Pleasant Day at Whimsical Wool in LaHarpe, Kansas

My daughter, Jennie, and granddaughter, Lala, and I spent the afternoon today with fellow KansasKnitter Elizabeth at her yarn shop Whimsical Wool in LaHarpe. She has a neat little store that's cozy and inviting. She's starting small, and is only open 3 days a week, but if you are around LaHarpe on Tues., Thurs., or Saturday, you should stop in and visit.

Remember all my talking about discovering drop spindle spinning? Elizabeth invited me to the store to teach me how to use my new spindle. Boy, does she know her stuff! I can't begin to tell you all she taught us but it sure had my interest. Not only does Elizabeth understand spinning, she's up on spinning history. Like me, she isn't a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, but we both find elements of the group intriguing. (For me it's costuming, crafting and creating a persona that is interesting. I have no desire to wear armor or joust.)

Elizabeth showed us how to work the roving and stretch it to get a thread going, then how to work the spindle to spin it. I had expected my spinning to be as thick as worsted wool. She explained that what we were spinning was just one ply of the final yarn. Individual plys are put together to build yarn. Different weights of yarn have different numbers of plys. Ah! The light dawns.

Lala began talking about Sleeping Beauty and the spinning wheel, so Elizabeth showed her a real spinning wheel and how it worked. She also showed Lala a different wheel used for making fine yarn, such as cotton or silk. This wheel had a needle spindle, such as the one in the fairy tale. Lala touched it very carefully and agreed that would be sharp enough to prick the princess' finger.

I know this is the Year of the Stash, but I had to buy some yarn. Being a good girl, I started making a hat to use up the sock yarn left over from my latest pair of socks. I did use up the yarn -- before the hat was finished. So that was a valid reason to buy enough yarn to finish the hat, right?

So now I have a new interest (spinning) and a fantasy of raising angora rabbits (don't have space for sheep) so I can grow my own yarn. Hm... no, Pat has sworn he doesn't do rabbits... Maybe I should perfect the spinning before I worry about a source of fiber...

Wamego Wool Fest 2009

Lala and Lisa at the Wamego Oz Museum

My friend Lisa, granddaughter Lala and I made it to Wamego. I saw several KansasKnitters there, so I believe we had a good turn out. Some of the vendors were surprised we came from so far away to see their wares.

We had a great time petting yarn, watching demos, and adding a few lines of stitches to the giant scarf project they had in the works. The goal is to make a scarf that will wrap around the entire room we were in by the time they hold another event in late Spring/early Summer. (didn't catch the details on that part.)

Even Lala, age 9, had a good time. She learned to needle felt. I now have a dark pink heart with a lighter pink "breast cancer" ribbon inside it to wear on my coat. Lisa received a felted Goldilocks for her sweater and Lala made a braided/felted breast cancer ribbon for her mom.

Lisa and I are now proud owners of drop spindles and some roving, but we aren't too certain what to do with them. Lala was humming "Baa Baa Black Sheep" at me as we were getting in the car, because I had 3 bags full. (Hey!T'were Ziplock  bags.) Sheep's wool, Alpaca, and Mohair. Don't know what I'll make from them, but it will probably be something small like scarves or hats. Some of KansasKnittersters talked about finding bamboo roving, but I didn't notice it or I would have tried that, too. Who knows. Next I may learn to dye yarn.

It looks like the spinning demos inspired many of us -- and reinforced those who already knew how. Lisa and I talked to a young girl named Ashley -- okay, she was young to me but probably college age (Lisa's age.) Dressed in black and very Goth, with a odd hairdo, spiked leather dog-collar necklace and strange jewelry, she made quite a contrast sitting there doing such a traditional craft as hand spinning yarn. She made spinning with a drop spindle look so-o-o easy. We caught the spinning bug from her. Spindles today, wheels tomorrow!

After talking to Ashley, we chatted with some of the vendors. One of the ladies had some expensive, weighted wheels to sell, but she told us there are lots of patterns available on the Internet. She showed us drop spindles that were made from CDs CDs and dowel rods. Talk about inexpensive equipment! My son always has a supply of "coasters" fCDs CDs that didn't burn properly. Since Lisa is his girlfriend, she has access to that stash... Hm... Resources! avarousricious leer> However, we opted for "real" ones made from wood that another vendor was selling. They were heavier. (Okay, they were the same spindle Ashley was using, so we thought we'd seen how they should be used.)

You know, watching someone do it IS NOT the same as doing it yourself? I chatted with Lisa online online later that evening. Neither of us was having any success getting started. Elizabeth of Whimsical Wool in LaHarpe, Ks., has come to the rescue. She heard my whimperings on a Kansasknits post and told me offline that she could teach me how to use this new toy. I will be visiting her very soon.

Motorcycling and KIPing to Mississippi and Back

Old Natchez Trace north of Jackson, Mississippi

Pat and I just returned from a 5 day vacation, from August 28 to Sept. 1. We rode his Honda Pacific Coast to Jackson, Mississippi, visited family there, then took the Natchez Trace north and worked our way back to Kansas via Arkansas and Missouri. We may have been the only tourists caught among a host of folks from Louisiana running before Hurricane Gustav. We didn't quit seeing Louisiana tags until Sunday in Russellville, Arkansas.

Bike travel means traveling light. We had a couple of pairs of jeans each and several t-shirts, and our toothbrushes, but I managed to bring my yarn with me! It was safely stashed in the backpack purse I wore. I wasn't ready to knit while biking down the road at 70 mph, but I did bring it out every time we made a serious stop -- for cold drinks, for a meal, for the night.

I am working on socks for me. This is the first pair where I've tried to work a lace pattern on the sock. (Cables I have done, but never lace.) It's a mixed success. I've mastered the pattern, but I have sport weight yarn, not fingering weight yarn. It doesn't look as delicate as it should. Ah, well, they will be warm. I'll need that in our 100-year-old house come winter.

I was disappointed that we didn't find any yarn stores along the way. I'm sure there were plenty, but I didn't search the net for them before we left, so we didn't know where to go for them. Next time, I'll know better.

We did stop at the Mississippi Crafts Center a bit north of Jackson, just off the Trace. I talked to a woman who was spinning silk. Small world that it is, she used to live in Midlothian, Texas, just south of Grand Prairie where I lived for over 20 yrs! She was a regular at Scarborough Faire, the Renaissance Faire outside Waxahatchie, Tex. and she knew of Steve's friend, Bull, who works at Excalibur Swords. Now that's just getting weird...

I was fascinated by the lady's spinning. She has one of the small spinning wheels like some of my Kansas friends have. I really am going to have to learn to spin. It does look interesting.

Talk about a yarn stash! I can't knit all the yarn I have now. What would I do if I started spinning my own yarn? Hm... Well, I'd have the right weight yarn for my lace socks, that would be one thing. And fingering weight would pack even smaller on the next bike ride. Gee, that does sound promising!