Fiber-O-Rama

Another very fun, all-day trip to The Fold yesterday. Linda, Jamie, Rachael and I headed out early (after one of Linda's world-class frittatas, made with eggs from her own chickens) and made it to Marengo shortly after 10 a.m. Toni is always so welcoming and was very happy to see us! Both Jamie and I brought our wheels, and we passed a very enjoyable morning in the cozy spinning space in Toni's store. Here's the gang.

Lunch in town - this time at a place called Dino's. We tried going to a Cafe place, but as we walked in the door, it was like walking into a horror movie for me - every single person in the place was smoking. I have asthma, and cigarette smoke is one of my triggers. I panicked (cue the Psycho shower music). Literally. And we went across the street - where every table also had an ashtray on it, but there was only one person in the place with a smoke, and he actually went next door to the bar. The food was pretty good! But, I think we'll likely stick with Flatlander in the future.

A stop at Marengo Feed and Seed (Linda's chickens . . . ;-D) and we headed back to Toni's.

In two weeks I am attending a 3-day spinning workshop, taught by Anne Field, in Lamar, Missouri. It's called Spinning Wool Beyond the Basics. For this workshop, I needed fine, medium and coarse wool, and some carded sliver. For a variety of reasons that I'll skip (you'd thank me), I needed to have my fiber already washed. Who ya gonna call? Who else?

When I spoke to Toni at the beginning of October about this, she said she didn't have any fleece, BUT that she was going to Rhinebeck (I keep hearing about this Rhinebeck . . . ) and would get me what I needed there and would wash it, saving me a raw lock of each, as requested, for the workshop. So - yesterday was the day for me to pick up my fiber - hence the road trip to Marengo.

Wheeee! It's all wonderful!!! And ALL stuff that I have have not had the opportunity to spin before. I have Cotswold, I have have Rambouillet, I have Corriedale!!! And the sliver is Cormo!! This is very exciting!! I have my own hand cards! Schacht (which I found much easier to use than Ashford). I have my own flick carder (Ashford)! Oh, and I broke down and got a ball winder! !!! :-D

Here is the back of the car . . . it's not quite as bad at it actually appears, because there is 50 pounds of chicken grit, and 75 pounds of chicken food for Linda's chickens in there, and it takes up a really lot of room; however, you can see why we always take my car on these excursions. :-D

On the way home - we made a stop at a brand new place: Grace Farm Studios where I got some more fiber I have not tried before: Icelandic wool roving (Holliberry Icelandics - from a sheep named Firethorn! That's not him, that's Aragorn, but he's about the same color). Jamie and Rachael each made smaller purchases. It's a very nice place, and worth the stop if you're in the Woodstock/Marengo area.

One more stop - at a DunkinDonuts for Jamie and Linda to get coffee - I swear, I never heard such a palaver over coffee - McDonald's wouldn't do, gas station coffee wouldn't do. I was ready to put them both out of the car! But, they got their coffee and all was calm - and we headed back to the City.

A lovely end to a lovely day - as Rachael and Jamie went on their respective ways, Linda and I spend a great evening looking at knitting books (a never-ending source of entertainment, it seems ;-D) and enjoying a great dinner together.

This has been a real week of prep for this workshop. After my last lesson with PatsyZ, she loaned me her Forsythe mini wool combs. This is one of those things where you just sort of KNOW that something is right for you. As I knew with my Lendrum wheel, I knew - without trying any others - that the Forsythe combs are the combs for me. I decided to go ahead and get a pair, and discovered the guy who makes them is on sabbatical! Mad calling around the country to find some . . . no luck, until I got to The Shuttleworks, in Canada. Forsythe Mini Viking Wool combs w/clamp are on their way to me - along with the 4-pitch combs (I'm a complete maniac).

I'm ready to go - and a little anxious. I am a beginner, and I've discovered that I'm more intuitive than technical with my spinning thus far. Anne Field appears to me to be just the opposite, so this will be a real learning experience, I'm sure :-)