The Independent Stitch

Traveling fiber emergency

I've been insanely busy. I'm stealing time for this post.

While driving 3400 miles in August, I also knitted about 18 swatches (more on that later). I also had a traveling fiber emergency. It led, as such things do, to memorable experiences en route. In this case, those experiences involved almost no panic and several unexpected, pleasant interludes.

Just before I left on the trip, I finished writing an article that is scheduled to appear in the November/December 2011 issue of PieceWork magazine. The topic is four rare breeds of sheep. PieceWork's criterion for breeds to be included was that yarn had to be available for people to work with—not just fleece. My criterion—my reason for selecting these breeds and featuring them together—was that there had to be at least one pivotal moment in the breed's history when an individual, or small handful of people, made a crucial difference in its survival. Additionally, I wanted them to demonstrate a variety of types of wools.

The breeds that fitted all those requirements?

• Leicester Longwool
• Manx Loaghtan
• Navajo Churro
• American Tunis

As a bonus, I liked the symmetry of two "Old World" breeds (Leicester Longwool and Manx Loaghtan) and two "New World" breeds (Navajo Churro and American Tunis). I wrote the main text and consulted with PieceWork on where people could locate yarn. We chatted together about designers who could develop projects using the breeds' wool. Fun! I love collaborations.

I thought I was done with my part. (When have I thought that before?)

At approximately mile 1239.8 of my trip, I connected to the internet through one or another of the many wireless networks that kept me marginally up-to-date and found the following e-mail:

You noted before that you could provide photos of locks of clean fiber and perhaps small swatches of knitting. Are you still able to provide these images? . . .

If we can have any other photography—or swatches to shoot here, by 8/25, that would be fabulous. Our photoshoot is . . . on 8/26.

Those dates were soon enough after my intended return home that I needed to come up with solutions while traveling. I checked the hard drive of my laptop. I FOUND and sent photographs of:

• Leicester Longwool locks: yes
• Leicester Longwool swatch: NO
• Manx Loaghtan locks: yes
• Manx Loaghtan swatch: yes
• Navajo Churro locks: yes
• Navajo Churro swatch: NO, but I happened to have a ball of yarn with me
• American Tunis locks: NO
• American Tunis swatch: yes

I sent along the images that already existed. The American Tunis lock could be dealt with as soon as I got home. I could knit a Navajo Churro swatch during my trip, using the yarn in my portable project box.

The Leicester Longwool necessitated a creative solution, one that I could implement while transient. Leicester Longwools are, for the most part, found in the British Isles and the eastern United States, but . . . there might be a yarn shop in Oregon or Washington that might carry breed-specific yarns. . . . I knew it was a long shot.

But I'm part of an online group that has a disproportionate number of folks from the Pacific Northwest, and they're all into fiber. With my intermittent access to the internet, I sent out an SOS:

I'm traveling . . . and it turns out I need some Leicester Longwool. . . . I have a spindle with me, but it would be great if I could find spun yarn, because . . . well, it'll be faster, and for this audience, commercially spun is ideal.

I'm near Wenatchee, WA. . . . I'll be driving west on route 2 to Seattle. . . . Then south on I-5 . . . [to] southern OR . . . (not much time for straying from the path, although I'll need short breaks . . . I know that Woodland Woolworks is no longer available). Mid-next-week I'll be heading back east, possibly via . . . Crater Lake . . . then I-90 through Wyoming.

Anybody know of sources along this path? ONE SKEIN (or equivalent fiber) of Leicester Longwool will suffice.

Twenty minutes after my e-mail went out, one friend, Leila Wice, offered to forward the message to Portland-area spinners. Thirty-six minutes after my inquiry was sent, Janel Laidman responded with this:

I have some leicester longwool fiber in my stash and could spin you enough for a swatch in a pinch, however I also found this resource for commercial yarn . . . not far off the I-5.

If that doesn't work, I'm . . . also not far off the I-5 and would be happy to spin.  Let me know if either of these options helps...

