I'm teaching on September 13th!

Yes, it's true!
I'm teaching a class on how to use recycled materials to make yarn...at the Manitoba Fibre Festival!  (The photo's from my book, Knit Green, an oldie but a goody...)
Check out this lovely kind blog post for more information..and
  To register, go straight to this page on the Festival website.

Other things, in brief...
Strippy McStrippit, my new cardigan design, is now live on both Ravelry and Lovecrafts.com.  (If you live in North America, Lovecrafts even carries Einband, the yarn I used for the pattern sample, so it's easy one-stop shopping.

On an entirely different topic, if you want to read one of my newspaper articles--this one's about Canada's federal voting date, religious minorities, Jewish holidays, and reggae.  (No kidding, I had to throw in reggae...)  Check out this piece, published last Friday in Vancouver.
We are one people, one heart 

the Cubby Imp

On Sesame Street, there is a segment called Abby's Flying Fairy School.  The one I can't get out of my head is called "the Cubby Imp."  Essentially, there is this lonely guy who lives beneath the cubbies at school, and he steals people's stuff.  The characters at the fairy school have to get into his little lair and retrieve all their belongings.

The thing is, our household is usually pretty good at keeping track of our stuff.  I have the same keys my parents gave me to their front door when I was eight.  I hate losing things.

When I was pregnant, over five years ago, we did a bunch of painting and moving stuff around.  Substantial parts of my fiber arts life got moved around, including my floor loom, and I was just not physically able to sort it out then.  Plus, a lot of it was still in boxes from when we'd moved the year before, because that was how I'd stored it in my office.  It's a pretty easy leap from there to conclude that I have not had loads of time to tidy since having my twins, either. :)

Since then, things have been shifted and reshifted.  I am preparing to teach at the Manitoba Fibre Festival next week.  (Please come!  It will be super!)  I have all my students' bags stuffed with goodies, and all is well except for one thing.  I cannot find my tahkli spindle.  Now, you can teach about support spindles and cotton spinning without this spindle, but I just don't wanna.  I have this spindle and its little bowl, dang it.  I do.

I think the Cubby Imp took it.  AHHHH!  Actually though, I know that I have brought it as a demo spindle to other classes I've taught.  I wonder if it got left somewhere, like at a spindling class I did last winter.  Or, more likely, I brought home everything after the workshop and dumped it in my office and thought...I'll just sort this out later.  The thing is, I am exhausted after my workshops are over, and then I have to jump right into Mommy gear, and I lose track of things.

This never happened before I had twins!  

(Clarification...I was tired after teaching workshops. I had clutter... but I cleaned up and knew where things were...nearly all the time.)

A kind friend (the one that reviewed the spindle, above) is going to bring hers so I can show everybody what one looks like at my class.  AND, I still have a week to look for the darn thing.  However, it seemed like a good opportunity to start cleaning up.  I am trying.  Still, I am plagued by feeling like this darn spindle has disappeared because of fairies, or cubby imps or something.  It kills me that I have lost MY tahkli.  I don't even want to buy another.  I want to find the one I misplaced, you know?

--If you were a student in one of my spindling classes recently and read this blog (like, in the last few years...), did you see my brass tahkli spindle with the little brown pottery bowl it spins in?  When did I last have it!?

News you can use

 The Manitoba Fibre Festival is coming up!  It will be October 2nd and 3rd at the Red River Ex in Winnipeg.  This year is exciting; there is a new location, lots more space, shearing demos, sheep, loads more vendors and more.




I'm teaching a workshop: A Spinner's Breed Tasting.  Imagine a wine tasting flight (an oz or two of several wines) but for spinners.  (Now, we won't be eating fleece!  Just spinning it!) I hear there are still spots open so if you're local, please sign up soon.  I'm getting all the different samples and hand out ready.  It will be fun!  I can't wait!

I've also been getting ready for winter as only a knitter can.  I've been designing a new sweater 'on the needles' (as I knit) this summer.  As one of my twins says, "it's a sweater for mommy" and likely to suit others as well, so I hope to write up the pattern soon.  The best parts?  It's light and lofty, really fast on size 11 needles, and all in stockinette.  It's over-sized and knit all in one piece.  I could knit on it while I played soccer with my kids in the park.  (cross body knitting bag, big blunt needles, and endless stockinette in the round...ideal for many hours of summer play.)  Here are some sneak preview shots as the sweater blocked.  It's knit out of Alafoss Lopi, an Icelandic yarn that is perfect in all weights for winter here.  Light, lofty and warm.... it's still warm here during the day, but winter is coming.  I can feel it.

There's always more to say but I am short on time, so will leave you with photos instead. :)

want to take a class?

Psst! Hey Spinners!
I'm signed up to teach a workshop at New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival on Sunday, May 10th. Here's the description:

Many spinners rely exclusively on processed wool roving these days. What’s it like to take it back to the basics? This class will cover techniques for processing and spinning raw wool and washed locks. We’ll use a variety of basic tools to create yarns and get back to the way that many people around the world used to spin or still spin. Note: you need to be able to spin to take this class.

and here's the link to the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool website.

The thing is, nobody's signed up and paid the fee yet! ($35 before April 15, $45 afterwards...)
If no one signs up, I have to cancel the event. So, if you're in New England and you want to take the class, please check out the link above and pre-register with me soon! (I hear tell that a couple people are interested, but without the payment in hand...it's hard to tell if this is going to work!)

If you're not interested, but you know someone else who might want to learn about skirting, washing fleece, teasing, flick carding, hand cards, combs and raw fleece and more? Please let them know. (If you live in Tennessee, I'll be teaching this again locally on Memorial Day weekend.)

Sorry for this commercial break. Now, back to the regularly scheduled program....