I still can't believe how fast my desire to learn to spin has manifested itself. True, I have been stalking spinners at craft fairs for quite a few years. But that was more curiosity than desire at the time (I think). I checked the date on the first "Spin Off" magazine I bought out of "curiosity". It was the Winter 2009 edition. When I first saw it on the bottom of the magazine rack, I was in disbelief. I couldn't believe that there were so many people spinning that this craft had it's own magazine. On the front was a picture of beautiful art yarn that had varying colors of green with a little bright yellow in it and it had these cool coils throughout. I was in L-U-V. I had no idea when I bought that magazine that I would already own my very own wheel and be learning to spin before the Winter of 2011! I've been wishing to be rich for a long time and that never manifested itself. Perhaps it's too vague or too common of a wish.
I'm sorry to report that I missed my first Knit-In at the Osterhaut Library. Underneath all my yarn and bills and snippets of material I finally found my buried calendar. Upon it's resurrection I saw that I had a long overdue dental appointment. Sometimes one just has to do what must be done. So I will attempt the next months Knit-In. I did make it to the Sit n' Spin event at WoodsEdge Farm in New Jersey. That was quite a trip. I learned two things about planning a trip . . . always check your map against the Map-Quest directions and no matter how much your friend loves you and wants to be there for you, if you get them lost you will have hell to pay until you are "un-lost". Fortunately we were able to laugh between the screaming and the hyperventilation. Aside from some travel snafus, it was an excellent day. The day was sunny with blue skies, the countryside in New Jersey was beautiful and WoodsEdge Farm was a paradise.
The property was immense. There were acres of open land and land populated by pines that provided a cool respite for the llamas grazing behind split rail fences. There was a two story country house, a barn, and the main building had a very inviting front porch that begged to be sat upon. However, the day was a hot and humid so the spinning was going on inside the building where it was airconditioned. As I walked in I entered a huge foyer with big shiny square hunks of granite stone for a floor. To the left and right of the foyer were rooms filled with beautiful knit garments and socks, wool for felting, felted hats adorned with huge fabric roses, adorable sock monkeys and some llama toys (complete with Sherpa hats), hand made molded soaps and even honey from their bee farm. Continuing straight ahead were two deacons benches set on either side of the foyer (where the girls were parked) and wooden doors behind them that went into a huge barn. The door handles were wrought iron llamas (too cool). I was able to go out into that barn because the bathroom was a well-maintained and clean port-a-potty way in the back of the barn. The barn was stocked with hay and there were some baby goats enclosed half-way into the barn and half outside. In the front of the barn were bags and bags and bags of fleece on several tables and a rack with some dyed scarves that were probably put there to dry.
When my girlfriend and I first arrived and parked outside this magnificent building we were greeted by a very nice girl. God forgive me, I am so terrible with names I cannot remember the names of anyone except for Jane and Linda (the owner of that beautiful farm) and the Etsy nome de plume of one girl, Ginger. The girl that greeted us was a very nice girl with dark hair & blue eyes. She told us she was spending her summer as an apprentice on the farm. Three other girls were all from Gainesville, Florida and worked at the same college together. They were friends of Linda and were spending their summer working on the farm while visiting with each other. Another woman, probably close to my age was spinning away on some beautiful blue wool yarn. I liked how she had a woven basket (like the kind we used to buy fruit in) lined with fabric, sporting a frilly border and several balls of blue yarn neatly tucked into it. Another older woman joined us and was showing us the fiber she intended to blend together. I got to watch while she used paddles that looked huge in her hands to card the fiber before spinning (Carding is when you use paddles that look like dog brushes to brush your fiber out or blend it). My agenda was to learn to spin better. But I've noticed that spinners are very single-minded when they spin. I did learn many things, however. I learned how to use a ball winder and a skein winder (items I will need to purchase myself). "Ginger" was spinning very fine silk (I'm guessing about the weight here) lace weight yarn on a spindle. She also produced a tahkli spindle that she was using to spin cotton. I can't tell you how fine and perfect that cotton looked! I should probably explain that spindles are the low-tech way to spin and great for traveling because they are small. There are different types, top whorl, bottom whorl and the tahkli which has a small bowl that supports the spindle while you spin. That's a whole other discussion and one I've yet to learn myself! Ginger taught me so much about fiber. She's a DNA forensic specialist at the college and obviously a gifted teacher! She brought out sample locks of fiber to show me the difference between straight fiber and crimped fiber which gives more bounce and loft to the yarn. She told me about the short staple length (that's the length of each hair or fiber and it makes a big difference when you're spinning) of cotton and the difference in fiber diameter of different fleeces and fibers. My favorite moment was when she produced what looked like a brightly dyed hankie which was actually several layers of silk fiber. She peeled off one of the ever so fine layers which was in the shape of a flattened cocoon. It was like a oval cob web in blues and white. Then she began to pull the fibers and it turned into a beautiful gossemar strand with the colors becoming ethereal and delicate. Can you tell I think fiber is eye candy?
All the while everyone spun and chatted and they were very happy to answer any of my questions. I had such a great time. I would like go back one day. But next time I will have a mapped out plan and I think I will plan on staying in that cute little town of Stockton, New Jersey.
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