Rhinebeck, NYC Spin-Out, Going Home To Dah Hood, Consistency in Spinning and MORE

One thing that's been clearly driven home to me is that when I only write a blog post once a month, A LOT has often happened within that month that I'd like to discuss. I feel like a very enthusiastic Mt. Vesuvius bubbling over with thoughts and emotions. Hopefully the results of my tappings won't have the same effect that the AD 79 Vesuvius eruption had on Pompeii. Where to start? I'll begin with a story. A true story that you spinners and even non-spinners (ok, ok, muggles) out there may get a kick out of...

When I was still a green sapling of a spinner in the 80's, I asked what I thought was a stronger Oak tree of a spinner to come over to help me with my Saxony wheel (which I no longer have) and to demonstrate carding. We agreed on an hourly fee and I threw in tea and snacks, if I remember correctly. Here's my version of what happened. I was having trouble treadling and Oak tree said I needed to loosen the doo-hickey leather thingy that attached the treadle to the footman. When sufficiently loosened to Oak tree's taste, the treadle hit the floor with a bang and Oak tree declared it now perfect. I think perhaps one of my eyebrows raised and wrinkled my forehead but hey, she was the Oak tree and I was the mere sapling. Next I asked her to demonstrate hand carding. She took my Clemes and Clemes carders (I didn't have my fave Louet Cotton Hand Carders for most of my wool work then) with GOBS of wool on top of the metal teeth, and proceeded to SLAP...HARD...the carders together in the air. She proclaimed this is how some sage of a spinner she had known had taught her to card and it most definitely was the correct way to do so. This time both of my eyebrows crinkled upwards in the sheer wonder of it all. No wonder I have wrinkles etched into my forehead forever.

Now those who have taken spinning classes with me know I usually...somewhere in the first hour of our meeting together...proclaim to take my advice and the wisdom of anyone else who they study under with a grain of salt. I proceed to explain that we're ALL opinionated and to consider carefully what bursts of knowledge are spewed forth from us instructors/authors/mountain-top spinning Divas...but to recognize what really matters is what YOU think and to use your own common sense to get the results YOU want.

It's my feeling, and something I've written about before, that the only really wrong things you can do in spinning is: 1) hurt your body as you practice various techniques; 2) hurt your equipment as you practice various techniques. The above story demonstrates #2 big-time. And probably #1, as well, if I kept slapping my carders in the air with gusto. Surely I'd whack my arms with those metal teeth if ever my slapping aim was misjudged.

Moral of the story...and surely you knew this was coming...take all spinning advice with a grain of salt. And that includes what you read on people's blogs, including mine. YOU are the best judge of what works for YOU. Though keep in mind you have every right to change your mind at any given point without notice. Spinner's prerogative.

If you've been a reader of the spider for awhile you'll most probably have noticed that I keep my current workshop schedule at the top of every page. Every single page. After all, that is partly how I make my living. The rest comes from writing, some of which you'll find in Jenny's Published Ponderings, also found on the left sidebar. Advertising it is. Blatant advertising. But hopefully useful to you should you wonder where I'm teaching. If you'd like to book me to teach for your group/shop/conference, please go to Jenny's Current Workshop Offerings, located on the left sidebar, as well. That said, Jenny From The Block (no, not JLo, you sillies) is going home to dah hood in November. That's right, I fly into Detroit, where I was born, and head up north to Howell, Michigan for three days of spinning classes at The Spinning Loft. This is very exciting, indeed. I've no idea how full my classes are by now but do go to the Spinning Loft's site if you're in driving distance and think you'd like to join us. Bravo and thank you to Beth, owner of the Spinning Loft and wondrous woman who hired me. She is kindly flying me in and out of Detroit's Metro Airport, picking me up and driving me back to said airport, putting me up (and perhaps, putting up with me! Ha!), feeding me and allowing me to teach in her shop. Woo-hoo! Hope to see YOU there!!

More personal plugs come in the form of some of my non-spinning writing shown on the author, Gregory Lang's, blog. Mr. Lang, author of MANY books, at least one of which was on the NY Times Bestseller List, saw the write-up about my Dad on the past post, My Dad & more on hand carding. He e-mailed me and asked if I'd like to contribute to his upcoming book, "Daddy's Little Girl: Stories of the Special Bond Between Fathers and Daughters," due out in February 2008 by HarperOne, imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Recently Gregory wrote a blog post entitled, Joy of Living, featuring one of my contributions to his book. Thought you may like to take a jaunt over to Gregory's blog and give it a read.

