Manitoba Fibre Festival & A Spinning Class

I may have mentioned before that I've been working with a friend to help organize a fibre festival here in Manitoba.  Well, actually, my friend, Margaret Brook, has done the lion's share (or is that ram's share?) of the work.  I have worked behind the scenes, making suggestions, talking up people at the farmer's market, printing flyers, and trying to support my friend as she does the heavy lifting.  I am so excited and pleased that Winnipeggers will now have a chance to make connections right in town with local fibre producers and to learn, buy, and gather to discuss all things fibre!

Of course, if you live in North Dakota, or South Dakota, or in Ontario or Saskatchewan, this might also be the festival for you...we'd love to have you!

I am also teaching an informal spinning class at the festival.  I believe there are still spaces left!  Here is the description:

 "Ask a spinner!" 

Instructor: Joanne Seiff
Spinning is a solitary activity; lots of questions can pop up on your own. Many of us experiment or research by ourselves, but sometimes it is good to talk out solutions with your peers. Join Joanne Seiff, longtime spinner, fibre arts writer and educator, as she facilitates a question and answer learning session covering anything to do with spinning. Bring your own wheel or spindle, some fibre, and a willingness to ask questions and share the answers you’ve found on your own. 

1:00 - 3:00 pm    2 hours
Registration fee: $20
No materials cost

To register for my workshop (or any of the others!), visit the festival workshop page here and click on the Paypal "Buy Now" button for the appropriate class.

I am really looking forward to seeing you at the festival!

A new year

It is time to update the blog and keep up with all the things that are happening.  The professor and I (and twins) are visiting family for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  This is the first time we have managed a high holidays family visit in over 10 years!  It is the beginning of the school year, when professors start teaching (but the professor is not teaching this fall) and, well, the stars aligned and we flew east.  So far, the twins have seen lots of family, gone to a few playgrounds, ridden the DC Metro for the first time, and had several other big adventures.

I am taking a break with family and from trying to juggle everything in Winnipeg: toddlers, running our household and working whenever I can manage but had some things to share.

Learning to ask where our food is from just appeared in the Forward...this is a revision of what I originally wrote, but it is probably a kinder and gentler piece now!  Here's one of the photos I sent; a canning photo with more frills appeared with the piece, but this is what my apricot jam and saskatoon jams looked like this fall. (yes, I have managed some canning this summer, and I am so excited to have a full pantry again, I have not managed to can since 2010 so this is huge!)

A little while ago, this article about "helping hands" appeared in the Forward as well. I am so glad to get a chance to continue talking about the issues of helping new moms and new families--there has been a lot of quiet feedback from women of all ages about my two articles on this topic. More women struggle with these issues than you might imagine; our society needs to step up and help more! Finally, I am so pleased with recent interest in my new pattern, Slippy the cowl. It has been slowly beginning to sell, and I cannot wait to see knitters' versions as they appear on Ravelry and the blogosphere. All this seems like it is worth sharing as we begin 5774, the new year, and a brand new school year.