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oh wow

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posted 5 May 08 & filed under busy bee, spinning

yes, i won a ribbon… make that seven ribbons. ! ! so proud and happy. and inspired all the more to spin spin spin. evidence here:

spindling! on a beautiful 22 grams spindlewood company square spindle. for those of you who think spindling is not for you, i say try another spindle – there’s such a variety out there, the odds are great that if you like spinning, then it’s just a matter of finding the right spindle.

the festival was just amazing. there’s so much to tell – in fact, the past ten days have been pretty amazing, but first things first. or rather, the latest things first.

first off, sheep..

… including a super informative demonstration on shearing – i was really impressed with the shearer, she was so very competent.

all in all, “some sheep” indeed!

once i got home on sunday, my mom took this pic of me showing off my ribbons. so proud. and i’m counting my prize money, yeehaw. totally didn’t see that coming!

so here’s the yarn and the ribbons! i submitted four skeins (very at the last moment, 2 a.m. decision), and a basket of yarn. i received ribbons for all five entries, and then won two special awards. !

two of the skeins were in class six, that is singles spun using commercially prepared fiber. both of those are from yarn wench, i believe. second and third place ribbons.

one skein was in class seven, plied yarn spun using commercially prepared fibers, and it was some spunky eclectic icelandic wool. this was the most popular class for handspun, from what i could see when i dropped off my entries on friday. fifth place ribbon.

when i left l.a., francesca gave me some bfl and superwash roving as a gift, some of which i dyed up with cochineal, scattering on different mordants, months ago. this was for class nine, handspun yarn naturally dyed by the spinner. first place ribbon and the special prize for best natural dyed article or skein.

lastly, my pride and joy, the jacob basket. the idea here is to enter in a basket of yarn, weighing at least one pound, with a theme in mind, extra points for creativity. somewhere around the middle of yarn school, i started thinking that it would be fun to enter in the yarn i was spinning after processing my very first fleece ever, from a jacob sheep. i thought no way would it win anything, it’s so very beginner-ish, but it would be fun to write up the mistakes i made, the parts i did right, and how the end product could still turn out really nice. it would be a fun encouraging thing for others that have fleeces in their garages but just are too intimidated to start processing their first fleeces.

so, i came home, took my fiber class, thought about it more and more, and thursday night, around one a.m. started re-skeining and tieing all the yarn, soaking and setting in the twist in the grey skeins, and knitting up a sample – part of the rules. around 4 a.m. i finished, exhausted. the next morning (three hours later) i was on the road to my last day of fiber prep class, with a basketful of slightly-damp handspun. anyhow, long story already, but basically i just barely got the entry in on time, sample ends woven in and all, and so imagine my surprised when i see the next day, first prize in class thirteen, naturally colored basked of yarn and a special prize for best basket of yarn. hooray!

and that’s that. i’ll write more about the basket – or rather, the processing of the fleece, later – i learned so much. (of course, the more you learn, the more you realize you have yet to learn. ! thank goodness.)

i ate a lot of kettle corn, talked and laughed a lot with friends, got a raverly button and avatar picture, and bought enough fiber equipment and such that i can safely say i now have a fiber studio. er, in my bedroom. that needs to be straightened out, but later. for now, my spindle is calling to me.

thanks for the nice comments and well-wishes. the creative feeling and satisfaction that fiber brings with it is helping so much, if that’s not clear already. things are ok here at the hull house, as well as can be imagined, but for now, i’m exhaustedly happy. ok, coming up.. fleeceS. yup, fleeceS. gotta do something with that prize money, you know. lucky seven, yes indeed. happy monday ~ ~

p.s. gratuitous cute cat pics. couldn’t help myself.

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