Other Fiber News

Alabama's 4th Annual Goat and Sheep Festival!!! Sarah and I went up on Saturday June 7th. Her sweet husband, Austin, joined us. We were the first "fiber" representatives ever to attend the festival. As soon as we arrived, before we could even unpack our boxes, people literally pounced upon us!!! I'm not kidding...we walked in and immediately people were asking questions: What is this? How do you do that? My Granny used a spinning wheel. I want to know how to knit...People learned how to spin on drop spindles. Kids made their own spindles with CDs. They even made knitting needles using foam beads and bamboo skewers. And several people even got to experiment with dyeing in the microwave using kool-aid. It would be difficult to say who had more fun...we the fiber ambassadors or the students. Maybe it was that handsome guy in the upper right pic. Isn't he the perfect pin-up guy??!!

Cute girls making their first spindles!



The following Saturday, June 15th, was World Wide Knit In Public Day. Our friends at Barnes and Noble where we meet on Tuesday nights were kind enough to sponsor the event. We even had news coverage - both TV and Print media! In the lower left pic you will see Carol seated. She is the "permanent president" of the West Alabama Fiber Guild. She inspires us all to learn more and more about what we are doing. In the pic standing beside her is Resha, the PR person at Barnes and Noble. Hush...the secret is that we are all knitting her a scarf for being so helpful during this event. The pic beside that one is Melissa learning how to crochet from Irisema. Irisema was new to our group that day and she is now a regular member on Tuesday nights. Melissa and I are the ones who founded the Tuesday night fiber event.




Obviously he's the camera guy from the TV station. And the studious woman in grey is the Intern from the station who was sent to cover the story.

And then there is Jerome. Jerome made a drop spindle with us that day. He is an amazing knitter having learned from his Grandmother some years ago. Since we met, Jerome has made more than 50 spindles and even came to my home over the weekend to buy up all of my llama roving so that he could knit something for a friend. He's a sweetie. Sarah and I were canning blueberry jam when Jerome came over with his family - his sister and her kids. What a dear, dear family!

Here's Faizah. I'm mad at her. Just as we were getting to know her, she decided to go back to her homeland which is Indonesia. She said that she married her husband 9 years ago, 8 of those years she has spent in the US completing her degree in linguistics and teaching in the English Department. She popped in one day and wanted to learn how to knit. And she went home with some yarn and some needles. Each week she came back with more and more advanced FOs (finished objects) with each stitch knit more perfectly than the one before it. I will miss her. But in this day and age...I know we can stay in touch. It is such a nice group of friends to have. I enjoy having a sense of belonging with these people.