OC Spinners Guild - May 2013

A spinner has to network to find out about our meetings because there's no guild website, no fees, and no public meeting site. Our informal agenda for the May meeting is:

• Guests bring their spinning wheel or other hand work and a snack
• Hostess provides bottled water, tea, and other drinks
• Sign up for the afternoon's spinning competition, courtesy of The Yarn Marm
• pre-measured bags of premium Romney fleece and soft llama
• limited amount of spaces, "first come, first served"
• Gaze at February and March Phat Fiber Boxes
• Sign up for the OC Fair's spinning demonstration in July through member, Cal
• Enjoy the garden

The 3rd Anual Yarnival 2013

Theme: The Year of the Sleeping Bunny

Friday, 7/19, Opening Ceremony and Country-Carnival DANCE! ($10)

5pm - 9pm        

 * Kick off the Yarnival weekend with a costumed dance. Enjoy great local music, spoken word, performances and Yarnival shenanigans! Dress in the spirit of this wild-west country carnival cosmic concoction! Food vendors will be on hand to tempt your taste buds! Follow it up with fine wine and fizzy drinks from the Old Cellar Bar.  Handmaker's Bazaar, Market Place, and Boeger's Wine Tasting Room will be open 5pm - 8pm.

Saturday & Sunday, 7/20 - 7/2, Big Top Spin - In

10am - 5pm

* All spinners welcome to join us under the Big-Top in the orchard for a spinning free-for-all! Bring your own wheel and chair. There will be a 'fiber sharing zone'...so bring from fiber from your stash to pitch in and use whatever strikes your fancy!

  (All ages)

Handmaker's Bazaar, Market Place

         All-handmade market, vendors and exhibitors in the Orchard.

Wine Tasting

        Boeger Winery

Blacksmith Demonstration

Artists

1.  Michelle Snowdon (Wooldancer), Artist, Blue Mountains,  Australia

- - Michelle's work will be on exhibition in the Orchard Gallery, 7/19 - 7/21

2.  Lexi Boeger (Pluckyfluff),  Placerville,  California

 - Please visit the Pluckyfluff Studio 7/19 - 8/19 to view her current work

3.  Melissa Nasby (SoulFibre Studio), Salmon Arm, British Columbia

 - - View works and purchase one-of-a-kind felt masks in the Stone Cellar, 7/19 - 7/21

 3.  Oran Miller, Hangtown, California, master printmaker

-       - View works and printing demonstrations during the event 7/18 - 7/21

For more details, click on:   http://www.yarnival.org/

Two Pretty Does

The Tort Doe

The Chocolate Doe

In April I had two does
two pretty does had I.
One was tort and one was gray
who had a chocolate eye.

The tort was bonnie and of cream
with reddish furry fluff.
The gray was grand but had a mix
of brownish strands and puff.

The gray she knew and liked the buck.
They took a sec and they were done.
But alas the tort she would not mate.
Maybe she was full of hate?

She cried and spat and made a mess
Then she turned her face away
with her bottom down depressed
against the holy ground confessed.

Then she grew quiet, the buck just sniffed
and mounted him to mate
but then he wondered and he looked
Because his efforts did not take.

How could this tort, a female true,
not succumb to his amour?
She did not know what he did want
upon his sniff and testing for.

So,  again I'll try and her to take.
And when she will, I hope to see
not one nor two but bonny three
little furry kits from that tort to me.

By Margaret Trousdale

- a work in progress -
4/21/13

The gray doe's first litter

Internationally Made Spinning Wheels

When the my spinning guilds meet, most of the wheels seen are internationally made.  Most are from New Zealand.  Next is the Louet brand from Holland.  A few hail from Canada.  Here are the most seen brands:

1. Ashford of New Zealand
2. Majacraft of New Zealand
3. Baynes of New Zealand
4. Louet of Holland
5. Kromski of Poland
6. Lendrum of Canada

A Black Wensleydale

Seven inches plus without stretching

 Thanks to Tim Ohman near Placerville, I have this unique black Wensleydale.  At first, it didn't seem so black, more like a dark brown.  It must have come from a blanketed sheep because it lacked vegetable matter.  Now washed, it's black with a little iridescence of dark purple.  Looking even closer - - and I should get my magnifying lens out - - I think there maybe some white like shafts but I'm not sure if that's just due to the shine.  And it isn't heavy like a mature llama's can be.  - - Tim was sure nice to me by picking this fleece out.  Thank you, Tim.

