Thursday, February 02, 2006

Did You Think I Left Permanently

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Mark Twain

I'm still out here, yet again. Computer problems for a bit, involving maybe a hacker and definately nasty viruses and wiped hard drive. Very busy making and selling crochet thread on ebay. Plus, I just wasn't feeling very festive over the holidays. I thought it would be best to keep to myself.

Last week, my mom helped me get a decent digital camera. It's so nice to be able to take nice pictures, like this one.



Go ahead and click for bigger. That's Bootsie and you can practically pet her plus spin the wool she's examining. That's so much better than trying to get the cat and wool to sit still on the scanner.

So, you would think that I have a ton of finished objects to show off by now, right? WRONG Actually, I started six new projects started spinning.




That's the spindle DBF made for me. We looked all over Home Depot for a rubber grommet. None was to be found. Then walking through the parking lot we saw one just laying there. It was near the car repair shop.

My daughter informed me they use them to hold the windows in place, or something like that. Anyhow, you can find them new in an auto parts store for pretty cheap. Or, you can come over here and scout the parking lot with me.

I've never had to take a class to learn any kind of needlwork. There was always someone around I knew, that knew what I wanted to learn. I don't know if it was just something pre-mid 80's, but people were just willing to freely impart needlework lessons and didn't charge for it.

It wasn't until the late 80's when my mom announced she was taking a quilting class that her friend was having. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Her best friend was now charging for knowledge that she used to share freely in the 70's. It really boggled my mind even more, that my mom was actually paying her. Since I had started quilting a couple years prior, simply by purchasing magazines and reading the articles.


I don't know anyone close by that spins. I've never seen anyone spin in person. But, I decided I would teach myself how. There's another mind boggling thought. To teach oneself. One assumes that being taught, there is a teacher, with knowledge, and a student, with none or very little knowledge.



So, I went about to gain knowledge, via the internet, of course. There's plenty of good sites out there. Plus, one cheap book, which wasn't anymore helpful than the websites. I'll save that story for another, maybe the next entry.




That's my first skein of handspun merino. I bought a pound of it from Winderwood Farm. He is just south of me in Naples. I hope this summer or fall to take a drive down there. I figured a pound would be plenty to play with and not have fits if I messed some of it up. Here's a closer picture. Click for bigger.





More on how I learned to spin in the next post. In a few days, not months this time. I promise.

By the way, I'm listing a bunch of yarn, thread, and spinning fibers on ebay. If you might be interested.

Happy needlework.

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