In the above pic you'll see a tray-full of green, just fallen, Black Walnuts that Chris and I stumbled on at Greenfield Community College, where Alexander, youngest of the spider, goes to school. When I say stumble...I mean stumble. Chris and I were enjoying our walk around the labrynth of stone and grass, located at the back of one of the GCC buildings. Just beyond the labrynth, lining a fence, were several, large Black Walnut trees, with walnuts underneath that hadn't been buried by industrious squirrels just yet. What better gift could a natural dyer ask for?! Oh, and we DID leave plenty of nuts for the squirrels, too. I can't help but include a line Chris has said over the years to me many a time, "Wants some nuts, chippie?" heh, heh...

Long ago I stopped removing the hulls from Black Walnuts for dyeing. Instead, I dry them as you see above, in my dye studio. The upside-down tray below the tray of walnuts airs out the nuts so that they don't go moldy. Plus, if little worms drop out from the cracked, drying nuts, it's not such a problem when they do so on the cement floor of the studio...not so great when they slither around on our living room carpet, as they had in the distant past...

While the fibers in the above pic are not from this year's walnut haul, they are all from a brewed pot of dried, whole, Black Walnuts and plain ol' water. No mordant was needed nor used to get the colors above. Fibers include: grey Romney X fleece (the darkest brown fleece); Coopworth fleece, mohair locks, mohair top, silk hankies, silk top, and nylon icicle. All of this fiber was dyed over 10 years ago. I see no degradation from my fiber "aging" process, as I've more than once been warned about in the past...well, at least to my old, less-than-20-20 eyes... Someday, I'd like to spin some yarn from these fibers and use them in a project. Someday.

Next are some pics from this year's fabulous Spin-Out in NYC.

Here's Julie spinning confidently on her new Lendrum.

From right to left: My friend, Regina, with Kay, and Cara in the background.

Above you'll find Jenna spinning with what we coined, her Wack-A-Doo. Apparently it has the more official name of "Rakestraw" spinner. Jenna's friends (and mine), Cindy and Susan, gifted Jenna with her new tool. They felt it suited her personality to a T. I heartily agree.

Apparently Mary Jane's have made a comeback 'cause at least three spinners wore them to the NYC Spin-Out. The spider is in RED. I'm pretty sure one of the others is Regina's. But for the life of me, I don't know who the third Mary Jane belongs to. That's what I get for not documenting. Do as I say not as I do, please.
(Added note from spider: Regina commented that the above pic does not contain her shoe...nor leg, I must surmise...so I did a little more detective work and discovered that the leg I thought was Regina's is, in fact, that of Julie. Note Julie's sock and turned up pant leg in pic shown earlier. But WHO belongs to the other leg, might I ask? Just goes to prove further that the whole documenting thing is a good idea.)
(Latest update: Word just came in from Julie that the unknown Mary Jane belongs to Tina of Phoenix Fiberworks. Thank you, Julie! Case now closed.)

The next several pics are all from "Rhinebeck" weekend. You know...that weekend just past where we fiber fanatics roll in the wool grease, try to fit one more overstuffed bag into the vehicle, eat greasy and/or sugar-laden junk, and have the times of our fibery life...all readily available and so much more at the NY Sheep and Wool Fest.

Every Rhinebeck year is special, but this one tops them all so far in my opinion. Three of my friends and I went camping in tents on Saturday night AND I lived to tell about it.

Now before I continue, let it be said, that the spider...that is, Jeannine Bakriges...or Jenny Bakriges if you like...does NOT consider camping suitable accomodations when asked to teach a workshop. It's not that I'm prissy or a princess (well, I AM kind of a princess actually, according to more than one person...) It's not that I think I'm better than others. It's just that when I teach I expect a warm bed, good meals, well-lighted and airy teaching facilities, some decent chairs and tables, a whiteboard or flip chart or even an old chalkboard, and my set fee as agreed upon when I've completed my teaching duties....IF you expect me to do a good job at teaching. So, I won't name any names, but you folks in MAINE know who you are...now it's all in fine print and downright official in the form of a contract...though I would have thought that all the above criteria would have been a reasonable "given". Geesh. Thank you for humoring me with this venting moment...

OK, back to the program as scheduled: Rhinebeck...Camping...

Here's Leslie, hatchet-wielder extraordinaire.

A story goes with this. Next to us gals who were roughing it in tents, were some guys who were warm and cozy in a log cabin. At one point during the night a very gentlemanly guy came over and politely asked if he could borrow Leslie's hatchet?

