Delight.
a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction.
I have been absent a bit from blogland, since I took two blessed days off from both jobs and attended Madrona Fiber Arts Fair in Tacoma, WA last weekend. It was indeed delightful. (and I have a bunch of photos to share)
Friday night about 20 of us celebrated my friend Barbie's birthday at Indochine. The tables were decorated with rose petals (and after a few glasses of Sake,
so were our noses) and a humongous organza bow was wrapped around the table like a present itself. 
The food was nothing short of magnificent.
Knitting later around tables in the hotel was a hoot. (That's a water glass of champagne... Barbie's favorite.. ahem)
Saturday I met up with another friend, Celeste from Oregon 
and we toured the marketplace. It was a bit bittersweet to be there. Seeing my ex-partner, and wandering as a spectator held both joy and sadness. I could not even walk three feet without stumbling across friends from all over the world. This was delight.
Yarn and fiber was wall to wall.
We paused in the day for a leisurely lunch at Two Koi, then returned for more fiber shopping. My dear friend, Virginia (who owns TootsieP Yarns in California) came up to see me and had an amazing booth. There is nothing like a fiber pal, is there ?
I even got to see Tina briefly, and pick up some of her Raven line of yarn (yippee)
Sunday morning brought yet a delight of another kind. I treated myself to an early birthday present (my birthday is next saturday) and took a spinning class with Judith MacKenzie-McCuin, "To spin a fine thread". I have said it before, and it bears repeating..... if you ever have the opportunity to take a class with Judith, do it. She is remarkable.
We learned how to fine tune our spinning wheels so that we could go from spinning our "default yarn" to spinning yarn thin enough to run through a sewing machine. amazing, incredible, fabulous.
I won't share all the techniques here, since I still believe that you should take her class for yourself - but here is one small sneak preview:
I laid out my samples on my knee during class, just to give you some idea:
My "default spinning" is a fingering weight yarn (on the top of the photo) and the bottom is the 'thread' I was able to even spin a bit finer than this, but alas, no photos of it.
Judith gave us generous samples of many fibers: three different merinos, with varying micron levels, yak-merino blend, bison, tussah silk and ramie.
Three hours of non-stop spinning was delight. My hand and arm are now talking loudly to me, but it was worth every single moment.
May your week be filled with delight.
It's a delight just to read about your weekend, but what a delight it would have been to be there! I'm envious of your class with Judith.
Posted by: margene | February 19, 2008 at 12:29 PM
It was really lovely to meet you even though we didn't have much of an opportunity to hang out - definitely one of the highlights of a fantastic weekend for me!
Posted by: Cynthia | February 19, 2008 at 02:27 PM
So lovely to see you at Madrona!! You looked Marvelous Darling!!
Thanks for coming by!!
Much love ;)
Posted by: Sheila E | February 19, 2008 at 02:50 PM
You lucky, lucky girl!!!!
Posted by: Kathy | February 19, 2008 at 02:51 PM
It must have been strange to experience the festival from the "other" side. I'm glad you had fun and enjoyed time with your friends and learned new spinning techniques, too. SOME DAY I'm going to be there with you.
Posted by: Carole | February 19, 2008 at 03:26 PM
Yes, quite delightful! I'd love to take a class with Judith one of these days. Rest your hand, now...
Posted by: Jane | February 19, 2008 at 04:14 PM
Happy early birthday!! :) Actually, taking two days off and spending them with your fiber friends sounds like a fabulous present for yourself.
Posted by: Chris | February 19, 2008 at 04:23 PM
looks like so much fiber fun!! great.
Posted by: hpny knits | February 19, 2008 at 05:24 PM
It sounds like you had a great time! But, come on, I'm dying to know . . . ONE tip from Judith's class? Just ONE??
Posted by: --Deb | February 19, 2008 at 06:24 PM
It was great to see you there, thanks for sitting next to me in class! Let's take another Judith class again soon :-)
Posted by: Amelia G. | February 19, 2008 at 08:16 PM
Oh, that does sound delightful. I'm glad you had fun.
; )
Posted by: Vicki | February 19, 2008 at 08:34 PM
what a wonderful day! that spinning is amazing! how thin it is!!!
Posted by: stacey | February 20, 2008 at 05:18 AM
That really does sound delightful. Happy early birthday. I keep watching fo Judith to teach a class close to me. I've heard such fabulous things about her.
Posted by: Hillary | February 20, 2008 at 07:58 AM
Sounds fabulous! I am so envious. Beautiful spinning, y'know.
Happy birthday a touch early. Celebrate it well.
Posted by: Laurie | February 21, 2008 at 05:49 AM
I'm sorry I missed you! I looked for you at the market, to no avail. Isn't taking knitting classes just the most fun?!
Posted by: Lorette | February 21, 2008 at 03:09 PM
It sounds like you had so much fun!
Posted by: Jennifer | February 22, 2008 at 06:57 PM
Happy Birthday Teyani!
May this year be full of grace and good stuff.
We'd hoped to get up to Madrona for a day or two but business keeps us too busy. One of these days I'll take a "real" spinning class but the foundation you gave me has carried me a long ways. :-)
Posted by: Wanda J | February 22, 2008 at 09:11 PM
Happy Birthday, dear heart. Wishing you joy, health, peace and beauty this year.
Posted by: DebbieB | February 23, 2008 at 09:18 AM
I bet that class was amazing. It is so cool to see all the different yarns you spun and how thin they got. I'm sure if was very strange to be at Madrona as a spectator this year. It sounds like you and your friends had a wonderful time. I hope your birthday was wonderful and special and happy T!
Posted by: Karen | February 27, 2008 at 11:08 AM