Spinning Day at the Retzlaff Winery

There was wine, there were women, and my heart at least was singing. What a fabulous day we had! Today was Spinning Day at the Retzlaff Winery in Livermore. Prior to today, I had no idea there were vineyards in Livermore and even if I had known, I would have assumed they couldn't be all that good. Wrong on all points - the wine (we had a light and lovely zinfandel) was great and just outside the town. I'll be happy to go back next year, and not just for friends and fiber!

And oh, my, the fiber... This was the first time I had a chance to get up close and personal with award winning fleeces, ones I could talk to the shepherd about face-to-face and then buy with no middleperson. All of my fleeces to-date have been purchased through the Internet - no fondling ahead of time. This particular shepherd, Janet Heppler of Nebo Rock Ranch, came highly recommended by an excellent spinning teacher, Judith MacKenzie McCuin. Sadly, I cannot show you a picture of the two fleeces I bought - both merino crossbreds, one moorit and one faded moorit - because right across the open area was Morro Fleece Works who take in fleece and do the cleaning and processing at their mill. I bought my fleeces and turned them over in one fell swoop! I should get them back in a few months. But if you'd like to see a very nice fleece that my partner in crime to today's event got...

That's not to say I didn't take any pictures at all - I did! Here is what the festivities looked like:



That last picture is of the set up for Carolina Homespun, one of my favorite place to feed my obsession. Today was no exception - I had a shopping list prepared and vetted by Morgaine, the wonderful proprietress, and everything was waiting for me when I got there, including a gift certificate from my mother. Yay, Mother! You got me a very nice warping board to help me measure off the warp for my weaving! Also picked up from Morgaine: a bench to go with my loom, two more reeds (12- and 8-dent reeds), and Mother MacKenzie acid dyes.

Anyone not in to the whole fiber arts thing would probably say "wow, that's a lot of stuff there! Two fleeces, a bunch of accessories for weaving, dyes... How could you possibly have needed anything else?" Well, there is need and then there is NEED. I absolutely found other things I NEEDED. Such as a super-amazing pygora goat shearing in black/grey, some pygora goat roving in a soft brown, some goat milk soap, and a lamb hide to pad that bench I mentioned. I'll take pictures of some of those things another time to post.

Another thing that I got from today was a new appreciation for spindle spinning. It is portable, the fiber can be super fine, and if you are an artist like my friend here, you can wind the most awesome cob (that lump of yarn you get as you wind the yarn on the spindle) on your spindle:

We spent all day at the winery, dining on smoked goat cheddar, hard salami, and an apple, plus that bottle of zinfandel, and spinning away in a sunny, lightly breezy, low-70 degree atmosphere. Heaven. As things started to wind down, I noticed a little wheel I had never seen the likes of before - and I've seen a lot of spinning wheels by now! I believe it was called a Holiday wheel, but I'm not sure. This one is made of walnut and is the first of its kind shipped to California. They were shown for the first time at Rhinebeck last year. I couldn't find a link on the 'net, which leads me to believe I may not have the name right. Doesn't matter, I covet it anyway! I got to spin on it too. Very nice. Very, very nice.


Yep, all in all, it was a great day. It's an event I'm looking forward to again next year. Maybe then, I will go, and enjoy, and not be quite so fascinated by the feathered attendees...