Remember that story about meeting some fab folks in a trailer(camper) at Fibre Week? One of them was Frazzlehead and one was Flannelberry. I just stumbled (ish, I was grooving over at the Olds Master Spinner group on Rav) upon Flannelberry's website. Oh. My. Fibre! Great prices! And and and!!! The most exciting part! Discounts for Rural people!! Discounts!! OhMyGosh. Okay so the reason this is exciting is because I'm rural. Oh so much more rural then most. Literally, the highway ends all of 1 mile north of my house. (or maybe 2, but what's the dif when we are talking about highways ending?) Anyway, inexpensive fibre, bonus discounts to peeps who live where most wouldn't dare, and heck, she's a really nice lady to boot.
Guess who's spending her [husbands] money on stuff she really doesn't need right now?
Update. I did it. I bought fibre I don't need. But I'll use it, I swear! I'll let you know how beautiful it is when it gets here!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Master Spinner Course at Olds College
I thought I'd better get into what exactly the Master Spinner Course is. And what better way to do that so thoroughly then with a link! Fibre Week! And of course some words ;D
The course is a 6 year course, each year getting more and more in depth. There is so much knowledge simply in level one, that it's quite overwhelming to think of what the whole course will teach me!
And it's not just simply a class. The Master Spinners course takes place during Fibre Week in Olds, Alberta Canada. Many people from all over North America come up to Olds for one full week of fibre related fun! There are many classes to take, from knitting, to weaving, to felting, and of course spinning and everything in between that relates to the world of wool.
Let me tell you, Fibre Week is heaven on earth. There is not one angry soul, not one stuck up know-it-all. You walk in to any room and you are greeted with this huge blast of positive energy. Smiles on everyone's faces, a friendly hello! You can walk up to anyone, and start a conversation and they don't think you're nuts, nor are you met with any reservation. (You know those times when you enter a group -Mom group, new fitness class etc.- where you say hi and they look at you like you might be made of kryptonite and they are Super Man. Yeah, that does not happen at Fibre Week)
Heck, you can even walk up to one of the campers (because you can haul in a camper and sleep in there if you wish, or there are dorms or condos, which are great) inquiring about BFL Fleeces and discover a couple wonderful ladies who don't have any fleece, but they do know where to get some and show you a new knitting stitch you thought was difficult but it's not. And then proceed to have a 20 minute conversation about stuff.
You can sit down at the fashion show with your hand cards and a bag of fleece and not be that 'weirdo' in the corner.
And the team of people who put this all together! They are fabulous. They are helpful. They are kind. And they so just an amazing job putting together such a great week.
Basically to sum it up, Why is it not fibre year!?
I can't wait until next summer. But until then there is a lot of homework to be done!
~Kara
The course is a 6 year course, each year getting more and more in depth. There is so much knowledge simply in level one, that it's quite overwhelming to think of what the whole course will teach me!
And it's not just simply a class. The Master Spinners course takes place during Fibre Week in Olds, Alberta Canada. Many people from all over North America come up to Olds for one full week of fibre related fun! There are many classes to take, from knitting, to weaving, to felting, and of course spinning and everything in between that relates to the world of wool.
Let me tell you, Fibre Week is heaven on earth. There is not one angry soul, not one stuck up know-it-all. You walk in to any room and you are greeted with this huge blast of positive energy. Smiles on everyone's faces, a friendly hello! You can walk up to anyone, and start a conversation and they don't think you're nuts, nor are you met with any reservation. (You know those times when you enter a group -Mom group, new fitness class etc.- where you say hi and they look at you like you might be made of kryptonite and they are Super Man. Yeah, that does not happen at Fibre Week)
Heck, you can even walk up to one of the campers (because you can haul in a camper and sleep in there if you wish, or there are dorms or condos, which are great) inquiring about BFL Fleeces and discover a couple wonderful ladies who don't have any fleece, but they do know where to get some and show you a new knitting stitch you thought was difficult but it's not. And then proceed to have a 20 minute conversation about stuff.
You can sit down at the fashion show with your hand cards and a bag of fleece and not be that 'weirdo' in the corner.
And the team of people who put this all together! They are fabulous. They are helpful. They are kind. And they so just an amazing job putting together such a great week.
Basically to sum it up, Why is it not fibre year!?
I can't wait until next summer. But until then there is a lot of homework to be done!
~Kara
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Spin heart, spin.
This. This picture. Does it make your fingers move, just so slightly? Does it make your foot tap out a perfect, steady rhythm? Was the first thing you noticed the pile of lovely dyed fleece on the floor? Or was it one of the wheels? Maybe you even noticed the pile of mini skeins natured dyed into fabulous 1970's colours sitting on the back counter. If you encountered any of these things, then you get it.
This picture is the Master spinner level 1, taught my Marj Sojstrom, class room.
Master spinner?
yes! Master spinner!
Wait, what are you talking about? there are no bikes.
Okay, lets reverse a bit.
Once upon a story… One day while cruising Crafster.org -which I happened to stumble upon through a post on diaperswappers.com- clicking through most recent post thumbnails, I see this yarn. And I think to myself 'Ooh what pretty yarn! I wonder where they bought it, and what did they make with it?!' *click* *scroll scroll* wait. WAIT. WHAT?!?!!!! You MADE that YARN?!!!?!!! I didn't know you could make yarn!!! I wanna make yarn!! Honey look look!! This person MADE YARN. MADE it! But how?? Searching and a few 100 questions later, I discovered it was as simple as a dowel with a disc on it, and some wool. So the first chance I got I went out and bought myself a heavy drop spindle (the fancy term for the dowel/disc thingy) and about 2oz of what I think was merino roving. From that first finger flick I was hooked. I still have that yarn. I dyed it with koolaid. It's been felted. It's a pretty sorry mess to be honest, but it was my first. I love that yarn. And just to still your curiosity, here it is:
Okay so fast forward two and a half years, and here we are. Two and half years of spinning, not on a bike, but on a spinning wheel. Making yarn for the sake of making yarn. Putting wool to the wheel and letting my heart guide me. Nearly two years ago, I learned of a place where people who love fibre, who love to spin, who love yarn, get together and for just over 1 week, they learn and teach and socialize with people who get it. This year, I finally got to go. I took the Master Spinner level 1 course. And this blog is my journey. And I thought that, maybe, if I shared it with the world, someone out there will stumble upon it and discover that they too can create yarn, with their own two hands. And fall in love, find themselves, find something that moves them. The way I found myself, fell in love with my wheel, and found something that moves me.
~Kara
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)