Liam McSpinagain

Out past the garden where the green cabbages grow, beyond the embankment where the tall grasses blow, is a wooded area, a sanctuary to many animals that live just so.
Some say that aside from seeing the masked faces of the raccoons, the possum snoozing upside down, the silky feral cats and a red fox or two, they’ve also seen the muted shades of green (worn by the wee people) flitting from a mountain of black berry brambles to duck behind a maple tree with star shaped leaves.
I never believed such stories, although I thought it would be wonderful if it were true, until one morning when I looked out my kitchen window and saw something hanging from a wooden stake that was propping up a lush green tomato plant. As I swung open the little, white gate to my garden, I could see soft gold tones, pale pinks and lovely blues that matched the cloudless sky. I never would have guessed how this beautiful hand spun came to be in my garden if it hadn’t been for the handwritten note attached to it. In a spidery scrawl that looked like it had been written using a sharpened stick, the note read: From one artisan to another; I have a small flock of rainbow colored sheep and goats that leave wee bits of fleece shaped like little lamb tails, stuck to the brambles. Please accept this small gift of hand spun “lamb tails” and share it with other like-minded folk.” The note was signed: Liam McSpinagain. I’m still in shock and can only hope this little person will be back!

THE DAY THE COMPUTERS TOOK OVER

It’s said that things happen in threes…but maybe the saying is only meant to be used regarding celebrities dying, yet the formula works beautifully in this instance: three days – three computers run amuck.
DAY 1: Government computer programmed for surveillance begins to make up and follow its own rules.
Sound familiar? Probably…it’s a movie. But just the same I watched said video on Day 1.
DAY 2: Hospital computer goes berserk!
I was sent back to the hospital for more physical therapy and was warmly greeted by my therapist whose wrist was in a temporary cast. She told the story of her department taking their annual CPR refresher course. I don’t know if the entire course is given by a computer or if a real instructor gets involved at some point, but I do know the chest-pressing-hold-the-nose-breathe-into-the-mouth thing is tested by the computer. And this is when the problem began. My therapist admits there is a lot of peer pressure involved when taking this test, what with all the personnel watching the monitor to see how well you’re doing. And from the very beginning the computer kept telling her she wasn’t pushing down hard enough, even though she was giving it her all. By the time she finally got to the point where the computer was satisfied with her performance she was experiencing pain in her wrist. That’s when the computer started to complain that she wasn’t pushing down fast enough. So she started going faster…and harder…and faster…and harder… and fasterandharder and fasterandharder until finally someone in the crowd mumbled, “There must be something wrong with the computer, ” but by this time my therapist was in such pain she had to leave and go to a doctor! Hence the temporary cast on her arm.
DAY 3: COMPUTER MALICIOUSLY DESTROYS OWNER’S MIND.
As soon as the sun came up, I grabbed my camera, the yarn I’d spun, the sweaters I’d knitted, as well as some props, and busily clicked away until I had twenty decent photos of the items I wanted to list on my Etsy shop. I downloaded the pictures into my computer and performed the steps to safely remove the hardware (AKA: camera). I unplugged the camera and set it on a table in the other room and prepared to crop, rotate, resize, sharpen, etc, etc, etc. when I noticed that one of the pictures of a baby's jacket I'd taken was too blurry to fix (probably because I sneezed as I snapped the photo). I decided to get rid of that one right away so I put the cursor on the picture and clicked delete. Like magic the picture disappeared…along with all nineteen of its companions. I was horrified! I stared in stunned silence for several minutes, until numerous calming breaths later, I realized I could download the photos again and try the whole thing over. I retrieved the camera and plugged it back into the computer but when I tried to redo the download, I found that somehow my computer had also erased the photos from my camera. How is that possible?! My camera was clear in the other room!!! I’m really creeped out!
To visit my shop go to: www.recklessspinner.etsy.com

CREATIVITY

I believe the key to creativity lies in being certain that whatever you’re creating comes from your personal inner desire. Whether you’re writing, spinning, knitting, painting, sculpting, etc. if it comes from your inspiration and is done because it’s what you want to do (underline “want”), it’ll be a success in the purest sense of the word. If it’s done in the hopes it’ll please someone else so that they’ll admire it (or you), or purchase it, it’s pretty much doomed; it may come out “okay” but rarely will it be the kind of fantastic that you had in mind. In fact there’s a good chance it’ll never even get finished.
And if the idea is innovative and you try to create it with some faceless person lurking in the shadows, holding a fist full of money, you’re in for a nightmarish experience: is the idea any good? Will anybody like it? Is it too weird? Am I too weird?!..and on and on.
I did a battle of sorts after spinning a batt I received from COOLLIGHT on Etsy. The yarn decided it wanted to be a baby sweater. Every time I looked at it all I could see was a baby sweater. I had a limited amount of the colorful hand spun but was certain I had enough for some little sleeves. And what about the body? There were lots of colors in the batt to choose from and I knew I didn’t want to use any commercial yarn. That’s when I realized how much fun it would be to make it my own design by dyeing and spinning some of my super soft mohair to complete it.
During the process I had to keep reminding myself that I wouldn’t think about what I’d do with the end product (all the babies in our family are big people now) but instead would just enjoy my project each step of the way – which I did.
In the end I listed the sweater in my Etsy shop - even though it’s a complete departure from what I’ve been selling.
To visit my shop go to: www.recklessspinner.etsy.com

