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oh wow

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.

comment [12]

posted 5 May 08 & filed under busy bee, spinning

sharing some happiness

hi there. it’s almost one a.m. so i really shouldn’t be typing – - i should be sleeping! after a week of eight+ hour daily fiber classes at yarn school, followed immediately by the fiber prep class too, i’m beat. and then today, after the last day of class, i helped at the fleece show for five hours. it was incredible. but my feet are already aching and there’s still alllll day tomorrow and all day sunday. i don’t care – hooray for maryland sheep & wool!

but!! i had to share: earlier today i submitted four handspun skeins and one basket of handspun yarn to the skein and garment competition and tonight i peeked into the building where they were setting them all up, with ribbons affixed, and i’m pretty sure i saw one of mine with a ribbon, and maybe even a second one. eek! i was smiling so big all the way to the car, kinda chirping in happiness.

and for all of you spinners missing out on maryland sheep & wool – no fear, your friend andrea has some maryland sheepiness to share with you, as a happy thank you for being such nice readers. details coming up! as well as notes and impressions from my fiber week, pics too, and more.

happy weekend! and happy belated may day ~ ~

comment [7]

posted 2 May 08 & filed under spinning

catch up post

you know it’s been too long since you’ve written when your browser no longer has your url cached. it’s only been a little over a month, i realized, but my, what a month. still, this post, i decided, is going to be cancer-free. i was going to title it that, in fact, but i thought that a) my humor has gotten a little twisted and b) doing that would kind of defeat the purpose exactly. ha. instead, how about fiber, fiber, some random stuff, and then a bit of family.

first off, this is going to be a busy couple of weeks coming up. why? oh, just yarn school (!). and then a fiber preparation workshop (!). and then, but of course, maryland sheep & wool in all its lovely sheepiness. (!!) i will be on fiber overload but i don’t care. fiber or bust, that’s the way i see it. plus i’m the class aide for the workshop (which means i get the class 1/2 off, yay), and i’m helping out at the fleece show too. yikes.

next, who decided they needed a portable wheel for all this traveling? yes, yes, that would be andrea. a pretty victoria came home with me, after visiting misty mountain farm in nearby virgina. i tell ya, when i treat myself, i treat myself good. i don’t usually go this all out, but i’m in a serious fuckit mood. or i was – i’m restraining myself ever-so-slightly right now. we’ll see how early may goes. ;)

in other news, i’ve processed one whole fleece, my first. you may remember, i got three last year – one is done. the smallest one. ahem. but still, a lot was learned and whew, it will hold me back from getting too many this year. i’m aiming for one or two more at most. and also, i’ve learned that no matter how cheap or cheaper a fleece is, more than just a little of vm isn’t worth the work at all. valuable lesson, that.

also, looking forward to the fibery loveliness coming up, i’ve spun up all but two pounds of roving and the two fleeces. that’s it – that’s the stash that’s left.* all the rest, three or four pounds in total, has been spun since early february. that’s a lot of spinning there – including four ounces of cotton, which may not sound like a lot, but is a lot of work for a newbie like me. my spinning is still very beginnerish, but i’m very happy with the progress made in the last year or so and really, it’s been an amazing escape for me.

(*oh. except for a teeny fleece that came home with my victoria. some gorgeous finn that was calling, calling!, to me. practically no vm, barely any second cuts, generously priced and well skirted. plus i got to pet some brand-new lambs just a minute earlier – how can a girl say no? i sorted through three of the seven pounds already, and have washed 8 ounces. lovely lovely. pics to come. )

so yeah. lots of good fiber stuff there. in other news, my gardening plans are going ahead, finally, for once in my life – my dad has a gorgeous orchard in the back that’s been neglected for a couple of years, so i’ve been learning how to prune (!) and reading up on raised bed gardening. i tried growing some plants from seed, but so far, it’s looking a little depressing, sigh. nevertheless, very very interesting. also, i’ve been on an organizational kick in my room – jewelry, books, clothing, furniture, you name it. also destashing and tossing and donating stuff left and right. decluttering one’s life feels delicious, but is a loooong process.

then, family stuff (sorry for the list-like writing, but if i didn’t post something soon, i’d have no idea how to start again): a cousin is engaged i hear (congrats, kenneth!), three others are pregnant (sylvana, kiki, and karen!), and my littlest sister, lucinda, got engaged (you’re a lucky man, andy!). so, lot’s of exclamation marks all around. i love my family.

