Fiber Chicks

When I was in highschool, we used to love going to Old Town in Albuquerque dressed up in our spikes, black clothes and white grease painted faces to make fun of the tourists.

Now I am the tourist, walking through the historic streets..right along with all of the other tourists browsing for the best deals on turquoise jewelry and Indian rugs and baskets (some of which are made in Pakistan. I will have to research exactly which Native American tribes moved there and took up residence to continue their art....ahem..)

I am not looking for rugs and baskets, my purpose for coming here as a tourist now is of course fiber related.

A few weeks ago my dad sent me a newspaper article about a new store in Old Town: Fiber Chicks. Two retired women decided to open up a yarn store..nothing new there. But this one is reported to be selling hand spun and dyed yarn from local artists. Really? How cool!

Excuse me while I go on a tangent. My love for yarn is well known..I love it so much I make it for a living now. But why buy handspun over those luxury yarns out there? If I buy a skein of mill spun in a certain colorway, I can go back and buy more in the same colorway. It is plentiful, made of quality fiber and cheaper than most handspun. But that is exactly WHY hand spun is so cherished. It is one of a kind, produced and dyed in small lots, and no two spinners will produce th same fiber in exactly the same way or color. Items created from hand spun are truly unique, and well worth every penny you spend on them. In a world of mass production to satisfy mass consumption, hand spun is a treasure of patience, time, and preservation of an art that literally gave us civilization.

Any larger city or town will have its share of yarn and fiber shops, and Albuquerque is no exception. There are some long standing giants like Village Wools, and the standard craft store stuff. Fiber Chicks is a promising new face in the Albuquerque fiber scene (I am not sure we are a scene, but I will call it that with a lot of hope.)

My mom and I searched along the main plaza in Old Town before visiting the information booth to grab a map. Fiber Chicks is off the beaten path in more ways than one! After wandering over to the east side of the plaza, we wandered down a brick path to a patio enclosed by traditional adobe buildings.

I love these little patios. Sun baked terra cotta bricks, pots of flowers every where and benches to sit and enjoy the view.

Fiber Chicks is tucked back in just such a place, and bonus...it is next to a coffee shop. I could easily picture myself sitting on one of the warm benches on an autumn or spring day, knitting away with a cup of coffee and a biscochito by my side.

The first sight that greets you when you enter the store is a large antique spinning wheel. It is not functional, but it matches the old feel of the adobe building with its low door frames and roof.

The shop sells the standard nicer mill yarns (the Noro display is right up front..yum). The walls are decorated with hand knit projects and one entire wall is dedicated to handspun/dyed yarns.

The second room has a work table for groups to get together around and more yarn of course.

I spoke with Lesley Miller, one of the owners. She is a warm and vibrant person, and her love for yarn and her shop are evident in the conversation. We discuss handspun and the antique spinning wheel, and I found out that she lived in Colorado for a time as well. We talk about the blue expanse of the New Mexico sky, and how much we love the west.

I kept thinking if I lived in Albuquerque, this store would be one of my favorite haunts. Friendly people, a beautiful patio and a laid back feel would make it the perfect place to shop and knit.

Unfortunately, most of the consignment hand spun yarns had been picked up by the artists for the upcoming Taos Wool Festival, but there was still plenty to look at. The hand spun yarns were well crafted, with a lot of variety in the fibers they were spun from. I also noticed a small cubby with some roving for sale. The hanks were generous, and the prices were reasonable for consignment yarn.

Fiber Chicks was well worth the visit, and I admire any store that supports local artisans and sells their work. If you are passing through Albuquerque, it is definitely worth a visit and a chat.

Fiber Chicks

206 1/2 San Felipe NW #9

Patio Market, Old Town

Albuquerque, NM

87104

Book Review: Shear Spirit

Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns, Miles of Yarn

Joan Tapper, Gale Zucker (Photography)

I don't normally buy pattern books unless they offer something else. Not to say I don't own them, I just normally check them out from the library to get a pattern or two that I like.

This book offers so much more than patterns, and the patterns offered are fabulous.

Shear Spirit is a photographic journal of fiber farms across America. I started browsing through the copy I bought while at Victory Ranch, and had to add it to my pile of purchases.

The photography:

These photos are so rich in color and texture you could almost touch them. A variety of fiber animals and the people that work with them. These aren't just snapshots, they capture the feel of the setting and span the seasons. The photos of the projects showcase their beauty, and are artfully modeled. I also love close up photos and schematics of projects this book provides. The photos in Shear Spirit are coffe table book quality, and I will often just browse through them for inspiration.

The writing:

It actually took me a while to read the stories of each fiber farm. I was so drawn in by the photos and the projects that I read them last. That was a shame. The stories associated with each fiber farm are engaging, and often relate the struggles of making fiber your life work. Without being dull, the stories illustrate the day to day work of the farms represented and are as colorful as the photos. One of my personal favorites is Meadowcroft Farms. Nanney Kennedy dyes her yarns using sea water and sun in big open air bath tubs, letting nature do the work. Most of the stories have an underlying theme of the change of seasons, which gives the writing a timeless feel.

The projects:

Most of the projects are for knitting. there is a crocheted hotpad, a felted tote bag and instructions for making Navajo braided rope. The projects range from small and simple to larger and more intensive. There is a good mix of men's and women's projects, some unisex projects and a childs cardigan. I have not knit any of them yet, but there seems to be a good range of experience levels with the projects. All of the projects are created from the yarn each farm produces. When I actually get time to knit, the first project I want to try is the Meseta Alta Shawl from Victory Ranch. I actually saw the shawl while visiting the ranch and it is luscious!

