Fibre Week

I got home from Ontario with a nasty cold, and spent one full day in bed drugged to sleep with Advil Cold and Sinus so that by the time I got to Olds for Fibre Week I might have a chance of surviving. The sleep did seem to help, and I got the motorhome all packed up, all the gear loaded, and managed not to forget anything important.

I arrived to a rainy afternoon and some people standing about in bright yellow rain gear. Apparently southern Alberta was in the midst of major flooding (I don’t listen to the radio, usually, so I had no idea this was going on) and many conference attendees were unable to get through as the roads were washed out in places. This, unfortunately, included my business partner, who was stuck on the other side of the mountains with all the roads between us closed due to flooding and mudslides!

That meant I was on my own for setup, but I just made lots of extra trips and took my time getting things organized. The booth finally got put together and by Friday noon, we were ready to roll.

The Batt Bar was an amazing success. It was set up like a salad bar: pick your ingredients (as many colours as you want, then the ‘toppings’, like silk or sparkle or carbonized bamboo) and I’d blend it all together for you. On Saturday there was a steady backlog all day, folks would choose their ingredients and come back in an hour or two to pick up their batt, once I got through the pile of waiting fibre!

I was super busy at the vendor mall during the four days I was there (my partner did arrive on Saturday, so I had some help with hauling things and having meals delivered and such!) and I took it easy and skipped most of the evening events and such as I wanted to be sure I had enough energy to make it through the week, but it was awesome to be at Fibre Week, as it always is. By Monday afternoon I was running on adrenaline alone, but I did make it through and I enjoyed it all.

The event was such a success, we were able to order a new, wider drum carder that means we can make batts at about 4 times the speed, which is wonderful! There’s now an online batt bar at our shop, too, so people can have this much fun even when we aren’t there in person doing our street entertainment gig. (Several people commented that watching me was like watching a busker or a street entertainer at work – not only did you get a cool batt, you got a show!)

If I tried to put all this in my daytimer…

… I’d need an extra page.

So here's what I've done so far:

I got the motorhome cleaned, scrubbed, and smudged with incense. Put bedding on the beds. Loaded some canned goods into the cupboard. Stove, water, and water heater tested. (Need to test the furnace tomorrow!) Tried to start it, no go, probably needs a boost – The Reluctant Farmer is taking care of that. Took out some of the shop stock so that at least that much will be ready when I get home from Ontario. (More on that in a bit.)

I've also been doing a bunch of laundry in our new washing machine - the old one died a long-anticipated death on Thursday morning, and we were able to pick up a new one (well, new to us – the people had listed it on Kijiji just that day, and their place was not far off my route home from counselling, so it worked out perfectly). The new machine is WONDERFUL – it’s really big, and very quiet, and doesn’t dance across the floor or complain about being unable to drain. When I arrived to pick it up, the people were there talking with a friend who’d obviously come by on his way home from work. I recognized the company name on his truck, as it’s the same place my friend with the horses works. I asked if they might know one another and sure enough, they do. “Oh yeah,” the guy said, “he was talking to me about this McGavin’s Bread wagon he’s gonna restore …” I laughed. “He was at my house yesterday with one of the spokes for that wagon, I’m taking it with me when I go to Ontario so my wheelwright friend can make copies!" Apparently that detail had been mentioned in the conversation … it was quite a coincidence! I felt all, I dunno, famous or something.

So, laundry – which dries nice and quick outside in this sunny and somewhat breezy weather, and motorhome prep, and also getting ready for the show tomorrow. It’s Artist’s Day at the Pegg Garden, and I’ll be there selling my woven items, one hand knit scarf (in really wild muppet yarn), and my books … and weaving, and spinning, and generally just being a fibre artist where everyone can watch. I also have some fabric with me so I can do the tests of ecoprinting with the plants that grow in the garden in advance of our workshop coming later this summer (the workshop is the last weekend in August, also at the Garden). I’ll need to be there a bit early so I can wander off and get plant samples rolled up into fibery cocoons for steaming and colour setting. They have to sit for a few weeks, so I need to get them wrapped and steamed before I leave so they can sit and do their marinating thing while I’m off gallivanting around.

I did get the wheel, spindles, and all my stuff out into the van tonight – and I took my gray coat, to show as a sample of what can be done for custom work (it’s also a different shape, so I want to have both the swing coat and the blanket coat there to display) … and I grabbed some yarn so I can warp up the little loom once I’m there. I’d sort of thought I might do that ahead of time, but really, I’m out of energy and I’ll have plenty of time tomorrow as the show goes from 11-4, and warping is just another part of the whole adventure so people might as well see that too.