Now me, originally from Detroit, thought to myself as Leslie pondered over what to do, "Oh great...let's give the axe-murderers the murder weapon."

Jenna, looking warily at the guy and wondering if he even knew how to use a hatchet, thought something like, "Better keep an eye on that fool or he'll kill himself with that hatchet."

Leslie, let it be known, took a decidedly strong, feminist stance and thought something like, "It takes the ladies to even remember to bring a hatchet when camping!"

In the end, Jenna saw the guy try to chop a log while the log was IN the fire. His pant leg caught on fire. No joke. Jenna wins with the thought of the evening. Leslie's thought is right up there with Jenna's. And as for me, once a Detroiter, always a Detroiter.

Jenna, kindling-gatherer par excellence.

Another story:
As Leslie patiently taught me to put her tent up, we realized that the ground was not going to let us drive the stakes in easily. Leslie wisely was the one wielding the hatchet as a hammer. I was supposed to be pulling the bungee cords attached to the tent corners tightly as she did so. Out of my mouth came, "Geez, this is a 2-handed pull-out job if there ever was one." You should have seen Leslie's face as she burst out laughing. Hence was born the never-to-be-forgotten line that got repeated ALL weekend. You'd be surprised how well it worked for a myriad of situations.

E looking so frickin cute you just wanted to go up and kiss her.

Left to right: Leslie, E and Jenna.

Saturday evening we headed back to the Fest area and went to dinner at the only restaurant (that we know of) right across the street from the fairgrounds.

Pam and Drea (l to r), featured on past posts Joining Unspun Fiber To Spun Yarn; Navajo 3-Plying Revisited; Drea and The Knittingsmith; Plus Another Visit To NYC, and Blogiversary 2007 Winner; Andean Two-Plying And Another Inevitable Change, joined us.

Here's an attractive pic of two of my favorite people, Maureen and Jenna (l to r). I swore I was going to post such a pic as they both like to do what you see presented above regularly. A spider true to my word...how could I resist when I could cover both bases in one photo?

At dinner we had the happy circumstance to find Julie and her friend, Jordana, with simply the most adorable baby one ever laid eyes on, seated right behind us (or in front of us, depending on your viewpoint.) What a treat!

At lunch this past Sunday at Rhinebeck, Drea posed beautifully to show how she wraps her yarn for tensioning as she knits continental style. I noticed she goes around her pointer differently than I do. Do look closely to see if you do what she does or something else. I love variances in knitting techniques!

Drea feels her otherly wrapped pointer is particularly useful when she purls, as above. Consider doing the same if your tensioning technique is less than satisfying for you.

At Sunday's lunch Brighid's Dyers met up with show-and-tell. Yep, you guessed it, that's B.D. members, Leslie and E (l to r). Leslie dyed her yarn with cochineal and E dyed a silk scarf with the same. E is the designer and webmaster of the smashing Brighid's Dyers' site. Go take a look!!

Left to Right: Drea admiring Leslie's dyed yarn, Jenna showing a binder full of her incredible 2007 solar dye samples,...Leslie, E, both interested participants.

Drea checking out Leslie's gorgeous spindle-spun, solar dyed, naturally dyed, handknitted socks, which were featured in Spin Off magazine, Summer 2005.

At the very end of our Brighid's Dyers show-and-tell, a delightful mother and daughter team, Hannah and Elissa (l to r, with Leslie and E next to them), stopped by our table to chat, admiring the socks, dyed fiber binder, yarn and silk scarf. Turns out they raise French/German hybrid angora rabbits at their home business, "Adirondack Angoras," in Ballston Spa, NY. If you're interested in one or more of their bunnies, contact them at (518) 885-0453.

It seems traditional that fiber folks tell other fiber folks what they bought at Rhinebeck. For me, the haul was small but good. The above book is about Icelandic wool and the spinning thereof; written by Beth Abbott, whom I had as a spinning instructor during a workshop when I lived in Ontario, Canada. The book is now out-of-print so I scooped it up and paid for my copy quickly...just in case anyone tried to snag it out of my hands. The vendor who sold Beth's book to me is Fresli Farm in Limerick, ME. Bet she may have a few more left if you track them down.

Above are two bags of glitz...generic Angelina-type fiber...for use in some of my spinning classes. Nothing like bling to rev up the yarn-designing-juices.

And my final Rhinebeck purchase was the yearly procured handwoven mouse, catnip-stuffed no less, for Chloe. I get these great mice from: GLORIA SCANNELL - WEAVER; 518-392-9231; fiberart@mhonline.net
Now you can, too!

