In the market for a spinning wheel?

Then by all means check out the new issue of Spin-Off magazine. Along with all the wonderful projects and tips on spinning fiber, this month's issue has a several page layout of information on almost all the wheels on the market. Of course the best way to find a wheel is to try it out but this list is pretty comprehensive, including prices! If you want a personal recommendation I can tell you I love my Ashford Traveller.

While quietly spinning...

the niece thought it would be fun to check out the roving!


"I'm just getting it ready for you Tity!"

Alpaca for me!

People are pretty good to me y'know.

A new friend of mine was just in the Adirondack Mountains and she was telling me about a wonderful Alpaca and Goat farm she was on. It sounded just wonderful. She told me what wonderful guards the alpacas are and how gentle they were. Of course I teasingly asked if she brought me back a souvenir. Well, dance of joy, she did! Here you see pictures of my very first alpaca! It is so soft and the natural shades of brown are lovely. From my first playing with it I am sure it will spin like a dream. It is fresh off the animal fur so I need to clean it. If any of you are familiar with cleaning alpaca please leave all your helpful tips.




My dog very interested in this new animal smell. Actually he got a little to interested and tried to make off with it.

Video: Village Woman Walking & Spinning Wool

This video is really wonderful! I hope to be someday as skilled as the beautiful lady, with a support on my hip, walking and spinning as I go.

Quote from the video: I met this beautiful old lady from the Hills in the Himachal. She was hand spinning wool as she was walking. I asked her to explain me about it. She scolded me saying 'it's so simple.. there's nothing to explain'. I told her it may be simple for her but we have forgotten this ancient art of hand spinning wool as we do other chores. Then she readily explained it to me.

Adventures in Weaving Part 2 : Houston, we have lift off!

Oh, rejoice with me, all ye peoples! Sing with me oh, weavers of old, for Philly Farmgirl, in true farmgirl fashion has set her hand to the plow, or this case the heddle, and is off and weaving!!!

Ok, 'nuf of that! °Ü°

In case you are wondering, yes, I have woven before. As a matter of fact, on several types of looms. But this time it was different. I always sat at a loom that was already set up for me, or that had a simple wrap around type warp, like a tapestry loom. I also had access to other weavers, in real life. This time I only had a couple of forums and websites to glean from. I set the warp, figured out the problems and I must say, I am quite satsified right now.

Alright, time to get back to weaving!


PS. My youngest daughter said to me, " I wonder how many sixteen year old girls can say they helped thier mother set up a loom. "

Kewl, huh?!

Adventures in weaving

After about a week of trying to figure it out, reading and rereading the instructions, watching the video, agonizing over warp boards and such, I thought I had it...and I almost did.

I finally figured out how to warp my rigid heddle loom and I was so pleased. My youngest and I rolled the last bit of warp up and I tied the ends, rechecked the tension and I thought I was off and weaving.

But alas, after only a few rows I have yet met another obstacle. One of my warp threads have broken. I am so bummed. I have no idea why I have not thrown in the towel by now.

It has been an arduous week. But true to my stubborn nature (my name means mountain goat after all) I cannot, will not, give up.

And so I plod along...

I will weave, darn it! And I am going to be very good at it too.

So there!

Hello again!

You should all know how much I miss you when I am not here. This blog is quite a little haven for me. I can write about most anything I enjoy here , things that not everyone around me wants to hear me ramble on and on about. °Ü° So thank you to all of you out there who read the ramblings of this gypsy/farmgirl. I appreciate the emails you send me and your words of encouragement. I apologize for not being so quick to write back, it's just the same 'ol excuse, life is too busy.

But...G-d willing that should be ending soon, at least for a bit! My outside of the home jobs will be coming to an end this Sunday and I am not ashamed to tell you I cannot wait! Oh yes, I just want to be home in the worst way. Other than the fact I love my home shall I tell you another of my motivations... something that I have been absolutely DYING to tell you all for weeks now. Are you ready??? Come just a bit closer...closer...OK! guess what I got for Mother's Day??


A SPINNING WHEEL!!!! YES!!! My very own Ashford Traveller! I am so excited! The only problem is I have not been able to spin anything yet because I have not had time to finish and assemble it. Yes, it is indeed a very sad state, so here I wait. Talk about delayed gratification. I figure I have waited this long for a wheel, another week or so will not kill me.

So let me tell you, G-d willing, I will be spinning and weaving my way through this summer. I really think I need it as much as I want it. Those of you who understand the spirituality of these things get exactly what I am saying...and those of you who don't, go ahead and find the holiness of the day to day things you do and the creative ways you express yourself and then you will understand.

