted not to bring his wheel today. He's in knit mode at the moment, working up a sport weight 3-ply, 1 strand of beige bombyx silk & 2 strands of forest green merino tencel blend. It's simple and simply beautiful. He's turning it into a fisherman's scarf. Very impressive. It's his second knitting project, but as meticulous as he is, & as mechanical as his mind is, you'd think he's been doing this for years, but that's Dan. I gave him my old wheel x-mas before last. Eight months later he took best of show at the Booneville fair. He entered a bombyx silk yarn that beat out not only every other yarn entered, but every last fiber project other than raw fleeces entered in the fair. I've been spinning 30 years and I've never had a yard place higher than 3rd. My finished projects are well received. I've even taken a blue ribbon, but best of show? In my dreams!

A number of women drifted past, many stopping to shmooz and check out our work. I seem to attract the little ones. Today it was a 7 year old, who's mom was one of the vendors. I'm fairly certain her mom could have answered everything she wanted know. I think it may have been the colors I was working with. Her mom's stuff were all natural colors, high end raw and processed fibers like alpaca and blue faced leiscester, nothing dyed and certainly the not in the shades of a mallard.

I've babbled enough; time for bed. With luck, perhaps I'll get laid.

Just got off the phone with an old friend I'd lost contact with. She's another fiber artist and we worked the Ren Faire together in the late 80's thru the early 90's, in the weavers and spinners guild. The faire has moved and with it my easy access to getting there on a weekly basis, when it was in season. I am NOT driving 4 hours each way minimum to go there now, certainly not while in costume period to the early 1600's

What a nice conversation we had, and we will get together soon. T'was nice to hear her voice again, and nice to be able to respond to the name Seumas once more.