Oh, and yesterday I did most of my packing for my trip to Ontario – I am gone all day tomorrow, and I have to be at the airport for 6:30 Monday morning (which I clearly did not process when I chose that flight time … an 8:30 am departure seems quite reasonable, until you factor in the need to be at the airport two hours early and the fact that it takes over an hour and a half to get to the airport from home). We will be adding in time to stop for coffee on the way, trust me. I’m heading to see my parents, and then my sister and brother in law will join up with us for a day, and Friday I’ll be heading to Burlington for the Ontario Handspinning Seminar where I will be helping out my friend Wheelwright with his antique spinning wheel sales and assisting during the keynote speech he’s giving. Oh, and doing the last minute assembly of the giveaway items that he was asked to make for the Saturday night banquet! (I know what they are, but I think they are a surprise so I won’t say.) It sounds like it’s gonna be a blast.

Then once the conference is over on Sunday afternoon, I’ll hop on the train and go to Oshawa to visit some of my Chosen Family, and Monday afternoon I fly back home.

Then I do a bunch of laundry, go for groceries, load up the motorhome and head to Olds for Fibre Week!

I am gonna need all of July to recover from this, but it’s gonna be an awesome ride.

Stay tuned for more of the adventure!

Fibre Week Wraps Up, Tour de Fleece Begins

Fibre Week wrapped up yesterday for those doing the Master Level classes, though I was home on Tuesday. As always, it was a great week!

The class on Spinning as Meditation was much more work than I expected – though as the instructor said, meditation is not relaxation spelled differently, so I suppose I should’ve been able to foresee that it’d take some effort to remain focused and mindful for a whole day!

Sunday evening was the spin-in, hosted by the Alpaca People, and I managed to fill one spindle with lovely purple singles that evening and a second the next night. Those got wound onto a storage bobbin after I came home, and then I spun up the fawn coloured rovings and plyed the two together to make a ball of lovely squishy heathery softness.

Oh yes, that’s Anne, the Norwegian wheel I acquired in trade for fibre (!) from a Fibre Week Friend (the young spinner who brought all the spindles for our Spindle Party). The wheel spins so nicely, and is happy to ply (which most of my antiques are not particularly thrilled to do). She’s a vintage wheel of some kind … I hope to do some sleuthing into her history soon, but right now I’m just enjoying her beauty and how well she spins!

Monday evening was the silent auction and the fashion show. We were so busy having fun that I have no pictures, but there’ll be some on the Fibre Week website soon, I’m sure. I entered all the shawls from Just Keep Knitting in the fashion show, though I ended up not modelling any of my own work myself … I did get to wear all kinds of gorgeous things made by other people, so that was fun! One of the truly amazing things I got to model was a red felted jacket made by Karen Workman – this jacket hung in an art gallery for several months, and *I got to wear it!*

Tuesday I meandered home, stopping at a roadside turnout for a power nap along the way (power naps are very comfortable when you are travelling in a motor home), and then spent the next few days enjoying the chance to sleep in a very dark room (note to self: must make dark curtains for the motorhome windows, since Fibre Week happens right around solstice and it is light at 4 am).

I’ve also managed to take inventory of all the yarn for Flannelberry Fibre, sort out some paperwork, send out several orders, and visit with some friends. I haven’t yet got all the fibre inventory complete, but that’ll happen soon.

Today is the start of the Tour de Fleece – which is an event for spinners that coincides with the Tour de France.

Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible, from Saturday June 30th through Sunday July 22nd. Days of rest: Tuesday July 10th and Tuesday July 17th. (Just like the actual tour.)

Spin something challenging on the challenge day (usually the toughest high mountain stage: Challenge Day will be announced before the Tour starts).

It’s a fun way to focus on your spinning: for me, I’m going to work on spinning as much as possible of the alpaca fleece that I’ve been slowly working on for the past several months … it’s time to get this turned into yarn!

