vendor at the "merchant mall" bringing in all sorts of yummy fibre and fibre-related goodies from River City Yarns to the fibre-fanatics who were attending this event. I was also a student... taking the Level 3 course for the Master Spinner Certificate program run through Olds Community College. And best of all, I was able to visit with my buddy Lisa, who has moved out to the country with her husband and her kids.
Olds is a small community about 2 hours south of Edmonton and you can see the Rocky Mountains bordering the western horizon. It's a quiet, dusty place that's "quaint" in all the senses of the word. Lisa lives outside of Olds, on a little acreage bordered with trees on the east side. It's a beautiful spot surrounded by fields and up on a little hill from which you can see everything. It's well worth the drive just to get away from the highway, from the town, from everything except the hot sun, the fresh air and the sounds of birds and bugs. Lisa and her family were kind enough to share their home with me when I couldn't find accomodation in Olds for Fibre Week. It was a great visit and it made me realize how homesick I am for life in the country. No neighbours! What a treat.This year, in my course, we worked on spinning bast fibres. 
I like to call them "veggies" (as opposed to protein fibre). We also worked with silk, which is a filament fibre. We spun cotton directly from the boll, from roving and blended with other fibres. We also spun coloured cotton (called Fox Fibre after the woman who brought coloured cotton back into existence). We used our spinning wheels but also worked the cotton with supported spindles and charkas. I spent four full days spinning and one day in the dye room. I learned a lot and now that I'm back home in the city, I have to figure out a way to keep the spinning momentum going. It's tough... other "life responsibilities" tend to get in the way of work and I realize that one of the benefits of taking the class is belonging to community of spinners. That's really important in building skills and just keeping up with practice. I'm going to have to find and join a community here or get one going. Lots to do...
I like to call them "veggies" (as opposed to protein fibre). We also worked with silk, which is a filament fibre. We spun cotton directly from the boll, from roving and blended with other fibres. We also spun coloured cotton (called Fox Fibre after the woman who brought coloured cotton back into existence). We used our spinning wheels but also worked the cotton with supported spindles and charkas. I spent four full days spinning and one day in the dye room. I learned a lot and now that I'm back home in the city, I have to figure out a way to keep the spinning momentum going. It's tough... other "life responsibilities" tend to get in the way of work and I realize that one of the benefits of taking the class is belonging to community of spinners. That's really important in building skills and just keeping up with practice. I'm going to have to find and join a community here or get one going. Lots to do...
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