The Interview

Erica writes about the arts for a local paper called The Planet Weekly. Here's the link. http://www.theplanetweekly.com/ . She asked if she could write a piece on my spinning. So I said yes. Today I got a list of 5 questions to respond to. I didn't get much time because it was due shortly after I received them...but here's what I wrote....(It really messes with my perfectionism not to have more time to edit the text)....

1. I use the term "fiber arts" to describe using animal or plant-based fibers as a form of creative self-expression or design. The fiber arts include working with the fibers to make supplies, such as yarn, as well as to create unique pieces of wearable art. Animal fibers include fine wools (merino, romney, targhee), llama, alpaca, angora rabbit, mohair, cashmere, silk, and many others. Plant-based fibers that are very popular include bamboo, cotton, and linen. My love of fiber arts innocently began about 14 years ago when I was in graduate school for clinical psychology. I needed something to do for stress relief so I took a knitting class. Around the same time, my mother was dying from breast cancer. She also adored knitting. Together we would spend days together almost in quiet meditation just knitting, talking, listening to the click of our needles, and appreciating the time that we had together. Only recently have I learned how to spin and dye my own yarns. And when that happened, this little hobby of knitting a few scarves each year blossomed into a passion. Taking the raw fiber freshly shorn from an animal, scouring it, dyeing it into a gorgeous spectrum of colors, spinning it into yarn that can then be used to make a garment for someone to wear is incredibly satisfying. It is also something that women have done for generations. When I am working with fibers, I feel as if I am at peace. Interestingly, my maternal grandfather was a tailor who sewed for the fashion houses in New York, and my paternal grandfather was a miliner who was in the business of making the grand hats of the 1930s and 1940s. However, I could never even sew a button back on a shirt or hem a pair of slacks. It always amazed me that I grew up in this wonderful fiber family but never felt a part of it until now. So I guess I really have come home.

2. What do I do? I'm a spinster. I spin fiber into yarn. I use a fantastic wooden spinning wheel called the Schacht Matchless. First I buy the fiber in ecru or undyed. Sometimes I will spin it first, but usually, I will dye the fiber before I spin it. I started dyeing with Kool-Aid and food safe dyes and have recently moved to using professional grade dyes. The Kool-Aid dyes are fun but the professional dyes give a much wider array of colors and provide the consistency that I require. After the fiber dries, I can spin it into yarn. Then I have a lot of decision to make: How do I want to spin the yarn? What will the yarn be used for? How much yarn is needed for a specific project? Every answer will contribute to the overall appearance of the finished product. And each decision matters. Spinning is certainly relaxing and repetitive but it is certainly not a mindless activity. It requires planning and consistency, the ability to respond to the inherent characteristics of the fiber, knowing when to let go of control, and a whole lot of just plain old playing around!!

3. Social consciousness is important to me. I could not enjoy this work if I felt in anyway that animals were being harmed. I have been a vegetarian since 1978, and am committed to using fibers from healthy and well cared for animals. It helps to buy from local farms, such as Cozy Cove Llamas outside of Huntsville. But there are other ways, too. For example, when I work with silk, I only work with tussah silk. Tussah silk or peace silk is harvested from the cocoons of silk worms that have been allowed to live out their natural life expectacy. In addition, I am boycotting fibers from Australia, as are many of the well-known clothing designers, due to the inhumane treatment of merino sheep. Here's the webpage http://www.savethesheep.com/ . We can make a difference. I use my fiber arts blog for Tikkun Olam. Tikkun Olam is Hebrew meaning "Repair the world." According to this tradition, inhabitants of the earth are expected to fix it, to make it better than we found it.

4. In the October, I am thrilled to say that I will be showing and demonstrating fiber arts, such as spinning, preparing fibers, knitting, at Kentuck with the West Alabama Fiber Guild. Also in October, I am joining with some other fiber artists in town, Heidi Atwood and Sara Whitver, and a shepherdess in north Alabama, Cozette O'Neil. We have formed a group called Why Knot Fiber Collective and we will be exhibiting and selling our fiber arts at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair outside of Asheville, NC. No doubt, we are very excited about tht opportunity. Next, in early November as the holiday season begins, I will be teaching some workshops at One Night Only Artique. These workshops will be in dyeing silk scarves as well as dyeing yarn so that everyone can offer a special, handmade, one of a kind work of art to everyone on their special gift list. We will have fun, get our hands wet, and make some beautiful wearable art!!!

5. I think it is interesting to know that men invented knitting. They began tying a variety of knots as sailors. They made nets and other fabrics all through knot tying. Then, they began knitting fabrics with the lanolin still in the wool in order to stay dry. Finally, during the Industrial Age, when men moved inside to operate machinery, woman began to do the knitting. Also, interesting is the way that the fiber arts have really taken off since the development of social networking sites such as Ravelry.com and online shops, such as Etsy.com.

Wish me luck! I'll post the finished article as soon as it comes out.

