Holiday: Unwinding on Canada Day

It's Canada Day and the sun is shining.  We've had torrential rains here for the last few days; parts of the city have flooded and some celebrations in the park have been cancelled, but we've had nothing worse than some damp spots in our basement, so we are lucky.  I'm unwinding from my adventures at Fibre Week, after organizing the last bits of paperwork to be submitted to the College, unpacking supplies and checking fibre resources for information on twist in yarns.

Strange as it may seem, I hardly spun any fibres while I was away.  Apart from the hour or so I spent at the Spin-In and the few minutes of demonstrating techniques to my class, I was either too busy or too tired to make yarn.  As a counterbalance to that, I spent yesterday just spinning, without concern about consistency, twists per inch, angle of twist, plying or end use.  I just made yarn. The result, 130 metres of a chain-plied blend of Merino, camel and silk from West Coast Fibre Works, is nowhere near perfect, but it's pretty, soft, good-for-a-winter-hat yarn.

It felt good to forget all the rules I've learned (and am still learning) about how hand spun yarns "should" be spun.  I put "should" in quotations because, much as I love a discussion on the technical aspects of spinning, and as much as I believe in knowing the rules, I do these things to give myself space and freedom. Sometimes, it's a fine thing to allow the lumps and slubs, the thick and thin spots, the not-quite-right strings to make an appearance.  Sometimes, it's wonderful to play and be a beginner again.

That was my plan yesterday.  Today, the sun is out and the mosquitoes are not, so I'm going to sit in my yard for a while.  I'm going to enjoy the light and the overgrown lawn and the weeds that are making a jungle.  I'll watch Morris play with his new Kong.  I may spin.  I may not.  Whatever I do will likely not be what I should be doing. Thank goodness for that.

"Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' Say not, 'I have found the path of the soul.' Say rather, 'I have met the soul walking upon my path. For the soul walks upon all paths." (Kahlil Gibran)

Namaste.