A few people have asked me recently if I have any advice to offer about going to Interweave’s Spin-Off Autumn Retreat. Yes. Here it is. SOAR is intense! Don’t try to plan for other things during the course of SOAR. Just go and do SOAR. How does it work exactly? Okay, here’s the deal. SOAR […]

In years past, I used to live on the highway. That was, in fact, almost 20 years ago, and in an era when I never would have thought that, should the World-Wide-Web occur, it would be attempting to sell me Mississippi Fred McDowell ring tones for my cell phone at the place where I’d link […]

March continues to bring all sorts of excitement. Yesterday’s news, for instance, said “Flooding is almost guaranteed in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region, he said. The Little and Great Miami rivers and the Ohio River could hit flood stage or rise above…” and this morning, quite a bit of flooding, even nearby, is […]

When I said the next post up in the sock yarn series would talk about colour, Sara playfully asked: colour?? colour? Of what do you speak? Are you *that* close to Canada that u’s have infiltrated?? There are quite a few ways to address this, such as reminding Sara that I’ve never known her to […]

Dear Ed, You know, I can’t believe it’s really been so long. It doesn’t feel like it, but then the list of things we haven’t talked about yet is definitely four years long. It’s hard to believe everything that’s happened. First of all, you know the Red Sox won the series, right? Of course you […]

I was dubious Friday morning when the word was going around that we were to be struck with the cold white hammer of wintry weather. That’s because, at about 8AM, it looked like this. Grey and overcast, sure. But that’s how we got the flooding earlier in the week, the lingering results of which can […]

About the month of March, it is said that if it comes in like a lion, it’ll go out like a lamb. In other words, if it starts out aggressive and harsh, roaring and terrifying, it’ll end up weak-kneed, bleating and small. I honestly don’t know how to characterize the start of March. The weekend […]

The manchild’s cough kept waking his parents up all night, and his room is at the far corner of the house away from ours. Even before we fully woke up, I think we realized he wasn’t going to school that day. And then, of course, one quick look out the window suggested that, even if […]

From time to time, the question arises: Why are there so many heavy spindles marketed as being “Great for beginners!” and so on? We’re talking about spindles weighing 3-5 ounces (85-140 grams), with big fat dowels for shafts, and generally low whorl. “Would you ever use this thing?” people ask. “Could you?” Well, sure. That […]

Socks are a great way to use your handspun yarn, and a great way to push your boundaries in spinning and acquire new skills. A pair of socks isn’t a huge and unwieldy project, and the commitment to knit them isn’t tremendous — but they’re varied and versatile. There is no one canonical way to […]