Just washed and still clinging together

Curly, curly, curly, with a shine.

Which Breed of Sheep?

A covered sheep from Saunders Farm

     A spinner asked me how well I know breeds of sheep.  She wanted to know what her wool was.  I asked her, "Does it matter what sheep it's from?  Even if the breed was known, the sheep could have been old or a poor representative of the breed." Ultimately, it's about the quality of its texture, strength, and length. 

    So she brought the wool over me to examine.  I felt it.  It wasn't next-to-the-skin-soft, not in the 20 micron level.  It was a medium softness, in the mid to higher 30's.  I pulled at a lock with both hands in opposite directions.  A little of it broke, but not much.  I learned this from George Saunders where he showed me good tencel strength and not so good.  The length was at least three inches or better.  It had a crimp. This was nice for spinning.  She liked the color, a medium brown.  Then what she had was just fine.

Moswolt Spinning Wheel

This wheel maybe a good deal for a production wheel.  On EBay, it looks like it's about $150, but the total bid may be much higher.  Comes with its own convenient skein winder.  I haven't seen one of these in the guild meetings yet.  May be awkward for carrying around since it's 18 pounds.  Maybe. 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/EXCELLENT-MOSWOLT-SPINNING-WHEEL-IN-FULL-WORKING-ORDER

How to Sell Your Crafts Online, book - my notes

Based upon recommendations from the Spring issue of Spin-Off magazine, I bought the book, How to sell your crafts online by Derrick Sutton.  I want to follow through on some of the advice I've read so far.  Here are a few of my notes:

1. Google email, Google calender, Google Task, Google Analytics, Google Places, Google Docs, Google Voice number for phone
2. Heart-o-matic, free tool to see how many hearts and favs in shop and use the stats for relisting:  www.craftcult.com/heartomatic.php
3. Submit to DMOZ, www.dmoz.org/
4. Be sure to list site on search engines, Yahoo and Bing
5. StumbleUpon, su.pr/
6. Online photo album with Flickr which requires a Yahoo ID
7. Make and socialize in a We Love Etsy account: etsylove.ning.com/

And there's even more still to read up on and apply.  Glad I bought the book and didn't just borrow from the library.  Author offers technical how to's which could help.
 

Spin-Off Spring 2013 Issue - Notes

Thank you, Spin-Off editors and staff, for putting this issue together!  It was a good companion during my cross country flight today.

Comments:

• Jacey Boggs, "Mail Order Dyers" - Her vocabulary is so rich!  She all but tastes the fibers she describes.  A pleasure to read her writing.  Strong style.
• Kathy Sletto, "Voracious Grazers" - Nice reflection piece from the view of a shepherdess. 
• Adrian Bizilia, "At Hello Yarn" - I believe she described coarse yarn as "crisp".   Good euphemism! 

Inspiration to act:

1. Re-find at the public library Derrick Sutton's How to sell your crafts online; or buy it on Amazon.
2. Look into adding a few of Cushing Perfection Dyes to my dye supplies.
3. Visit my friend before summer to learn more about natural dying techniques.
4. Start setting aside samples of angora for that spinning workshop I'll be doing this fall.

*       *       *

The Phat Fiber Celtic March Box

Upon opening the box, a sachet of coupons, sweets, and stitch markers.

Most of the business cards have coupons on their backs - - all to Etsy shops.

Abondanza of samples!

Beneath the samples were two knitting large project cards.

I want to blend these roving samples into one of my artisan batts.

Celtic emerald green yarn by Lone Star Arts.

How did Shades of Light make that Celtic knot?