Spinning again

To quote Knitting Dragonflies, "Everytime I start spinning again, I wonder at how much I enjoy it, and why did I stop." My sentiments exactly! Especially since I bought this nifty little spindle at the Quilt Museum in PA. It is so light and spins a really fine yarn. One I could actually ply! This is a big deal for me. I usually spin singles. The woman in the store told me, in a low conspiratorial voice, that I was getting it cheap at $15. Like it was some sort of magic little spindle. And it is :)

This isn't a very good picture, but you can sort of see how fine I'm getting it. I'll have to review plying, as I haven't done it in a while.

Also started measuring the warp for more rugs. I'm going to warp the loom for two smaller rugs this time. One will be plain twill, black, with a band of Kirschbaum's #4 pattern (Marguerite Davison, p. 133) running in the middle. The pattern will be white and black. It should sort of have a beatnik, Grecian urn feel to it, if you can picture that. The second rug on the warp...not sure yet.

Mannings

I almost forgot...the class I took at the Mannings was wonderful! It was, "How to Use Your 8 Shaft Loom", taught by Thomas Knisely. He was totally cool and a good teacher.

Above is a view of the twill gamp we worked on. This is the first time I've done an 8 shaft pattern and it was so awesome to watch the pattern take shape. I ordered a copy of Strickler's book from the library. I'd like to try to do a table runner when I finish the rug I'm starting.

The whole experience was neat. There were 7 other weavers there. The first part of the class was drafting. Then after lunch we hit the looms ... table looms. I've never used a table loom before and it was nice. Of course the idea of purchasing one flitted briefly through my mind, but no. Must be good. I did go shopping after the class though. Bought a big cone of 3 ply yarn, new spindle, and 8/4 rug warp. I love the Mannings.

Let the food fest begin!

Yep, we're in PA. I've only been here 2 days and have already eaten pig in two or three culinary incarnations. Night one, BBQ pork sandwiches. Night two, ham and cabbage. And then something else yesterday but I can't remember. It wasn't ham balls though. I'll have to try ham balls before this vacation is over. We did split a pumpkin whoopie pie yesterday. That was pretty stinkin' good!

I love eating my way through the state of Pennsylvania. These people know how to eat! None of that sissy S. FL exotic fish or tropical dishes here...healthy garbage. Hell no! You're going to eat ham dammit! And beef. Good beef too. These people don't play.

Here are some Canadian geese. I love these guys. They're so pretty. We didn't eat them though.

Now, this was cool and no I didn't make this...ha! obviously. I couldn't quilt if my life depended on it. We went to the Long Park Arts and Crafts show yesterday in Lancaster. It was a lot of stuff I've seen before, but there were some artists that stood out. This lady was one of them. Ann Brauer was an incredible colorist. Her work was just beautiful! And she was super nice too.

I noticed at this festival that many of the artists and craftsmen seemed to hide a bit behind their booths. Ann wasn't like that at all. She was up front and friendly, which was smart. She was making sales. She had her bread and butter items out (like above) as well as her more expensive works.

Sorry, I just figured it had been a while since I mentioned ham. Anyway, I spoke to the only weaver there. His work was really pretty cool and he did rugs and tapestry...the same as I like to do. So I was truely interested and wanted to know about his work. His pieces were all warp face. He warps the loom in the colors/patterns he wants and then uses fiber (yarn or bamboo) bundles as the weft. So you know, the weft really doesn't matter...sort of like card weaving. Anyway, he's all chatty at first and I ask him what kind of loom he has and he says a Cranbrook. I say cool, I have an 8 shaft Kessenich and I weave rugs too....well that's where the conversation ended. Like abruptly. Ha ha! He just said "Thank you" curtly and walked away. I couldn't figure it out. What did I say? I just laughed. I don't know but I think, and I don't want to get flamed for this, but I know that many "arteests" have big egos. Add testosterone to that and it's all over baby. Plus when he realized I weave rugs, I probably wouldn't be buying anything from him, so he wasn't going to waste his time on me. I get the feeling that the artists / craftsmen had paid a lot for the booths at this show, and seemed to be just a hair bitter about it. I can't blame them really.

Well, more adventures today. Perhaps ham will be involved.