Dashing

I woke up this morning to my favorite earth smells: we had rain last night. I love a bit of summer rain, it knocks down the pollens and dust, and brings up the smell of kitkidizzie, the fragrant low growing underbrush plant in the forest where I live. It smells sort of juniper-ish, creosote-ish, and spicy. Early settlers here did not like the odor, and called the plant Mountain Misery. Kitkidizzie is the Native Amercian name for the plant, and it is oh-so-evocative: it smells like home to me.

The rain was not entirely unexpected, but I thought it would be later, as in today, not last night. I had dyed skeins *drying* on the line, oops.

A quick answer to a question from Jennifer:

I just bought a lendrum upright! I see your v. fast bobbins in that pretty basket and have a question for you...how much yardage can you fit on one of those tiny bobbins? I'm trying to decide if I need the v. fast flier or not :)

I looooooove, loooove, looooove my very-fast flyer. I don't know how much yardage you can get (depends, the usual answer), but with the fine yarn the flyer is meant to spin, it's plenty. I've had several wheels, in the course of thirty years spinning, some even custom made for me, which I have outgrown in my quest for faster, finer, tighter twist. The Lendrum very-fast flyer still gives great satisfaction. It is fabulous for fine yarns. No affiliation, etc, although my friend Kathryn sells them. She's my dealer, so to speak, and what she delivers is better than crack (I think. I don't really know. Really).

I'm packed again. In fact, the Lendrum is in the car. This time, it's a retreat, no one is teaching anything, we are all just going to hang out and do whatever we want, for 5 days. The Reno Fiber guild arranged for the week at St. Mary's Art Center, originally for a class with Daryl Lancaster. Not enough sign-ups meant the class was cancelled, but the venue was still reserved. They quickly put together a retreat instead, for which 5 of us from here (over the hill, as it were) signed up. We blaze off today like a herd of turtles: late start, lunch in Truckee, perhaps a little shopping at Jimmy Beans in Reno on our way up to the high desert, and Virginia City, home of Ben, Hoss, Hop Sing and Little Joe. If I spot them, I'll take a photo.

What to take? What would you pack for 5 days of just fiber? I had a pile as high as an elephant's eye. I've whittled it down to 2 spinning projects, 2 knitting projects (me! The single-project-person!), well, also plus the sock-yarn-I-bought-in-case-of-fire, three weaving projects (two inkle, one cardweaving), some mending/correcting of errors (this bag), a dyepot, and some books and magazines to share and browse. Any bets on how much I actually get done?

I had more planned. I realized there were only five days, some of which time will undoubtedly be spent cooking, eating and, um, resting, yeah, resting-with-a-toddy.

The clothing is too funny. Around here I wear raggedy old clothes to work in: I'm dyeing, flinging spinning oil around, dripping tea and generally making a mess of myself. I've packed for changeable weather and utility, not beauty. The layers I have packed, if I put them on all at once, will be cause for much hilarity. Who really cares what we look like, as long as we are having fun, spinning and weaving, drinking tea and knitting? Not me :).

I'm hoping for more rain, thunderstorms, cool temps, and fine companionship. Oh, and good food and spinning! knitting! and weaving!

Off to the hinterlands. I'm so damn lucky. And I know it.