Fiber frolic
On Sunday the Southern California Handweavers' Guild held their annual show and sale at the Torrance Civic Center. I went last year with some experienced spinners, but this year I was the experienced spinner, sheperding Shannon and Mary-Heather around the tables groaning with goodies. This show and sale is small scale, not like the huge fiber fests back East. There were a lot of small vendors selling soaps, books, yarn, fiber, patterns, etc. This year being the 60th anniversary of the guild, there were a couple of women who were honored for their lifetime achievement, and Mary-Heather's going to do a writeup on an incredible woman, Suzie Henchie (sp, MH?).
Say cheese! Photo courtesy of, and copyright Shannon.
I was picky with my haul. What did I want from this sale? Mmm. I knew I wanted to try different types of wool, both sheep and other. I wanted some Crosspatch Creations batt, didn't matter which; I regretted not buying any last year. Here's what I got in the end:
At top left is 4 ounces of moorit Shetland from Stick and Stone Fiber Arts, a lovely brown (with hints of red) mass of fluffiness. To the right is 2 ounces of gray-brown Yak from Peace of Yarn, so downy soft. Then there's the 2 ounce ball of Alpaca/Llama/Wool mix from Cheltenham Cottage. Mariepaule Rossier showed us some handspun alpaca gloves and an exquisite merino/tencel (machine-spun) shawl. The ball is a combination of long hairs and down, so it will be an interesting spinning session. I never got around to asking her what the "Wool" part of the mix was, and what percentages, so I'll just play around.
A roughly 4 ounce bag of Joan Contraman's Crosspatch Creations (yay!) in a "New 2005 Color" Country Quilt. A combination of Romney, tussah silk and silk noil, it looks like an Impressionist landscape. I grabbed the bag from the enormous pile on the table and stared at it, trying to think of a Monet painting, possibly one of his Haystacks or this version of the Rouen cathedral, so lively and yet muted are the colors. This should be a joy to spin. I've found that the Crosspatch Creations Black Gold mix that Andrea gave me was interesting stuff to figure out; maybe that's the whole charm of these particular fiber mixes.
Lastly, I got Paula Simmons' Spinning for Softness & Speed (you know how I feel about this book already), and Nola and Jane Fournier's In Sheep's Clothing: A Handspinner's Guide to Wool. Lately I've become fascinated with sheep breeds and their fiber characteristics, and this bok has helpfully categorized them into Fine, Long and Crossbred, and Down wools. A useful resource, in addition to the links in one of my older posts. I'm also fascinated by their natural colors, which is why you see those above. Capistrano Fiber Arts, which had fabulous colorways, was at the sale as well; I just read Francesca's post that Stick and Stone will be carrying their fibers. Good to know.
At the fashion show I spotted this tall girl modeling a stole and immediately recognized Jillian! We called her and her friend Madge over and had a mini blogger exchange. It was great to see her again, and we would've talked some more, but someone came over to shush us and we had to leave the show. Oh well.
I was in full sensory overload with all the fiber and colors. I was so inspired watching people spin, and seeing Shannon and Mary-Heather's efforts, I've decided that this month I'll put aside the needles. I took a break during Socktoberfest, so I have this need to go back to a more tactile experience before the start of the colorwork kal. I've been in a project slump for the past two weeks, so it's good to have a goal once again.
Blogworthy: Clotilde Dusoulier of popular food blog Chocolate & Zucchini will have her cookbook out next year! This is one recipe book I'm looking forward to acquiring, as I've been reading her forever.
