CHECK OUT MY AWESOME "CHALLENGE" YARN!
Need to jump start your spinning? Try organizing your own “Spinners Challenge” session!
The idea came to me after my recent road trip to Black Sheep Gathering.
Traveling to Oregon was both beautiful and inspiring. And there was so much to be inspired by at the event: The scrumptious, good-enough-to-eat colors of hand dyed fibers which begged to be spun; the gorgeous artisan made hand spindles and spinning wheels; and the endless vistas of Oregon and Northern California on the drive home — the trip was like a drink of water for my thirsty senses — and I NEEDED to be “re”- inspired!
Therefore, when my traveling buddy called me over for a “play date” – she wanted to learn to spin on her big “find “of the trip — a mint condition “California Bulky Spinner” ( and I just happen to have one of my own that I love ) I came up with a brilliant idea:
Why not plan our own creative “spinners challenge” for the day?
Confident that my inspiration was genius, I packed my own Bulky Spinner in the car, along with the brightest hand dyed fleece, angelina and threads from my “stash”, and headed off to my “date”.
Of course, being the BEST kind of friend, my buddy went for the idea in a flash; I would card up some wild batts on her drum carder, which we would then spin in tandem on our wheels, and ply with the space dyed sock yarn that I had brought along for color inspiration. This time, I would be in charge of color, texture, and technique, and we would both spin side by side, using the beauty of the “art batts” to make a chunky, textured single.
Well, it worked out even better than I had imagined. Not only did we have a glorious time, we came up with the most AMAZING yarn!
Here are a few pics of our day:
Is this an amazing art batt or WHAT?!
our 2 "kissing cousin" Bulky spinners - see their matching fiber bags?
Susan gets to know her new wheel
The plying yarn - which was also the inspiration for our batts
On the bobbin - isn't it awesome?
