Fiberfest

[altivo]

I made allusions earlier to the "weekend without any rest." Well, it's now half over and I'm already worn down. Spent the afternoon demonstrating spinning again at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair in Crystal Lake. This year it was held at the county community college, which is a better venue in my opinion. Over 150 vendors, and what looked like a huge turnout. Pet the live alpacas if you wish. Eat all kinds of crap. Buy buy buy yarn and knitting needles and spinning tools and all that stuff. Attend classes and workshops. Or listen to the folk music if you prefer.

One good thing I can say about it: No dumb questions. This crowd had some idea what spinning was all about and its place in the order of things. Lots of questions about the mechanics of the process, how the spinning wheel works, where you get raw wool and such like, but no one asked if I had to kill the sheep first or why I don't just buy yarn.

More tomorrow, when I return to spin some more and then booth sit for the weaving guild at the end of the day, take down their display and cart it home with me.

Improvements over last year's event, which was held in a public park and had a very heavy police presence because alcohol was served. No alcohol this year. No police. College security people were extremely polite and interested in the goings on. Hordes of uniformed volunteers in colored t-shirts with the fair logo and "VOLUNTEER" on the back to do things like cart tables and chairs around for you. Large turn out of mostly polite visitors. Musicians less amplified, more civilized. Even the parking was better.

Comments

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

Cool. You got your daily fiber, and didn't have your senses assaulted

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and I get to go back today for most of the day as well.

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

Oh, the second day of a correctly run meet can be a joy.
I've displayed at meets of various organizations, and they can vary greatly in their moods and temperaments. Sometimes the staff runs it like a boot camp. Other times you never notice them.
Those are the good ones.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I dunno about joy but it was at least more relaxed.

[cozycabbage.livejournal.com]

I have a question for you: What are the limits to spinning yarns from fibers? We hear mostly about wool or cotton, of course, and you've mentioned horses, but what about animals with stiffer hairs, like swine, or animals with shorter hairs? Is there any sort of 'stickyness' or friction that becomes a factor?

On that note, we've collected a full little bag of undercoat from Gracie. It smells delightfully of her.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Stiffer hairs, like those of swine or elephants, do not work for spinning in the conventional sense though somewhere here I have a bracelet made of elephant hair that a friend brought me from Uganda. It is sort of braided and knotted in an ingenious way that made the size adjustable.

Smooth and slippery hairs, like the guard hairs of a dog's coat or the long hairs of a horse's mane or tail are also unsuited to conventional spinning, though they can be used under special conditions or with special techniques.

For animal fibers to work, generally they have to have enough "scale" on the surface so that they interlock and bind. The hairs that will mat or felt are easiest to use. The undercoat of some dogs works fairly well. The undercoat of some goats is cashmere. The overcoat of the Angora goat is mohair. Sheep's wool is the familiar case, but other animal fibers that work include alpaca, vicuna, llama, some rabbits but not all, musk ox (qiviut,) the undercoat of the American bison, and camel.

The length of the fiber is also a factor. Very short "fuzz" is nearly impossible to spin unless you blend it with a longer wool. This is a matter of physics. In order for the twisted fibers to stay twisted, they have to be long and flexible enough to make several turns and have their ends caught into other fibers in the bundle.

Vegetable fibers that can be spun, such as cotton, linen, and ramie, are subject to similar requirements. Because they are largely smooth surfaced, a tight and fine twist is required to hold them together.

[silver-kiden.livejournal.com]

keeping in the vein of questions on spinning, i know that there are drop spindles, spinning wheels, and doubtlessly other methods that i'm too sleep-fogged to remember...so what's your preferred method? i know you've mentioned using a wheel before.

Spinning tools

[altivo.livejournal.com]

A spinning wheel is generally the most efficient means of producing yarn or thread in quantity by hand. For smooth, rapid production, it is still the best means with most fibers.

