Fibre fair success

I did it, I made it to the fibre fair and blew my budget. I do have $300 on the credit card so I can get kerosene and what not, but I spent the money I would put in savings plus a bit more, $300 all told, on fiber. I did not find a single tool that interested me enough to buy it. I came close a couple times but the fiber is more valuable as art supplies than tools I already have a version of. No chance of a spinning wheel under $500. Not this month anyway, LOL, but I might try and get into a fiber club if I can locate one in reach.  Traffic in the middle of the day is not awful at all.  My experience coming home that day from saskatchewan was a rush hour time zone.  I expected to get here before rush hour got going  but rush hour started 3 hours sooner than I expected. or maybe only 2, but anyway, by 4:30am it was already piling up, and by 6 am I was stuck in unending traffic for the next 3 hours. 

Well anyway, the drive was painless and affordable and it's about as far away across the delta as one can go, so I know now I can go anywhere by car if I rather instead of by transit.  Transit is even more pricey in fact so if parking is free and I have cargo, drive it. Car still is old and in need of consideration and I'm still environmentalist enough to preference an electric train already going there.  However, the car is not a bad option outside of downtown. 

Today was hella drenched with so much wetness it screwed up visibility so I was grateful to pay attention to driving, not road signs and navigation. I knew my route.

Also, the fact is, I had no problem remembering the map from one day to the next, full images and directions included.  So that tells me the problem is weed, not my brain. All the other times I was pretty high, but I won't drive my car across town on weed, it's illegal. plus if I smoke too much, getting home is a challenge.

So the fiber fair, what'd I get?  First off, I dropped a pile of cash on a bag of natural colors of a lovely lofty high micron carded wool.  White, brown, grey and silver.  Like two shades of silver!  Then I dropped some bucks on some lama, it's almost alpaca, LOL, and might the perfect blending fiber for the chiengora off the pomchi, or I dunno what.  I'll figure it out but for now I plan to comb it into combed top as it's raw unwashed wool off a cleanish animal.

Then there's some fancy superfine baby soft white with dirty tips in a bag, that was an impulse, as was the two matching batts of carded romney in pink, orange and yellow. I'm spinning it now, it's lovely. I found some incredible uncombed white mohair curls, beautiful locks I could dye if I want, or thread into a fringe or make locks wool or just spin up as mohair. Who knows, eh? I found a bunch of silk in roving or sliver or whatever, mulberry silk.  $98 but it's enough to make a LOT of yarn.  It's over a pound, I think.  Like over 2lbs of roving.  Hefty yummy. 

I know, I could consider blending and probably should. Maybe soon.  Not yet. For now it all goes in the drawers like paint pots in the studio.  I may yet be doing some dying, after all.

I was counting out my last dollars on one last bag of something wonderful and told the lady, there goes my grocery money for the month, but I don't care!  Fiber before food!"  She thought that would make an excellent tee shirt slogan.  I got a few compliments on my shawl but the wee wooden spool spindle got the most attention. Such a pocketable, simple and humble thing making such amazing yard, they noticed.  I also gave my card to the organizer to say, hey, if you need teachers next year, look me up, I can teach these things."  Because why the heck not?  I love teaching.

So yeah, I'm not showing the haul to anyone because I'm on welfare, spending my food money on a "luxury hobby" and I don't need to hear about it. 

It's not a hobby, it's my life and I plan to stay with it for life without further deviation. All my skills have led me to this and it's sure to lead me further if I stay on course. It feels right and makes me proud. I never got anywhere with anything else in life, why make that a criteria of choice?  Worse yet, before even putting the energy into it?  Well, at this point it's been a lifetime, I guess, of learning and growing, and it's there. I just need to crack the code. The guy in front of me might turn into a valuable contact if his BS isn't BS.  He says he's a fashion designer, and has pictures to show of stuff he says he designed and had made, posted to his instagram.  He says his family were fashion design.  says he's trying to get hired to wardrobe in theatre but he isnt' gay enough. Possible.  His stuff is too dull, in my opinion.  Just meh.  The zipper shit is half ased interesting but it's been done and often.  The extra pockets are good thinking but the look matters and his stuff just looks sloppy and doesn't age well either. the many fabric cuts get saggy and baggy even before the garment is done processing.

Dude could go further if he'd collab but he refuses because he worries he won't get enough credit for his work if he doesn't do it entirely alone.

yeesh.  I can't say one way or another about that but it seems like he is letting fear limit him.  

He also was saying he likes sitting idle and I was asking him how come he doesn't get bored and maybe if he wants more energy, smoke less weed? 

Ironically, because I don't give a shit if he likes me or not, or if i piss him off, he might be someone who comes to like me over time. LOL  We both just sit here parked.  He goes and services his tanks weekly and uses his car to block the spot for his RV.

I mean, dude needs a boost, eh? We're all just sitting here on skid row, needing a little something more than we've had on our own. collabing is on my dance card, for sure. Well it was fun to show him my fabric and dress designs and I might show him more stuff now I get that he does seem to have an interest in clothing to some degree.  It's like he knows how it's done and wants to do it for income, but utterly lacks vision or inspiration.  He lacks some certain little pizzazz that makes it his. Like constract color stitching on everything, like Levis did.  For example.

He also needs to hire people with more tailoring skills.  The seams aren't even pressed properly and he's using knitwear for everything, even when it should be supported with interfacing and lining if not made of woven or even leather or felt. dude, you need to learn more about fabrics. I should turn him on to cornelious quiring, amazing resource.  Ok, gotta run the kettle and start the dinner process.