Its not so much I'm too busy, but that by the time I've read and answered emails, caught up with the groups I'm in, checked ebay etc, blogging comes a very poor last and sometimes I think its better not to blog at all, than to babble on about nothing.
So, what have I been doing for six months?
Despite my rushed entry into the Bothwell Longest Thread competition, I managed a creditable 4th with my little toy wheel spindle, which gives me something to aim for next time as I know I can do better - I just can't actually see what I'm spinning! Coloured fleece is a must with my home decor.
I've read a lot of other peoples blogs, and indulged in my favourite blood sport - shopping for books I can't get here in Australia. And in case you think its not a blood sport, you should see the bloody scratch marks down my computer screen when I discover a book-seller won't send over-seas, or makes the postage so unrealistically high, that its far beyond the means of the average person. Trophies include some Harriet Tidball and Mary Atwater monographs, two precious but slim volumes on Nettle spinning, and Weaving in Nepal, Collingwood on tablet-weaving, the new Amy King spinning book, and some past copies of weaving and spinning magazines. At less than AUD15.00 for 4 lbs of books, I made sure I had my money's worth, and am waiting on another batch from my favourite ebay seller:
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/2crazy4books2
My "wish list" at Amazon is over 2 pages now, and it doesn't cover half the books I'd love to have on my shelves, like the new Amelia Garripoli book on Productive Spindling. It can be an early Christmas present to me, along with a few more on my "hit" list. You can find Amelia's book at:
http://www.thebellwether.biz/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=592
I have a new spindle, from a market stall in Bolivia. I can't make it dance yet, but I'm getting better!
and I have a new loom, not one I've made, but the lovely and simple Journey Loom from Weaving a Life:
http://www.weavingalife.com/
It comes with a book of philosophy, but don't be scared that this is some crack-pot theory - quite the contrary! This is about grounding yourself, something most spindle spinners do as a matter of course, and finding yourself in your weaving. I'm not into New Age theories, but this is not New Age, its echoes from the past that we instinctively recognise, whether we can put words to it or not. Part of this voyage of self-discovery involves weaving certain "key-forms" and I am on my second. To my delight I have met fellow weavers on Weavolution who are doing the same, so we have an impromptu weave-along!
Weavolution? well, I was coming to that......... Its a new social networking site for weavers, along the lines of Ravelry, and its still only in its beta form, not that you'd notice really!
http://www.weavolution.com/ gets you to the front page, but after that you are on your own, it could/can/will become very addictive!
I have also re-discovered an interest in primitive weaving - its how I learned to weave back in the Dark Ages, and to my delight, I still have my old backstrap loom and tablets. We have a lively back-strap weaving group on weavolution, and are planning a weave-along shortly to learn pick-up and double weave, based on south American techniques. Amazon, my book is overdue, grrrrrrr!
So you can see, blogging comes very low down the list of "Must Do's".
One last link:
http://www.archive.org/ This will get you into the most amazing archives I have come across! Books, articles, videos and home movies on virtually any subject you can think of. The spinning and weaving searches bring up some gems, so if you don't hear from me for a while, you know where I'm to be found!
