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!