Like riding a bicycle

 Monday I drove up to Sisters which is about a half hour north of Bend and met up with three other guild members in front of the public library.  From there we caravanned to Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts and Agriculture, which is a 260 acre working ranch.  Ana Varas, the arts projects coordinator of the Roundhouse Foundation gave us a tour with an eye on potential workshop locations.  We were recently a recipient of a grant from the foundation to promote the fiber arts.  The foundation takes its name from his round barn that was built to train and exercise horses.

Ana said that when they began restoration there was no central supporting pole and the structure was on the verge of collapse.  Because it's a working ranch, Oregon law limits groups inside this building to no more than ten.

The property is sprawling but interspersed are buildings in use for an artist-in-residence program.  Because of Covid-19 restrictions there are only two artists now, both potters, but they anticipate returning to their potential of eight after the pandemic.

This is one of the locations we looked at for a painted-warp workshop, but because of the lack of hot water for dissolving the eye powders, we determined it would be more appropriate for a spinning workshop.  it will be shaded by the canopy of cottonwoods this summer and ideal.

Whychus Creek runs through the property and will be the perfect environment for a spinning circle.

Ana really wanted us to take home a bag of fleece.  They're incorporating sheep into the ranch and she said they'd really like to see some of the wool spun and even better, woven.  So the three spinners among us obliged.  They have three Lincoln sheep and when we saw them bedded in straw, I cringed to think what was in the bag that I had accepted.  They're adding another 13 sheep to the flock soon which will also have to be shorn.  More wool!

I don't have a top loading washer any longer so have to wash clumps at a time in the sink.  I did a cursory skirting and am taking off more as I go.  It's one of the dirtiest fleeces I've ever washed, but it has almost none of the dreaded vegetative matter.  Glory be!

I'm flicking the locks and then spinning them which seems the easiest way to spin luster long wool, plus I'd like to preserve the variegations in the locks.  Boy is it hairy.  I can't imagine trying to weave this but I'll cross that bridge when I have a fulled two-ply yarn.  That might, just maybe get dyed with onion skins.  I've been away from spinning for a surprisingly long time and surprisingly my muscle memory can still make yarn.

Tartan Workshop

I just bought another Blogger app for my iPad so I’m flying blind on this post.  Anyway, twelve weavers from the Central Oregon Spinners and Weavers Guild dragged our equipment the Diocesan Retreat Center on Thursday morning for a three-day workshop taught by Linda Evans.  This facility is a former horse barn and more than roomy for classes.  We arrived with prewarped looms.

The morning was spent in lecture and we were rearing to go after a delicious soup and salad lunch provided by the Center.  Each of us had chosen a tartan from the Tartan Registry and worked with Linda in advance on warping instructions.

I chose Campbell of Breadalbane instead of Campbell of Argyl because it only uses four colors.  I figured four colors and bobbins was plenty of challenge for my first experience with plaid.  This is my sample and I was getting ready to start the scarf.  I’m using 8/2 tencel set at 24 epi.

Dean chose the McKay tartan since it’s a family name and he liked the colors.  I do too!

Believe it or not, this is a registered tartan.  It’s called Rainbow and is a recently registered.  There are two kinds of tartans, symmetrical and asymmetrical, and this is the latter.  Linda finished it while we were there.

I liked Patty’s Forbes tartan and was also surprised to learn that Forbes in a Scottish name, also Gaelic Irish.  Linda mailed us all the information yesterday for all of our tartans and I printed out about a half dozen this morning until the printer ran out of ink.  I made an account with the Registray and have gotten three threading counts so far and am looking forward to weaving other tartans, but for now I’ll be content to read and understand tartans with the thread order already printed out for me.  

I like this tartan too and think it would be a terrific Christmas scarf.  I plan to weave scarves as working samples.  One thing became clear to me - the more tiny stripes, the more fiddly it is and more time it takes to weave.  Regardless, I’m hooked!

Both Friday and Saturday mornings presented treacherous driving conditions,  How treacherous?  I drove the 18 miles at 40 mph and slowed to 20 to make the turn off the highway onto the access road and even in my Forester, the back end swung wide.  I was wide awake when I  arrived, and thankfully Marci, the Retreat cook who lives on a ranch just across the road, had strong hot coffee and warm nut bread waiting for us.

I emptied the car yesterday after I got home, reorganized my work area so I could keep my loom up until I finish the Campbell tartan, and reorganized myself to head off for the St Pat’s party at the Bend Art Center - so many fun people I’ve met since I moved to Bend!!

Alexis stopped us on our way out for our official picture with St Pat’s portrait, that’s Pat Clark, our mentor and founder of the amazing art center.  There would be no art center without her, her art knowledge, sense of humor and teaching skills.  More Bend magic :-)

I almost forgot!  I learned two weaving hacks from other weavers.  I have always used film canisters but stuffed the excess yarn inside.  Linda wraps her around the outside and then snaps the lid on to secure it.  Donna uses these kumihimo bobbins with s-hooks but since I took these shower curtain hooks and washers, I weighted with them.  When it’s time to advance the warp, you just pull the bobbin down and the yarn unspools - that’s all there is to it.  So that’s now my new way to weight warp yarns separately.

