Spin, Spin with Me!

First Spun and Plied Yarn

It's so interesting how simple activities can become practices of mindfulness and put you in a meditative state.  Two of my favorite practices are...Spirit walks...meditative walks where I am open to receiving signs from Spirit in the form of messages from the animal kingdom or from my elemental guides and Barefoot Breathing...deep breathing while my bare feet are firmly grounded on Mother Earth.  There's really something to being here now...in the moment, open to all that is.

Lately, I've found how Spinning yarn can be a practice

Hackle Fiber Processing Tool

in Mindfulness...a sort of Meditative practice. What is it, that draws me to the spinning wheel night after night? It's almost addicting.

Let me back up a minute though...as of about 2 weeks ago...I would say..."I'm not the spinner, my husband is, cause I can't spin".  I was convinced I would never be a spinner.  I tried a few years back when hubby and I began our journey to have a self-sustained/self-sufficient homestead.  After hubby learned to shear our Alpacas, he learned about the tools to process the fiber.  Then started handcrafting them and offering them in our Etsy shop.  Shortly after, he decided to purchase a spinning wheel, so we could spin up our processed fiber.  But for me it was a mission impossible.  I didn't have the patiences for it and just gave up.  But he...well, he turned into an amazing spinner and so...I'd say "I'm not the spinner, my husband is", when ever I was asked.

Creating on a Different Kind of Canvas...

I spent the week preparing fiber

and doing a lot of dyeing!  For those who don't know we own Alpacas and have a Fiber Arts and Tool business.  We sell our products mostly on Etsy, but there are a few Fairs and Shows we do throughout the year.  One of which is coming up in a few weeks, the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR.

The boys have been busy making 

the various tools we offer to take to the show.  Tools that are used to process fiber, like Blending
Boards, Combs and Hackles, Dizs, and other spinning accessories.