A Tale of Two Workshops

Five weeks since the last post!  Shame on me!  It's not entirely my fault.  For the last 2-3 weeks the internet connection has been getting increasingly wonky--it just kept flipping in and out.  It was OK for a quick email check, or to look at a web page (with some patience to load) but kept having the hiccups when I tried to write a blog post and loading pictures was impossible.  When the TV kept pixelating to the point that we couldn't watch that we gave up and had the repair people out.  Why procrastinate?  Because it took three people over the course of three days to do it.

So  . . . back to January.  We rarely have spinning or weaving workshops in town.  (I can't complain--if I wanted more I could become an active member of the weaving guild, do some fundraising, find a place to host a workshop, and schedule and instructor).  For some reason, the weaving guild scheduled two workshops two weekends in a row.  I couldn't decide which one to take--so I took them both.

The first was on inkle weaving--using a small portable loom to weave narrow bands or ribbons.  They're pretty basic but with a little work you can do some complicated things with them.  There was also a side topic of dyeing fabric with rust (basically, wet cloth down with vinegar and water and wrap it around something rusty).  My sample didn't turn out but the instructor had some lovely pieces.  Of course, the downside of this technique is that sometimes the rust will eat through the fabric . . .

The next week was a cotton spinning workshop.  Actually, I've spun cotton for years and am pretty good at it, but it was a rare chance to get together with other spinners for a couple of days, and I did pick up some good tips.

Please notice the timing of these workshops--I had mentioned in the last post that I had a bad case of the flu--in early January.  I think (I hope) I was past the contagious stage, but I sure didn't have my energy back, and these were 8-hour a day workshops.  I didn't participate in any of the social activities afterwards--just went home and collapsed.

And the new term started in January.  Although I'm not teaching, I had to get back to work in the historic collection and working on the clothing exhibit for the Goodwood Plantation (more on that later).  We had Noko Marie spayed, but she got sick afterward so we had to hover over her for a few days (she's fine now).

By now you've noticed a lack of pictures in this entry.  Our camera was having problems so we got a new one--which I've downloaded from before but now it doesn't want to talk to the computer.

And a friend took the DVD from my skydiving and made it into a file format so I can put it on YouTube--but YouTube won't let me set up an account to post it.  Technology is not my friend.  Stay posted . . .