Seems I have not blogged in a long time. Not only have I been AWOL from blogging, I also went AWOL immediately post Bill’s neck surgery. So, now what would induce me to leave my husband the day after he came home from the hospital (but never fear, my stepmother came down to sit with him for a week) and brave the 1 digit temperatures in North Carolina? 
(You can see the cold, can’t you?)
Well, only one thing could have done that. Lest you think I was being mean, let me remind you that I had this event planned for 6 months, and Bill’s surgery only came up for discussion within the last month or so. He definitely did not want me to miss my class at Folk School.
The class was “Spinning Colorful Yarns” and was taught by fiber/spinning/weaving expert extraordinaire, Judith MacKenzie McCuin. If you look closely, you can spot her in the classroom.
I just knew, knew, knew she was the best ever teacher, but I was also delighted to discover just what a wonderful lady she is as well. And, oh, the stories she regaled us with!!
Here are the goodies she brought along for us to play with:
Color wheel of 80s merino for us to experiment with. We learned how to spin the perfect sock yarn.

This is really the first time I have actually enjoyed spinning merino.
Then, she brought all this other wonderful stuff to play with. A lot of it came from our friend Jennifer from Spirit Trail Fiberworks. Yum!!!
She also brought a mixture of Cotswold wool and wolf fur, which I enjoyed experimenting with immensely. Well, who would have thought I would enjoy spinning wolf? Who would have thought you could even spin with wolf? And who was brave enough to gather its fiber?
Another goodie was some of Judith’s hand dyed singles, with which I learned to make boucle yarn.

Those who know me well know I have always been stumped by novelty yarns.
Here are some practice yarns:
Boucles and knot yarns.
Novelty mohair slub yarns.

4 ply cabled yarn. 
As well as 6 ply cabled yarn, which I love, love, love.
We carded crazy batts:

And spun crazy batts:
Dyed wool:

We also learned yarn control. Yay!!!
Judith was extremely generous with her time and quite patient with us. What a lovely time we all had.
I also had the very amazing opportunity to watch Lyle Wheeler make a chair, using only hand tools. No glue, no nails, no power tools. This is the man who made my great wheel and my spinning stool. I now have a greater appreciation for these treasures after seeing him work.

I ate well and met some awesome ladies in class!!
It all made up for the cold weather, as I left with a warm heart.
So, that’s my January in a nutshell. I hope you have had an interesting month as well.
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