... literally.
This last weekend, my friend Stacey flew in from Pittsburgh to visit... such a good, good thing for my soul! We don't see each other nearly enough and before the water had hit, my main goals with her involved hanging out, moving watching, chatting A TON, and knitting.
Stacey and I had also signed up, along with my friend Chrissy from Cedar Rapids, for a Beginning Spinning class... as in, spinning on a SPINNING WHEEL. Woohoo!
Earlier this spring I had learned about the Iowa Sheep & Wool Festival from the Des Moines Metro Knitters. The thought of spending the day hanging out around sheep and wool... well, it sounded heavenly to me, and when I mentioned it to my two knitter friends, they both were on board.
So Saturday morning, Stace & I met Chrissy at the festival (what a drive in the rain -- who knew what that would bring at the time!), and we began our class.
DiAnn Boehm was a DELIGHT as a teacher, and she loaded us down with information... so much to the point that one could be overwhelmed if one didn't realize that the information overload was meant in such a way that something would stick in our brains... and it did! We learned to use drop spindles first (which were part of a goody/materials bag from the class)... how to turn roving into yarn! DiAnn also taught us how to hand card wool that had been washed and dyed, and then we got to use the spinning wheel.
Spinning wheels hold a fascination for me. They always looked so interesting to me, but also complicated. The interest was such that I had a dream of being able to spin... as Chrissy put it, a fairytale of being a spinner... as another friend put it, becoming the likes of Rumpelstiltskin. While I was excited about taking this class because I wanted to learn to spin, but I also was sure it would put the kibosh on the dream part of it... I didn't think it would be easy.
But... while it wasn't easy, it wasn't hard either, and Lord knows I need another hobby like I need another hole in my head, but I loved it. I LOVED IT! I know what I want for Christmas! We uses spinning wheels made of wheelchair wheels and PVC made by Nels Wiberg - Babe's Spinning Wheel. What a load of fun!
I CANNOT believe that none of the three of us took any pictures.
I ended up buying a bag of alpaca top roving (BEAUTIFUL!) and then Stacey and I split a bag of washed wool so we had something to hand card and then spin. We were delighted to spend the day at the festival and ended up walking around and almost buying some goats and sheep. Lin said Stace couldn't bring home a cat but she didn't say anything about sheep...! At any rate, Stace and I spent the rest of the weekend developing our plans for starting small with Angora Rabbits and I think if I show enough dedication over the next 10 years, Adam might make good on his "10 year plan". Ha! We shall see!
Stacey and I had also signed up, along with my friend Chrissy from Cedar Rapids, for a Beginning Spinning class... as in, spinning on a SPINNING WHEEL. Woohoo!
Earlier this spring I had learned about the Iowa Sheep & Wool Festival from the Des Moines Metro Knitters. The thought of spending the day hanging out around sheep and wool... well, it sounded heavenly to me, and when I mentioned it to my two knitter friends, they both were on board.
So Saturday morning, Stace & I met Chrissy at the festival (what a drive in the rain -- who knew what that would bring at the time!), and we began our class.
DiAnn Boehm was a DELIGHT as a teacher, and she loaded us down with information... so much to the point that one could be overwhelmed if one didn't realize that the information overload was meant in such a way that something would stick in our brains... and it did! We learned to use drop spindles first (which were part of a goody/materials bag from the class)... how to turn roving into yarn! DiAnn also taught us how to hand card wool that had been washed and dyed, and then we got to use the spinning wheel.
Spinning wheels hold a fascination for me. They always looked so interesting to me, but also complicated. The interest was such that I had a dream of being able to spin... as Chrissy put it, a fairytale of being a spinner... as another friend put it, becoming the likes of Rumpelstiltskin. While I was excited about taking this class because I wanted to learn to spin, but I also was sure it would put the kibosh on the dream part of it... I didn't think it would be easy.
But... while it wasn't easy, it wasn't hard either, and Lord knows I need another hobby like I need another hole in my head, but I loved it. I LOVED IT! I know what I want for Christmas! We uses spinning wheels made of wheelchair wheels and PVC made by Nels Wiberg - Babe's Spinning Wheel. What a load of fun!
I CANNOT believe that none of the three of us took any pictures.
I ended up buying a bag of alpaca top roving (BEAUTIFUL!) and then Stacey and I split a bag of washed wool so we had something to hand card and then spin. We were delighted to spend the day at the festival and ended up walking around and almost buying some goats and sheep. Lin said Stace couldn't bring home a cat but she didn't say anything about sheep...! At any rate, Stace and I spent the rest of the weekend developing our plans for starting small with Angora Rabbits and I think if I show enough dedication over the next 10 years, Adam might make good on his "10 year plan". Ha! We shall see!
What a fabulous fun day!
erin
erin
No comments:
Post a Comment