ah, technology ...

I have a terrific adventure to tell you about (in two parts - because it was THAT terrific!) and my phone is holding the photos hostage, among other ridiculous issues. SO, while i am working on that, here's a little about something else i did earlier this year (:

I judged the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA) spin-off for the Kentucky Classic Alpaca Show. Essentially, i graded freshly shorn and packaged fiber, hand processed a small part of each entry including spinning then gently washed each small skein to grade the resulting yarn. It was a lot of work, but i completely enjoyed seeing the variety of natural colors pass through my hands. I admit i was apprehensive at first - i've never met a fiber i couldn't work with, so how could i judge? But after i got moving and saw that it wasn't about each fibers usefulness, but more how each satisfies listed criteria and responds to processing, etc. the whole event made more sense to my fiber loving mind. Plus: i got to spin loads of lovely local alpaca and (hopefully) give breeders useful feedback, right?
All in all it was interesting and fun - that's right, fun work (:

Back to fighting the phone and the new lameness. Maryland reports soon!

Happy Distaff Day!

dis·taff

ˈdistaf/

noun   1. a stick or spindle onto which wool or flax is wound for spinning.

YOUNG GIRL WITH A DISTAFF - JOSEPH BOUVIER (distaff is the cottony candy like item she's holding high - wool waiting to be spun)

1. 
   

Greetings fiber fiends and friends!
Today marks the end of Christmas festivities (for those of you unawares, Twelfth Night was yesterday which is the last of all merrymaking). Today spinner maids return to their work, idle hands being a danger to us all, of course. Also sometimes called "Rock Day" from rocken - German for distaff. But watch yeselves, ladies, the ploughmen have until Monday before the must resume work and will be attempting pranks to taunt and tease.

Incidentally, spindle spinning was so intensely a woman's job that in many places (at least in the 14/15/1600s) the word distaff could also mean woman/women. I have read, but can find no notation, that in some places the term "distaff line" is still a legal title for a female or matriarchal line in a family.

My information has been gathered over time from books and such, but here is an informative essay from the UK you may enjoy.

Now to celebrate by getting back to my spindle!