Xiane has been a BUSY lady!
Before I cover what was happenin’ last weekend, I wanted to issue an invitation to everyone to come see me this weekend at PILE OF CRAFT in Baltimore if you’re in town! As usual, it’s happening at the lovely St. John’s Church, located at 2640 St Paul St, Baltimore MD, from 10a – 5p. I will be in space 19 again – if you enter from 27th street, I’ll be the first vendor you see in the big room, right in front of the stage and next to the ever-awesome Meep!Craft.
Look for me, Rob, and of course Edie the Spinolution spinning wheel, which will be spinning away all day as I demonstrate how I create my highly colorful and textured yarns. GOOD TIMES!
Don’t forget to buy a raffle ticket – proceeds benefit Great Kids Farm – and check out all the other vendors, too. There are some great wares to be had at this show – some of my favorite artisans attend every year!
[click image to see the day in all its glory]
I was at The Mannings Annual Spinning Seminar 2012! An annual event that happened this year on June 9th 2012, it is a gathering featuring demonstrations, information, and community from all aspects of the fiber arts world. I was invited to be one of the demonstrators at the Spin Artiste booth featuring spinning “Expressive” yarns – aka Art, Textured, or Novelty yarns, or what I like to do best.
The booth was filled with yarn and textiles created by some of the best and brightest in the Fiber Arts community, and we had several techniques to show off in person. Arlene Ciroula of Spin Artiste demonstrated a “coil boil” yarn – a yarn that is corespun, then coilspun, then Navajo plied to make highly textured end product, a technique pioneered by Lexi Boeger of Pluckyfluff. [a video of the technique is available at the link]
Liz Stottlemyer of Hobbledehoy Yarn + Fiber spent some time demonstrating how to effectively use a drum carder to create interesting fiber preparations for spinning expressive yarns. She’s got a great eye for color and texture, so there was a lot to learn from her!
I was busy happily making supercoil yarn all day long and talking about the process as I spun. I showed how changing the plying angle could take you from supercoils to regular coils, and how adding beehives and granny stacks could spice up the texture even more. I also explained how to use inexpensive commercial yarn as a core – for strength, cost-effectiveness, and bulk. I had a LOVELY time with everyone who stopped by, and I met many lovely folks. We were also lucky to be next to the Moorit sheep exhibit from Meyer Farm, so I added a photo of the lovely lambs to my collage, as they were delightful booth neighbors!
All in all, it was a fantastic day – and if you are anywhere near the Gettysburg/Hanover/East Berlin/York/Hagerstown area, you really should consider stopping in to The Mannings. It’s a beautiful place with many treasures worth visiting!
MANY thanks to Arlene Ciroula for the invite to participate. I was thrilled and honored.
*EDITED TO ADD*
Oh hey, you really want to check out the newest post at Spin Artiste about our day, now with VIDEO!
http://www.spinartiste.com/field-report-the-annual-spinning-day-at-the-mannings
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