Antique Spinning Wheel and Knitting Progress

I completed a little project – a small purse with a finger-woven handle – and a a bonus,      a yarn snake to “hide inside”.   Who says little girls have to play with dolls!   They can play with truck, mud, insects, and even toy snakes!   (I’m thankful that when I grew up, daddy wasn’t focused on “girl toys” vs. “boy toys” – he was thrilled that his girls were interested in trucks, trains, baseball, and Erector sets!)

 

I also made a cute little cup cozy for my friend Paula….part of her birthday presents.   She loves mermaids, so I thought this would be perfect!  (It’s blocking right now…)

 

 

At spinning this week, Alice showed off the adorable antique spinning wheel she’s “fostering” – isn’t it adorable?   It’s a very petite and elegant French wheel of some sort.

 

 

 

Here are a couple of close-ups….it’s just gorgeous!

Western Loudoun Artist Studio Tour

Once again, Blue Ridge Spinners and Weaver’s participated in the Western Loudoun Studio tour.  There were lots of GORGEOUS hand crafted item to purchase – from yarns to finished shawls, scarves, an other goodies.    I spent most of the day on Sunday demonstrating spinning with some of my fellow guild members.  

The big bonus of the day was that I actually won the drawing for the hand woven coverlet!   I was both astonished and absolutely thrilled beyond belief.  (Can you see the absolute joy in my eyes????) This coverlet is incredible – definitely a work of art!   Each square was made by a member of the guild…and Chantal, with her expertise as a seamstress, stitched it all together into this fabulous “Objet d’Art!”  (I felt like I had just won the Miss America contest….tears came to my eyes and everything!!!

Of course, I’m still fascinated with looms….and will be taking a class on how to weave soon!   Check out these cuties that filled the room….and the cute little tape loom as well!

Spinning at the Mannings

It’s hard to believe that a full year has passed and it’s time once again for the annual “Spinning Seminar” at the Mannings in East Berlin, PA!   What a fabulous day it was – the weather was absolutely perfect.   It was warm (not hot!) AND there was relatively low humidity.   There was also a gentle breeze blowing across the yard.    (When I arrived back home in VA, I definitely figured out where the humidity had gone – it was AWFUL!!!!    I just about turned around and headed back north!)

 

There were sheep shearing demos – check out the before and afters of some of Roclans’ sheep!   They look so naked after they’ve been sheered!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw some awesome spinning wheels – like this Journey Wheel (left).   What a sweet and compact wheel!    And check out the spinning wheel on the right – it has TWO wheels!!

 

 

I started spinning what I’m calling my “ice cream roving”.  It’s pink, brown, and white….just like Neopolitan Ice Cream!   Mmmmmm!

    

 

 

 

 

 

This woman made spinning cotton on a Lendrum look so easy, that I purchased a pound of cotton with the intention of spinning and then weaving it into a blouse…like the one she’s wearing.   

I learned that the natural colored cotton she’s spinning and wearing gradually fades throughout the day…but once it’s washed, the color becomes more prominent again. 

 

  In addition to the wide variety of spinning wheels, one of the demos showed off a very primitive type of loom using various interesting items as the weights for the warp.   It was fascinating!!!

 

The fabric woven isn’t very dense – it produces a very light open weave. 

 

 

 

These weights look like  doughnuts!   How wild is that!?!?

 

 

 

The weight on the right are actually some little bags full of aquarium gravel.   What a creative way to recycle!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was also a Nuno felting demo.   I just love this process!  Using silk, you artfully lay some fibers on top  and using just some water, soap, and friction, you force the fibers through the silk to produce a very warm, colorful, and lightweight scarf.

There was a felting demo as well.   My favorite part of that was the line of felted skulls….LOVE IT!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was even a group there demonstrating the art of “Sprang”.  I became fascinated by this craft a few years ago…it seems to have had a recent resurgence in popularity.   There’s even a Yahoo Sprang group!

 

 

 

As always, there’s an enormous variety of looms and wheels for sale within the shop at the Mannings.  

   

As always, I took to way too many photos!   So, I’ve added this photo album that’s featuring a few of them that I didn’t have room to include in the main post!

View Full Album

The final photos are of this absolutely fascinating TeePee – it’s crafted out of knitted and crocheted pieces.   What a remarkable piece of art!