I'm SOARing!

Seriously, I'm heading to SOAR for a week of submersion in spinning culture with my friend Maia of Tactile: A Fiber Arts Studio. Remember her? I went to the California Wool & Fiber Festival, aka Boonville, with her last month. No? You don't remember? Oh, right! That's 'cuz I'm a giant dorkimous & I never posted pictures. Easily remedied!

That's her in the picture; wave to the nice readers, Maia! Oops, her hands look like they're already biz-AY. You can see by her obviously playful demeanor why I love hanging out with her. She's the one that took those ridiculous pictures of me mack-daddying a chocolate bar from the other day. Here's a real shot of the 2 of us, also taken in her booth at Boonville. Look at all that scrumptious naturally-dyed yarn & fiber we're surrounded by!! That's all Maia's handiwork.

Back to SOAR, the Spin-Off Autumn Retreat. Maia is running Tactile as a solo show now, & she's in need of some extra hands for shows, which is good news for me as I seriously could not afford to attend under my own financial steam. But now I get to help her out AND rub elbows with some mighty kickass spinning folk at these fiber festivals when I travel with her. In the case of SOAR, I'm most looking forward to finally meeting Jacey Boggs/Insubordiknit, but I'm pretty damn excited about spending more time with the Carolina Homespun crew & Abby Franquemont of Abby's Yarns (if you haven't been there recently, be sure to visit Abby's site, as it got a brand-spankin' new facelift this week!).

Not ONLY do I get to help a friend, and hobnob with fun spinny types, but I actually get to LEARN something, too! Brooke, who couldn't find childcare for the adorkable Joaquin, has generously given me her spot in the All About Cotton workshop being taught by Stephanie Gaustad! Yep, that Stephanie Gaustad. How cool is that! Even better, my friend Janet is loaning me her book charkha, made & delivered to her by Alden Amos, on which she was taught to spin cotton by...wait for it...Stephanie Gaustad! Yep, I'll be spinning on a tool made by the instructor's partner and used previously by the instructor; lucky me! My classmates will include Ellen & Denny, making the whole experience EPIC, I am sure.

One more juicy detail about my trip to SOAR: Maia has asked me to put some COLROBOMB Creations art yarn ingredients in her booth alongside Jacey's Sit and Spin! how-to DVD. In addition to my BOMBits kits, I'm bringing -- teaser alert!-- a brand NEW product. Check back here tomorrow for details!!

Tags: SOAR, handspinning