The unofficial start of fall also rings in the start of the Renaissance Festival in Kansas City, and I’m in my fourth season working at Wolf ‘n’ Sheeps Clothing. I fully intended to do one of these posts last week but the holiday weekend threw me off my rhythm. So this one is a twofer.
Over the past two weekends I:
- Made one kid cry cause I wouldn’t let him stick his fingers in a moving wheel.
- Angered three different parents: two cause I wouldn’t let their kids try to spin and one because I explained to his kid how the spinning wheel works. According to that dad, I got it wrong.
- Had about a dozen men tell me how the spinning wheel works.
- Was told by a woman that she could never spin because she’s “a feminist.”
- Scared away a fiber arts major by offering to teach her how to spin.
- Laughed so hard when a passerby said a spinning wheel makes “wood.” They probably meant wool, also incorrect, and it’s still hilarious to me.
More importantly, I got to catch up with all my faire friends and got a bit of knitting and spinning done! These two were both spun on the new Echo:
First weekend, I spun this up from an art batt I made ages ago and some Th’red Head Designs superwash merino roving. It’s so overtwisted, and I have no idea how it got so bad. Admittedly, I wasn’t paying a lot attention and was probably plying at spinning speed, but I was on the lowest ratio. I’ve never spun anything so overtwisted.
This last weekend, I spun this up from two Topeka Twister art batts that I got at her end of business sale. I didn’t consciously change any of my spinning, but this is probably the most perfectly balanced yarn I’ve ever spun. Spinning is a mysterious art!
I like them together, actually. Perhaps a shawl? What do you guys think?
I’m also trucking away on this piece that I had intended to be a sample for last season: StevenBe’s Gaga Shroud in Th’red Head Designs Superwash. It was a free pattern for the Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop the year before last, and I noticed that it was the perfect yardage to use up a whole skien of the Superwash (which has about 540 yards!). I had a rainbow skien lying about (Marci does the best rainbows) and decided it would be perfect. Barring any crafty emergencies, this should definitely be done for this season!
If you’re out at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival this season, please come by booth 337 and say hi! There’s a lot of fibery goodness (and finished garments) to peruse, too:
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