Spinning Out of Control

Last August, the day before teachers went back to school,  I bought a spinning wheel for myself.  I had wanted one for quite a while, done some research, and used my birthday money to get a steal of a deal on a Majacraft Saxonie.  I was so excited to start using the wheel, then school started...This has been a particularly stressful year for me as a teacher.  Between implementing the new Common Core curriculum,  learning to do DIBELS reading assessments, a new math assessment, and taking care of my own family there has not been a great deal of time for knitting or spinning for myself.  As the school year is winding down,  I am trying to find time to do some of the things I really enjoy.  A couple of weeks ago, I ordered some new tension springs for the wheel and installed one as soon as they arrived.  (BTW  The Woolery is a great place to order your fiber supplies.  Prices are great and the shipping is very fast if the items are in stock.) 

It took a little practice to get used to the new spring, but I got better over Memorial Day weekend. 

Here I am at Twin Lakes Campground with my family and parents.  It was so nice to be sitting outside with beautiful weather, family that I love, and wool that I had been longing to spin for over a year.  It is wool from Tunis sheep, the same kind of sheep that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson raised on their farms.  I am hoping to continue to practice spinning it, dyeing it, and knitting something beautiful from it.  Starting Monday I should have a lot more time to knit, spin, and even do a little crochet.  

Men Who Knit on Dr. Oz

So a couple of weeks ago after a long, not so great day at work, I came home to an odd message on my answering machine.  The long and short of the message was that the Dr. Oz show was doing a segment on Men Who Knit and they wanted to use some of my photos and information.  I spent the evening emailing pictures and talking back and forth with Hali in NY, one of the shows producers.  I sent her pics of the Southeast Men's Knitting Retreat, finished projects, and contacted a few friends to send pics as well.  (The segment was taping on Friday and this was late Wednesday evening, so I could not get in touch with as many friends as I wanted.)

So today I get an email from Hali and the segment will air on Wednesday, October 3rd.  Set your DVR and call your friends to see about the health benefits of knitting and to see a bunch of men who love to knit.  Hope this gets the knitting world and the male knitters a lot of positive press!

Going Back in Time...

So I see that my last post was 3 months ago and I need to tell you that Heather and I have done quite a few things since then.  I will begin with the wonderful Soxperience on Chincoteague Island.  We spent a wonderful camping weekend on the island and had a great time learning new sock techniques with Wendy Johnson.

I have often avoided socks due to the complexity of the heel, picking up stitches, and holes that always seem to show up at the joins.  Well I can safely say now that I will be making more socks, am working on a pair currently (pics coming soon), and designed a pattern at the retreat (pattern coming soon).  Thanks to Wendy for a wonderful weekend and thanks to Caroline, Dan, and Melissa with Carodan Farm Wool Shop for hosting Soxperience.

While on the island the kids enjoyed lots of fun days with Heather's mom and dad.  They earned their Ranger Badges, held whale bones, and got to see the cowboys round up ponies for vet checks: 

Wendy also indulged my "fan-ness" by allowing Eleanor to have her picture taken with her.  

The hotel on the island had no recycling (which we thought was unusual).  Wendy asked us to take her bottles home to recycle (we were collecting to take home with us as we discussed the islands commitment to renewal and clean living).  Here are the bottles:

I wonder if there are any Wendy groupies who would buy these on ebay?