Spinnin' the Weekend Away

Well, they've finally done it. The internet firewall guards here at the Cube Farm are preventing employee access to the blogosphere. Oh yeah. They have shut the door, locked it up tightly and tossed the key over the nearest cliff.

No Blogger. No Typepad. No Wordpress. No nothing.

A fellow Farm Inmate has been sending me third party server addresses for the past couple of days, but those get sucked into the abyss that is our firewall within hours of first contact. To say that I am frustrated is an understatement. Really, I could go on and on, but I'll spare you all.

Let's move on, shall we? I'd rather talk about the uber-crafty weekend I just had after all. There was spinning, dying, crocheting, weaving, embroidery as well as a smattering of knitting! Actually, I feel that I have embarked upon a crafty renaissance of sorts. So much stuff to do with yarn (and thread) and so little time!

Anyway, my weekend began early as I took Friday off. So nice. I just sat around weaving and dying hanks of yarn all day. I needed the respite from the now evil and dreaded blog-blocking Cube Farm. I know. I just cannot let it go. Whatever.

Lookie how purty my yarn is though...

I do have a few weaving FOs, but I'm saving those for a post all their own.

Saturday I spent the day immersed in a 6 hour spinning workshop with John Pitblado at the Urban Craft Center. Oh my God, it was life changing. No really, it was!

First and foremost, I heart the Urban Craft Center. Angharad and Carolyn are awesome. The space is awesome. It's just blocks from my home, which...hel-lo? Is awesome. Love the UCC.

And I love John too! He's really a wonderful teacher, very patient and encouraging. Truly, the man is a gifted educator and coming from me, that's saying something because I used to teach teachers how to be teachers!

Anyhow, we began the workshop learning how to spin with a drop spindle. In the past, I tried to teach myself the art of the drop spindle using this book for reference. Each and every time I failed. In fact, I was beginning to believe I that I was suffering from a heinous ailment known as spindle-block, a very serious disease for a yarn devotee such as myself. However, it appears that I suffer no more for within a few hours I had accomplished this...

And it felt good.

Drop spindle conquered, it was time to move to THE WHEEL. I'd like to say I took to spinning on a wheel like a duck to water, but as is my way, I hit the curve, the learning curve that is, which for moi can be a bit steep. Fortunately, the curve flattened a bit within hours. So, by the time we reached the end of our session I had accomplished...

I made ya-arn.

I made ya-arn!

There is a spinning wheel in my future, of this you can be sure. There are also more UCC and John Pitblado workshops in my future too. Did I mention that I love them?

Sunday, though not as eventful as Saturday or as restful as Friday, was just as craft positive as the days preceding. I practiced a little sewing and embroidery in order to embellish this very special jacket, which belonged to my late father...

The man wasn't exactly an avid carnivore, but I think he would get a kick out of the felted meat appliques...

And utensil embroidery.

Dad was my biggest fan after all, cheering me on creation after creation.

Ahhh, fond memories of my father and my crafty weekend exploits almost quelled the blog-blocker frustration seizing my being. Almost.

Methinks I need to investigate mobile blogging...