Spring time on the 'Farm'

Well, this farmgirl is trying to keep herself busy with some of the things that bring her joy so here are some pics of what I have been up to of late. As long as I can play in my garden with my flowers, spend some time knitting and with my spindles, I am can maintain a relatively level amount of sanity. ;-)
Here are some pics of my flowers and some other spinning I have been doing. (along with the other post on the Turkish Spindle.)

My bleeding hearts are the first to greet me in the spring. The lavender in front of it has lots of new growth and I am very fond of it.

I just adore the faces on pansies! I plant the whole bed with them and enjoy them all of spring being careful to pinch back as needed. The cool spring has kept them quite happy.


Along with finally getting the hang of my Turkish Spindle I have been busy with my top whorl Louet.

Turkish Delight

The first spindle I ever bought was this turkish spindle. That was six or seven years ago and I never quite got the hang of it. I bought other ones and I kept trying, finding them much easier than the turkish. Well, I don't know how it happened but I finally got it! I won the battle of the turkish spindle and I can tell you I LOVE IT! It spins forever! I cannot believe it took me so long to figure it out.


I think the lack of hook intimidated me...not sure what the block was, but all that is behind me now. I have it now and I am spinning away, rather obsessively I might add. In fact it is a bit of a sacrfice to post this here as I am itching to spin and I hear the spindle a' callin' me.



Here are some pics of what I have been working on. It is some Border Leicester I have had for a while now. I must say, I am very pleased with my 'new, old toy'.

Learning from other Wise Women and the spirituality of the fiber arts

As a Wise Woman is training I am always on the look out for Wise Women who have completed a good part of thier training. I have met some amazing Women filled with experience, deep spirituality and Wisdom. Mostly though, I have come across alot of other trainees who like myself have a long way to go. But every once in a while we meet up at the right time and place and really get It. You know, really hear the deep Wisdom and are able to pass it along to another. I was recently with my beloved Sister in law (more sister than anything) who also happens to be in training and I was the fortunate one on the receiving end of the Wisdom being given to her. I was thrilled! I was talking to her about my lack of time spent in prayer, how I felt so very stretched with all I am doing and that all I seem to be drawn to do is spin, weave and knit. I told her how horrible I felt about this and what I waste of time I thought it was. I lamented the hours I thought I should be learning this or that, halacha or chassidut.
She looked at me and then told me "This is your Prayer."
We sat a moment and then she explained to me how everything I was doing was my prayer. How those time spent with my spindle, my loom and my needles were times I prayed. She said to me, "You can't tell me that while you are sitting at your loom you are no crying out to G-d about your life, about how you long to draw closer to Him. YOu can't tell me that while you are knitting you are not praying for this person or that one. You can't tell me that!"
I thought about it. She was right. Whenever I do any of these things I steal away. Even if everyone one is around me, I am quite alone and content. I do pray and I do cry out to Abba! I pray for wisdom and strength for myself. I pray for my family and friends. As the yarn passes through my fingers I think about my life and I feel a deep connection with my Creator. I think about His deep Love for me and how I long to draw closer to Him. I feel centered and at peace. All of a sudden I do not think it is such a waste of time. All of a sudden I realize it is not really about the spinning, weaving, or knitting. I realize now that those times are really about what matters most, and that is my alone time with G-d.

Only a little excited..

I want you to notice the counter on my sidebar to the left. It's the picture with the sheep on it...do you see it? Kewl! Well, that is my corny lil' ticker couting down the days to Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. I have been wanting to go for way too many years now and it looks like this year (b'ezrat Hashem) will be the year!! WOO HOO!! I listened to 'Knit and the City's' podcast from last year's show and can I tell you, they have got me so stoked! Yes, I am a fiber freak and I cannot wait! I feel like a kid getting ready to go to Six Flags! I ask you, what could possibly be more fun?! Hundreds of sheep, wool, spinners, yarn, wool, sheep, demos, wheels, sheep, wool, roving, weaving, sheep and of course wool...doesn't it sound like heaven?!?!?!

Step One...Powerless over Fiber

1. We admitted we were powerless over fiber---that our stash had become unmanageable.

"Hi, I am Philly and I am a fiber addict."

