Wow! What a great day!

I had the oportunity to attend a great class today! A one day (9-5) feltmaking class. Now a lot of people wouldn't get excited about that, but I was in heaven!

The drive over was incredibly beautiful. I am blessed to live in a particularly beautiful area, (which has seasons! I have lived in places--i.e. California, which didn't have seasons, and it sucked!)and right now the autumn colors are absolutely stunning.

Not only did I learn a skill I have been wanting for years,with fun creative people and yummy food, I also got a big stash of merino wool top roving in GORGEOUS colors. So much creativity awaits!!!

Plus my sweet hubby brought me a present back from his camping trip, just because he has learned that it makes me happy!

A PERFECT DAY!

The Long Promised Pictures!

I apololgize for the focus issues, but this one shows the chicks cute coloring. They will grow up to be lovely glossy black hens, but now they are just cute!



Here are several of them demonstrating how well they can stand in their food dish (which is why it gets washed out so often!) Chicks are not fussy about their personal cleanliness issues.




Here are the easter eggs my creative crew colored. I wish you could see the incredible detail on EACH egg! My favorite is the TMNT Michaelangelo made by LargeBoy.



When we had colored every possible egg, I stuffed bits of wool into the leftover dye cups and look at the gorgeous rainbow of softness that emerged! Sometimes I just love happy accidents.

Easter thoughts:

Dying eggs always makes me wistful, because my little (next younger) brother is the all time genius of egg dying and Jack O'lantern carving (not at the same time, though!) He is now far, far away, and it makes me miss not only him, but all the rest of my scattered family.

Must stop posting and go attempt to remove the egg dye from the carpet. Thanks SmallDaughter. Glad we still have the wierd old carpet. And the steam cleaner. Sigh.

Bookmaking

Interesting how familiar terms are used in a different way by yours truly.

For instance, when other people use the term "spinning" it means (1)whirling around in one place either on your cute little feet or on a swing (VERY popular when I was about 4--less so since then) or (2) a trendy term for a plain old stationary bicycle (still pedaling away, still never getting to see anything!)

HOWEVER, in my life spinning means the extremely old fashioned method of twisting wool or other fibers into yarn. Also, my "Fiber Friends" Group has nothing to do metamucil, laxatives or "regularity", but is a delightful group of ladies who enjoy making tremendously creative things out of various fibers--spinning, weaving, knitting...the list goes on and on!

Which brings us to my version of "bookmaking". Unlike the usual usage of "being a bookmaker" or "making books", mine has nothing to do with gambling. It is (again) the very old version of the word--literally making books. I learned how to bind books to make a few super-special Christmas gifts, and like so many other aspects of my universe, it has taken on a life of it's own. I have been doing some more today. OOOHH!

When I get a working camera again, I will post some pictures.

OOOHH! New Wool!

I have, in the last year and a half, become something I had never dreamed of becoming: A Fiber Fanatic.

I have always been fascinated by spinning and weaving. I remember watching a demonstration at the library by the local Spinners & Weavers Guild when I was very young. The thing I remember the most vividly is that one of the women had a spinning wheel that looked nothing like those I had seen in pictures--it was small and I think it was homemade, and the wheel was solid (it did not have spokes like a wagon wheel or the spinning wheel in Sleeping Beauty)and she had tole-painted ivy around it. It captured my imagination. I also remember a display the guild had of wool felt that they had helped elementary children dye with Kool-Aid and make into felt.

I always planned on learning to spin and weave as my "empty nest" pursuits. However, over the course of the last several years, I have realized that SmallDaughter will probably never leave the nest, so I needed to adjust my plan!

After a display by our local Spinners and Weavers Guild at an (awesome!) Heritage Days event, where not only I, but all of my children were fascinated by the looms and wheels, I thought about learning again. I was talking to someone at church, who casually mentioned, "Well, have you talked to W about it? She's into all that stuff." I went and talked to the aforementioned W, and she was thrilled to have someone who was interested. She very graciously (and excitedly!) helped me get set up with a wheel of my own, wool, instructions, and a guild membership!

WARNING!

Working with fibers is HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!

We now have our own little "Fiber Arts Nuts" group. We get together every other week to work on spinning, knitting, crochet, felting or whatever other creative thing we are working on, then we eat yummy food. It is nourishment for the soul--body and mind! I have learned so much, and the kids LOVE it, too!

Dear W loves to get things to share, and when she saw a needle-felting hat making set on sale for half price she got it for me. Wow! Needle Felting is AWESOME!
Super easy, good for working out your stress and aggravation!

http://hookedonfelt.com/

I have 2 adorable hats completed, and 2 that I am in progress on.

Yesterday, when the F.A.N.s got together, W had a bag of the most luscious, bright candy apple red, super soft merino wool roving--just for me!!! It was so soft and silky I had to start spinning some RIGHT THEN, but most of it will be turned into hats.

I will report on our gorgeous easter egg dye experiment later (yes, it dyes wool, yes, it is super easy, yes, it is addictive!)