Spun

My kind of mess!  I took a yarn spinning class last weekend and it was too-too-too fun!  (I didn't bring my camera, so these...pretty...iPhone pictures are all I have.) 

I went with my friend Monica.  She had her own spinner and used to spin a lot, like, 20 years ago.  Like falling off a log, though, she was soon enough on her way.  Spin, Mo, Spin!

Unlike me.  Here I sit, cranking away.  There were six of us, and we went to this woman's house off Grand Avenue in Oakland.  She was such a kooky hippie, and I really was grateful for her!  She knew so much, and like anyone who loves her art, she had such a gentle way of bringing us along in something that, quite frankly, is an experience of about 90% frustration.  (Yes, Kelly, I'm looking at you, too!)  It was only at the end of the three hour class that she sort of reflected out loud (and apologized) for putting on me on the hardest spinner to use.  Everyone else had essentially brand new, double treadle spinners...I had the hoopty version, wobbly wheel and all.  To be fair, it hardly mattered, as the ultimate outcome was unavoidable. 

So.  Which pile is my spun yarn, and which pile is a bunch of leftover fiber?  haha!  I know you know my "skein" (harumph) is the one on the left, but it's pretty clear that a perfectly good spinner would have been little improvement on my mad skillz.

It was so fun, and I was so jealous (in the best possible way) of her wee little log cabin, perched on the hill behind her house, that was her studio.  Oh, swoon!   And, as much as I loved the spinning experience (and will definitely have more to share, soon, on that front ~ no, I didn't buy a spinner, though!) I was especially grateful to meet her because of this:

Right there in her living room (no way to get this beast up that hill into her studio!!!) was a gorgeous leclerc loom.  And, wait for it...she gives private lessons!  Oh, yeah, and she'll come to my house to give the lessons on my own loom!  I just can't wait.  Every month or so, I try to look up the community colleges and see if anyone is offering a class on looming (or even textile arts) because I know that Kelly's college is where she did a lot of weaving.  But no, nada.  So I am so HAPPY to have found her, because I so desperately need a class.  And being a class of one?  I can tell you from experience, that works for me. 

Here she is, modeling one of the jackets she wove.  My sights are set considerably lower, honestly.  But spinning reminded me so much of looming (right down to the sore back, oh my bad posture) that I just can't wait to get started.  Make that re-started.