Holiday show and sale

I finished Heidi Kirrmaier’s Fine Sand sweater pattern in sport weight yarn from Bartlett’s in Maine.  It’s just the right weight to wear in the house and I’m really pleased with it.  The pattern called for 3/4 length sleeves but I made them full length.  Now it’s time to start the sweater my granddaughter requested for Christmas.



The yarn arrived and I’m glad to see that the Electric Blue she chose isn’t as electric as it looked online.  Kraemer’s doesn’t do the shipping.  They job it out to yarn stores that carry their yarn.  Mine came from The Skein Shop in Cincinnati and was here in four days.  The yard is cotton/acrylic and goes in the washer and dryer, perfect for a 13-year-old girl.



I was down to the wire, getting that last set of towels completed in time for the guild’s show yesterday.  I took my stuff in Friday night to the Environmental Center and helped Mary set up our booth.  She has all the wire walls and hangers and I was glad she freely shared.



I used the fruit boxes to show off the towels and also to conserve table space.



I even managed to make a bunch of dryer balls.  Because they were so small I ended up selling them at 4 for $10.00.



It was a beautiful day, crisp but sunny.



Business was brisk all day which meant no chance to sit down and somehow I managed to eat my sandwich, a bite here and a bite there.  I looked at my Fitbit sleep record for last night.  It shows that I got up to go the bathroom twice and apparently I didn’t even turn over all night.  I was exhausted!



It was a one-day show, from 10:00–4:00 and it was already busy when Ian came by about 10:30.  I made that bag years ago to hold my cash and phone with the PayPal scanner.  I know I should make more because I keep getting asked for them but I just don’t like to sew anymore.



Mary arranged this unit by color.  It drew people in but they the only thing I sold from this area was a table runner.



The two scarves I sold were from here on the coat rack.  These were heavily browsed but it’s the towels that were the star.  I only have a couple dozen left which means I need to get right back to work since I often sell through Facebook at this time of year.  I moved the Christmas tree and mini-sweater ornaments to this end of the table but even so sales were underwhelming.  Nevertheless, they drew people in and that was the point.  I’m glad it wasn’t any longer than it was because it was busy and loud - not complaining, mind you.  People even came after 4:00 when we were tearing down.  We sure didn’t expect that!



We awoke to snow this morning. Weather is really just a lottery over which we have no influence.  I am grateful for yesterdays sunshine.

First Annual Show and Sale

The Central Oregon Spinners and Weavers held our first annual Holiday Show and Sale this past Saturday in the Environmental Center in Downtown Bend.  The building is this lovely old house which by it's nature had limited interior space and light, but that didn't seem to be too serious a problem because between 10:00 and 4:00 about 250 people came through.  The vision and planning came from Linda Gettman, one very organized and energetic woman,  She divided the room up into individual spaces marked with tape so all we had to do was show up and install our stuff.

The corner is the 6'x9' area that I shared with Mary Wonser and Gillian Burton.  The entire show had a boutique feel to it, something several of the public commented on.  My little table is under the window but my booth-mates made space for my scarves on the center display and boy did I appreciate that.  Booth fee depended on the size of the space and our area split three ways was only $42 - cheap!

By placing Mary's shelving display unit at an angle Gillian had a small table in this wedge on one side and I had the wedge on the other, and Mary's stuff was on Mary's rack.

This was my domain.  It was a little difficult to get in out out of the area but I appreciated the bright window as the lighting in the interior of the room wasn't the greatest.  One woman was looking at my towels and commented to me that she had finished weaving this draft.  I said yes, that's my pattern.  She said, no - I got it out of a Handwoven issue. I laughed and said yes, it's my article!  It tickles me when this pattern appeals to other weavers because I love it still.

Mary rearranged her scarves and offered me the hangers on the left.  There was a ton of excitement and positive energy during the show and I was glad that my side of the shelving managed to attract some shoppers.  Actually I think the towels drew them in and then when they turned around they got a face full of scarves.

I was using a the PayPal Now scanner on my iPhone but after I had rung up four sales it froze my account saying that suspicious activity had been detected.  I get that I haven't used it since last March but since I'm putting money into the account, I don't understand their worry.  Mary covered for me and let me put $200 in sales on her Square.  I've since gotten that resolved and it was the only hitch in the event.

I took this to display with the rest of the scarves which I had modestly priced at $50.  When I got there I change my mind and added a 1 in front of it, making it $150.  I figured that way I could display it and still bring it home to wear this Christmas.  It sold early and was the transaction that froze my PayPal account.  Mary to the rescue!  Laura Fry chided me on Facebook saying that she starts her scarves at $100.  I've learned my lesson.  I will raise the prices on my scarves before I show them again.

I had the surprise of my life when our two friends from Reno, Celia and John, popped into my space.  I had checked into the Environmental Center on Facebook which also provided the location and address.  They were driving from Seattle to Reno, saw the post and thought why not?  They stayed about 15 minutes, long enough for a quick visit and a towel, and then got back on the road.  Our first guild Christmas sale was a hit.  Now we need to do it again next year.