The Art of Spinning

When people discuss spinning, they are usually referring to craft or a technique to create an art supply or yarn that is then used to make something else, such as a sweater or a scarf. However, in the situation that I'm describing, the act of spinning rather than the result of spinning was put on display. The gallery owners of One Night Only Artique invited me to spin during an art opening Thursday night, September 4, 2008. The wheel and I were placed in the front window of the gallery where spinning could be seen from the outside as people were driving by and people could talk to the spinster (me) as part of the living artwork from the inside. I like this picture a lot. Through the window people can be seen standing outside in the rain under the protection of the awning smoking cigarettes and talking as young intellects do. Then on the inside is the wheel as a piece of art in its own right. All the while, the manequins are supervising the whole event.
Spinning is relaxing - it is the first time that I have been able to do something with both hands and both feet at the same time. When learning it takes a lot of concentration...over time some of it gets taken over by procedural memory, and when that happens, the body can manage the techniques of drafting and treadling without conscious thought. Never the less, one is always making conscious decsions about spinning which affect the look of the finished yarn. People at the opening enjoyed seeing the difference in yarns made from the same fiber that looked totally different. I think they also were drawn to the colors of the handdyed fibers. I love to watch people touching the yarns. The yarns want to be touched. Yarns come alive in people's hands. They need to be touched.




Here's Emily wearing my first layer cake cap which was orignially depicted in an earlier blogpost. Erica (co-owner of One Night Only Artique) and Emily are sisters. Erica thought Emily would like one of my caps and we were planning for a pink and black one for her. But when Emily saw this one she immediately put it on her head covered in long, shiny, auburn hair - we all knew that this green, brown, and white cap had found a home. It is a perfect fit. In general, people were very complimentary of all the caps and cap kits. I'm going to knit some up to have in the shop, and I am confident that they will do well there. They are young and hip - guess it does help to have a teenage daughter.

I don't usually like to get too personal here; but last night my daughter got in her first motor vehicle accident. Luckily nobody was hurt - the only damage was to the bumper of the other person's vehicle which we will fix next week. The accident happened because my daughter was someplace that she shouldn't be. She was supposed to be at a movie with one set of friends - instead she went to a fraternity party on the university campus where she was not supposed to be with another set of friends. Had she asked permission to be there - she could have gone - but she didn't. And poor thing, something always happens to alert me to her bad decisions. Like this little fender bender or Cody, her beloved dog coming into my room crying when she decided to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night several years ago. When will she ever learn....? I'm ready for her to learn.

Cozy Cove Farm = Llama Heaven

What could be cuter than a young suri Llama? He is surely something special. His hair is soft as human baby hair.

On Labor Day a road trip was made by Sara, Heidi, and me - the women from Why Knot Fiber Collective. Someone had given me some gorgeous llama fiber from Cozette at Cozy Cove Farms in north Alabama, outside of Huntsville. I spun up some of the delicate white fibers so I called Cozette and asked if she would mind if I brought the yarn to her. She invited me to tour her farm where I could actually meet some of the llamas. Having never ever met any llamas before, I couldn't resist the opportunity to go up there. It was just so much more fun to have Heidi and Sara to go with up there. We left about 8a and got there just as planned around 11a. Cozette was trying to stable the animals in advance of Hurricane Gustav. It was pretty funny to watch us city slickers try to help in this endeavor but in the end we were successful. I got lots of great pics of the llamas along the way.

Like look at this beautiful girl!! She's got her ears back showing me that she is not at all happy with the human intrusion. But, she is really interested in learning more about me with those huge brown eyes. And surprisingly there were some llamas there with big blue eyes. Cozette said that the blue eyes come from llamas inter-breeding with alpacas. She also told us that the suri llamas come from mixing genetic lines with alpacas. It wasn't long after this picture was made that I got to run my fingers through the thick white coat of this beautiful animal. Pure luxury. They all have names. All 65 of them. Along with their names, they have unique personalities with specific likes and dislikes. We were told charming true stories of the mother-daughter bond being so strong that they recognize one another after years to decades of being separated. Llama mothers don't wean their young daughters. Daughters are allowed to nurse the mother until the daughter becomes a mother herself. Sons, however, become independent much earlier.

The chocolate brown llama in the image to the right is a stallion or stud llama. I have looked and cannot find the correct term for a male llama so I'm using a bit of horse terminology calling him a stallion. Here's a link to the Wikipedia information on llamas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llama and it does contain some interesting information, such as llamas have no eyelashes unlike alpacas who do have eyelashes.

We came home with a trunk full of llama fibers, Cozette was so generous. We came home also with a new business partner. The Tuscaloosa gals are going to develop some sales opportunities for these fabulous fibers. I posted on Ravelry as soon as we got home and have already sold 2 pounds of brown llama fibers for our collective. Just another benefit of the internet!




Meet the women of Why Knot Fiber Collective. That's me in the bright pink. The woman in all the pics is our newest member, Cozette. There's Heidi toting one of her handmade books and wearing the headband knitted from her own pattern. And always smiling as usual, Sara is wearing the black shirt. What do we have in common? We love animal fiber and the animals that create these wonderful fibers. It is a great honor for me to get to do fiber arts with these passionate, committed, socially conscious women. We are going to do some pretty special work together. That I will save for another post. For now, I will conclude with a few more Alabama Llama pics.



It was a great day - our visit to Llama Heaven. The link to Cozette's webpage is posted on my list of blogs and websites. Any blog readers who are interested in ordering some llama fibers, just let me know. You won't regret it - that is for sure!