Lost Arts studio

A lot of the fiber arts I enjoy are things like tatting, netmaking, chair caning, and even weaving, where people will come up to me when I demonstrate and solemnly tell me, "That's a lost art."

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Location: SW Outer Nowhere, Michigan, United States

On the Internet, nobody knows you're a chicken. (With apologies to Peter Steiner.)



28 January 2008

111 Knitters at Threadbear

(Franklin Habit's 1000 Knitters photo shoot at Threadbear Fiber Arts in Lansing, Michigan)

I got out the door Saturday morning around 9:30 am to head for Lansing. The weather forecast for Saturday had been mild all week, an inch or two of snow and middling temperatures between 20 and 30 F. Friday we even had "sun", which meant there were gaps in the clouds through which I could see blue sky.

I made pretty good time and eventually pulled into the packed parking lot of Threadbear. I went in and filled out a model release and took my ticket. Things were all organized so there wasn't a jam-pile in the back, where Franklin was shooting. Meanwhile I got to walk around for a while and pet yarn.

When my number was called, I found I was waiting right by the laceweight! Argh! You can imagine how painful that was. They were calling numbers two or three ahead, so while Franklin was photographing one knitter, another one or two were waiting.

I know other bloggers have said this, but he's very good at putting you at ease. One of the, er, "features" of my introvert side is that I tend to get an adrenal rush in "on stage" situations, which can include anything from suddenly having to talk to an answering machine, to public speaking, to meeting someone new. My hands were shaking pretty hard, but he was so understanding that I did manage to knit my row.

And yes, I wore the "Introvert" shirt -- truth in labelling, you know! Plus it's a great conversation starter. I've had such good conversations even with other introverts started by that shirt that I ought to put it up on Cafe Press.

After I had my turn in the chair, I went yarn shopping.

But first I found needles, size 00 and 000 circulars (1.75 mm and 1.5 mm) just in case I should suddenly decide to knit something small.

After much prowling around and feeling of lovely yarn, I ended up driving home with a ball of Meilenweit Mega Boots, a couple of skeins of Steinbach Sockenwolle, two incredibly beautiful balls of Elegant Yarns' Charming, one of the laceweight Daphne, and two dense little balls of Habu Textiles' 1/12 silk mohair.

The bag sat in the front seat with me so yarn could be petted while I drove home.

I don't know about the "one to two inches" in the snow forecast, but the roads home were much worse than the roads to Lansing. There was not much snow, but what there was was slick as glass.

Aside from the poor driving conditions in the afternoon, I was not sorry at all to have booted myself out of my comfort zone and gone to Lansing!

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7 Comments:

Blogger amy said...

It's so cool that you went!!! Good for you! If he comes to New England (closer than a 4.5-hour drive to Maine, that is), I so want to be a part of his amazing project.

12:40 PM  
Blogger Marguerite said...

I'm impressed. Glad you had a good time.

2:20 PM  
Blogger TinkingBell said...

Yay you! Look forward to the finished photos! And what a nice little stash enhancement! Lucky duck!

3:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Alwen! You met Franklin and you didn't give us a blow by blow account! What did he say? What did you say?

6:51 PM  
Blogger Denise said...

Wow, I'm so impressed that you are part of the 1000 Knitters project! I'm really looking forward to seeing the end product :D

Wow, look at that snow... brings back my days of living in Boulder CO...

11:03 PM  
Blogger Rose Red said...

I'm so envious of your stash enhancement, your participation in 1000 knitters (SUCH a great idea!) and most of all, your Introvert t-shirt. I would SO buy one of those (and I know the people I work with would buy an Extrovert shirt if one existed...but then again, they don't need to say it on a t-shirt, do they!!)

12:06 AM  
Blogger tatt3r said...

Threadbear is a nice place. Diametrag lives 'around the corner' and we hit a sale last fall. She says they have lots of Tofutsies yarn, and I'm yearning to do another pair of socks.

7:54 AM  

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