THE MANY COLORS OF LEAVES

We try to walk at some point each morning (we being Hubby and I). And our favorite place is a big park about three blocks from us. Although they (they being the park personnel) keep blocking off sections of it with removable chain link fence (for some reason that nobody can figure out – not even the park workers) there is still plenty of paths to take. Paths bordered by low stone walls that are crumbling with age in some places and covered with moss in others.
Before long it’ll probably be too hot to walk through the park, even at six a.m., but right now the weather is perfect and the place is gorgeous with the early morning sun working in concert with the many trees to create ever changing cathedrals of dark and light. Although there aren’t any flowers the place is full of hedges and trees that are spread out over huge areas of lush, green grass.
While I can’t really duplicate nature’s colors when I dye, I love to use her combinations of colors when I spin – shades of blue and a little white like the ocean. Pink and green like a eucalyptus tree in bloom. And of course the many colors of leaves.
To visit my shop go to: www.recklessspinner.etsy.com

THE GIRL AND THE STICK

The neighbors across the way have a darling two year old daughter named Jordan. When she was about eighteen months old, her mom was taking her for a walk in her stroller, saw me out sweeping the walkway, and stopped to chat for a minute. One of my cats, Sugar, heard us and came out to the porch to investigate (Sugar is a little snoop who has to be in on everything anyone is doing). As Sugar stood on the porch staring at us, Jordan, from her stroller, pointed at Sugar and said, “Sit”.
Jordan is a sweet little thing who is interested in everything around her. So the other day it occurred to me to take some of my fluffy, undyed mohair and let her hang it from the bushes for the birds to take for their nests. Jordan listened quietly while I explained to her that the birds would carry the fleece home and use it to make their nests warm and comfy. Then we placed it strategically in the hedge so that Jordan could watch for the birds from her living room window. When she was finished carefully placing her pieces on the leaves, I said my “good-byes” but before I could leave, Jordan ran across the grass and found me a lovely, little stick to keep. How sweet is that?!
My Etsy shop is: www.recklessspinner.etsy.com

THE WEIRD 40-SOMETHINGS

The other day I realized something that I find very weird. My address and the addresses of my children (in other words all 4 of us) have the numbers 40-something in them. My youngest son’s address has 41 in it, my daughter has 42 in her’s, mine has 43 in it, and my oldest son’s has 44 in his. I don’t know which is weirder, that we all have 40-somethings in our addresses or that the realization popped into my head out of the clear blue!
Still caught in the wonder of that phenomenon, it just dawned on me that the 4 of us also have the 40-somethings in our home phone numbers! My youngest son has the number 40 in his, my middle two children have 44 in theirs and I have 47 in mine. AND! We all have 40-somethings in our cell phone numbers, too! (two 44’s, a 41 and a 48!) What’s going on here?! This is kinda freakin’ me out!
I tried to find out what 40 represents but didn’t have much luck with that. My favorite number is three so there’s no relevance there. I tried playing the lottery with the 40’s numbers but didn’t win.
What’s it all about? I’d love to know; I’m sure it means something because it’s just too weird!
My Etsy shop is: www.recklessspinner.etsy.com

A LUXURIOUSLY SOFT, MOHAIR BED

It all started several years ago during a time of very warm weather, so warm in fact, that by the time the sun was up it was comfortable enough to do my spinning in the backyard. I was using mostly mohair and when a sudden breeze came up, a bit of the fluffy stuff blew onto the lawn. Before I could retrieve it a sparrow swooped down and carted it off - reminds me of the time a mocking bird chased me all the way home trying to get some of my hair for her nest...but that's a whole different story.
It was mid-morning when I finished spinning (I can get a lot done if I start at five a.m.). I’d used an old sheet to spread the dyed fleece out next to me. There were quite a few small mohair curls and tufts of fleece left but concerned about the dye on it and the health of the birds, I took some natural mohair fleece and tossed it onto the lawn to see if the sparrow would come back for more. To my surprise, within minutes the sparrow along with his mate (who stood look-out from the fence) as well as several finches all took part in the giveaway.
The other day my neighbor called to tell me that a wild wind we’d experienced the previous night had blown a little, empty nest from her tree. She said she had put the nest back on a low branch hoping that its parts would be of use to some bird.
“I couldn’t put it in the trash,” she explained, “it was so pretty, full of the pink and blue fluffy stuff that you spin.”
My Etsy shop is: www.recklessspinner.etsy.com