there you have it, all caught up. hope each and every one of you are doing well. sorry for the disappearing act, i’ll try to stick around a little more. happy wednesday ~ ~

comment [7]

posted 15 April 08 & filed under busy bee, familia!, my wheel, spinning

thirty-one

.. and eight days. i’m a firm believer in birthday months, you know, so i’ve been having little celebratory moments all week.

i found this picture today, organizing my room with a burst of spring cleaning fever – it’s from just a little less than ten years ago. i remember i was in moscow – i was living there for a semester my junior year in college – and was planning on heading back to maryland in the middle of my stay for just a week, to attend my brother’s wedding. they needed a photograph of me, for some visa paperwork stuff, so i got this pic taken at a random photo booth in a metro station. i was freshly twenty-one, having just finished a summer in new york city, crazy head-over-heels in love with a boy that was far away, i had super short hair for the first time in my life, was living thousands of miles from anyone i knew, and generally was feeling all brand new. kinda freaked out by that, but loving it all the same.

so, i look at this photo now and i think, oh my, that’s not me anymore. that’s some other girl. and that makes me sad. there’s things about that other girl that i wouldn’t want back, no way, i’m glad i have learned some things, i have grown up in some ways. but.. maybe that’s it. that’s a girl there. and though i feel girlish at times, i don’t feel like a girl anymore. i’ve been thinking this for a while actually.. this is the year that i grew up, this is the year that i became an adult. maybe that’s silly, thirty-one is a pretty old age to grow up, huh? finally, right? but there it is. inescapable thought. believe me, i’ve tried to escape it.

of course, that girl is somewhere in me, layers deep, just like the five year old and the baby and so on. but i can never be that same girl again, and so today, a week after my birthday – after the days of celebrating thirty-one years on this planet – i’m taking a few moments to miss that girl. and miss my girlhood. it was a really good one, all in all – i was a really lucky girl. and oh my gosh did it fly. i can remember sitting in that booth, waiting for the flash, more clearly than i can remember yesterday, in a way, you know?

it’s funny – birthday’s have always been to me about looking forward, what’s the coming year going to be like, etc etc, but now i see you can look at it the other way too.. appreciate the now, yes! and the future, of course! but also, celebrate and yes even mourn for what has passed and can never be again – there were hundreds of precious moments that have passed, and only i was there for all of them and know what has gone. so, here’s to memories. and girlhood. and thirty-one years of living life…

thanks, as always, for reading ~ ~ hope march has been good to you so far.

comment [6]

posted 12 March 08 & filed under

last day of february

i was going to write that it’s been really scaring me how o.k. the world is with me giving up my life. how i basically quit one job, am barely working the other, don’t even try to schedule anything social or outside of the house, and am essentially homebound 24/7. life can be so full of conflicts, but one thing is clear – i’ll do anything to help my dad, so there’s no regrets there – - as is true for all of us who love him and are doing all we can. but still, it is scary how everything just keeps moving on. i know i’m just one of billions, yet – - life has slowed down to frame-by-frame for me. how can something so gigantic like that happen and yet make no dent in the world out there?

one of my sisters and i were wondering the other day – how often have we been at a mall, for instance, and just spent hours wandering around, shopping? and how many times have we seen really underslept women wandering around as well, with surprised and hurt eyes, wearing wrinkled clothing, basically looking like they just stumbled out of bed? and then – the cincher – how many times have those women been in the situation we find ourselves in – where they’re caring for someone with a terminal illness – people who found, or were given, an hour to themselves for literally the first time in a week – or people who’s loved one just died and now they’re free in a way they never hoped to be?

it’s amazing, just really amazing how clueless one can be. and how sad to have to be clued in this way. compassion is something every child has, but unfortunately as adults, we often only remember that compassion once we have no other choice.

so, i was going to write that it’s really scary to me how o.k. the world is with me giving up my life, and it still is scary, but really? things can always be worse. i get so much happiness out of an hour to myself, out of a night’s conversation, from making my nieces and nephews giggle, from taking a long hot shower. so, hold on to happiness. let the sadness come, but shoot, don’t let it take over. and next time i see a sad stumbling person out there, i’ll look in their eyes and give a slow sad smile. not with pity, but acceptance. we’ve all been there, or if we’re one of the lucky ones, like i was until very recently, we all will be there at some point in our lives. life is frightening in its fragility, but two things are sure: there is strength in numbers
and happiness and laughter can be found even in the most surprising and darkest times.

..ah, so rambly and preachy. hope that’s ok – it’s more for me than you. take care ~ and here comes march.. !

… my life right now. …

comment [8]

posted 29 February 08 & filed under familia!, more me

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