Go East Young Man

Here in our strange little corner of the world, summer is already beginning to slip into fall.  I know this because the hipsters riding their fixed gear bicycles along first avenue are starting to sport the occasional jaunty scarf.

And like most mammals I am not immune to these cycles of nature.  Just this afternoon, while enjoying my ridiculously overpriced cup of french press coffee and pondering the existential predicament that is the life of a man who is a corporate finance lawyer and yet has several albums by Rage Against the Machine on his iPod, I found my thoughts drifting toward wool.  Specifically, I found myself wishing I had more time to spin it into yarn, and more time to make things from it.



Clearly, a vacation was in order.  Luckily, the entire TSMK family has had one planned for some time. 

And so, after putting the children to bed this evening, Mrs. TSMK and I set about packing for an excursion.  Well, actually we set about trying to decipher a passage of the owner's manual of Mrs. TSMK's car as it described the "simple" method of removing a middle-row seat.  But, once feeling quite accomplished at the fact that two people with 6 years of post-graduate education between them were able to remove a single seat in a half-hour, we set about packing.

We're heading out tomorrow for a week in the mountains in Idaho, and I couldn't be more excited.  In addition to visiting family, I'm bringing along an entire bag of fleece, along with my hand carders and a drop spindle.  And of course quite a bit of knitting.

But my attention will not be solely focused on fiber, however.  Mrs. TSMK has kindly allowed me permission to bring along my girlfriend on this excursion.  Yes.  You heard me right.  I'm going on vacation with Mrs. TSMK and my girlfriend, Molly. 

[Note: Molly is pictured at right - a Gold Tone White Ladye banjo.  I highly recommend that you avoid suggesting a vacation with your spouse and your significant other unless your significant other is similarly described.]

What's more, we're bringing all of our children.  Even the furry ones.

And so, I say farewell for a week.

But before I go, let me offer a few gratuitous pictures of yarn.  Specifically, this is yarn that found its way to the post office today - being shipped off to my Red-headed Minion.  She indicated she'd like some handspun.  So I'm sending her a skein of my most recently spun stuff.  But just in case she also wants to receive some decent stuff, I'm sending her a skein of handspun 50/50 cashmere and silk that I found at a local guild sale last year, along with two skeins of one of my favorite commercial yarns - GGH Kid Melange.    Hopefully, she'll make something awesome with one or more of these, and then share the photos so that we can all appreciate her work.

~TSMK

Three Bags Full

I read recently, that law enforcement agencies in several states were quite upset about the apparently overt use of Craigslist for all manner of debauchery - but specifically for the advertising and solicitation of prostitution.

Now personally, I've always liked Craigslist. Not specifically because of its 21st century approach to the world's oldest profession, but generally because it seems to be a very efficient market and a convenient forum for bringing local buyers and sellers into contact. It was through a Craigslist ad that I found two of my motorcycles. One I bought two summers ago, and then subsequently sold last summer to acquire another I'd found on Craigslist (although I've regretted that second transaction ever since). Also, the site provides an interesting and seemingly anonymous forum for people to speak their minds - occasionally with hysterical results. All in all, I've been a Craigslist fan. But now, I'm starting to think that the apoplectic attorneys general may actually have a point. This is a forum most foul.

Three days ago, I was scanning the free items that were posted in the local Craigslist site. About halfway down the first page, something caught my eye: fleece. Specifically, the raw fleece from eight sheep. According to the posting, the owner simply wanted to get rid of the stuff. This was quite a conundrum.

For several weeks, I'd been considering buying a spinning wheel from my friend S ("SoD") K. She'd bought it some years before, and had lost interest in spinning (although she still knits like a Scandihoovian fiend). The price was good, and I was sorely tempted. I'd even gone so far as to make inquiries of a few local farms as to whether they ever sold their fleece. So far, I'd struck out on those inquiries - but that was OK because it meant I had a good excuse not to get the wheel - thereby hurtling myself headlong into a another series of projects.

But now, with fleece seemingly throwing itself at me like I can only imagine is the case for the ladies (and gentlemen, no doubt) of the evening on a different portion of the site. . . well what was a fellow to do?

I responded to the post. All was not yet lost. "Maybe they'll already be taken."

They weren't already taken. The nice lady who answered my email told me that she'd received a number of inquiries, and was thinking of dividing it up among those who'd responded. She gave me her address, and I told her I'd swing by that evening.

So, the entire TSMK clan piled into the car that night, and made its way out to the farm - which was only about 10 miles from our house. When we arrived, there were piles of plastic bags - the kind you might use to line an enormous trash can - covering most of the front walk. Each bag was stuffed to the brim with fleece.

We chatted briefly, and she told me that there was only one other person who was coming, and that I should take half the bags. A quick scan told me that half the bags on the walk wouldn't all fit in the car. So, we opted for three. Three bags full.

One of the bags is filled with creamy white virgin lambswool. A second is filled with fleece that is almost entirely black. The last has variegated wool ranging from graphite in color to a dark brown. Even raw, greasy from lanolin, reeking of sheep and riddled with all manner of vegetable matter, dirt and unmentionable detritus, this is gorgeous stuff.

Maybe this is the right time to mention that I do not know anything about processing wool or spinning. I plan to pick up the wheel this weekend. In the meantime, I have begun processing the fleece. I picked as much of the plants (etc.) out of about 1/3 of one of the bags, and washed that portion. At the moment, it's drying on Mrs. TSMK's dining room table. She says it looks like the most impressive "Furminator" commercial you could imagine. (http://www.furminator.com/) In addition, I've picked up some hand carders and have begun practicing. The Youtube videos make it look very easy. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp_fIc5lCuk) They lie. It isn't easy. Still, I think it will come with practice.

Then, of course, there's the actual spinning. I've played a bit with a top whorl drop spindle, with mixed results. Youtube exhibitionists notwithstanding, I'm thinking about taking a lesson. Maybe I can find someone to teach me on Craigslist. . .

-TSMK