PLAYING HOOKEY!

Yesterday was an absolutely delightful change of pace for me. I am always on the run, either for my family or volunteering for various clubs, or running the businesses. Instead, I played hookey for the first time in MONTHS! Stephen and Ken had a father/son day while mom ran off to play at one of Susan Withnell’s (Storybook Dreams Angoras) legendary Spin-Ins!

I met some great people, including a spinner named Lissa, who was seated next to me and kept the group in stitches with extremely funny stories! Alice, seated next to her, owns a fiber mill called the Drafting Zone, and it was interesting to hear her talk about the various ways they prepare fiber and what works and what doesn’t. I found out that she hosts a spinner’s group every third Sunday of the month, so maybe I will get to play hookey more often!

It was interesting to see how many spinners there owned Lendrums – I think their popularity has skyrocketed in the last few years. I know I LOVE mine, even though I kept eyeing the Ashford Joy being used next to me. One spinner brought her new Hitchhiker, which has received a lot of attention lately on the Spin List. The hitchhiker was designed to be used in the passenger seat of a car, and the aesthetic design of this wheel is very whimsical. She was kind enough to let us all try it out. I thought I would really like it, but was disappointed with the amount of energy required to keep it going. The single treadle is shaped like a foot, which is really cute, but I felt like I had to contort my body to push down on the pedal, and the action definitely was very choppy. Oh well – great concept, but I will stick to drop spindling in the car.

Another interesting wheel brought by a spinner named Sid was the Babe. This wheel is made with PVC pipe and weighs practically nothing. It had a very smooth action, and it was nice to get to see this wheel in person.

Another spinner named Heidie brought a really interesting hand spindle. I was fascinated to watch how effortlessly she was able to spin a super fine merino thread and keep the spindle going. I gave it a try later in the day, not very successfully, much to Heidie’s amusement!

It was a great afternoon, complete with lots of fiber, spinning, baby bunnies , great people, and fantastic food (Susan’s layered taco dip was a big hit!). I am really pleased that I was able to attend and spend a great afternoon with fellow fiberholics. The best part was that I actually got an entire project done from beginning to end – an absolutely delicious alpaca merino blend in various shades of dusty rose that I Navaho plied and wound off before the party was over. Here is the skein, after being washed and twist set, dried and ready to go!

A big thank you to Susan for hosting us all at her house!

Hi. My name is Daniela Anderson. After repeated nudging from my friends, I have entered the 21st century and decided it was time to create a blog. I plan on using this blog to talk about my various interests and businesses: breeding and showing Shelties (Adiron Shetland Sheepdogs) and Angora bunnies (OakGrove Angora Rabbitry), fiber and art related passions including Hand Spinning, Knitting, Temari, Kumihimo, Dyeing, Stained Glass, Mosaics, Quilting, Cake Decorating and whatever other project I have going at the moment, Organic Gardening, Tennis, and Book Collecting (thanks to Ebay, this passion is now much easier to indulge, much to my hubby's dismay!).

My husband's main hobby (besides golf and skiing) is running a Ford Mustang in the SCCA Club Racing American Sedan class. We currently are in the middle of the MARRS season - Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series. We belong to the Washington DC Area SCCA, where Ken is the drivers' rep for Big Bore and I am the trophy chairman for club racing events and design the dash plaques for the MARRS series. I hope to use this blog to keep Ken's racing/hobby news updated as well!

I hold a B.A. in Fine Arts from Dickinson College, but always have been passionate about animals, so in the past I have been a professional riding instructor and coach, sport horse breeding farm manager, dog obedience instructor and dog show handler, and currently own a grooming shop called the Dapper Dog Grooming Salon. I have been a professional groomer for over 10 years and LOVE it! I have been fortunate enough to apprentice under top breeders and handlers over the years and work in top-ranked salons, and finally opened my own shop after the birth of my son almost three years ago. I love the fact that I can be a stay-at-home mother and run a business at the same time.


My other business is called Fetching Fashions. I do custom appliqued silhouettes of show quality dog breeds on garments, travel luggage, etc. This started out as a lark about 9 years ago when I designed some nice garments for some of my sheltie friends to wear to a show - I now have seamstresses working for me helping me create and produce high-end, quality items that I have been pleased to see go out by the hundreds every year! I have taken a break from vendoring at shows this year to focus on some new lines, but I PROMISE not to leave my clients hanging in 2006! I plan on vendoring at a few Nationals in 2006 - I hope to post a schedule as I finalize plans for next year.

As you can see, we keep busy in the Anderson household. I will post as often as my schedule allows! Thanks for checking in!

Woof Woof!
-Daniela