Harvest Festival at Glengarry Pioneer Museum

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Leslie

Following my visit to the Glengarry Pioneer Museum in July, I visited again today for their annual Harvest Festival. A couple of friends from Montreal met me there, where I got to spend lots of time connecting with local fiber artists (I now have a heap of Clun Forest fleece set aside for me, for free) and watching the old-timey demos and of course, eating lots. First among the good local food was freshly made butter, which apparently takes 40 minutes of hand-cranking for a pound:

Quite a few spinning wheels in use, including this Schacht Ladybug–I brought my spindle, finishing up some Fleece Artist top I bought way back in the summer of 2007 at Effiloche. I figured it was time to finish it already.

The most fashionable donkeys wear silk scarves. These two, along with two others, were abandoned in a field when their owners moved. As you can see, they’re in much better care now:

The equine part of an equine-powered hay baler:

Speaking of horses, there was a horse parade that showcased some of the prettiest draft and other driving breeds I’ve seen. Percherons, Belgians, a Morgan, Canadians, Shetlands, Haflingers, etc. This guy was a bit of a nutbar:

Like any self-respecting public event in eastern Ontario, they had Beau’s on draft. Keg problems meant mine was half foam, but I got two for freeee:

Much like my last visit, some sheep got sheared. The shearer (with “Sheep Shearer Ross” embroidered on his ballcap) was an entertaining guy with a very strong Ottawa valley accent; he drew a big crowd:

And lastly, some children in a potato swine chow sack race. The kid on the left won both races with a fantastic and painful-looking crash across the finish line each time:

A busy and lovely day with friends, and many more pictures of it wouldn’t fit on the blog (including me and the champion zucchini). Suffice it to say, I’ll be back again next year.

Posted in Spinning, travel | 6 Comments

Stansborough Grey

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Leslie

For a few years I’ve made an effort to work with local fibres as much as possible, buying fleece from local farms more often I order from somewhere outside Ontario/Quebec. Once in a while, though, something comes up that I find myself justifying the carbon footprint, and most recently it’s raw Stansborough Grey fleece. Stansborough Grey is an offshoot of the Gotland breed, having been created entirely by a single New Zealand farm. It’s very difficult to find in any kind of unprocessed form, even roving, as it sells very well as yarn or finished garments (being the raw material for those grey elven cloaks in The Lord of the Rings movies is no doubt a big selling point).

Recently Talia Sommers at International Fleeces was able to get a small supply of the raw fleece and graciously put some up for sale. Talia also has an excellent overview of the breed here. I ordered a small amount, which just showed up along with a small sample of mixed Finnwool:

What astonished me about this fleece, and what doesn’t come through in the photos at all, is the bright lustre of it. It is almost as shiny as sterling silver, and yet it is incredibly soft:

Very nice crimp for a longwool:

I’ve really overlooked Scandinavian wools in my career as a fibre artist, having written them off as overly coarse based on a single experience with some Gotland that was likely very low-grade. Seeing this fleece makes me realize how much I’ve missed, and how many more types of fleece I should try working with. I was shocked at the softness of the Finnwool, too, which is softer than most alpaca I usually come across:

I’ll post more pictures as I process and spin this fleece.

Posted in Spinning, stansborough grey | 5 Comments

Intersections

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Leslie

I really loved the photostory of the farm in the newest Twist Collective, everything from the setting to the model to the photography itself. I only just recently realized, however, that it was shot at Roxham Farm, which I visited last year and featured in my first article for Spin Off this past spring. This issue contains the first pattern from Twist I plan to knit (though I feel a slight sense of obligation to knit one from the photostory I was in last year; maybe later).


Maggie the retired show horse and her woolly companions

Another photostory also (quite by accident I’m told) caught the Montreal Centre for Contemporary Textiles, another subject for my same article, in the background. MCCT seems to be the sole remnant of a textiles industry in the area that long ago moved largely overseas. This sign in the same neighbourhood persists:

Much more beautiful photography can be seen at the magazine itself.

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Next issue of Spin Off

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Leslie

I’m rather looking forward to this issue.

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Citron

Posted on September 4, 2010 by Leslie

Citron seems almost as popular as the infamous Clapotis. It’s very easy to knit, and also very repetitive (several hundred stitches per row of stockinette? I can hear your excitement already). I’m using Exquisite from Fiddlesticks Knitting, one of the countless adjectivally named yarns out there, and plan to do a beaded bind off. Really, I can’t wait until it’s done and I can wear it!

Posted in Knitting | 1 Comment

Advice to myself, about four years ago

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Leslie

Once I really got the hang of spinning, I wanted to spin everything. In my effort to spin as many different fibres as possible, I bought a wide variety to try out. Rather than buy project-sized amounts of one or two types of fibre, I’d buy an ounce or two of several different kinds. This was great for experience but lousy for creating a usable end product. I now have many skeins like the one above, or the one below, which weigh in at 2 oz. or less of worsted-plus weight. What can you do with 2 oz. of worsted weight yarn? Not much.

My advice to myself back then would now be: 1) buy larger amounts of single types of fibre, and/or 2) spin finer. I’m going to try to use up as many of these skeins as possible with a weaving project like the Spaced Out Felted Scarf. Some more advice for my students too, as much of my advice comes from being largely self-taught and having no one else’s mistakes to learn from.

Posted in Spinning, tips | 8 Comments

Don’t thank me, really

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Leslie

Every year my alma mater, Wellesley College, hits me up for money in their annual giving drive. And every year since my Wellesley degree has led to a decent income, I’ve given a (very) small donation. It’s something I’m happy to do, especially since the college has been hit by the recession and had to cut student amenities I would’ve found it hard to do without. I like that in recent years the college has focused more on sustainable initiatives, which fits well with the natural, and often fragile, space it physically occupies.


Tupelo Point on Lake Waban

This year the annual giving campaign was ramped up in an effort to get as many alumnae as possible to give. After putting aside several notices in the mail with an immediately forgotten intention to do it tomorrow, I finally got my act together after a phone call from some poor student who got stuck doing her Work Study in the annual giving office. I got an email confirmation with a thanks attached, and I thought that was it.


My old place of residence

A few weeks later I got a form letter in the mail from the college thanking me for my donation. Okay, not necessary, but fine. Then two weeks after there was a postcard in my mailbox, thanking me again. This week I got yet another email informing me about the final numbers, with a thank you. Here’s the thing: I really would have preferred they not send me anything in the mail. Not only is it a waste of paper, but I don’t like the thought of my paltry donation immediately being funneled into international postage for multiple rounds of thank-you letters.


Galen Tower, which makes its way into just about every promotional photo of the college

My suggestion to Wellesley is that if you give online, send a thank-you note by email. I mean, how many thank yous do we need? For those alumnae who don’t have an email address or who gave through the mail or by phone, send a single postcard or letter. Not both. And not in addition to two emails! Spend my donation on academics, student life, sustainability measures, the Russian department, whatever. Time to write a letter myself, but I think I’ll do it by email.

Posted in sustainability | 1 Comment