Here’s where I’ll be spending some of my time:

The big bucket contains the fleece that hasn’t been combed yet. The gray Ikea bag has combed stuff, the blue bucket is combing waste (which will eventually be carded and either felted or spun, it’s good enough for spinning, I just need to ask my customer what she’d like). The apron is there because combing makes a mess – on the table you can see the spray bottle of conditioner and water that helps keep the static down when I’m combing, as well as the corner of the new set of combs I acquired while at Fibre Week (yippee! Now I can return the ones I’ve had on loan from another generous fibre friend for way too long.) One of my spindles is on the chair, and the others are in those round containers or assorted other places around the house. And of course, hawk Bait the cat is there to supervise. I’ll be spinning singles on the spindles and plying on the wheel, but my focus is to get singles spun – I don’t think I have enough storage bobbins to just spin singles and not ply at all during the Tour, though I’ve emptied as many as I could. 3 ply yarn takes a lot of spinning.

Speaking of which … time to get going!

And they’re off!

Spindle Party at Fibre Week

RenatePetra (her Ravelry name) brought most of her spindle collection (contained in a little suitcase that was her grandma’s!) with her so that I could try them out. We had a spindle party in the motorhome – I spun on all her supported spindles, and she tried out all of mine and then Flannelberry tossed hers into the mix too so we had all sorts of thing to experiment and play with.

And yes, if you think she looks like a very young spinner, you are right: this girl is a year older than The Boy, has been spinning since she was 13, and is one of the most talented natural-born spinners I’ve ever met. Plus she is a cheerful, courteous, thoughtful and generous young person who inspires me and gives me hope for the future of the world. Her family must be awfully proud of her.

We had fun playing with spindles and talking about fibery things. I discovered that the exotic wood phang felt ‘grounded’, like they say in yoga, like it was reaching down to the floor. The lighter wood, though nearly the same shape, danced in my hands. The Bristlecone Glindle absolutely sang the moment I gave it a twirl. The unknown maker spindle with the funky rounded base spun much like a Russian. My hands prefer a narrow flicking point and a light weight spindle, and I gravitate towards cherry wood. Absolutely fascinating. (If you aren’t a spinner, just trust me, this was all extraordinarily cool.) Most supported spindles have to be mail ordered, so you don’t get a chance to try them out ahead of time. Having someone share their collection with you so you can see what works in your particular hands is extremely helpful and highly educational.

There was also the trade of a spinning wheel for fibre (!) … a lovely vintage Norwegian wheel that was not getting much love at RenatePetra’s house has now joined my household and will be getting lots of love here, and a pretty rooed Icelandic fleece has gone to RenatePetra’s house. :) Pictures of the wheel (her name is Anne, I am told) tomorrow, as she is coming to class with me.

Tomorrow’s class is Heart Like a Wheel, a class on spinning as meditation, with Debora Behm.

Fibre Week is a great experience. I’ve met such wonderful people here, and it’s really fun to hang out with people who enjoy the same kinds of things I do. :)

Olds Fibre Week: Day 1

Yesterday was my first whole day at Fibre Week (Thursday was spent finalizing the packing and driving from home to here, which, in the motorhome, takes quite awhile).

I took a class on Designing Your Own Lace Patterns from Donna Druchunas, which was really good. Donna is so friendly and relaxed and encouraging – all qualities I especially admire in a fibre teacher – and we played with charting and swatching and coming up with ways to translate ideas and inspiration into patterns on paper and then on the needles.

In the evening the Merchant Mall opened, and we had to do some shopping for a friend who is 9 months pregnant and unable to be here … oh, how awful to have to find presents for someone else at the fibre market! :) We did locate a beautiful supported spindle, and I spent quite a long time standing at that particular table watching Caroline Sommerfeld work her magic with the spindles and the spindlers. Caroline is the Ollivander of supported spindles – she can look at your hands, watch you spin once or twice, and know which spindles will be happy in your hands and which will resist you. It’s quite amazing, actually, how different a spindle in the same design but a different wood will feel. My hands like cherry wood, but not oak. I hope to learn some more from Caroline today … like how to spin silk supported.

I also met up with a fellow Raveller who was interested in a trade, and swapped a bag of Icelandic fleece for a Tabacheck Russian spindle out of bubinga wood. It’s a little heavier, but comfortable to use and absolutely beautiful. She was all excited to have a bag of fleece, and I was excited to have a new spindle, always the sign of a good swap.

Later in the evening another friend managed to drop a very sharp supported spindle onto her sandalled foot and impale herself. We made a hasty exit and provided first aid and tea at the motorhome (no serious damage done, though even a quickly applied ice pack didn’t stop the bruising) and sat at the table spinning and knitting and drinking tea until bedtime.

Today I have no classes but will be working at the registration/information desk for the morning, then I have some interesting things planned for the afternoon and there are evening events tonight. I’ll update more tomorrow!