Sunday La Placita was delighted to host 6 of the Las Cruces spinners.  They showed up with spinning wheels, fiber and lots of interesting stuff.  Rick brought a set of raddles and we were all amazed at them.  He was working on some Border Leichester and then I dug out some beautiful Lincoln fleece and we combed it and everyone tried spinning Lincoln in the grease.  It was beautiful.  Dave got out his drawing supplies and copied the dimensions of the raddles and then transferred them to his computer’s auto cad program.  Next he wants to make a set.  We all went to the Dolan House for a delightful lunch and then they all headed down to Arts in the Orchard for a look at the arts and crafts brought by the vendors.  We all had a great time and hope they will be back on some of our second Saturday spinning days.  Seems like spinners can always learn something new when we all get together.

At La Placita, the storekeeper, Gene, fit the part perfectly as he visited with everyone who came into the store.  The shelves were filled with rugs, wallhangings and much more.  Carolyn spent some time at the spinning wheel or the loom and also talked with visitors.  Out on the porch, Kimberlee Bruce sat in a chair, attired in her 1860’s dress, knitting a pair of socks.  Her bonnet framed her face as she explained that she was a visitor from Tennesee and her costume was representative of a young “southern unionist” lady.  Lloyd Mannes found a great spot in the shade and spent the weekend spinning beautiful wool yarn.  Sue Mannes, in her long dress, showed our visitors what spinning on a “great wheel” or as it is also called a “walking wheel” was like.  This is a replica of the spinning wheel on which Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger.  We were lucky that Sue’s children and grandchildren also stopped by to spend awhile spinning.  Next year, if you have a chance to come to New Mexico, plan to visit during Old Lincoln Days and Fort Stanton Live.  You will enjoy all the fun and excitement.

Ralph and Rosalie are settled in their new home in Las Cruces.  The address is 2166 Frontier Drive, Las Cruces NM 88011.   I am sure they would all like to hear from all of you.  Their e-mail addresses remain the same or you can use the ones on the contact list on the website.  I have the shop open everyday except Wednesdays.  I generally open about 10am and am open until about 4:30pm.  The not so exact hours are because sometimes I am out back washing or dyeing wool with the help of my husband Gene.  So if you don’t find me in the shop, look out back and see if I am busy washing wool.  

The love of my life and I just finished washing our first wool on our own without Ralph the expert there to supervise.  When we made the last trip to Colorado, Gene brought the burner to his turkey cooker back with us.  Wow!!! did that make a difference in how much wool we could wash in very little time.  I had about 60 skeins of wool (in the grease) that needed to be washed - Ralph and I had been doing a lot of spinning.  The propane burner on the turkey cooker worked very well in heating the water to the correct temperature in a hurry.  I must admit - had we been dressed in black with pointed hats - we would have looked very suspicious circling the pot in the back yard.  But, I have to say, doing the washing outside is much better than doing it inside.  No mess and no smell!!!!  Anyway, a few hours later and all the wool was washed and hanging on the dog’s pen.  Bruno thought we were decorating his pen just for him. 

My next major job in the shop is to sort all the beautiful wool Ralph has spun and get it ready to sell.  I have boxes and boxes of balls of wool.  They are either natural colors or they are dyed with all natural plant dyes made from local plants or woods.  If you are in the area please drop by and I will let you go through the boxes.  If your aren’t, either e-mail me or call and I will be happy to take digital photos of the wools and send them to you.  The price on these beautiful wools is $1.50 per ounce and most balls weigh in at between 3 and 5 ounces.  For some of the speciality yarns, llama, alpaca etc, the prices are slightly higher.  Contact me for information. 

Lincoln Spinning Bee members (visitors are always welcome) will be meeting again on June 13th.  We have been talking about getting together on a Sunday afternoon so look for more information as it is available. 

Happy spinning and weaving to all!!!