YES!

Two and a half hours after Janel's e-mail arrived, I had arranged to meet a shepherd—one who breeds Leicester Longwools in the Pacific Northwest—at a freeway exit and get some yarn that she'd had millspun, my choice of singles or two-ply (BOTH). I said I might need some fleeces as well, if she had any that would suit my purposes. She did. (These fleeces are for a class I'll be teaching next spring.)

I stopped a little farther down the road to show Janel what she'd facilitated (two skeins and three fleeces).

The wool was so pretty that Janel took photos of it, too.

And I knitted swatches on my way east (although not while driving, so progress was slow but steady).

Soon after I got home, I opened my e-mail to find this message from PieceWork:

I hope you’ve returned from your travels safely and that you had a great time.

I’m following up with you about the possible lock and swatch that we still need a photo of—either your photo or the items themselves for our photoshoot Friday in Ft. Collins. Did anyone respond to your [appeal] for yarn?

My response:

Funny you should ask! I got the second new swatch finished last night, and those two missing ones (Leicester Longwool and Navajo Churro) got washed/blocked last night. I checked them this morning to see if they were dry, and they're close enough to be photographed this afternoon. I'll also pull the American Tunis and get a lock photo--plus I was thinking I'd set up a single photo with all four breeds' locks in it, to give you an alternative.

So I did.

Thanks, Janel!

I suspect that Janel may still be smiling about all this. I definitely am!

Way too busy for summer--but beautiful!

It's been awfully quiet around here, because it has been insanely busy elsewhere in my life. I've been filling out paperwork for a number of teaching gigs for next year, which is amazingly time-consuming. I've also finished writing a couple of articles for Spin-Off and PieceWork, and have responded to questions from other writers for pieces that they are writing for other magazines. This is in addition to some really interesting freelance work, and a trip to visit with family and especially to see my 87-year-old mother.

I've got so many ideas for blog posts and I haven't had time to write them. This will consist mostly of photos from a recent trip. I hope to have time to put together something involving more thought before long.

I'd never seen Yellowstone National Park, so I decided, despite the potential slow-down in progress, to route this trip through both Grand Teton and Yellowstone. To get to these places, my friend Susan Tweit, who has done field work in the area, recommended that I traverse Togwotee Pass, which was exactly the right decision precisely because I drove that road on a Sunday, the only day of the week the work crews are not crawling all over the mountain. On Monday through Saturday, large sections of the highway are controlled by pilot cars that run at intervals ranging from every 15 minutes (daytime) to every 2 hours (middle of the night). On Sunday, though, there were no one-way-only sections at all and traffic was pretty light. Lots of motorcycles, though.

Here's what the sign at the beginning of the construction said:

 

 

Here's one of the wider sections of road (showing both lanes):

 

 

There was more road-building equipment than I've ever seen in one place. That photo contains only one set of the earth-movers.

Yes, the scenery was, indeed, great!  Susan had told me about a pullout just after the pass, which I would have missed if she hadn't (in part because the regular road was gravel, the spur leading to the lookout was gravel, and there were at least half a dozen motorcycles parked at the intersection of the two). I took one of my longer breaks there because it was exquisite.

 

 

There were more wildflowers blooming than I think I've ever seen in my life (and I've seen quite a few). I took lots of photos of the flowers, of which I'll share a couple.

 

 

Another, because I just couldn't get enough of them. . . .

 

 

I was sorry to leave, but I had to keep moving to stay on schedule (even my schedule-with-planned-delays). At the end of the construction, just after the point where traffic picks up to regular highway speeds, the construction crews had placed another sign. It flashed by without my registering what it said for about ten seconds . . .

 

 

. . . and then I laughed out loud, even though I haven't played the alphabet game in many years. My sister and I played it a lot when we were just passengers in the back seat of a car with miles to go before we got to a motel with a pool (and no air-conditioning in cars in those days).

And now it's time to drive again. More soon.