This past month I had, once again, the great fortune to teach at Harrisville Designs. In my class was always-friendly Marci, a student who has spent time with me in workshops prior. But what was new, to me anyways, was the fact that she's been making absolutely stunning felted and beaded jewelry.

Above is Marci wearing a wonderful necklace and bracelet of her own creation.

Some close-ups of Marci's necklaces and bracelets.

And more of Marci's great designs. If you love these embellished pieces as I do, contact Marci at:
ilovebugs04@yahoo.com or (616) 450-0873. Think GIFTS...for yourself or any other lucky folks on your holiday list!

A big hiccup takes us to some spinning chat about a topic that pops up over and over again in nearly all my workshops: Consistency!!

Below are a few of my thoughts on the topic, coupled with an invitation to leave your comments and ideas by clicking "Comment" on this post. Thanks.

• When using a two-handed drafting technique, pinch on the spun point-of-contact...the area that's spun that is directly next to the unspun drafting zone (drafting triangle, if you wish). Conversely, if you want slubs, pinch on the unspun drafting zone right after the spun point-of-contact.
  
• Once you've established the amount of twist you want to insert over the entirety of the yarn, look at the unspun drafting zone when spinning...ie. Keep the fiber amount consistent in the unspun drafting zone.
• Consider staying loyal to the drafting technique you've chosen over the entirety of the yarn. For example, consider not going from short forward draw to one of the long draws to short backwards draw, etc. all when making the same yarn....
• Some folks like the long draws when aiming for a consistently spun yarn because they can view a longer length before storing the yarn to see if they are on target consistency-wise. I, on the other hand, tend to like the short draws because I'm a control-freak and nothing allows me to be All-I-Can-Be as the short draws do. Not always, but a lot. That said, IF the fiber is incredibly well-prepared or I'm spinning from a prep containing very short fibers, I do tend to like the long draws. Sometimes I choose long draws when I'm spinning from-the-fold.
  
• Consider holding a fiber amount in your hands that is conducive to making the size of yarn you want. On the other hand, some folks like to graze out of the end of largish fiber preps and find that suits them just fine. I, personally, dislike gobs of excess fiber in my hands when I'm spinning. I generally graze only when the fibers are very short...ie. cotton...and even then, I still tend to like as little of fibers sweating up my hands as possible.
  
• Especially when performing a long draw, consider sitting at the same spot away from your wheel as you spin. You may enjoy counting the round-trip of treadles that it takes to go out as you spin the yarn and go back in to store it. Eventually you'll find yourself settling into the rhythm, and can drop the counting, more or less.
  
• Remember...small variances in a skein tend not to show as glaringly as you may suppose in a knitted swatch, depending on the stitch chosen. It's difficult to tell whether subtle variances will show at all unless you swatch. Try it! You'll be surprised I'm guessing.
• Your feet and hands WILL stop if you make them in order to remove or smooth down slubs in your yarn or pull out crud.

This little spidery web was a surprise gift sent in the mail to the spider from Lucy. Thank you, dearest Lucy! In the background, please note the pumpkins that came out of my own, very sincere, pumpkin patch. Next year...more manure. I apparently NEED a shitload of manure, thank you very much, if I want bigger pumpkins!!!

Some spooky things gracing our dinner table. The ruffly black and orange mat was a gift from Terry, a past spinning student. Thank you, Terry, you little sweetie!

Above you'll see a pic near my present hood in VT. It's here I live out my childhood dream of walking in woods daily, with leaves crunching beneath my feet after Autumnal rains bring them down. There's an odd sort of sadness I get during Fall, my favorite time of the year. And even stranger, I sort of relish in that sadness.

After we gave Al, my black, male, imp of a cat away, one kind friend suggested, among other things, to listen to really loud, really happy music. On pondering this, I realized that such music would only depress me more. Are you one of those folks who enjoys listening to sad tunes when you're grieving? For some reason, when I choose melancholy tunes to listen to, I feel better afterwards. Go figure. Anyways, since it's the time of year when the days are getting decidedly longer and darker, I thought it appropriate to quote the following lyrics of a song I couldn't stop playing for weeks...over and over again. I still catch myself humming or singing it out loud.

Happy Halloween!!!!! Happy Samhain!!!!! 'til next month...

Not Dark Yet

Shadows are falling and I've been here all day
It's too hot to sleep, time is running away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I've still got the scars that the sun didn't heal
There's not even room enough to be anywhere
It's not dark yet, but it's getting there.

Not Dark Yet ~ Bob Dylan