Once upon a time I was a weaver with loads and loads of projects that needed to be done. Then I gave a talk about card weaving to a group of spinners on their distaff day. As a reward the sponsors put me in for a door prize. I won. I cannot win the lottery but I can win a spindle and some fleece to practice with. Note that one of the requirements of winning this spindle is that my name was entered into the door prize. I think the moral here is in order to win one has to play.
my first spindle and combed fleece.
Time moved on and I attended my first fleece sale. Again it was to demonstrate card weaving. I saw this fleece and thought that if it was there at the end of the day I’d buy it. It was. From that point on I didn’t gamble with fiber. Not at any point throughout the rest of the year did I say publicly or to myself that I would take a risk about getting fiber. Yet, I managed to get three alpaca fleeces: one white, one brown, and one black; a spinning wheel, and a spinning video.
My spinning wheel. Much faster than a spindle.
It is a new year now. Part of how I celebrate the new year is to see the stock show. This year I specifically went on days when sheep were showing. Also this year there was a new thing: a silent auction for fleeces. There were two Jacob fleeces. The minimum bid on both was pretty cheap so I jotted my name down on one. See? This time I didn’t say it silently to myself, I shouted it out to the rest of the spinning world that I wanted this fleece. My first hint that I might get it was that my name was the only name on the list after being shown for two weeks. The auction only had three more days to run. Still, people sometimes want what others want. It was also before the days when they had fleece sheep shows which meant a lot of people in a high traffic area walking by with fleece on their mind. Surely one of them would like the fleece from a cute Jacob sheep. This was my way of encouraging someone else to buy the fleece.
Jacob sheep from Moose Mountain ranch ( http://www.moosemtnranch.com )
The stock show ended Sunday. Monday they called and said come pick up the fleece. Wednesday I rode my scooter for the first time this year to pick it up. There was some wind. Thursday I washed some because it was a nice sunny day with no wind. That way the sun could dry it. The small selection was almost dry last night when I brought it in. Today it is snowing. Somehow I don’t think it is going to finish drying outside.
unwashed Jacob fleece. White and black.
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