Friday I went to my fiber guild's spinning group. I hadn't been in a little while, and I was looking forward to spending the day spinning and catching up with other fiber people.
Someone new joined us.
And she was carrying one of my art batts.
It took me a second to realize what I was looking at, and then I was ridiculously excited. I make these things in my studio, photograph them, label them and send them out into the world. Most of the time, I don't get to see what happens after that.
This time I did.
I got to sit there and watch her pull fiber from the batt and spin it. The colors that I had blended together on my drum carder were moving through someone else's hands and becoming yarn.
And I really liked how it was turning out.
That's actually something I don't get to see very often. When I'm building a batt, I'm thinking about color, texture and how the different fibers work together. I can imagine what they might do when they're spun, but imagination and an actual bobbin of yarn are two different things.
Watching that yarn develop was both exciting and a little reassuring. Oh. That worked.
There are so many parts of running The Forager's Fleece that happen around the making: inventory, photographs, listings, festivals, orders, paperwork and all the other things that somehow accumulate around a small business. Friday gave me this unexpected little glimpse of the other side of it.
Someone had chosen something I made because she wanted to spin it.
And for once, I got to watch.
That was pretty wonderful.
Stay Wooly,
Erin Robinson