Here Be Weavers ... and Winners!

Early one Sunday morning late this past August, I looked out the back door and noticed a large spider web hung across the posts of the dock.  Always attracted to spider's weavings, I walked down there to get a closer look.  As I grew near to the edge of the pond, I gasped.  There were webs everywhere, all decorated with dew drops.  Webs in cattails, webs stretched across branches from one tree to another, dainty gossamers resting on the grass.  With the sun just coming over the tops of the trees, it was an amazing sight - sparkling strings of beads in every direction.

I ran back to the house for my camera and took advantage of the prime conditions to get some nice shots of the webs.  But the spiders' work provided more than just a visual treat. All the animal stories I read to my kids when they were small - The Wind in the Willows, Uncle Wiggley stories, Mother Westwind stories - have been permanently glued in my brain and have made it very easy for me to start constructing little tales from things I observe in nature.  So why on that particular Sunday morning in August were all our backyard spiders building spectacular webs at the very same time?  A spider celebration or holiday?  A weaving competition? (Who could weave the fastest?  The most artistic?  The finest thread?)  Or was it some sort of social gathering like we human fiber benders are so fond of, a spiders' weaving fling?  See what I mean?  What do you think was going on?  In any case, it was a remarkable way to begin a Sunday.

The photo above is one of my favorites from that morning, so I thought I'd use it to announce the winners of the pink yarn and fiber contest.  I used a random number generator to draw the winners.  The Louet Gems yarn goes to LizzieK8.  Barbara S is the winner of the soy silk roving.  Congratulations!  Please send me a PM so that I can get your prizes to you.  By the way, the comments on why we pursue our fiber arts gave me some ideas to consider.  There may be a follow up post on that subject sometime in the future.

To close this post, another weaving photo.  This is what's on my loom at home right now - another project inspired by nature.  My work can't match the spiders' exquisite creations but maybe they'll let me join in the fun anyhow.  Have some fiber fun of your own this weekend!