Truth be told the ONLY thing that prevents me from going totally haywire at the nearest wool store is finances and lack there of. (see, I must not be THAT bad, I am not willing to stop eating to get my next yarn fix ;-) But oy, am I getting the itch right now. My nesting urges have begun full force and so all I want to do at this point in my life is feel wool, spin, knit, sew a few things, make a quilt, and drink tea, in that order. (Yes, I DO have a family but they are all big enough to make their own box of Wacky-Mac) In my fantasy world I would be sitting in my log cabin somewhere hidden in the hills of Israel :::OK, remember I was raised here in the US of A, I like log cabins::: with my wonderful flock of merinos wandering about, and spinning my heart out right now. :::SIGH:::

My wonderfully patient friend and fellow addict BJ :::she is MUCH worse than me::: sent me this from Yarn Harlot. Check this blog out and see if you too can relate. I'll be here waiting for you in the room overflowing with roving. We can start our own 12 Step Program...of course it won't really do us any good as it will be just another excuse to sit and knit during the meeting.

Weaving and learning to be in the Moment

I have been wanting to blog for weeks now. I either did not have time or what I wanted to say seemed so unimportant. With everything that is happening somehow talking about anything other than the spiritual, seems utter vanity. Yet, I struggle with that also thinking to myself, "Is it really such a bad thing to talk about my knitting struggles and roving cravings?" (roving is wool carded and ready to spin) Truth be told, the Baal Shem Tov teaches us that everything can be raised to a level of kedusha (holiness) so I just need to find the spirituality in all my projects.
Right before the Nine Days (The beginning of the Jewish Month of Av until the 9th day of Tisha B'av) I started a tapesty weaving. I have to say that weaving and spinning are for sure my absolute favorite things to do. Unlike any other handwork I enjoy, such a sewing and knitting, when I weave I am not so caught up in the goal of completing the project so much as I am caught up in the actual doing. There is a total serenity that comes over me as I weave and spin. In my incredibly busy life, weaving brings me back to the core of who I am. As I 'color' my picture with my yarn, the back and forth motion reminds me so much of prayer. Rocking gently, my heart either bubbling over with joy or broken with sorrow, I find great comfort there. I play the warp like a harp as my fingers guide the bobbins. Line upon line the picture begins to form, from the bottom up, and only I know what I the end result will be. As I pack the weft tightly together, to the outsider it seems I've made little to no progress, but I truly know the reality of how far I have come. To me the joy is in the creating, the bliss is in the potential beauty I see there. I see the end result in my mind and yet it does not speed my work. I am not eager to complete, I am simply content to do and be.

On Spinning Wool and Praying with Kavanah

“She puts her hand to the spindle and her palm to the distaff.” I often wondered about this verse from Eishet Chayil (Proverbs 31). Spinning wool is not one of those womanly arts that too many of us have experienced. I was always fascinated by re-enactors at local fairs using a spinning wheel or a drop spindle. Their dexterity and the beautiful yarn coming from their fingertips spoke to me of womanly glory and quiet serenity. About five years ago I finally learned to spin with a drop spindle. My first attempts were sorry lumpy and bumpy creations. In spite of their lack of apparent beauty to me I persevered in this art. It was not easy but it was serene. It felt spiritual and quieted me when I felt on edge. The wool I spun into yarn felt like a connection, albeit a lumpy and bumpy one. My instructor assured me I would get better with practice and in a little time I too would be making fine yarn come from my fingertips. Then she looked a little wistful and told me that when that happened I would actually miss my lumpy, bumpy yarn creations. At the time I found that very hard to imagine, but it was true.
It reminds me of not so many years ago when I was learning to read the prayers from my siddur. I agonized with every letter and vowel. I wanted so much to pray in Hebrew, lashon kodesh, the holy tongue. I wanted to really connect with Hashem in this way. As I learned I felt the spirituality of the prayers connecting me to my Creator. I felt the serenity of time alone pronouncing each word, with such concentration, that I eagerly looked forward to my prayer time each day. It was not easy but it felt serene. It did not sound very beautiful to me but I was doing it. My teacher assured me that I would get better with practice and in time I too would be making fine brachot come from my lips. Then she too looked a little wistful and told me when that happened I would miss these days of absolute concentration and focus on each and every word. At the time I found that hard to imagine, but that too was true.
Now I spin quite well and can a rattle the morning brachot off in a couple of minutes. Although I don’t miss the lumpy yarn all that much, I do miss the focus I had in the beginning on my tefilla (prayer). Now, I have to work on maintaining concentration on what I am saying and the words that are coming from my lips. I have to work on pronouncing each letter and each word carefully.
I want the yarn of my prayers to come from a deeper place than just my lips. I want them to begin in the depths of my heart and flow from there. I want them to be slow and filled with the love I feel in my heart for my Father.