Carson Sierra Spinners and Weavers Guild

(I just went through the drafts I have in the listing of posts.  Most of them belong to Charlotte and Lydia; they have some re-writing to do.  But the following one is mine, and I have no idea why I didn't post it at the time I wrote it.) 

 

About a year after the girls got their first rabbits and I got my first spinning wheel, I joined the local spinning guild.  I had two main purposes in doing so.  First, I wanted to learn how to spin better; and second, I thought it might be a good opportunity for selling the girls' fiber and rabbits. 

And indeed, we have sold fiber and one rabbit so far.  But what has been really great is all that I have learned about spinning.  The ladies are all very helpful and encouraging.  Each month there is a "learning tree" opportunity.  In July we dyed sock blanks.  So I first learned what a sock blank is.  For those as uneducated as I, a sock blank is double-stranded yarn knit into a rectangle.  That rectangle of knitted fabric is then dyed using condiment bottles to squirt on the dye.  The dye is set, the rectangle dried, and then you ravel the rectangle into two balls of identically dyed yarn.  You then knit that up into perfectly matched socks. 

 

 

As I look at the pictures, I think I'm missing summer.  I'm usually great with winter.  I love cold weather and the snow.  And we are so grateful to have so much snow to help alleviate the drought.  But I get to missing blue skies.

Anyway, the spinning guild has been fabulous for learning about different spinning wheels, various spinning techniques, properties of fibers, etc.  This month's learning tree will be on dyeing and color.  Charlotte is thinking about attending as well.