I only had one request before the birth of my second daughter. Two days away from my due date. I wanted to make it to The Textile Museum’s Celebration of Textiles 2012 Festival. And I wanted to be there by 11:15am…to see a Ms. Leanne Reuter… shear. a. sheep. Yes, it’s all coming full circle now, isn’t it? With all of my emphasis on learning the old fiber-related handicrafts, it occurred to me that even though I have seen sheep, I have never seen a sheep sheared. So I wanted to see the origins of yarn and the process by which it gets off that sheep. And with my city girl fiber obsession, I needed this. I needed a day surrounded in my kind of furry world to see something I’ve never seen before…and share it with Noora and my DH. Before the dawn of baby #2.
And my request was answered! Even though my husband isn’t into textiles and fibers, and even though I was having contractions…we made it! And Noora loved it. And I loved seeing Noora in my world. She actually got a mini tour, if you will, of almost my entire textile-fiber education in college during this festival. But she learned it much quicker than I. All in one day she pet a sheep (but wasn’t feeling the alpaca love), saw a sheep and alpaca shearing, then carded the wool by hand and by machine, spun it with a drop spindle (I didn’t even learn that in college!), and weaved with it. It took me one semester to learn all of that…and I still didn’t get to spin! But on the other hand, I did get to dye my own yarn and basketweave and..and…and…needless to say, I’m happy today. With all the nesting that I’ve been doing and (also frantic crocheting and knitting to finish up some wips), I needed a day to just relax and be me, a total fiber junky, amongst other fiber junkies. Today was a beautiful return to a world that I once knew and am continuing to know…a world that I can’t wait for my dear Noora to know. A world that rekindled beautiful memories and glimpses of the past, all the while making new memories for our growing family alike! What a great initiation into the world of fiber love it was for my dear Noora!
P.S. It turns out the sheep was very pregnant…just like me! Maybe this was her last hurrah, too, eh? The treat of a nice new haircut without the weight of the wool on her shoulders before baby?
Good AfterNoora 