Portability and expense enter into the equation, though. A new spinning wheel costs about $500 or more, can weigh 25 pounds and up, and is often bulky and fragile to carry around. I have one wheel that is designed for portability. It folds up and fits into a backpack like case, weighing about ten pounds. It works pretty well for most fibers, but isn't well-adapted to linen which is one of my favorites.

I have a larger, heavier wheel that isn't as portable but can spin nearly anything and I'd have to say that it is my favorite tool for serious production work.

On the other hoof, you can't beat the drop spindle for portability and they cost very little so you can have several of them, even a dozen for the price of one wheel. I found that learning to use the drop spindle was more difficult, though I've finally begun to master it. The process is slower, but the results are good and it's easy to stuff into a backpack or suitcase. In fact, I have one that will fit into a coat pocket. I can't spin flax or cotton on it though. This is possible, but requires techniques I've never mastered.

For cotton and other short fibers like cashmere, there is a third option. That's the Indian charkha, which is also superbly portable. I have one that folds up in its own wooden box to the size of a hardback book. It is ideally suited to spinning cotton, and fun to use. Less familiar to most people, it attracts a lot of attention when used in public and gets a lot of questions. I'm thinking about taking that back to the fair today for my demonstrating shift. It has some drawbacks, and isn't very good for spinning longer fibers like merino wool or flax, but it is just about optimal for cotton.

So you see, my favorite depends on just what I'm doing at the time and where I'm doing it.

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

Dear Rider.

They served alcohol before?!?!?!? What, beer? Oh well, glad it was better this time. Wish I had been there, sounds like fun.

You know, one of these years you guys both need to take the year off from all this stuff you fill your weekends with OFF and just sit around and do NOTHING! Trust me it will be one of the best years of your lives.

Imperator

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Last year's fair was the first, and the organizers are still trying to figure out what works best even now. They had the idea that a "beer garden" with live music would give the husbands something to do while their wives shopped and chatted. It turned out to be very costly to operate and not very popular. Husbands or boyfriends who will accompany their partners to this sort of event actually turn out to be pretty interested in the fiber art themselves, or else in the tools and adjunct items. Men who would prefer to sit in a saloon or watch sports on television just aren't likely to go to a fiber festival at all.

I'd estimate that about a third of those present at this year's show are men, either serving as volunteers (that's dedication to your mate's hobby!) or actually looking at the exhibits or participating. Dumping the beer thing was a good idea. There are, of course plenty of food stands and soft drink sellers. In terms of attendance and exhibits (other than live animals) this sort of fair can rival a county fair in size. I got lots of interest and questions from men, who tend to be particularly curious about the tools and how they work.

You'd enjoy this kind of show I know. It has a wide range of art and creativity and all sorts of things going on.

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

a vast improvement on that last gig of yours

:O)

BTW I also get the hose out if I am desperate for rain

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Indeed, this is much better if a little hectic. I almost lost my voice from explaining things over and over.

Rained again last night so I won't have to get the hose out today. ;p

[soanos.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you have had a good day. I am happy to hear. :)

And yay for being spared from stupid questions and volunteers help you people around! :D

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'll probably go back and do the Peterson Farm event again next year if invited, but you're right. This one is much easier to take in spite of the large crowds.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Got any photos? :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'll see if I can come up with some. I didn't take a camera yesterday and wouldn't have had time to use it anyway. But Gary is planning to come along today for part of the event and he might do the snapshot thing.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

That would be good. I used to go to these things when I lived in a village. You don't get many of them in Cities.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'll see what we can do. :)

Meanwhile, here's the fair website with photos from last year.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

[tesstheredpony.livejournal.com]

your post brought back fond memories of when I did similar things with my spinning in the 70's and 80s. I enjoyed the questions even the dumb ones since they usually came from the totally clueless. I loved hearing about your weekend and thanks for the reminder of fond memories. *hugs*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Doing it for two days running is a bit much. My throat is still sore from explaining the same stuff over and over again. However, it is fun for at least the first few hours.

I find more and more that I'm losing patience with the totally clueless and wonder what is wrong with our society that we are failing to impart these basic facts. But that's just me I suppose.