HOW IT ALL STARTED...

It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? – Henry David Thoreau

My obsession with busy began back in college. I was taking an overloaded class schedule, working part time at the college, working part time at a bar, actively acting in/stage managing/directing plays, and running a full social calendar. Every moment was spent planning the next 10 moves, I was running 100 miles an hour down a dead end road, and by my sophomore year, I was secretly looking for the escape button. Then one day, I saw a friend of mine knitting. I became fascinated with this old art that required me to sloooooooow down. When I was knitting, I could think about nothing other than knitting. I had to concentrate so very hard to get it right (do I need to tell you I was a perfectionist?), that I could not think about all of the other things I had going on. I was forced to be in THAT moment alone. Anyone else feeling the zen?

AND THEN I GOT BORED...

Fast forward a few years later, and I had become rather proficient at knitting. As in, knitting in a dark movie theatre without looking, or intricate lace with 00 needles proficient.

But frankly, I was bored. I started searching out patterns that employed different construction, like starting a sweater in the middle of the chest and working outward in a circle kind of construction, and when I couldn't find enough of those, I started free-forming things. This worked for a time, but not long.

Thus started my spinning journey. I picked up a spinning wheel and just started doing the thing. I didn’t care if I was spinning worsted or woolen, or semi-worsted or using fiber that was carded or combed or prepared woolen so I could spin it worsted….and if you’re confused by all that, you’re not alone. I don’t follow it, and don’t plan on learning any of those terms. (If you know those terms and love those terms and are fascinated by the different techniques, I am SO happy for you. They just don’t jive for me.) For me, I just *spin*….and I make yarn! (Spin Off has a great article about this very issue)

Sometimes I really love my yarn, sometimes I like it, sometimes I learn something important, sometimes I vow never to do it again. Different breeds and preps, I don’t much care. In the beginning, my somewhat perfectionist nature wanted beautiful, perfectly even 2 ply worsted weight yarn….and that’s what I spun. Nowadays, I just see what happens when I sit down at the wheel. Sometimes it is art yarn, sometimes it is laceweight. I do find that for me, often the coarsest fibers spin the easiest.

AND THEN I MET TRACI...

Being me, I decided that if I was going to spin, I was going to do it right. I wanted WOOL. And I wanted to know about the sheep that it came from and the people who cared for it. I reached out to my local spinning guild and asked if anyone local sold wool, and Traci was one person that responded. What followed was a rapid slide down the rabbit hole that led to the opening of AMFS and selling fiber. Raw and washed locks, hand processed roving and batts, hand dyed and natural colored locks. I was in it, and I loved every second of it.

I discovered very quickly that I was not, however, into breeds like merino and other fine wools. These wools are trickier to process (aka more time consuming and easily damaged) and I didn't find myself enjoying the spinning of them any more than other, less troublesome breeds. I latched on pretty quickly to the Shave Em to Save Em program, which promotes endangered sheep breeds (have you seen this gorgeous fiber?). And I am constantly searching out new and different breeds and bringing them to you (like this Perendale that I love!) I do love supporting American shepherds and the majority of my fiber will always come from those sources. I will occasionally bring in fiber from the UK and Europe that is from sheep breeds that are not in the states. Then things get really interesting...

BUT THEN MY EYES STARTED TO WANDER AGAIN...

As happens so frequently in the fiber world, while vending at a fiber festival, I started looking around. I thought…..well, knitting was great, and spinning was great, and processing was great….but what about weaving?? That looks fun! But most looms have so.many.moving.parts! And while I was looking around for something new, I knew that I did not have the bandwidth to really learn all of the moving parts of even the smallest of looms. And then one day, I saw a shepherdess friend of mine weaving on a peg loom. And thus the next phase of my fiber life began! Now I even spin chunky funky art yarn on purpose to put onto my loom!

HOW IT'S GOING...

Soon after, Traci and I started crafting peg looms from reclaimed barn wood. I was weaving like mad, making all kinds of rugs and seat cushions and cat beds and whatnot, all while adding another business to the mix. [Check out our looms at Weald & Wool]

Between processing fiber, creating art batts to sell and spin myself, dyeing in pickle jars like the Swedish Chef and teaching peg loom weaving classes, and now creating home décor items like large wall hangings, rugs, and cushions, I’ve obviously not learned my lesson about busy lol.

I often say that my life is overrun by wool….but a fiber life is the life for me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. And it’s just going up from here folks. So if you want a custom piece of any size, tapestry, wall hanging, seat cushions, let me know.

As always, I’ll catch you on the flip side.