I still remember my first days on Twitter. What I remember the most is some of the neat people I met right away which of course is why I got hooked. One of these terrific tweets was Leslie Shelor from Greenberry House (@Greenberry). Can't remember who found who, but since Meadows of Dan is near Fairy Stone State Park, we began to follow each other.
As a child I enjoyed crocheting. It probably started with one of those pot holder weaving kits when I was even younger, but I enjoyed the feel of the yarn and the satisfaction of being creative. It was one of my many, many forays into the search for my creative outlet. While I can't say I am a perfectionist, I do tend to learn pretty quickly what I am not gifted in and besides making some decent winter scarves I was not that great at crocheting.
As one of the developers of the Women's Wellness Weekends, I wanted to include topics that helped women get in touch with that inner creative person. Too often we leave little time for ourselves to relax and enjoy creative pursuits. So when we decided on holding a Women's Wellness Weekend at Fairy Stone State Park, I thought of Leslie and Greenberry House.
This was the first Women's Wellness Weekend that I actually had an opportunity to enjoy the programs so I had to listen to Leslie. I have to say that while spinning always brings to mind spinning wheels and the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, I was clueless how it worked. Leslie spun (OK how could I resist) a magical presentation weaving the history of fiber and spinning with techniques and a variety of spinning apparatuses. Pretty much any fiber - plant, animal or synthetic - can be used for spinning. In fact Leslie shared that her very first spinning was dog hair (boy do I have the dog for some unending material). She raises and has in the past bred German Angora Rabbits. She had some yarn from her rabbits and it was heavenly. Like sheep, these rabbits need to have their coats removed. (Leslie forgive me for messing up proper terminology).
She also let us try one of the more modern wheels to see what the spinning process was like. Trust me, it's a lot harder than it looks.
Unfortunately, I was not able to get by the Greenberry House on my way back home. It was out of my way and I was tired. But I will be back to Fairy Stone and I would love to get my hands on a skein of that angora yarn and a crochet hook.