The good:

Stunning photography, engaging stories and a lot of inspiration. A lot of variety in the projects with notes from the designer and graphics where needed. The projects for the felted tote bag and the Navajo rope are interesting inclusions.

The bad:

Most of the projects are knit. I would love to see a little more variety in crochet and perhaps even weaving. But the rest of the book makes up for the lack technique variety in the projects.

Spinning Blind!

I don't think anyone who knows me doubts my love for my spinning wheel..and spinning. I also love watching movies, or watching life go by from my patio, or watching Cosmos on the Science Channel.

I spin for a living now and am very, very picky about my end results. In the beginning this usually meant watching my drafting and twist with an unwavering eye. A good knitting or crocheting yarn is about consistency, consistency, consistency. Not that I dislike spinning funky novelty yarn..but in my opinion it is about learning the rules and perfecting them before cutting loose and breaking them.

Spinning is also a meditation for me. If I am not watching a movie or some geeky science show, I am often sitting at my wheel with my eyes closed, chanting in my head with the rhythym of my feet and hands providing the beat for repetitions.

Wait..did I just say spinning with my eyes closed?!

You bet! I have found this technique great for creating yarn by feel, that is amazingly consistent..often more consistent than watching my drafting with eyes open.

I read an article a few years ago about a group of blind women who used to spin yarn. The yarn they produced was coveted for its incredible consistency and softness. It made a lot of sense to me, our eyes decieve us far more than any other sense. Rather than removing my eyes, I decided to use a bandanna as a blindfold to explore the world of tactile spinning.

Learning how to spin by touch gives you an incredible feel for the fiber and yarn. Your hands will sensitize to things like crimp, contaminants in the fiber, and twist.

I encourage you to give this method a try..it can be frustrating at first, but eventually you will learn to trust your hands as well as your eyes to produce beautiful yarns.

You will need a blindfold, your wheel , and fibers prepared by different methods (rolags, raw, top, roving etc).

Get your equipment set up. Put your blindfold on. Go back to spinning 101 and spend a few minutes treadling your wheel with an empty bobbin. Focus on listening to the sounds your wheel makes. Eventually you will be able to hear when it needs oil, or something isn't right.

How does your foot feel on the treadle? Do you push more with one part of your foot than the other? Or is it even across the treadle? What sound does your wheel make on the down treadle? On the up? These exercises are just to get you used to opening up the other senses to your spinning.

Lift up your blindfold and grab some of your fibers. Re-cover your eyes and actually feel the fiber. What is the weight like? Is it smooth? Crimpy? Can you tell if it is top or roving? If it is a rolag is it light and airy or is it more compact? Amazing what you can learn with your eyes closed.

Now for the fun part. With your blind fold on, attach your fiber to your leader. Try spinning with your usual drafting method for a few minutes. You will probably feel a bit of anxiety..you just lost control of the normal faculty to see if you are doing it "right". Concentrate on your usual drafting method now. How much feel do you have for the yarn being formed by your fingers? Most spinners have about 2 fingers on the drafting hand, and 2 fingers on the twist hand. How does that limit your ability to feel the yarn?

Let's try something else. My wonderful hubby took some pictures of the hand holds I use for "blind spinning". In this photo, my left hand is holding the fiber. My forefinger and thumb control the amount of fiber coming from my drafting hand. The fiber is held *lightly* under the remaining 3 fingers. (Nothing worse than spinning matted fiber from sweating hands). When you are spinning blind, this hand will allow you to feel what is coming through before the twist goes in.

The right hand is controlling the twist coming in to the fiber (this works for any draw style you prefer. I started with a short forward draw while learning this). Most spinners use the forfinger and thumb to control the twist. We are just going to add the remaining 3 fingers so the twisted yarn passes through them, giving you a feel for the twist and diameter of the yarn you are spinning. Here is another photo showing the forward hand palm up, and the yarn passing over the last 3 fingers. You can also spin palm up, it is just a matter of preference. If you spin palm up, the untwisted fibers are felt by the 3 fingers on the hand, and the final twist and diameter is felt by the thumb and fore finger.

Alrighty..start spinning. Focus on the feel of the fiber as it flows through your fingers.

Don't worry about what the yarn is going to look like, just concentrate on how it feels.

Once you are comfortable doing this, start feeling your treadling in comparison to how your hands are moving. Is there a rhythym to your drafting and treadling? Good! You won't believe how this will improve your consistency.

Eventually you are going to run out of fiber, which brings us to (drum roll) the BLIND JOIN! Yep. You are not allowed to take the blindfold off to join the new fiber on. Use those sensitive fingers to feel when the fibers are aligned and ready for twist. After you are done swearing and get the hang of it, you might just notice that your joins are now smoother as well.

Try all of your different fibers and drafting techniques. I notice that my long draw/woolen spinning is the most interesting. I can feel how much fiber was coming through with the draw back, even though the fiber was no longer between my fingers. I could also feel when just the right amount of twist was in it, and have since learned how to draft out the slubby thick spots all by feel.

Is it nerdy to say these techniques liberated my spinning? Probably a little. But it has greatly improved my spinning as well. My last project, Sangre De Cristo was spun almost entirely "blind". It is one of the softest, and most conistent yarns I have spun to date. (This is not subjective, each skein was measured on the Mcmorran balance and all were a more consistent grist than anything I have spun before.)

Now you can spin while meditating..enjoying a movie without missing an action scene, or have a conversation with your spinning buddies at the next spin-in.

Groovy!
The yarns in these photos are available for sale at www.rumplestiltskeins.artfire.com