It's Art Yarn- Let it Go; Camp PluckyFluff Chicago 2009

Well, I'll start my "What did I do this summer" series of blog posts with the MOST amazing weekend ever!!! I was SO lucky to be the host of the first Chicago Camp PluckyFluff with Lexi Boeger, the author of Intertwined, the Art of Handspun Yarn. This weekend includes 2 days of intense art yarn spinning and crazy carding! It's also a wonderful chance to meet other spinners and fiber artists!!

I picked up Lexi on Friday afternoon and we had a book signing at our workshop local, the amazing Loopy Yarns, at the old Dearborn Station in Chicago's downtown.

It was a wonderful evening of wine and snacks and meeting some spinners I had only known over the interweb!!

After the signing, Lexi and I went to see some good friends of mine that happened to be playing at my favorite jazz bar, The Green Mill. This was really kizmit as I spent SOOOO many nights at the Mill when I lived in Chicago (one of the city's most well known, and oldest jazz bars... once owned by Al Capone's crew), as well as the band that was playing was the group I was on the road with when I met my now husband. I hadn't seen them play in over a year.. and they just "happened" to be in the City and playing that night! Lexi and I were able to skip the line (thanks to the awesome guest list +1) and just mosey into the bar! It was a great evening of jazz and whiskey! Lexi and I hung out for as long as possible.. and then back to the hotel to rest up for the next day's spinning extravaganza.

Sat started with a tour of the "sharing" area. It's SO amazing how generous people can be!! All of our spinners (we had 16 people of ALL ages!!) brought stuff to share!!




And that's just the FIBER/Carding area!! I didn't even get a shot of the "add in's" table which had plying yarns, ribbons, fabric, feathers, bells and anything else you could imagine!!
We were really blessed with an incredible group of spinners! We had all types of spinners as well.. from folks like me who spin primarily art yarns, to some who were just dipping their feet into the art yarn pool.. to our youngest member, a 13y/o boy who'd started spinning because he liked the yarns he saw in his Grandma's magazines.

SO.. first we spent some time in the carding area, where Lexi demo'd her "crazy carding" where she put "fiber sandwichs" thru the carder for super textured batts!!



We started with spinning our new crazy carded batts.. and just letting the fiber be spun as it wants. For me, this is the way I always spin.. lumpy, bumpy- just let it happen. For some, though, this was very difficult. Letting not evening out the slubs or neps.. we came up with our weekend Mantra- It's Art Yarn- Let it Go! Lexi also demo'd adding things into a single like sequins, fabric, feathers and other goodies.


Lexi Spins her Crazy Batt


My Crazy Batt yarn on the niddy noddy

The rest of the day we spent like the beginning- spinning and spinning and spinning!
It was so wonderful to finally sit and spin with my ravelry/etsy internet friends Jenna (Pumpknpunk) and Mary (butterflygirl)


We did thread plying techiniques like grannystacks, coils and beehives. We added cocoons and plied them into halo's. My cocoons were firestar and angelina.. sparklelicous!!




At the end of the first day the floor looked like a sparkle fairy had visited us all!


That night we went and had a wonderful dinner at a local joint.. and then it happened to be Venetian night in the City and Lexi had a hotel room that looked right over the lake.. right where they shot off the fireworks.. so we were able to enjoy a post dinner show! It was quite wonderful!

Lexi kisses my fish

Fireworks from Lexi's room

Day 2 was spent as day 1.. spinning, carding and just creating!

These were the techniques I really wanted to master- corespinning without a core, translucent mohairy, extreme tailspinning and Lexi's most difficult, aura. it was a wonderful day and I got to master all 3!

Lexi tailspinning

Lexi Spinning Aura

Me tailspinning

It was an amazing weekend! I spun 8 yarns.. mastered difficult techniques I'd been working on for awhile.. spun with new girlfriends and just had a totally creative weekend!

My yarns

New "real" friends- Mary (butterfly girl), Lexi, Me, Heather (girlwithahook), Natalie (cloudlover) and Jenna (PumpknPunk)

I can't wait until April when I bring Lexi down here to North Carolina and I do it all again!!

Tomorrow.. the next best weekend of the summer.. spinning backstage at Bonanroo music festival!!