Knit by Nora

Compulsive ~ a strong, irresistible impulse to act (i.e., to knit) and Obsessive ~ to occupy the mind excessively (thus this blog)

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Today’s Fiber News

This book was a wonderful combination of instruction mixed with cultural descriptions. It has many anecdotes about weaving history and superstition. Short of working with a Navaho weaver, this provides an excellent overview. The book also has an awesome bibliography. I will always appreciate the advice of Mary at the Museum of Northern Arizona for recommending the book. The bookstore had many titles to select and without her guidance, I would not have been as engrossed in the subject.

I also owe her a bit of thanks about sending me to the Cameron Navaho Trading Post. I purchased this yarn. It is Navaho homespun and used to weave rugs. The price was $3.05 per 75 yards. I plan to knit a rug as I do not weave (yet).

This is a Navaho spindle – I put it next to my spinning wheel for size reference. My Ashford Traveler is about 3 feet tall and the spindle only a couple of inches less (about 34 inches). Fortunately, the book I bought has a tutorial on spinning with photos and text. It breaks the spinning process down into five steps or motions. I have yet to give it a spin! Can you believe I carried-on the spindle to fly it home? One point was in the bag and the other I had a skein of yarn wrapped to hid the point. The x-ray tech took a good look and still called over another official who took it out of the bag to look at the other pointy-end. I think the Navaho gods must have been looking out for me. I did not put it in my checked luggage because even caddy-corner, two inches stuck out of the zipper.

Tomorrow at work, I will scan my two photos of the Navaho women spinning a rug. They turned out awesome--I used both a digital and a print camera. The print was a Canon Elph that had paneramic views. I love the shots you can take of landscapes.

posted by Nora | 11:04 AM

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