Sunshine and Snow for St. Patrick's Day

The weather is the usual unpredictable stuff - snow from 7am to about noon and now at 5pm we have gorgeous sunshine and all the snow (about an inch) is gone.  Unfortunately the mud continues and after digging out all the silt that has built up against the barn I know of at least one project for either the kids' spring break or summer.  They hate it when I have a list of projects to keep them busy during breaks.

Last weekend I was in Port Townsend, WA attending a wonderful spinning seminar put on by Beth and Kevin Hansen, of Hansen E-spinner fame. Judith Mackenzie was the teacher and it was fascinating from minute one. To make a long story short I'm going to let the pictures tell the story of my spinning seminar:

The complete treasure trove

my alpaca on the left and the 2-ply of alpaca and buffalo on the right

three different rovings made of wool, alpaca, and silk

texas mohair in amazing colors

naturally colored cotton - the little wad of yarn on the left is the first cotton I've spun in DECADES

bamboo that I'll be blending with alpaca for spinning and felting

novelty slub yarn on the left and a four ply that was used in "Binding" around a fifth ply on the right