leslee roberts :: shouting into the wind

louet classic drum carder

ever since i attended lexi boeger's plucky fluff camp at urban fauna studio in january, i've been seriously lusting for a drum carder. i've been checking out drum carders ever since but finally decided to go with the same one lexi uses in her class, the louet classic drum carder.

i put the deposit down on sunday and am waiting to hear when it comes into the shop.

oooh ahhhh!

spinning intensive - judith mackenzie mccuen

in march, i took a long weekend off and spent the time at a 3-day spinning retreat entitled "singles, plies and cables" hosted by morgaine of carolinahomespun.

it was held at the ymca camp at the point bonita lighthouse in the marin headlands -- a mere 15 minute drive from my house, across the golden gate bridge. here's the view from the camp, which is on a bluff, overlooking the ocean:

i arrived around 4pm on friday 3/13. i picked my bunk in the dorm and set up my wheel in the classroom. after dinner, we all headed to the classroom to spin.

the weather was off-and-on drizzly, rainy but it didn't matter because we were busy spinning from the moment we woke to the moment we fell into our bunks.

here's my mach 1 in the sea of spinning wheels:

here are the tables with our class materials -- there was so much to play with.

we worked with a huge variety of fibers, both plant and protein fibers, spinning them in various ways, plying and cabling them, varying the number of plies, the wraps per inch and the twist.

i have a sample book of some of the bast (plant) fibers we worked with but it was all i could do to keep up with the class.

our teacher was amazing -- judith mackenzie mccuin, author of two books (i have both of them), teach yourself visually handspinning and her newest book, the intentional spinner. i tried to soak up as much as i could but i'm sure i only managed to keep a very small percentage in my head and my hands.

an interesting segment of the class was getting to look at a whole fleece, how it is assessed and graded and finally how it is sorted. here you see it after it's been separated out into usable parts:

adding to the overall excitement was the little store morgaine set up in the classroom. similar to the beading and jewelry conferences i've attended, all the students keep a tab of the goodies they want to purchase from the store. we then tabbed out on the last day. this was soooooooooooo much fun!!!!!

spinning camp ended on monday 3/16 at 5pm. i packed up my many purchases, my wheel and all my camping stuff and drove home.

this was my first intense spinning experience -- overwhelming and exciting. by the time it ended, i was exhausted and drained but excited about getting back on the wheel at home to play with everything i'd learned. as a beginner (and there were a number of other beginners in the class), it was almost too much. when i returned to work, i actually felt like it was a relief from the intense retreat.

in spite of the intensity of this spinning camp, if you're a spinner, i would whole-heartedly recommend any class by judith -- she's so knowledgeable and she weaves her teaching into stories from her childhood, her businesses and her travels. my fellow spinners are a passionate group, warm and wonderful to share the experience with and i lucked out and had a great roomie, thanks cinda!

:: :: ::

i didn't realize it while i was at camp but i noticed something was amiss with my right hand about a day after i returned to work. i noticed that i was dropping things when trying to grasp them with my right hand. well, my hand was really swollen, especially the joints in my thumb. my carpal tunnel pain was acting up and my thumb and index finger were numb and tingling.

i stopped spinning and knitting and wore my wrist brace at night. the tingling has subsided and the wrist pain is nearly gone. the swelling is way down but i still have significant stiffness in my thumb joints. i can now knit and spin a little but i'm limiting it to 15-20 minutes at a time.

i have changed the way i spin so that my hands are held in a neutral position at all times. i will have to be careful and more aware of my hands because i love spinning so much i can get carried away with it.

i don't think i can do the next event, the golden gate fiber institute's summer intensive (6 days of instruction at the same location) due to other travel plans and my need to limit how much spinning i do at one time but i will be looking out for next year's 3-day spinning camp, for sure!!!

wonder woman

not too long ago, cheryl went to a comicbook conference. she picked up a lot of give-aways. here she is wearing her wonder woman crown:

cook your own food

i've been craving "cook your own food" but have had to wait until i replaced my ancient electric griddle which lost its cord. tonight was the night -- shrimp, chicken and rib eye steak -- all marinated in different sauces.

the griddle performed really well and, even more exciting, it cleaned up easily. i can see that i'll be using it often!