I'm pretty sure you knit, or crochet, if you are visiting this blog. But do you spin? And that thing with the bicycles where you stay in one place (how does that make sense?) doesn't count. Whether you do it with a drop spindle or a spinning wheel, spinning is cool. Not only does it result in unbelievably gorgeous yarn-- the type of stuff you could never buy from a commercial yarn company-- but its relaxing, even meditative, portable (if you use a drop spindle) , inexpensive (roving is almost always cheaper than yarn of similar quality and quantity), unique, and surprisingly trendy. Young people do it. Old people do it. Come to think of it, its a lot like knitting in that way. So if you don't spin, consider trying it.
How to learn to spin: Check your LYS and see if they offer classes. If they don't, find the nearest fiber festival and sign up for a workshop. Or check and see if there is a
spinning guild in your area.
Spin Off (the magazine published by Interweave) has a
blog which is a great source for finding out about spinning events and local groups. There are also lots of great books, You Tube videos, blog tutorials...
But before you can really get started, its time to shop. Drop Spindles, though relatively simple devices, can be so, so, gorgeous. Just look at
these hand turned works of art. And then when it comes time to buy your first spinning wheel. Well, you'll have to go to a fiber festival for that. Where else will you be able to try out all the different styles and brands? May I suggest the
Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival- its really big. But if you can't make it to Maryland, there are plenty of
others to choose from.
And then there is the roving. Roving-- the fluffy stuff that spinners magically turn into yarn-- comes in all the different fibers and blends that yarn does. Well, I'm not sure if I've ever seen acrylic rovi
ng (if you have, please post a link in the comments!). But as far as natural fibers, the options are almost limitless-- wool, alpaca, llama, mohair, cashmere, angora, cotton, tencel, silk, linen, bamboo, soy....in their pure forms and in countless blends. My current favorite is
soy silk, I think. Or maybe
merino-tencel. For some reason the warm weather makes me like *shiny*!
The most magical part of spinning, in my opinion, only happens if you use
hand painted roving, especially one with lots of different colors and variegated. Watching the colors blend in some places, contrast strongly in others, twist and twine and create something totally new...its a bit overwhelming. Two spinners could take handfuls of the exact same roving and the resulting yarn could be completely different depending the methods they use. Like I said- Magic.
This isn't at all knitting or yarn related, but I wanted to share a recipe with you that I came up with over the weekend. Its really easy and REALLY good.
I am SOOO excited to finally be able to share this pattern with you. Ever since Dao started working on this design I knew it was going to be special. I can't believe how lucky we have been to attract such talented designers. Wow. Its a dream come true. Ok ok, back to the pattern. This cabled vest could be worn over a tank top/cami to wear during the summer, and then over a long sleeved shirt for winter wear, so really, you could wear it all year long in almost any climate. It can be knit out of Silk Twist or Super Wool, and pos
sibly even out of Wild Thing or House Blend (the latter two haven't been tested yet). Because of the intricate cables, we think it looks best in semi-solid or solid colors which let the cables really stand out. I will be posting more photos on the website soon, including photos of a sample knit in Super Wool in dark red.
I met the Yarn Harlot. And she knew who I was. Or at least she knew who The Unique Sheep was, and I say that counts. If you have a chance to meet Stephanie and to attend one of
her talks/booksignings, by all means GO. Her tour schedule is posted here. Charlotte was a smaller crowd than most, I don't think the Borders (or whoever was
responsible) did a very good job of promoting the event, but we still had 150-200 people show up. My friend, Alli, and I were among the first 50 to show up, so we got special orange wrist bands and got to be in the first group to get our books signed. But I'm skipping ahead. Before the book signing, Stephanie talked for about an hour. She is hilarious. Seriously. We laughed so hard we had tears in our eyes. 
It was amazing how we all got the jokes, jokes that non-knitters wouldn't have a clue about. A lot of what she talked about was the culture and community that knitters have, how we, as knitters, are special and different from other people and how we should be proud of that. It was interesting, and funny. And over and over I found myself agreeing with her or thinking of times when I've had the same experiences (like non-knitters saying "I wish I had time to knit..." or "I was I had the patience to knit..." Its like she knows me. Creepy.
nd then the book signing itself. We formed a big line and one by one stood across the table from her while she signed our book, gave her our gifts (yes I brought gifts. I know. dorky), showed off our knitting and took pictures. Lots of people brought their first socks to show to Stephanie, but my first socks were a gift and the recipient probably wouldn't understand if I took them back, so I took my wedding stockings instead. I got a lot of work done on them while we waited for the event to start, then during the talk and while we stood in line. And they are fun to work on in public because they are very long and people are always curious about them. In the picture up at the top of this post you can see one of them wrapped around Stephanie's shoulder. The sock I'm holding belongs to her. Allison brought her first sweater to show off-- isn't it cute? Its for her son.
ng (if you have, please post a link in the comments!). But as far as natural fibers, the options are almost limitless-- wool, alpaca, llama, mohair, cashmere, angora, cotton, tencel, silk, linen, bamboo, soy....in their pure forms and in countless blends. My current favorite is soy silk, I think. Or maybe merino-tencel. For some reason the warm weather makes me like *shiny*!
Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is only a month away! Its hard to believe its coming up so soon. That means that Spring is really here. Kelly and I are working on a couple of surprises to announce later this spring and summer...I better go get to work!
