June is BAMBOO month!

Our fiber of the month for June is bamboo. I am still spinning the alpaca from May (will it ever all spin up??). I swear - 7 oz of fiber has NEVER taken so long to spin. It's never-ending.)

Jaci has worked fearlessly on the fair - Heatherly has posted pics on her blog & sent an email with a link to the Butte County Fair - check it out at www.buttecountyfair.org - quickly dear spinners - entries are due by July 20th. I know I was a complete and totally slacker and did not get any entries in for the other fairs. I hope to make up for it by submitting at least one entry in the Butte CountyFair.

Here is my challenge to you (for those who attend our guild meetings): For every entry you submit to the fair - you name will go into a hat for a spinny prize. Everyone who enters an item in the fair will receive something from PSG. Lets represent spinning locally and enter in the fair!!

See ya'll on June 7 for our next guild meeting. Bring a friend, bring some fiber - remember you do not have to spin bamboo next month. We will have fun facts about this fiber and for those who are spinning - we'll tell you what we think about it!!

Fiber

It's been awhile, but I found the pictures I was looking for - most of them anyway. From left to right: the first picture is of some dirty fleese Ruth (The Dizzy Ewe) and I purchased when she was up to teach some classes. The middle picture is a "before and after" - Ruth was kind enough to show me how to clean fleese (such a perfect house guest that Ruth, I tell ya). The last picture is of the fiber she displayed at our regular Thursday night guild meeting. When Heatherly walked into the room and saw the fiber she actually let out a little sqeal/sqeek sound!! I love it - We all had a great time and enjoyed the three days that Ruth spent with us. She attended out Guild meeting on Thursday night - nothing formal, just hanin' out and spinning. On Friday she did a class on Woolen and Worsted - we all got to touch and feel dirty and cleaned fiber (see picture above) and try combs - we were running short on time so not everone got to try the carders, but all in all we learned a ton!! Saturday was our dyeing class "graduated shades from a single pot" - pictures of that in another post.

June's fiber is BAMBOO!

May is Alpaca month

Our next guild meeting will be Thursday, May 17. Sad to say that I will be out of town and will miss the fun. Last night we had a nice meeting - A bit of Alpaca handspun was on hand for anyone who wanted to try few rows on a swatch. I was spinning some alpaca, others wool and buffalo.

Jaci shares pictures of her new lambs (cute as buttons) and gave us an update on the Fair. We were discussing the decline in fiber art type entries and I got to thinking (danger!!) - If you are too late to enter your hand spun or other fiber art in your local fair, please make an effort to attend the fair - stop by and show your support. Mark your calendars now for next year.

Knitting and spinning seem to be more popular now than ever. Lets get the buzz going and start entering our handspun in fairs.

June is bamboo - i'll find links for purchasing.

Three Days With The Dizzy Ewe

The Paradise Spinning Guild was lucky to have Ruth, owner of The Dizzy Ewe (a fiber evangelist/enabler) come visit Paradise and hang out with us.

The first picture is from Thursday's Guild meeting - we were in fiber heaven. The next picture is a "before and after" of some woolies that Ruth and I "found" on Friday while we were out and about. We washed the wool in my basement sink and took the wool to the Woolen and Worsted class on Friday evening. On Saturday, Ruth and some brave folks invated KnitWits - and did some dyeing of woolies - the last 2 pics are of my attempt - the finished strands and then a bit of some spinning on the bobbin.




On Thursday, Ruth attended our regular Guild meeting and was on hand and available to assist as needed.





On Friday, Ruth was our instructor for "Spinning Woolen and Worsted" - we all had an opportunity to try out combs and some had time to try their hand at carders - before we realized time was running short.





On Saturday, we just beat the rain at her class "Graduated Shades from a Single Pot"

Fiber-fest - April 19 - 21, 2007

Are you planning on attending one or all of the classes offered from the Paradise Spinning Guild? If so, let me know - hit the email at the top of the blog.

Saturday, April 21 - "Graduated Shades from a Single Pot" - the instructor has suggested that you wear grungy clothes, bring an apron and rubber gloves. Dyeing yarn can be messy business!!

Friday, April 20 "Spinning Woolen and Worsted" class. If you have combs, please bring them - a limited number of hand carders and drum carders will be made availalbe. If you have your own, feel free to bring them - to use yourself or share.

We need headcounts for confirming class supplies. Please let us know if you will attend!!

Fiber-Fest - RSVP NOW!!

Thursday, April 19, 2007. 5:30p - 7:30p. Paradise Spinning Guild. Lean to spin! Bring your wheel, drop spindle and fiber if you have them. Our special guest will be RUTH NORTHROP. Members of the PSG will be on hand to teach spinning to anyone who is interested.
PLEASE RSVP BY POSTING A COMMENT OR SENDING ME AN EMAIL.

Friday, April 20, 2007. 5:30p - 7:30p "Spinning Worsted & Woolen" by RUTH NORTHROP.

Saturday, April 21, 2007 10a - 3p (lunch on your own from 12-1). "Graduated Shades From a Single Pot" by RUTH NORTHROP.

**There a small fees for these classes. Please post a comment and/or send me an email for specific locations and fees. (Ranging from $5.00 to $25, depending on pre-registration or pay at the door)

Silver Dollar Fair

I wanted to give ya'll some information on the Silver Dollar Fair, that Jaci provided:

There are 5 classes for handspun:

wool - 2ply - white or natural colored
wool - 2 ply - natural dyes
alpaca - 2 ply - any color
any handspun, any ply, any color
item made from handspun

The deadline for registering about 3 weeks away (April 20), entries must be received on 5.18 or 5/19.

Jaci thinks that you can get an application on line for the handspun.