A Saturday at the Mannings

Poised to begin!

It was a beautiful day for an outdoor event at The Mannings and a perfect combination of family, fiber activities, food, and learning. All the anticipation and planning of the previous weeks leading up to this one day - a day that seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Wouldn't it be grand if someone invented something that could slow down time just for one wonderful day.

I had 2 goals for that day (beyond spending time with family): begin spinning on my new spinning wheel and avoid purchasing yarn in the shop. Check and check!! I made a major discovery with spinning on a wheel - although it looks restful when done by skilled hands, it is anything but restful when done by a newbee like me. There have got to be 6 things going on all at the same time, using both hands, and both feet

and your brain - AND there is a small cycle of activity that gets applied over all that - drafting, allowing the twist to into the drafted fiber and then allowing the wheel to take up the spun fiber and then repeat, and repeat and repeat in order. *sigh*. I had to take a break to work on a complicated lace knitting pattern - at least while I was doing that my feet were resting. And no fiber purchases in the shop ... that probably was a first in the 13 years I have been knitting that I left empty handed. Actually I am trying to avoid buying yarn from anywhere for awhile. Over the winter I inventoried of my yarn stash - based on knitting 5,000 yards of yarn a year ... I would need to live to 92 or 93 before I ran out! That calculation just continues to fester in my brain. I am not opposed to having a decent stash of yarn, but I think a small yarn shop worth is pushing the envelope on acceptable.

The main challenge of the day was keeping our chairs in the shade. We started the morning perfectly situated under a tree, facing out past a grapevine to a rural setting unmarred by development. As the sun moved, so did we unfortunately. Each re-location was supposed to be our final move. We move 4 times - but in the end we won the battle with the sun.

And for the second year in a row, my sister won one of the many door prizes they announced. I think my sister should play the lottery!

First Efforts - alittle thick and chuncky but a start! I have already decided I need to buy a Wooley Winder so that I don't need to keep moving the yarn over the hooks! Have to save up for that.

One beautiful person is missing from this shot. Our other cousin LC from PA. She had to work in a new job. She was missed!

Total Steps: 3728 (that is what you get when you sit in the car to go, sit at the knit-in, and sit in the car to return - and, of course standing - like we did for this picture - not too many steps there either!)